Ruth Reichl’s Garlic & Sapphires

2024-12-06

Today, Jen gets to fulfill a dream of interviewing one of her favorite influences and mentors in the food world. The iconic six-time James Beard award-winning Ruth Reichl sits down with Jen to discuss her extensive impact on food culture spanning the last several decades. They hit on everything from the alarming state of the modern food industrial complex, how we source our food and the impacts it poses to our health (as well as the hope they see for our future), to what it has been like to document the evolution of food across the changing media landscape of print media and the internet. Ruth reflects on highlights from her career as a chef, food critic, editor, tv personality, author, novelist and documentarian and discusses the challenges and joys of her various roles in the culinary world, including the emotional toll of her work which has garnered both admiration and criticism.

***

Thought-provoking Quotes:

The way that we eat, the way we have handed over our health, our environment, our communities to the idea of industrialized food is truly terrifying. – Ruth Reichl

The more you say no, the more people want you. – Ruth Reichl

Almost no one likes what is written about them. No matter how flattering a portrait may be, people don’t like it. So when it’s really not flattering, people don’t like it. – Ruth Reichl

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Food and Country Film - https://www.foodandcountryfilm.com/

Michael Pollan - https://amzn.to/4g1bkGV

Barbara Kingsolver - https://amzn.to/3D0fv7f

White Oak Pastures - https://whiteoakpastures.com/

Gourmet Magazine - https://bit.ly/3D2LN1B

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl - https://amzn.to/3OEwjmS

Condé Nast - https://www.cntraveler.com/contributor/ruth-reichl

New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/by/ruth-reichl

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl - https://amzn.to/4ifrUo9

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl - https://amzn.to/3BfyUk4

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl - https://amzn.to/49vwfiX