Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

In this special episode, we’re releasing an extended cut of our interview with Alexis Nikole Nelson. She tells us about the foraged ingredients you won’t find at your grocery store (like mugwort and magnolia flowers!) and the dishes she creates with them. Plus, Alexis reveals her favorite spot in New York City for foraging maitake mushrooms.

Photo credit: JB Douglas

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Alexis Nikole Nelson, known on TikTok as the Black Forager, has been foraging wild ingredients as long as she can remember. In her new book, "Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!", she shares what she cooks with them—including pickled onion grass and mushroom sour candy—and reveals a run-of-the-mill weed that might help flavor Dr. Pepper. Plus, we visit Arianna Pasquini to find out what Romans actually cook for dinner; then we head to Oktoberfest to learn the sport of Steinholding.

Photo credit: JB Douglas

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For this week's bonus, we're going back into the archives with our good friends Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette from the radio show A Way With Words. In our first-ever episode together from 2019, they discuss why some restaurant servers ask “Will you be wanting anything else?" They also explain phrases that seemingly don’t make a lot of sense, such as “in a pickle.” Plus, master spice blender Lior Lev Sercarz teaches us how to transform a meal; we learn the step-by-step rules to perfect curry; and Adam Gopnik ponders climate change and the future of wine.

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Bon Appétit columnist Maggie Hennessy helps us navigate the new rules of dining out. Is it ever OK to take out your phone? What’s the best way to grab your server’s attention? And how fussy is too fussy? Plus, Irene Yoo throws a soju party, and Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette of A Way With Words share the stories behind your favorite pasta shapes. (Originally aired September 26, 2025.)

Photo credit: Bon Appétit / Getty

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For Pati Jinich, there was a right way and a wrong way to make authentic Mexican cuisine. That was until she journeyed across the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. From cowboy candy to green spaghetti, she joins us to share the foods and lessons she learned from both sides of the border. Plus, Milk Street Radio producer Sarah Clapp visits the 2026 James Beard Chef and Restaurant Awards and meets the winners; and Mo Rocca prepares a funeral breakfast for accordionist Lawrence Welk.

Photo credit: Jennifer Chase

Listen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify