The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

This week, we’re diving into fall cooking and the beauty of bitter flavors. First, Genevieve Ko, deputy editor at New York Times Cooking, joins Francis to take your fall cooking questions. From freezing smart to cabbage makeovers, Genevieve shares practical advice for making the most of fresh produce and tackling leftovers. She also shares the NYT Cooking piece 15 Ways to Make a Head of Cabbage Dinner and her Pumpkin Meringue Pie recipe. And check out her Cinnamon-Toast Graham Crackers from the last time she joined us to talk about Better Baking. Then, London-based cookbook author Alexina Anatole shares the inspiration behind her debut book, Bitter. She makes the case for bitterness as an essential flavor, one that brings depth, intrigue, and balance to our cooking. Alexina reminds us how bitterness touches so many of our favorite foods and she leaves us with her recipe for Stout Sticky Toffee Pudding, a perfect example of sweet meeting bitter in harmony.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 19, 2025 (originally aired)
September 18, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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Fire up your ovens because this week, it’s all about Southern and Midwestern baking. First, we catch up with the inimitable Carla Hall about her latest projects, including her one-woman show and her first-ever baking book that brings her love for baking and savory cooking together. She walks us through practical tips to help you feel comfortable in the kitchen, from pre-prepping pancake batter to investing in a scale and making the most of her ingredients, as she does for her “Black-ish cake” and Chocolate Focaccia. Carla Hall is the author of Carla Bakes: Sweet, Savory, and from the Heart: A Baking Book. She left us with her recipe for Savory Parmesan Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Tomato Basil Cream Cheese. Then we head to the Midwest to talk with Martin Sorge, author and winner of the Great American Baking Show, about his love for baking. He walks us through his love for whole grain flours and how to put them to good use in your baking (hint: buckwheat for flavorful shortbreads, rye for gooey brownies and chewy cookies!) and his technique for fluffy cakes. Martin Sorge is the author of Great Bakes: Modern Classic Bakes From the Midwest, and he left us with his recipe for Coconut Caramel Brownies.

Head to our YouTube channel and watch this extended cut of our interview with Carla Hall. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 11, 2026 (originally aired)

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This week, we’re turning peak-season produce into bold, flavorful dishes. First, we talk with Rick Martínez, author of Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way into Mexican Cooking, about transforming simple ingredients – think tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chilis – into salsas that sing. Rick explains why salsa is its own food group and leaves us with his family-inspired peach-and-pecan Salsa Tejana recipe. Then, we visit New York chef Sunny Lee of Sunn’s, a restaurant devoted to banchan, Korea’s iconic side dishes. Sunny teaches Francis how to elevate fresh vegetables into inventive, season-forward sides, including her recipe for Tahini Pickled Mushroom banchan.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 5, 2025 (originally aired)
September 4, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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This week, former bartender turned culinary historian Bobby Hicks joins us to talk about his passion for retro cooking. He gives us a history lesson on how recipes evolved thanks to industrial advances, and explains the thinking behind his redos of post-World War II-era recipes, like his carrot croquettes. Bobby Hicks is the author of Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist, and he left us with an amazing recipe for Tomato Aspic. Then, we turn to the science behind human taste with Italian scientists Davide Risso and Gabriella Morini. They talk about distinguishing taste from flavor, how humans use a combination of senses to taste, how preferences change over time, and how understanding the fascinating taste preferences of animals (mosquitoes!) helps us understand taste in humans. Davide Risso is a molecular biologist with a PhD from the University of Bologna, and Gabriella Morini is a professor of taste and food sciences at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy. They co-authored On Taste in Humans and Other Animals.

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Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 28, 2026 (originally aired)

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This week’s stop in our road trip series is Thailand: We’re revisiting an episode from a couple of years ago where we talked to Salvadoran chef Karla T. Vasquez and food journalist Austin Bush, author of The Food of Southern Thailand.