Special Sauce: Cookbook Author Susan Spungen on Craving Togetherness [1/2]
Release Date: 05/28/2020
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_outlineSpecial Sauce has obviously changed a lot with the advent of the pandemic. But before we changed the format a couple of months ago to adapt to the times, we'd already recorded a couple of great interviews.
One of them was with my old friend, cookbook writer and food stylist extraordinaire Susan Spungen. Susan's new book, Open Kitchen: Inspired Food for Casual Gatherings, came out 17 days before New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued his stay-at-home order. Susan's bag was already packed for a national book tour, but obviously that tour never happened.
With the country slowly opening back up for small gatherings, I thought it would be a great time to check back in with Susan. I figured she might have some interesting things to say about what a properly socially distanced gathering would look like and what we would eat there. As she says, we've arrived at a moment when "people are craving togetherness and they like to eat together and be together." We should note that Susan's comments and mine are impressionistic and most assuredly not prescriptive. People should consult trusted sources like the CDC to find out how they can gather and eat.
We also went back in and edited some of her original interview into this episode. With so many people out of a job today wondering about what the future holds for them work-wise, I found it comforting to hear about Susan Spungen's circuitous career path. She went from dropping out of art school to making omelets to order at a hotel buffet to working side by side with Martha Stewart for ten years. I hope Serious Eaters will find it comforting as well.
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The full transcript for this episode can be found over here at Serious Eats:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/05/special-sauce-susan-spungen.html