Maggot Therapy; Top Chefs' Final Meals; Mexican Delicacies

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Jonathan Gold bites into chef Ludovic Lefebvre's latest creations, while photographer Melanie Dunea compiles the final meal requests of 50 top chefs and award-winning chef Eric Ripert shares his last meal. Norwegian chef Andreas Viestad follows the spice trail and gastronomic adventurers Eddie Lin and Gustavo Arellano sample exotic Mexican delicacies. Culinary extremist Tom Parker Bowles spends a year eating dangerously, Clare Crespo bakes scary Halloween treats and Dr. Karen Dente discusses the benefits of maggot therapy. Plus, Laura Avery finds what's in season in the Market Report.

Guest Interview

The Market Report ()

Laura Avery talks with Kirk Fink of Casablanca Nursery in San Diego County about growing culinary herbs indoors. Some recommended herbs are basil, mints, thyme, chives, and sage (pictured.)

She also meets up with Bill Coleman of Coleman Farms to find out about two exotic looking fruits - passion fruit and dragon fruit.

The dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or strawberry pear, is native to Mexico, Central and South America and the fruit to cactus species. The fruit comes in three varieties: red-skinned with white flesh (pictured), red-skinned with red flesh and yellow-skinned with white flesh. Best eaten chilled.

Music break: Nealy Sunrise by the Fireballs

Guest Interview

The Gold Standard: Ludo Bites at Breadbar ()

LA Weekly Counter Intelligence columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold bites into Ludo Bites at BREADBAR, a three-month dining experience and collaboration between chef Ludovic Lefebvre (of Bastide and L'Orangerie), the Beverly Hills Cheese Shop, and BREADBAR. Bring a bottle of wine and eat lots of tiny, delicious courses made with the freshest ingredients available. One special is cordon-bleu, which is chicken cordon-bleu without the chicken, just serrano ham and cheese, breaded and grilled, garnished with grape-blue syrup. Price $18. Other must-trys are the "broccomole" (like guacamole, except with broccoli,) smoked salmon with lentils and trout roe. Jonathan recommends ordering the cheese plate combined with the appropriate condiments.

Ludo Bites
September 12 - December 21
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, 6:00 to 9:30pm
BREADBAR
8718 W Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310-205-0124

Music break: No No No by Deiter Reith

Guest Interview

My Last Supper ()

Chefs and foodies often play a game where they confess what their final meal on earth would be if they had a choice. In award-winning photographer Melanie Dunea's book, My Last Supper, she compiles the final meal requests of 50 top chefs. Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert is one of those celebrated chefs and describes his simple last meal.

What would be your final meal? We'd love to hear from you, so call us at (310) 581-5858. We'll air your responses on our Thanksgiving show on Saturday, November 17.

Music break: Wonderful Land by the Fireballs

Guest Interview

Where Flavor Was Born and New Scandinavian Cooking ()

Norwegian chef Andreas Viestad follows the spice trail along the Indian Ocean in Where Flavor Was Born. He is a food writer and television host of PBS' New Scandinavian Cooking, where he cooks outdoors in a makeshift kitchen. He combines the simplicity of Tuscan and Provencal cooking with fish, game and ingredients native to Norway and believes food should be fun, simple and flavorful. His first English language cookbook is Kitchen of Light.

Music break: Gypsy Beat '61 by the Packabeats

Guest Interview

Mexican Delicacies ()

Extreme food correspondent Eddie Lin revisits his kitchen nightmares by eating Mexican delicacies, chapulines (grasshoppers--see above!) and huitlacoche (corn smut) in Orange County. OC Weekly columnist and author Gustavo Arellano accompanies Eddie on his culinary adventures by tasting chapulines at Oaxacan restaurant, El Fortin, where they sampled them toasted with chiles, salt and lime and in a quesadilla de chapulines. Huitlacoche comes from the Nahuatl word for raven excrement, is also known as Mexican truffle and is a fungus that grows on corn. Eddie and Gustavo ate huitlacoche at El Rincon Chilango. Eddie blogs for Deep End Dining and Gustavo writes the Ask A Mexican! column and is a food critic for the OC Weekly.

El Fortin
700 E Commonwealth Ave
Fullerton, CA 92831
714-773-4290

El Rincon Chilango
1133 W 17th St
Santa Ana, CA 92706
714-836-5096

Music break: Tears Dry on Their Own by Amy Winehouse

Guest Interview

The Year of Eating Dangerously ()

Tom Parker Bowles travels the world searching for rare delicacies and other foods that push the limit in The Year of Eating Dangerously. He is a food writer, television host of UKTV's Market Kitchen and is the son of Camilla Parker Bowles.

Music break: God Made Me Funky by the Headhunters

Guest Interview

Halloween Treats ()

Baker Clare Crespo's favorite day of the year is Halloween. Some ghoulishly tasty treats are eyeball, brain and bleeding heart cupcakes, as well as monster head potatoes and hand punch. She is the author of Hey There, Cupcake! and The Secret Life of Food. She's also one of the "brains" behind Treat Street, a roving secret bakery that sets up shop on the streets of Silver Lake. To sign up for the Treat Street newsletter, email TreatStreet@gmail.com

Monster Head Potatoes and Hand Punch photos from The Secret Life of Food
Eyeball, Brain and Bleeding Heart Cupcakes from Hey There, Cupcake!

Music break: Gimmi More by Carlos Fendiera

Guest Interview

Maggot Therapy ()

It's all about eating or getting eaten, as is the case for maggots and humans. Dr. Karen Dente discusses the benefits of free-range maggot therapy. Around since antiquity and used by many cultures, maggots clean wounds by eating infected dead tissue, allowing new tissue to grow. Dr. Dente is a journalist who's passion is writing about science and medicine for German and English-language publications. She recently wrote a LA Times article on maggots.

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