The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

822: The King Arthur Baking Company's Big Book of Bread with Jessica Battilana and Martin Philip

This week, we dedicate the entire episode to answering your bread baking questions with two brilliant bakers and teachers, King Arthur’s very own Jessica Battilana, Staff Editor, and Martin Philip, King Arthur’s Baking Ambassador. While King Arthur has taught millions of people to bake through their school, website, and classic cookbooks. They only now have published a book devoted entirely to bread, The King Arthur Baking Company’s Big Book of Bread.  Francis, Jessica, and Martin take listener questions on everything from the “why” behind the flavor of English Muffins, best proofing practices, what to do with extra laminated dough (if you can imagine having that problem!), and why they consider "toast" a food group all its own. Don't miss their recipe for Masa Honey Toasting Bread.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 7, 2025 (originally aired)March 6, 2026 (rebroadcast)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Celebrate kitchen companionship with a gift to The Splendid Table today.

844: Global Food Activist and Bestselling Cookbook Author: Jamie Oliver

This week, we’re joined in the studio by food superstar and philanthropist Jamie Oliver. We talk about his start in food, growing up above a small-town pub, and finding himself at the iconic River Café with Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, and later becoming the TV persona behind The Naked Chef. He talks about his travels, his admiration for women cooks, and the use of his platform to champion nutrition programs and job-skills training for underserved communities. Jamie Oliver is a restaurateur, TV personality, and the author of over 30 cookbooks, including the best-selling 30-Minute Meals, 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food, and Veg: Easy & Delicious Meals for Everyone. His latest book is Eat Yourself Healthy: Food to Change Your Life. He left us with his recipe for Harissa Tuna Bean Parcels.Head to our YouTube channel and watch this extended cut of our interview with Jamie Oliver. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything!Broadcast dates for this episode:February 27, 2026 (originally aired)Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate todayWhen you shop using our links, we earn a small commission. It’s a great way to support public media at no extra cost to you.

821: The Splendid Tour- Celebrating 30 Years: Live from Indianapolis

We're taking the show on the road this year to celebrate our 30th Anniversary! This week, we bring you to our first stop, Indianapolis, in partnership with WFYI. We dig into the local food scene with restaurateur Martha Hoover, founder of Cafe Patachou and the Patachou Foundation. We talk to her about her start as a prosecutor turned restaurateur and how the restaurant scene has changed over her 35-plus years running a restaurant in Indianapolis. Then, we welcome Samir Mohammad of 9th Street Bistro, Zoë Taylor of Borage, and food writer and Eater correspondent Brian Garrido to the stage to talk about the present: Indianapolis's new and booming food scene. Then, we close the show with a heartwarming story of Isaac Roman and Thomas Hayes re-opening Indy's beloved Rene's Bakery.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 21, 2025 (originally aired)February 20, 2026 (rebroadcast)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show

843: We Fancy with Jerrelle Guy and The Heart Shaped Tin with Bee Wilson

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTube. This week, we’re all about mindfulness in our kitchens. First, we explore a whole new meaning of fancy with author and recipe developer Jerrelle Guy. She shares her unusual thinking and creative recipes that can transform your everyday eating. The little extras that can make a dish a bit more celebratory. Jerrelle Guy’s latest book is We Fancy: Simple Recipes to Make the Everyday Special, and she left us with her recipe for Olive Oil Brownie Pudding. Then we talk with Bee Wilson about the surprisingly sentimental nature of kitchen objects. In Bee’s latest memoir, The Heart Shaped Tin, she dives deep into the emotional relationships many people have with their kitchen tools, from a mother’s rice cooker to learning to eat off the best china rather than saving it. She shares her personal relationship to her most cherished kitchen items with stories of people who share the connection. Bee Wilson’s latest book is The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 13, 2026 (originally aired)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate todayWhen you shop using our links, we earn a small commission. It’s a great way to support public media at no extra cost to you.

820: Cooking Questions with Lisa Donovan and We The Pizza with Muhammad Abdul-Hadi

This week, food columnist for The New York Times Magazine, Lisa Donovan, joins us to talk about what she's been cooking up recently and help answer our listeners' kitchen conundrums, from making the best tomato paste despite out-of-season tomatoes to using unsweetened chocolate in baking recipes. Lisa is the author of the memoir Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger, and she leaves us with a recipe for a lovely Tarte Tatin to add to our repertoire. Then, we head over to Philadelphia, where we meet the founder and owner of Down North Pizza, Muhammad Abdul-Hadi. Muhammad tells us about his mission-driven restaurant dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives. Muhammad's new cookbook is We The Pizza: Slangin’ Pies, and Savin’ Lives and he leaves us with his signature pizza sauce recipe, Norf Sauce.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 7, 2025 (originally aired)February 6, 2026 (rebroadcast)Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today