Food & Cooking

Restaurant critic John Mariani. He's written a book about the history of going out for a meal. "America Eats Out" (Morrow) portrays the origin and significance of every type of restaurant known to the American public, from the tavern to the automat to the golden arches.

Editor and columnist Raymond Sokolov. His new book is "Why We Eat What We Eat: How the Encounter Between the New World and the Old Changed the Way Everyone on the Planet Eats." (published by Summit Books) His premise is that Christopher Columbus initiated a worldwide culinary revolution when he discovered the New World. Sokolov is the editor of the Leisure & Arts page of "The Wall Street Journal," a columnist for "Natural History" magazine, and a contributor to "Food and Wine" magazine. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).

Food writer Edward Behr (pronounced "bear"). Behr writes, illustrates, and publishes the quarterly newsletter, "The Art of Eating." In each issue, Behr writes in-depth, personal essays about food and cuisine. The newsletter's subscription is small, but it's read by a large number of the top names in the food business. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Ok, maybe it's unpatriotic, but Rock Historian Ed Ward hates barbecues. It's not the food he minds -- he just doesn't like eating outside.

Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in The Public Interest. He's one of the authors of the new book, "Safe Food." It's a guide to the dangers in what we eat. The book discusses pesticides, bacteria and other toxic substances found in food.

Terry talks about tuna fishing and free trade with:
(1) Activist Sam LaBudde, of the Earth Island Institute. He went undercover on a tuna boat and video taped the slaughter of dolphins during tuna fishing. The tape was instrumental in starting the tuna boycott.
(2) Attorney, Josh Floum sued the Bush Administration to get it to enforce its law regarding dolphin-safe tuna fishing.
(3) Philippe Charat, President of the Tuna Association of Mexico. He responds to criticism that fishermen are killing dolphins while tuna fishing.

We talk with the Village Voice's food writer. He was diagnosed as a diabetic as a child, an experience that he credits with making him more aware of the role of food in life and family. His new books is called "Learning to Eat.

We examine the current craze surrounding low-fat and low cholesterol foods. First, nutritionist Jane Hurley of the advocacy group, Science in the Public Interest talks about recent marketing trends in "healthy" food...things like McDonald's "McLean" burger. Second, Wall Street Journal cultural writer Raymond Sokolov talks about America's obsession with food and fat. Third, cardiologist Thomas Graboys of the Harvard School of Public Health gives us some sane advice about diet and health.

Michael Jackson (No, not THAT Michael Jackson). He's a beer expert who's written the "Pocket Guide to Beer (The Connoisseur's companion to over 1000 Beers of the World)," by Simon & Schuster. He lives in England and has also written "The New World Guide to Beer.

Josh Wesson, publisher and executive-editor of the Wine and Food Companion, tells us what wines are best for the Seder table, and what makes those wines Kosher.

Book critic John Leonard turns his critical eye away from books to discuss a topic dear to his heart: pork.

David Rosengarten and Joshua Wesson, coeditors of the "Wine and Food Companion," join Fresh Air to talk about the history, science, and varieties of sparking wine. Later, Atlantic Magazine food writer Cory Kummer recommends some of cheaper options available.

Food writer Harold McGee investigates the science of everyday cooking -- things like whether blowing on soup really cools it, or why hot water turns into ice cubes quicker than cold water. His new book is called The Curious Cook.

Writer Jon Jefferson explains how deep fried food is as essential to Southern identity as the distinctive Southern drawl.

Writer and editor Corby Kummer. He's written a series of articles for the "Atlantic Magazine" on coffee, covering health effects, brewing, and decaf versus caffeine.

Food historian William Woys Weaver. Weaver is a leading expert on the culinary traditions and cooking techniques of the 18th and 19th centuries, and he often is often consulted by restoration organizations such as Old Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg. Weaver also tracks the emergence of regional American cuisines, often focusing on what the common workers, farmers, and slaves ate. Weaver's new book, "America Eats," examines American foods as a valid form of folk art. It also features traditional recipes adapted for the modern kitchen.

Novelist Anne Lamott. Her latest novel, "All New People", is an account of growing up in a Northern California railroad town in the midst of the cultural dislocations of the 1960's. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

Winemaker Robert Gerald Mondavi. He's credited with being, "one of the world's two or three most influential wine makers." ("New West" magazine). In the 1960's he severed ties with the family's Winery in Napa Valley where his father had been producing bulk wine since the 1930's. He went on to form his own winery, Robert Mondavi Winery, and to put California on the map as a world-class wine producer.

The French Chef, Julia Child. She spent three decades explaining the mysteries of classic French cuisine to modern American audiences. Child has hosted several cooking shows on Public Television, earning Peabody and Emmy Awards in the process, and written several cookboks. Her new book, is titled "The Way to Cook." It's a 50-dollar tome that...in Child's words...tells "everything [I] know about the essentials of cooking today."

Chinese chef Ken Hom. He's the author of the new cookbook, "Fragrant Harbor Taste: The New Chinese Cooking of Hong Kong." Hong Kong is in the midst of a culinary revolution, with Japanese, European, and American foods and styles of preparation all merging with traditional Chinese cuisine. Hom has taught cooking in Hong Kong for the past ten years. He's also written several previous cookbooks and hosted the public T-V series "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery."