Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking for His Kid, and Maangchi on Becoming a YouTube Sensation [1/2]
Release Date: 01/23/2020
Provocative Takes on Pizza From Former Microsoft CTO and Current Pizzaiolo Nathan Myrvhold
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
Some health problems derailed our Special Sauce production schedule this week, so serious eaters will just have to wait two more weeks before you get to listen to more fresh pizza talk with Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri and Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman. In the meantime, to keep the slices coming, here's the provocative interview we did with Modernist Pizza co-author Nathan Myrvhold a couple of months ago. Nathan turns out to be a fan of both Anthony Mangieri's and Dan Richer. Enjoy, serious pizza eaters.
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Razza's Dan Richer on the Joy of Pizza
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week's Special Sauce Dan Richer, chef and owner of Jersey City's Razza, one of the country's best pizzerias, talks to us about his obsessive Joy of Pizza, which just so happens to be the title of his new book. And because NYT restaurant critic Pete Wells gave Razza an unprecedented three stars in his review in 2017, I also had to talk to Pete about Razza and Dan. He was game, but only if he and I visited Razza one more time to see if Dan was still at the top of his game.
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Devita Davidson, Food Lab Detroit and Ji Hye Kim
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week's Special Sauce Detroit food activist and Food Lab Detroit founder Devita Davidson has a lot to say about how government, entrpreneurs, and the private sector can and should work together to form a better food system. Plus chef-restaurateur Ji Hye Kim of Miss Kim's in Ann Arbor tells us about how she has embraced Food Lab Detroit's methods to mutually benefit her business and the employees that work there.
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Kenji Live 2: We Cooked And A Wok Q&A
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On Part II of our live Special Sauce, Kenji and I successfully cooked eggs and tomatoes in a wok onstage and I didn't get fired as his sous-chef for inadequately chopping the scallions. We also revived the Ask Kenji feature as he talks about everything from cooking with his 5 year old daughter to his experiences in science classes in high school.
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Kenji Live on the Wok, Family & McCartney
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
For our first ever live Special Sauce Kenji and I talked about his new #1 NYT Best-Seller The Wok, how family life has become the center of his existence, and how Sir Paul McCartney gave him an autograph after McCartney's security team tackled him on the street in NYC.
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Justice Activist Jessica Ramos On the Dignity of Work & Kenji On His Wife's Favorite Soup
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week’s episode of , NY State Senator and Food and Labor Activist returns to talk about the next set of problems she's tackling. And tells us about the Colombian soup that is his wife's favorite.
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Michelle Zauner on Screenwriting and her Grammy Nominations & Kenji Weighs in on the Kinship Between Food & Music
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Japanese Breakfast's returns to talk about her two Grammy nominations and writing the script for a Crying in H Mart feature film. Plus, weighs in on the natural kinship between food and music.
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Laurie Woolever Second Helping: On Bourdain & Her New Life
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed catches up with writer Laurie Woolever, author of Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. Like many people during the pandemic she's turned to sourdough bread baking because she's writing a bread book with acclaimed British bread baker Richard Hart. She also offers some fresh perspective about grappling with Anthony Bourdain's tragic passing. Laurie Woolever | |
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Jessica Harris On the Netflix Adaptation of High on the Hog, Plus Marcus Samuelsson on Jessica's OG Status
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, writer and national treasure Jessica Harris talks about what's new in her world, including the wild ride she has been on since the Netflix adaptation of her book High on the Hog became a hit show. Plus, tv personality, chef-restaurateur and author Marcus Samuelsson explains why Jessica has been such a profound influence on him.
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Grace Young On Saving Chinatowns from Extinction During the Pandemic
Special Sauce with Ed Levine
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, cookbook author and now independent Chinese restaurant advocate Grace Young talks about both the pandemic-related dire straits Chinatowns all over America are in, and the terrifying spike in Anti-Asian hate crimes.
info_outlineMaangchi. Maangchi. Maangchi! Need I say more?
On this week's Special Sauce I had a chance to sit down with YouTube cooking sensation Maangchi, who, in addition to being an inspiration to all of us here at Serious Eats, is our associate producer Grace's hero. And I discovered she's an impossibly engaging woman, as charming and disarmingly forthright as anyone we've had on.
And her path to success was definitely unorthodox: Maangchi went from living in a room in the back of her father's seafood auction house in Korea, to cooking fried chicken and burritos for her grocery store manager boss in Toronto, to becoming a master video gamer (that's when she came up with her nom de game, Maangchi), to teaching millions of people on YouTube how to cook real Korean food. Her life would make a great movie.
But before we get to Maangchi's story in this episode, Serious Eater Little Chefs Dubai asked Kenji, "What are your favorites to cook with [your daughter] Alicia?" I won't give away Kenji's answer, but I will tell you that Alicia is an accomplished and willing sous chef and she's not even three.
And, finally, to finish, we have the latest dispatch from the Serious Eats test kitchen, with Stella weighing in on no-bake cookies. "I have a secret to share with you about no-bake cookies," Stella says. But to hear what that secret is, you'll have to tune in.
Maangchi, Kenji, Alicia, Stella: This episode is indeed a very special Special Sauce.
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The full transcript for this episode can be found over here at Serious Eats: https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/01/special-sauce-kenji-on-cooking-for-his-kid-and-maangchi-on-becoming-a-youtube-sensation.html