Remember that adage "tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are?" According to neurologist Alan Hirsch, M.D., Director of the Smell & Taste Treatment Research Foundation in Chicago and author of Dr. Hirsch's Guide to Scentsational Weight Loss, the notion might not be so far fetched. In his research on snack food, Dr. Hirsch discovered there are physiological reasons why our food preferences reveal our personality, so be discreet the next time you reach for a potato chip instead of a cheese curl. Someone could be watching.
Food and travel writer Anya von Bremzen takes us to Shanghai with an eater's guide to China's born-again boomtown. The city is reinventing itself these days and a cosmopolitan restaurant scene is emerging.
Reporter, author, and humorist Calvin Trillin gives us his unique take on European travel with kids and the state of eating in America. Trillin's beloved book Travels With Alice is the very funny account of his family's journeys abroad. Jane and Michael Stern flunked bull-riding school but did manage to file a report from the Hitching Post in California cowboy country, and minimalist cook Mark Bittman is back to talk dipping sauces.
If a snooty wine dealer has ever treated you badly, tune in this week for advice and anti-intimidation tactics you can use the next time it happens. Our guests, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, write The Wall Street Journal's "Tastings" column and are the authors of The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wines. They have definite opinions about what we should expect from a wine shop and tips for finding bargains.
Dan Leone tells us how to eat out and eat well for under $10 in San Francisco, a city known for restaurants with break-the-bank prices. He knows where you'll find the perfect bowl of noodles, or a turkey dinner at midnight, and leave with your credit card intact. Dan is the author of Eat This, San Francisco and the popular "Cheap Eats" column in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
After this week's show, you may decide to rethink your Valentine's Day dinner menu. We're looking at food and love with Dr. Alan Hirsch, a neurologist and psychiatrist who's researched the link between food aromas and arousal. Dr. Hirsch is the author of Scentsational Sex: The Secret of Using Aroma for Arousal and the forthcoming What Flavor is Your Personality? Forget the Chanel perfume and bring on some pumpkin pie!
Mexican food authority Rick Bayless, who latest book is Salsas That Cook, is with us this week and we're talking tequila. It's not just for margaritas anymore. In fact, Rick says lose the lime and salt and move on to a different tequila experience. He means those types (especially artisan-made ones) so classy and smooth you'll want to sip them neat. In a nod to tradition, though, Rick shares his recipe for Honest-to-Goodness Margaritas for a Crowd. These are the real thing pure, fresh, and tasting of good tequila.
We're taking a look at the politics of wine in America with our guest Bruce Cass, author of The Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America. Bruce says it's easier for a 13 year-old to buy a gun on the Internet than it is for an adult to purchase a bottle of wine.
This week it's the history of popcorn with Andrew Smith, author of Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America. It's been around for thousands of years and it's America's favorite snack food. Andrew debunks some popcorn myths and explains why it has such staying power. His recipe for Popcorn Canapés is one of the more unusual ones we've featured here at The Splendid Table.
Like everyone, we know it's diet-resolution time again. But we like to avoid the expected and the ordinary here at the Splendid Table. Besides, everyone is too serious these days with Y2K worries and all. So cheer up and tune in—we're bringing you a show on the delights of excess! Our guest is Nan Lyons, author of Gluttony: More Is More, one of a series of books on the seven deadly sins. There's little that Nan takes seriously and only regrets that she wasn't asked to write about lust. Whip up her chocolate peanut-butter soul pie for a final blast of bliss if you simply must start counting carbohydrate and fat grams on January 1.