Saba Alemayoh shares her mother's story of civil war, migration, and divorce — all of it bound up with Tigray culture and food. What happens to food reality show contestants once the cameras stop rolling? Derek Corsino weighs in after his time on the Spring Baking Championship while journalist Victoria Namkung focuses on the bigger picture. Journalist Sarah Larson profiles Spencer Sheehan, a lawyer who sues food companies for false advertising. Andrew Friedman documents the life of ingredients and how they make it from the farm to the plate at one Chicago restaurant. At the farmers market, citrus continues to shine.

What does the Tulare Lake Basin water crisis mean for the future of farming in California? Carolyn Quick Tillery celebrates the 25th anniversary of a cookbook that pays homage to the Tuskegee Institute. Memo Torres has ideas about where to eat this weekend with his latest recommendations for Apple Maps. Eat!, a digital delivery program, gives customers access to farmers' markets across Los Angeles. Proposed budget cuts threaten Market Match, a program that gives low-income Californians additional savings on fruits and vegetables at farmers' markets.

Director Tran Anh Hung and actress Juliette Binoche discuss the recipe for subtle seduction in The Taste of Things. Foley artist Olivier Thys reveals which foods he uses to simulate the on-screen sounds of bones breaking and vampires biting necks. Journalist Ada Tseng visits Costco twice a week — for gas, deals, and hidden Asian treasures. Chocolatier Christine Sarioz taps into her art background to create sculptural chocolates. Cathy Asapahu shops for berries for a dessert tasting at Ayara Tha

With restaurants dedicated to global rice dishes, JJ Johnson explores 28 varieties in his latest cookbook. Chef Eric Adjepong explores assimilation, culture and home in a new children's book. Reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich unravels issues with the global food chain in the case of cinnamon applesauce pouches tainted with lead. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Victor Heights for Korean banchan and dosirak. Barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn weighs in on the state of Texas barbecue. Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger visits the farmers market to shop for his new restaurant, Lustig.

Zarghuna Adel learns classic recipes from older Afghans living abroad and reintroduces them to a younger generation living in the country. LA Times reporter Stephanie Breijo reflects on the closure of some of the city's most cherished dining destinations. Yazeed "Chef Yaz" Soudani of Miya Miya brings Jordanian-style shawarma to Smorgasburg LA. Lisa Hamilton looks at one Hmong woman's struggle to survive war, loss and displacement while holding onto her identity. Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter collaborate on a new edition of the first Hmong American cookbook.

Journalist and author George Monbiot has a radical idea for fixing farming's environmental devastation — but can a post-agricultural world feed the planet? Once a social scientist and now a farmer, Chris Smaje offers a defense of small-scale farming and a robust critique of industrialized food production. The Ecology Center is a blue dot in a red sea. How did Evan Marks come to run this 28-acre regenerative farm in Orange County? Reporter Alexander Sammon visits Cherán, where armed militias guard the area to prevent rogue avocado farming.

Erewhon sells an $18 dollar smoothie named after Hailey Bieber. Mary Beth Albright considers how drinking it will make us feel.

Journalist Laura Tillman phoned Máximo Bistrot, a restaurant riding the wave of Mexico City's popularity as a fine dining destination, in hopes of interviewing its chef, Eduardo "Lalo" García Guzmán. Tillman had covered immigration for the past 10 years and she was interested in speaking with dishwashers, cooks, waiters, and purveyors working in high-end restaurants, where economic inequalities are pronounced. It was 2016, and as the US presidential election made pawns of Mexican immigrants, the chef was eager to share his story.  Tillman spent the next five years speaking with García, his family, and those who worked with him, following his journey from the fields as a young migrant farm worker to the kitchens of the American South then back to Mexico, where along with his wife, he has built a restaurant group that employs hundreds of people. Tillman tells his story in the book The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García — but ultimately, this is Lalo's journey. It's a singular epic, complete with a cruel twist that reveals so much about the relationship between Mexico and the United States, the two countries that shaped García. 

Terrified of the ocean in her youth, Valentine Thomas is now a champion spearfisherwoman. Maggie Harrison describes the "maniacal rigor" with which she seeks out beauty through winemaking. "The McSatan" and "The Bruja" are on the menu at Evil Cooks, where Alex Garcia and Elvia Huerta are on a mission to "Make Tacos Great Again." Kate Reid was a successful Formula 1 engineer who designed race cars before shifting gears to make croissants. Out of the studio and into the wild, Good Food takes on the Great Outdoors.

Fuchsia Dunlop distills the history of Chinese food through a menu of 30 dishes. Kevin and Jeffrey Pang cook up some father-son bonding over plates of Mongolian beef and General Tso's chicken. Marc Rose and Med Abrous prepare for Christmas Eve, the busiest night of the year at Chinese restaurant Genghis Cohen. Using their respective lenses as an anthropologist and a historian, mother and son Merry White and Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft examine the way the world eats.

Rose Wilde encourages bakers to develop a relationship with heirloom grains and alternative flours. Abi Balingit, a self-described "dork who baked," turned her passion into a cookbook of Filipino desserts. Restaurant critic Bill Addison runs down his selections for the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants. Sohla El-Waylly teaches us the "why" behind kitchen techniques. Chef Roberto Alcocer shares how he celebrates Las Posadas, a ten-night event commemorating Joseph and Mary's journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Hungry for more? Check out Good Food's Best Of 2023. 

With a competitive spirit, Nancy Silverton sets out to make the best versions of classic baked goods. James Park grew up on kimchi, but when he discovered chili crisp, his world changed. Paul and Jill Fulton embarked on a vanilla voyage, learning to make extracts in their home kitchen. At the farmers market, everything's coming up roses (and snake gourds) for floral designer Sophia Moreno-Bunge.

Bookstore owner Celia Sack shares her list of notable cookbooks of 2023 — perfect for gift-giving. Yewande Komolafe connects the dots of her Nigerian past, visiting Lagos and returning with a new cookbook. Cooking through grief, food writer Bee Wilson keeps recipes simple and finds joy in the process. Artist and curator Suzanne Joskow collects cookbooks written by everyday people. At the farmer's market, Chef Jeremy Fox of Birdie G's shops in preparation for his Hanukkah(ish) collaboration dinner series.

In High on the Hog's second season, producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger continue to explore how Black hands in the pot influence what America eats. Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy tackle issues of class, consumerism, and privilege in The Menu. With nearly 40% of the food bought in the US getting tossed, Tamar Adler finds delicious destinies for leftovers. Sisters Margaret and Irene Li crack the code for using wilted, nearly expired, and only-needed-a-tablespoon ingredients. The pandemic and an impulse to curb food waste led Balo Orozco to create Sunset Cultures, an artisanal kombucha and preserves company.

Molecular biologist turned cookbook author Nik Sharma joins Evan Kleiman to talk turkey and all the trimmings. Hetty Lui McKinnon has led a life surrounded by vegetables and shares a riff on a potato gratin. Fahara Zamorano promises nobody will be upset if you open a bottle of champagne but she has thoughts on other wines to pair with your Thanksgiving feast. After spatchcocking, butter brining, and breaking down her bird, recipe developer and author Sohla El-Waylly has found the turkey she plans to make for the rest of her life. Chef Mei Lin recalls how her family incorporated their Chinese heritage into holiday meals. At the farmers market, chef Zach Jarrett does anything but loaf around for his ingenious take on stuffing. Nik Sharma puts his science background to use to tackle your pie problems. Finally, let your leftovers become tomorrow's mise en place. And if you need recipe inspiration, here you go! 91 vegetarian and vegan Thanksgiving recipes 75 Thanksgiving side dish recipes 45 of our best Thanksgiving pie recipes

Melinda Burns reports on the water wars in Cuyama, where small farmers are boycotting carrot behemoths Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms. At the farmers market, Karen Beverlin explains why carrots taste sweeter in cooler temps. Brothers Mario and Sal Marino look back on 40 years of Marino Ristorante, where John and Yoko brushed elbows with the likes of John Wayne. Ella Quittner settles the debate over the best way to cook pasta. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads to Artesia for Rajasthani food.

Toni Tipton-Martin spotlights the creativity, hospitality, and excellence of Black drinking culture. Leslie Kirchoff gives boring, square ice cubes a '70s-inspired remodel. Amy Thielen wants dinner parties to be less formal and more frequent — and she'll show you how to make it happen. Natasha Pickowicz draws on her Chinese heritage and Southern California upbringing for desserts that are more than cake. At Joseon, chef Debbie Lee adds kabocha squash juk to the menu and Jimmy Nardello peppers to the Thanksgiving meal.

When detective-fiction devotee Karen Pierce couldn't find a cookbook devoted to Agatha Christie, she decided to write her own. Professor Chris van Tulleken explores the effects of ultra processed food in a world where profit is the goal and purposeful addiction is part of the recipe. Personal injury attorney Bill Marler chases down offenders in our food chain as they make Americans sick. Food writer and musician Bill Esparza travels to LA's El Salvador Corridor for pupusas, antojitos, and more. Finally, local farmers, butchers, and chefs collaborate on flour tortillas.

As he keeps racking up awards while shining a light on Native foodways, chef Sean Sherman hasn't forgotten his roots on the Pine Ridge reservation. Virginia Sole-Smith says the rise in Ozempic use as a weight loss tool exacerbates an anti-fat mentality. Africa meets America as Pierre Thiam brings the flavors of his native Senegal to more kitchens in his new home. Chefs Daniel Patterson and Keith Corbin have reimagined Locol so they can reopen it as a nonprofit in Watts. With a knack for offbeat abstractions on the plate, Bar Chelou isn't playing it safe, says LA Times critic Bill Addison. Nicole Rucker of Fat & Flour is using mutsu apples for goods other than pie.

Through trial and error, KCRW recording engineer PJ Shahamat learns to cook biryani in the new video game, Venba. Designed and developed by Abhi, the goal of Venba was to create an emotional connection to food. Alicia Kennedy unpacks the history of vegan and vegetarian eating in America and considers a diet that's kinder to the planet. From basturma in Burbank to hot links in Lincoln Heights, Memo Torres scans the city for his favorite eats. Carlos Salgado and Taco María make history, winning KCRW's Tortilla Tournament for a second time. Passion fruit and Brussels sprouts are having their moment at the farmer's market.

Food historian Christina Ward documents the practical and spiritual ways that religion shapes what we eat. From toilet to tap, John and Sommer Decker fight off the Arizona heat with beer brewed from treated wastewater. Gustavo Arellano reveals the Fuerte Four in the 2023 Tortilla Tournament. Drawing on her Karuk heritage, Native Californian Sara Calvosa Olson helps people decolonize their diets, one cup of manzanita flour at a time. Harvesting Indigenous ingredients on Navajo Nation land, Zachariah and Mary Ben make and sell non-GMO, heritage-style baby food. Pomologist David Karp puts the squeeze on citron, an ancient fruit often seen in panettone and fruitcake.

Memo Torres hops on Metro's 33 bus line to seek out tacos from Santa Monica to downtown. The field narrows for the 2023 Tortilla Tournament as Gustavo Arellano reveals the Eso Eight, who are still in the running for the Golden Tortilla. Writer and chef Klancy Miller shines a light on the Black women and femmes at the top of their game in food, wine, and hospitality. Recipe developer Susan Simon teams up with Rabbi Zoe Zak to celebrate the Jewish high holidays. Uli Nasibova heads to the farmer's market to buy quince for a chicken dish.

Journalist Laura Tillman phoned Máximo Bistrot, a restaurant riding the wave of Mexico City's popularity as a fine dining destination, in hopes of interviewing its chef, Eduardo "Lalo" García Guzmán. Tillman had covered immigration for the past 10 years and she was interested in speaking with dishwashers, cooks, waiters, and purveyors working in high-end restaurants, where economic inequalities are pronounced. It was 2016, and as the US presidential election made pawns of Mexican immigrants, the chef was eager to share his story.  Tillman spent the next five years speaking with García, his family, and those who worked with him, following his journey from the fields as a young migrant farm worker to the kitchens of the American South then back to Mexico, where along with his wife, he has built a restaurant group that employs hundreds of people. Tillman tells his story in the book The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García — but ultimately, this is Lalo's journey. It's a singular epic, complete with a cruel twist that reveals so much about the relationship between Mexico and the United States, the two countries that shaped García. 

With temperatures dipping below 80 degrees, it must be pasta weather in Southern California. This week, Good Food heads to Italy. Rachel Roddy combines 50 pasta shapes with sauces, creating iconic dishes of everyone's favorite carb. When Saghar Setareh landed in Rome from Tehran, she uncovered a Venn diagram of overlapping flavors. Silivia Nacamulli looks back at Jewish influences on Italy's culinary history, which stretch back 2,000 years. Clifford Wright hones in on the culinary traditions of Emilia-Romana. At the farmer's market, Melissa Lopez finds eggplant to top one of her must-have pies

It's that time of year. Summer is officially over and kids are back in school. And sending kids to school means figuring out what they're going to eat for lunch… unless your child eats the lunch provided by their school. Then you're done and dusted. A team of experts has figured all of that out for you, right? On the James Beard award-winning podcast Pressure Cooker, hosts Jane Black and Elizabeth Dunn explore the Herculean task of providing nutritious food that children will actually want to eat. If you've never thought about the inner workings of the school lunch program, you're about to get a crash course. This week on Good Food, we're rebroadcasting two episodes from Pressure Cooker. In "The Twisted History of School Lunch in America," Black and Dunn dig into the origins of the school lunch program to figure out how we got to where we are today. It's a surprising tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves filled with cheese. 

Who owns Taco Tuesday? Gustavo Arellano weighs in on the legal skirmish around the phrase. Using slices, pieces, and crumbs, baker Rick Easton treats bread as an ingredient. Sisters Margaret and Irene Li crack the code for using wilted, nearly expired, and only-needed-a-tablespoon ingredients. Krista Burton makes a cross-country pilgrimage to visit the last lesbian bars in the US. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison sets his sights on a newish spot that brings Korean fine dining to Los Angeles. Meredith Pangrace delves into Midwest pies and their origins in a new cookbook.

Meliz Berg praises the overlapping cultures of the slow-cooked meats and herby salads of a Cypriot diet. Third-generation Alaskan Julia O'Malley reports on salmon fishermen trying to keep their head above water amid a lawsuit and starving orcas. Maunika Gowardhan reconfigures tandoori cooking for the home oven, replicating the flavors of the traditional clay pot. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads to Beverly Grove for a union between the Goat Mafia and Saucy Chick. Food historian Judith Tschann breaks down the often farcical etymology of food words. Finally, Chef Matthew Schaler at Birdie G’s celebrates tomato season with a sandwich layering the nightshade in every component.

Sophie Donelson looks at modern kitchens, leaving plenty of wiggle room for comfort and realistic living. Anya von Bremzen travels to six food capitals in search of the connection between cuisine and identity. Learning the tricks of the trade, journalist Jaya Saxena discovers that performing at a Benihana teppanyaki grill isn't as easy as it looks. Daniel Gritzer lays out the tenets of marinades and discusses whether they're worth the effort. Chef Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai shops for market mangos for a traditional Thai dessert.

Memo Torres shares three under-the-radar dining destinations on his monthly Apple Maps list. Gloria Swanson is ready for her close-up as a health food advocate (with a little help from LA historian Hadley Meares). Forget meat alternatives. Lukas Volger develops veggie burger recipes using whole foods. TikTok Jell-O revivalist Otto Markel is documenting every recipe from a 1963 cookbook. "Jiggle Daddy" Ken Albala showcases gelatin cuisine using some eyebrow-raising ingredients. Erika Chan visits the farmers market to find melons for a gelatin dessert at Dunsmoor.

Terrified of the ocean in her youth, Valentine Thomas is now a champion spearfisherwoman. An obsession with a bluefin tuna named Amelia led journalist Karen Pinchin on a deep dive into the future of fish. Saltie Girl owner Kathy Sidell recommends her favorite tinned fish among an ocean of possibilites. Gilberto Centina keeps racking up accolades at Holbox, a top-shelf seafood counter located in Mercado La Paloma. From a five-acre shellfish lease to a legendary Northern California seafood business, Hog Island Oyster Company is the pearl of the Bay Area.

Culinary producer Courtney Storer and actor Liza Colón-Zayas from The Bear show us how they prepped for Season 2. When Uli Nasibova found ice cream and gelato too sweet, she decided to make her own. Dominick DiBartolomeo started working at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills as a pre-med student and now has keys to the front door. Joanne Lee Molinaro found a (probably) AI-generated knockoff of her award winning cookbook, The Korean Vegan, being sold on Amazon. Italian cooking instructor Viola Buitoni offers ideas for using summer produce. 

Historian Amy Brady chips away at the 200-year-old history of ice in America. Martin Riese's fascination with the taste of water began as a child in Germany, where more than 500 brands are sold. Memo Torres namechecks a dozen must-try tacos in Van Nuys. Susan Jung pays homage to fried chicken across East and Southeast Asia. After a two-year wait, Jihee Kim brings her banchan to a brick-and-mortar in Echo Park.

What happens when you equip three podcast producers and a host with two tents, an egg spoon, and some marshmallows? We decided to find out. We sent the Good Food team camping but we knew they'd need a little help. So we called some experts.  Podcast host Ivy Le ventures outside to answer the couch-surfers' burning questions. Canadian food journalist Chris Nuttall-Smith eschews cans of beans for cocktails and campfire paella. Seasoned camper and local chef Shannon Swindle swings by the farmer's market to help pack the cooler. Monique Caulfield shares the secrets of axe throwing. Ashley Jones collects and refurbishes vintage cast iron skillets.  PS - We've also come up with a KCRW Picks: Campfire Songs playlist filled with great tunes for the great outdoors.

This week, Good Food highlights conversations with authors and journalists who took home a 2023 James Beard Media Award. Irina Georgescu hungered for familiar Easter recipes while baking her way through the overlapping cultures of Romania. Professor Psyche A. Williams-Forson considers the stereotypes and stigmas of race and diet. Andy Baraghani takes the lessons he learned working the line at restaurants and applies them to the home kitchen. LA pitmaster Kevin Bludso describes how his grandmother's tough love and rap video catering gigs led him to barbecue success. Chef Vishwesh Bhatt reflects on his childhood in India and how his cooking took shape in the American South. "Diasporican," the first cookbook by food columnist Illyanna Maisonet, explores Puerto Rican cuisine off the island.

David Cooley reminiscences about The Abbey, the West Hollywood cafe and bar he opened in 1991. Rax Will discusses gender-neutral greetings and recommends a few queer pop-ups in LA. Stacey Mei Yan Fong bakes pies to represent all 50 states, as seen through the eyes of an immigrant. Daniel Miller delves into the history of sushi in Los Angeles and how two businessmen scoured Japan for the next great food product. Finally, growing stone fruit for the better part of his life, Troy Regier has peaches and nectarines ripe for the perfect summer sandwich.

Hetty Liu McKinnon navigates grief with an ode to her father and vegetables. Chef José Andrés says the pickiest eater in his family wasn't one of his three daughters, but his wife. Chef Alisa Reynolds travels the world finding food that feeds both body and soul. Ryan Mitchell returns to North Carolina to continue a multigenerational barbecue business. In anticipation of his Echo Park restaurant opening, Miles Thompson shops the farmer's market for his Baby Bistro pop-up.

Virginia Sole-Smith exposes society's anti-fat bias and the issues surrounding childhood obesity. Restaurateur Karan Gokani revels in his first tastes of Sri Lankan food and traditional hoppers made of fermented rice and coconut. Mark Arax looks at the future of water in California's Central Valley. At Chao Krung, Katy Noochlaor explains how her parents put familiar Chinese dishes on their menu to lure in customers before Thai food was popular. Finally, Bob Wiebe brings his short-lived plucots to market while chef Macklin Casnoff shops for his newly-opened Melrose cafe.

Jean Trinh shares the story of her refugee family's connection to Chinese crullers. Cookbook author, teacher, and omnivore Andrea Nguyen offers vegetarian Vietnamese recipes for the home cook. Bill Addison finds comfort at Luyixian in Alhambra. Chef Evan Funke shops for Swiss chard to use at his eponymous new Beverly Hills restaurant.

Abra Berens, a native Michigander, uses peak-of-the-season fruits in a wide array of preparations. From the Underground Railroad to the Oregon Trail, KCRW's Tyler Boudreaux traces the history of the Black Republican cherry. High in sugar and acid, cherries are in full swing at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, and Clemence de Lutz has a recipe for the clafoutis she grew up making. Banana diversity in India makes the fruit ubiquitous and vital to the country's culture, as anthropologist Deepa Reddy explains. Kate Lebo's curiosity about fruit is endless, despite all the pits and its brief window of ripeness.

Ron Salisbury reminisces on 100 years of El Cholo, California's oldest Mexican restaurant, opened by his grandparents in 1923. Antonia Hitchens reports from the Taco Bell innovation kitchen on the frontlines of the stunt food wars. Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral join forces for the perfect asada. British writer Louise Gray evaluates how far her produce travels compared to fruit and veg for a typical Californian. Parked at Sunset Triangle Plaza, blue food truck Simón doles out mariscos and asada with a twist.

Anissa Helou explains the importance of preserving your heritage through food. With the world, and New York Times critic at large Tejal Rao, watching, grandmothers are the new influencers of the online kitchen. California girl Claire Ptak moved to London; her new cookbook pays homage to both homes. Based in Amsterdam, Natasja Sadi imitates nature to create floral arrangements using sugar. Chef Chris Ono shops for blooming produce at the farmer's market. Finally, Asma Khan runs the only professional Indian kitchen in the world with an all-female staff; she pays tribute to the woman behind the food in her latest cookbook. 

Oliver Kaplan shares his method for making a 1st Place blueberry pie. Nevada Berg holes up in her cozy Norwegian farmhouse where she bakes along with the seasons. Scientist and historian Marci R. Baranski explores the legacy of the Green Revolution and its effects on the global wheat market. Filmmaker Raj Patel shines a light on Anita Chitaya, who fights climate change from her village in Malawi. Minh Phan reopens Historic Filipinotown favorite Porridge + Puffs. Chef David Almany searches for lettuces and fresh veg for his crudité platters at the farmer's market, steps away from his restaurant.

With nearly 40% of the food bought in the U.S. tossed out, Tamar Adler finds delicious destinies for leftovers. The pandemic and an impulse to curb food waste led Balo Orozco to create Sunset Cultures, an artisanal kombucha and preserves company. Expat Nancy Singleton Hachisu, an expert on Japanese home cooking, showcases vegetarian dishes in her latest cookbook. Bill Esparza espouses the mariscos life and shares two local recommendations for Sinaloan seafood. Professor Linda J. Seligmann illuminates the politics of quinoa, a minor crop that became a global foodstuff. At the farmer's market, Gather for Good walks the cake walk for reproductive justice.

Culinary wunderkind Flynn McGarry's memoir demonstrates passion, discipline and maturity — and he's only 24. Zee Husain cultivates laksa leaves, huacatay, sambar cucumbers and kadipatta (curry leaf) plants. Halva, a popular sweet throughout Armenia, the Middle East and India, has a deeper significance for Liana Aghajanian. Caleigh Wells breaks down everything you need to know about composting in your kitchen. Valerie Gordon explains what makes a superior custard pie, just in time for this year's Pie Contest. Bill Addison reviews Azizam, where the spring menu is filled with creative uses of fresh produce.

Los Angeles Times columnist and KCRW contributor of "Orange County Line" Gustavo Arellano discusses the importance of recognizing Anaheim's Little Arabia neighborhood. Chef José Andrés drops by to discuss his new LA restaurants and his work with World Central Kitchen. From Beijing through Mongolia to Moscow, New Orleans-based artist and author Emma Fick illustrates her journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway in watercolors. Raghavan Iyer passed away in March leaving behind a love letter to a spice blend celebrated around the world. Writer Anusha Kulal explains the significance of the savory porridge haleem and its connection to Ramadan.

Lizzie Stark hatches stories exploring the cultural history and uses of eggs while sharing her personal story. Cookbook author Irina Georgescu hungered for familiar Easter recipes while baking her way through the overlapping cultures of Romania. Tove Danovich loves raising backyard chickens, a tradition that dates back to her great-grandmother. Margot Anne Kelley revisits utopian back-to-the-land movements throughout American history. Craig McNamara turned to restorative farming as he grappled with the legacy of his father's involvement in the Vietnam War. 

Kate Reid was a successful Formula 1 engineer who designed race cars before shifting gears to make croissants. Jennifer Yee makes vegan croissants at Bakers Bench, where she uses a plant-based substitute for butter. Tejal Rao breaks down "Party Down," the series about the mundane lives of LA cater waiters. Chanie Apfelbaum puts a fresh spin on Passover favorites while remaining "Totally Kosher." Paula Forbes weighs in on the great bay leaf debate.

If RuPaul, Rose Nylund and Julia Child had a baby, she'd be Bertha Mason, a Midwestern pie-baking drag queen with a killer sour cream and raisin pie recipe. Shanita Nicholas and Amanda-Jane Thomas put their legal careers in the rearview mirror to open a coffee spot in Inglewood to inspire community.  “Fresh is boring,” according to fishmonger Liwei Liao, who operates the only market dry-aging fish in the country at The Joint along Ventura Boulevard. Neither rain nor hail can stop chefs from frequenting the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace opened South LA Cafe with a mission to fight racial, social and economic inequality. Their next project? Overseeing the Natural History Museum's entire food and beverage program. The first season of "The Last of Us" concluded last Sunday, and mushrooms played a big role in this new, dystopian world. Tejal Rao asks: Are fungi here to destroy us or save us? Visoth Tarak Ouk aka Chef T was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to parents who survived the genocide of the Khmer regime in Cambodia. His family eventually settled  in Long Beach, where the chef developed a love for cooking and became a pillar of Southern California's Khmer community. Planning to enter the cream category of this year's PieFest? Margarita Manzke of Republique, Manzke, and Sari Sari is a judge, and she has tips on how to win a ribbon. From Haruki Murakami's stir fry to Maurice Sendak's chicken soup with rice, Adrienne LaFrance recalls the 12 most unforgettable descriptions of food in literature. Finally, Bill Addison finds Shanghainese cuisine among a field of Sichuan-dominant restaurants.