Silverbrow on Food

Claudia Roden podcast

I was delighted to be able to speak tonight to Claudia Roden. She is an exceptionally friendly and gracious lady who has a fantastic knowledge and love of the food she writes about.

Listen to the podcast to learn about Claudia's next book on the food world's favourite country; to hear what happened when Irish and Jewish cuisines mingled the East End and why I can thank the marketing nous of doyens (sic?) Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson for one of my favourite cookbooks.

Click below to listen.

Forthcoming podcast: Claudia Roden

I am delighted that after a short hiatus my podcasts are back. I am particularly delighted that Claudia Roden will be my subject. She is a prolific author with a self-evident passion for the food she is writing about. For me what sets her writing apart, is the social history that peppers her books and adds meaningful colour to well written and researched journalists.

My particular favourites are her Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day and The Food of Italy.

If you have got any questions you would like me to ask her, email me or leave a comment below, by Monday afternoon, UK time.

Bacchus podcast

Phil Mossop and Nuno Mendes are doing amazing things at Bacchus. They're also both incredibly nice people. In my chat with them today Phil says there's no ego at the restaurant, it is hard to believe but could well be true.

As the success of their restaurant shows, they are tenacious. This was further demonstrated when I mentioned to Phil that I was never that keen on their desserts, especially the black olive financier. Never one to lose a battle, he got the kitchen to rustle up a tasting plates of three desserts, including the financier. I can now say their desserts are stonking, especially the pannacotta ice-cream. The financier ain't so bad either.

PS apologies if it sounds a bit tinny, I was using some new technology and there was a bit of an echo in the room.

Click below to listen.

Forthcoming podcast: Phil Mossop & Nuno Mendes, Bacchus

I am interviewing the chef and owner of one of my favourite restaurants, Bacchus, on Tuesday. If anyone would like to suggest questions or ideas, please let me know, either in the comments below or by emailing me.

Giorgio Locatelli podcast

From everything I have read and seen of Giorgio Locatelli, I got the impression he was a nice guy.  My chat with him has confirmed that.  We talked about a number of issues, ranging from the relative influences of his grandmother and Anton Edelman to Aprilia motorbikes.  We spoke at some length about how London is a great place to live, even if it doesn't have the culinary heritage of some other cities.

He also mentioned that Locanda Locatelli will be shut for most of January while they do some work to the kitchen.  Being a bad interviewer I didn't ask what was being done.

Click below to listen.

Forthcoming podcast: Giorgio Locatelli

I will be doing a podcast with Chef Giorgio Locatelli tomorrow.

As regular readers will know, he has recently published Made in Italy, Food & Stories, a book that I love.  Locanda Locatelli, where he is chef patron, is a restaurant I love.  So frankly, however cool and aloof I would like to come across, I am very chuffed that he has agreed to do this.

To give you an idea of the esteem with which Giorgio is held, let me use the words of the UK's enfant terrible de cuisine, Marco Pierre White:

...when I was cooking I looked terrible. Actually, I think that's a telling sign of whether a chef is actually in the kitchen. When I look at Giorgio Locatelli, I know he cooks. It shows on his face. Locatelli is like an artist: his food is an extension of his personality and he keeps it simple and doesn't interfere.

As ever, I am keen to receive any questions from readers, either by email or in the comments below.

Michael Ruhlman podcast

I've just had a great chat with Michael Ruhlman.  He laid into celebrity chefs, including a warning that Gordon Ramsay cannot afford to be dull at The London in New York.  He reassured me that Thomas Keller has found his balance, but his clogs are still AWOL and made clear his scepticism of Michelin breaking the US.  He also gave me a bit of an insight into his next project, a hubristic glossary of cooking.

Also, if anyone can help him out on recipes for balls (as in testicles, gonads etc) he would really appreciate it.

You can use any of the options below to listen to Michael and me.

Forthcoming podcast: Michael Ruhlman

This podcasting malarkey seems to be getting out of hand.  Now Michael Ruhlman has agreed to do a podcast with me.

I've written about him on a few occasions previously.  His CV is blooming impressive: He has written a number of books about chefs and more recently about charcuterie.  He co-wrote Thomas Keller's French Laundry and Bouchon cookbooks.  Recently, he started his own blog although you can find some of his earlier on-line musings at Megnut.

To me, Michael seems to have an almost perfect setup:  he writes for a living about the things he loves.  His engaging style and willingness to say what he thinks (go read his blog) has ensured his success.  Among other things, I hope to get a bit more skinny on his relationship with Anthony Bourdain, to find out whether you would want to have a drink with Thomas Keller and get his views on the latest foie gras farce in the US.

I'll be speaking to him on Tuesday 31st October.  If you have got any questions, let me know by then.

Ideas in Food podcast

Tonight I went international and interviewed Aki Kamozawa and Alexander Talbot of the blog Ideas in Food, as previously touted.

I have followed their blog for some time and cannot fathom why they haven't got wider recognition.  I cannot claim to be a great predictor of any trends, let alone food trends, but I would wager these two are going to be big names very soon.  They deserve all the recognition they get, from the ideas on their blog alone.

Listen to the podcast to hear how the husband and wife team get their Ideas in Food, the benefits (and problems) they face being in the boondocks and the latest on their plans to venture forth on their own.  Also, get heads up on which of their notebooks they would like to publish as a cookbook.

Please excuse the slight technical hitch and colourful language at the beginning of the podcast. Alex was getting used to the technology and I was trying to figure out the time delay caused by the long-distance call.  My lack of technological know-how and equipment meant I was unable to edit the podcast in quite the way I would have liked.  As for the dodgy heavy breathing, that was all mine.  I have no idea why I sound like a member of the dirty mac brigade.

If you want to download the podcast with either Odeo or iTunes, use either of the buttons below.  Alternatively, you can access the soundfile by clicking on the podcast button.

Forthcoming podcast: Aki & Alex, Ideas in Food

I have really admired the blog Ideas in Food for some time.  It is written by chefs - and husband and wife - Aki Kamozawa and Alexander Talbot.  They are the chefs at Keyah Grande, a hunting lodge, which according to its website is near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. When I looked it up on Google Maps, I realised that everything is relative and in truth, they are near nowhere, properly the middle of nowhere.

Despite this (or is it in spite of this?) they appear to create some of the most imaginative dishes around.  The thing I particularly enjoy about Ideas in Food is that often it is a stream of their consciousness about food.  They riff about what does and doesn't work in the kitchen.  To the ordinary home cook, many of the dishes might seem bonkers, such as Warmed King Salmon, pistachio cotton candy, watercress, jalapeno-apple dressing.  But then again, think about those flavours and you can see they might work.  Or what about their Potato Gnocchi in Foie Gras Consomme, which sounds like such a perfect dish you wonder why no-one devised it before.

Their cooking conjures up lots of questions.  I now have the opportunity to ask some of those questions because Aki and Alex have agreed to do a podcast with me.  We have not confirmed a date yet because work and a seven hour time difference is conspiring against us, but with any luck it will be sometime in the next week or so.  When the date is confirmed I will let you know.

As with the Dan Lepard podcast, I'll happily take questions from readers that I will ask Aki and Alex.  Either email me or leave a comment below.

UPDATE The podcast has been confirmed for Monday 16th October.  It will be early evening UK time, lunchtime US time.

Dan Lepard podcast

I think it went rather well.  It, is the first, hopefully not the last, Silverbrow podcast.  As previously announced, Dan Lepard was the man at the other end of the phone.

He is one of the UK's best bakers and takes stunning photos of food.  Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy: Food and Stories is evidence of that.

If you want to download the podcast with either Odeo or iTunes, use either of the buttons below.  Alternatively, you can access the soundfile by clicking on the podcast button.

Keep 'em coming

I'm still taking suggestions for my Dan Lepard podcast.   Most people seem to prefer email rather than comments which is fine by me.  And before you think I'm getting desperate at the prospect of my first podcast I'm not, I'm just a jolly nice chap who is helping to jog your memory.  Honest.

Suggest questions for my Dan Lepard podcast

I am very excited.  Dan Lepard, probably the UK's finest baker and a leading food photographer, has agreed to be the first interviewee of what I hope will be an occasional series of podcasts.

If you are a regular reader of Silverbrow on Food, you will know that I think very highly of Dan and I'm not the only one, as his website so bashfully points out:

'The bread supremo' Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

'Lepard is one of London's most inspired and inspiring breed of new young bakers... a British bread champion' Michael Bateman, The Independent

'A passionate baker, dessert maker and talented pastry chef.' Nick Lander, The Financial Times

I'll be interviewing Dan on the evening of Thursday 14 September and hopefully (technology willing), I'll be posting the podcast to the site later that night.  I've got some ideas of what I want to speak to him about, obviously including his experiences as a baker, as an author of his best-selling book The Handmade Loaf, as webmaster and about his forthcoming projects.

One of those projects, Made in Italy, Food and Stories is the catalyst for the interview.  The book is the first serious cookbook / biography from Michelin starred Giorgio Locatelli - I'm pleased to say he's another man who's food I adore.  From what I've heard this book is a bit of a magnum opus, running to over 600 pages, it covers the full gamut of Italian cooking according to Giorgio.  Dan is responsible for all the photos.  No date has yet been confirmed for the release of the book, however Dan believes it should be early September.

Because he is such a nice bloke he has agreed to let me give you a sneak peak of the book, including some beautiful photography and stunning looking recipes.  Click here you lucky people.

Another new project he is working on and I'd like to talk to him about, is a book with the Ronseal-esque title of British Baking.  It does what it says on the tin - it will be about the history and current state of baking in the UK.

So, you know what I'm interested in, but I'm interested in what you're interested in.  I'd like suggestions, comments and ideas from you.  Either leave them in the comments section under this post, or email me.