25 episodes

Everything you wanted to know about good cooking and good eating from LA chef, author, radio host and restaurateur Evan Kleiman.

Good Food KCRW

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.6 • 979 Ratings

Everything you wanted to know about good cooking and good eating from LA chef, author, radio host and restaurateur Evan Kleiman.

    BONUS: Arielle Johnson talks Flavorama (Extended Interview)

    BONUS: Arielle Johnson talks Flavorama (Extended Interview)

    Life is driven by flavor. The seductress that is flavor often leads us down the rabbit hole of food studies. If you run a restaurant or you're in the food business, you know that flavor is power and it needs to hit in the first few bites. But what exactly is flavor? And how do we create it in our own heads? We've been following the interests of Arielle Johnson for years. Her new book is Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor .
    Evan Kleiman: When I hear the term "flavor scientist," my mind goes to the industrialized food world. I think of someone working for a big company, like Kraft or Kellogg, who's trying to create the next viral snack or food trend. But that is not what you do. How does your work differ from that of most other flavor scientists?
    Arielle Johnson: Most food scientists and most flavor scientists are employed by large food companies, largely because that is who hires people like that and pays for the field to exist. I'm at a little bit of a right angle to what they do. [What I do] intersects in the chemistry and in the sensory science but I'm much more interested in understanding flavor as an everyday experience, as an expression of biology, culture and ecology, and as something to use in the kitchen. So I do apply it but in a different way than it is typically applied.
    Are you often contacted by chefs who are trying to create something or push something further, and they need science to help them take a leap?
    Often, they don't necessarily know what science they need but they know that I am good at solving problems using science. Often, a chef has been working in one direction or another, maybe trying to do a fermentation project or get a flavored ice to behave a certain way. When I can, which is a lot of the time, actually, I like to step in and try to cherry pick what area — is it biology? is it chemistry? is it molecules reacting? is it volatility or something like that? — and set them on the right path to get what they want.
    That must be eminently satisfying.
    Incredibly. That's my favorite thing.
    What intrigues me about flavor is how personal it can be. I sat across from noted restaurant critic Jonathan Gold each week for a couple of decades, listening to him describe flavor. I would always ask myself, is that how I perceive what he's talking about? Often, in my own mind, it was no, I'm perceiving it differently but how interesting it is, what he's perceiving. Could you speak a little bit about that, the personal nature of flavor?
    One of the things I find most exciting and attractive about flavor is that it sits at this intersection of the extremely concrete — it's based on molecules, which we can measure, real matter — and the personal. Flavor doesn't happen until you put something in your mouth and the signals get sent to your brain and then from there, all bets are off. But one important piece to the connection between flavor and the personal, is that flavor is not just taste, it is also smell.
    Smell is a huge, essential part of flavor. Smell, more than any of our other senses, is deeply tied in a physical, neurological way to our emotions and memories. Once we gather smell molecules and build a smell signal and pass it to the rest of the brain, the first place that it goes is the limbic system in places like the amygdala, places where we keep our most emotional, personal memories and associations. So with smell, and therefore with flavor, we'll often have our personal history, our emotional reaction to it, come up before we can even recognize or articulate what it is that we are smelling and tasting.
    Chefs and restaurants around the globe enlist the help of flavor scientist Arielle Johnson to give them a leg up on deliciousness. Photo by Nicholas Coleman.
    It's so interesting to me that these days, on social media in particular, where people are constantly giving their takes on whatever they're eating or the latest restaurant thing, it's always with

    • 41 min
    The science of flavor, the taste of tap water, Asian vegetarian

    The science of flavor, the taste of tap water, Asian vegetarian

    Explaining how taste and smell interact, why smell is related to emotion, and the patterns of flavor, Arielle Johnson chases deliciousness by taking science and making it fashion. Christy Spackman tracks how municipal water systems have spent billions eliminating taste from our tap water. Flexitarian Pamelia Chia canvases Asian chefs for show-stopping vegetarian recipes. Baker Rose Wilde shows us how to bring edible flowers onto our plates.

    • 57 min
    Ramadan, plastic bags, gluten-free cooking, feminist restaurants

    Ramadan, plastic bags, gluten-free cooking, feminist restaurants

    Sous chef Kamran Gill discusses the challenges he faces while fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Laura Strange develops recipes and travel guides for those living a gluten-free life in a gluten-centric world. Reporter Susanne Rust explains why California's plastic bag ban created more waste. Dr. Alex Ketchum showcases feminist restaurants and the essential role they played in multiple social justice movements. A springtime delicacy, sugar snap peas are in season at the farmer's market.

    • 56 min
    Black Appalachian cooks, Maydan, shochu

    Black Appalachian cooks, Maydan, shochu

    Crystal Wilkinson recounts stories and recipes from five generations of Black Appalachian cooks. Poised to open a restaurant complex in Los Angeles, Rose Previte traveled spice trade routes to see how cooking traditions informed each other. Food writer Bill Esparza shows us where to find Dominican food. Sommelier Courtney Kaplan explains shochu, Japan's indigenous distilled spirit. At the farmer's market, chef Daniel Matho shops for butternut squash while Lettie Garcia talks grapefruit.

    • 57 min
    Gene editing, condiments, chai as compassion, corn as fuel

    Gene editing, condiments, chai as compassion, corn as fuel

    Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr explains how the gene editing technology CRISPR is impacting our food chain. Scholar and editor Darra Goldstein detonates the flavor bombs of preserved condiments. Kevin Wilson, aka the CEO of Chai, describes how a simple cup of tea can bring solace amid our mad world. Food and ag journalist Tom Philpott debunks the pro-ethanol POV. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Yess, a new Japanese restaurant in the Arts District. At the farmer's market, chef Deau Arpapornnopparat shops for Holy Basil, his Atwater Village Thai restaurant.

    • 57 min
    Food of Tigray, reality show contestants, the life of a dish

    Food of Tigray, reality show contestants, the life of a dish

    Saba Alemayoh shares her mother's story of civil war, migration, and divorce — all of it bound up with Tigray culture and food. What happens to food reality show contestants once the cameras stop rolling? Derek Corsino weighs in after his time on the Spring Baking Championship while journalist Victoria Namkung focuses on the bigger picture. Journalist Sarah Larson profiles Spencer Sheehan, a lawyer who sues food companies for false advertising. Andrew Friedman documents the life of ingredients and how they make it from the farm to the plate at one Chicago restaurant. At the farmers market, citrus continues to shine.

    • 56 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
979 Ratings

979 Ratings

De-bling ,

Outstanding Show + Podcast!

Evan’s expansive interests in all things food, including how and where it’s grown and cultivated, as well as the environmental, cultural, political, religious, and economic factors surrounding food offer us an informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking experience. Frankly, I’d love Evan to run for Congress and help re-set our priorities, as well as bring both sides to a table filled with nourishing, good food and reconcile our differences.

Classical NPR ,

Life Antidote

This uplifting podcast is my favorite antidote for today’s anxious media. The voices are authentic, practical, and thoughtful. The focus on quality content rather than ads, music, or sound effects is a huge gift. Thank you for this heartwarming, informative public podcast related to a raison d’etre - good food!

On a spaceship ,

LEGEND

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