Joe Yonan

Smokers are closely associated with meat. But there is a world of meatless uses for them as well, from potatoes and eggs to water and even ice cream. Project Smoke author Steven Raichlen tells Joe Yonan all about them.

"Globally, 95 percent of our calories now come from 30 species," says journalist and educator Simran Sethi, author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate. "Three-fourths of the food we eat comes from 12 plants and five animal species."

Culinary historian Michael Twitty is on a journey to discover himself, through the food of his ancestors. Joe Yonan talks to him about history, identity, and what exactly goes into a kosher soul roll.

The counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s protested the corporate food industry with food-centric forms of civil disobedience that resulted in the popularization of many foods we still eat today: granola, tofu, soymilk, and maybe even the toast you had this morning. Contributor Joe Yonan talked with Jonathan Kauffman, author of Hippie Food, specifically about America’s reintroduction to brown bread.

"Loads of herbs, really balanced and complex flavors, like loads of sweet and sour, amazing produce -- these are the flavors of Ukraine," says Olia Hercules, author of Mamushka.

"Every time I decide how to walk into the kitchen, what to eat, how to feed my family, I'm making a decision about how I want to live my life," says Alana Chernila, author of The Homemade Kitchen.

Food Network host and curious food writer discovers America with a fork in his book Fed, White, and Blue.

New York Times cocktail writer Robert Simonson's book, A Proper Drink, looks at the origins of the ongoing cocktail renaissance and the bartenders who rescued classic drinks from obscurity. He tells The Splendid Table's Joe Yonan about the lost ingredients (and supermodels) that inspired them, and why the cosmopolitan is so controversial.

"How can someone change from a fraught relationship with food to a less fraught one, which is where we all want to get?" says Bee Wilson, author of First Bite.

"Their flavors can be intense, but the beauty of them is really how they integrate into dishes, how they accentuate and highlight other flavors," says Barton Seaver, author of Superfood Seagreens.

"A lot of people think that a vegan meal is going to be a white, bland, squishy piece of tofu," says chef Tal Ronnen of the Los Angeles restaurant Crossroads.

Though the pawpaw grows wild in 26 states, the fruit remains a mystery to many Americans. Andrew Moore, author of Pawpaw, says that wasn't always the case.

Kate Winslow, author of Onions Etcetera, shares her love of all things allium with The Splendid Table contributor Joe Yonan.

Ice cream aficionada Dana Cree is the author of Hello, My Name is Ice Cream. She shares the keys to making wonderful ice cream using other sweet treats as ingredients.