I married a cookbook author: love, recipes, and test eating with Carl Mason and Joe Yonan

Photo: Deb Lindsey

Photo: Joe Yonan and Carl Mason at home with their pets.

What do you think living with a cookbook author would be like: delicious or difficult? Most likely a bit of both. For our Food and Marriage episode, we talked with contributor and friend Joe Yonan and his husband, Carl Mason. Joe is the editor of the food section of The Washington Post and the author of five cookbooks including his new one, Cool Beans. Which means that Carl is the test eater of all of Joe’s recipe experiments, a task that can be a bit overwhelming. Francis talks with the two of them about their relationship and what the cookbook meant for their first year of marriage, starting with a honeymoon which turned into "bean reconnaissance" in Mexico. Enjoy their lovely conversation and try Joe's recipes for Lalo's Cacahuate Beans with Pico de Gallo.

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Francis Lam

Francis Lam is the host of The Splendid Table. He is the former Eat columnist for The New York Times Magazine and is Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Clarkson Potter. He graduated first in his class at the Culinary Institute of America and has written for numerous publications. Lam lives with his family in New York City.