Killer Plants; Nagging Questions; Food Safety; Caviar King

Guest Interview

Market Report ()

Robert and Rob Poole of Redlands bring down all varieties of blackberries. They will have them for three weeks only. Find them at the Hollywood Sunday market and the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers markets.  The boysenberry is their specialty. These can be stored in a plastic container in the fridge with a moistened paper towel. You can also freeze them. First freeze them on a cookie sheet and then place in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. That way you can pull a few out at a time rather than having to thaw them all out at once.

Zach Walter is the Chef de Cuisine at Cube Cafe and Marketplace on 615 La Brea near Melrose. He is making his own sausage and salumi.  He buys a whole pig from farmers up north and is trying to encourage local farmers to raise humanely treated and organicly fed animals.  Find Cube at the Taste of the Nation event at Media Park in Culver City on Sunday, June 14th from 1pm to 5pm. Cube will be making a peach and tomato salad with fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar and basil.

Music Break: Aboio by Beto Villares

Guest Interview

Nagging Questions ()

Roxanne Webber is the woman behind the Nagging Questions column at Chow.com. 

Send Roxanne your nagging question.

Music Break: Adious by Eric Serra

Guest Interview

Dining in Afghanistan ()

Susan Marx lives in Afghanistan with her husband Chris.  She works for a non-governmental, human rights organization.

Seller of nuts and other snacks in the old city of Kabul

Bread dough eaten for breakfast is fried in a pan of oil

A man tosses a huge dish of Pilau in Sheberghan, Jawzjan Province

Afghanistan has a number of different kinds of naan, in Kabul it tends to be longer, and not shiny like this, Sherberghan has some of the best bread - almost sweet.

This man sits atop an open-flame oven in which he grills fresh river fish from the Salang Pass

Music Break: Alison's Uncle by Cannonball Adderley

Guest Interview

Killer Plants ()

Amy Stewart is the author of Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities.  Her book is behind a new exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. 

White Snakeroot (Photo Courtesy Amy Stewart)

Deadly Nightshade (Copper etching by Briony Morrow-Cribbs for the book Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart)

Tobacco (Copper etching by Briony Morrow-Cribbs for the book Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart)

Music Break: Beyond The 7th Moon by Kasai Allstars

Guest Interview

The Fight for Food Safety ()

In 2001 Barbara Kowalcyk's 2-year old son died after contracting E. coli O157:H7 from a hamburger.  The tragedy of his death propelled her into a life of food-safety activism.  She started the non-profit Center for Foodborne Illness and continues to lobby Congress for an improved food safety system.

Her fight is chronicled in the film Food Inc.  Evan is hosting a Q&A with producer Elise Perlstein on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 pm at the Nuart Theater. 

Guest Interview

Food Safety Update ()

Marion Nestle is a Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health  at New York University.  She is the author of numerous books including Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.  Her blog, FoodPolitics.com, covers a variety of food issues including safety.

Music Break: Blackness Of Darkness by Cedric Im Brooks

Guest Interview

Backwards Beekeeping ()

Kirk Anderson is a beekeeper living in Los Angeles.  He practices "backwards beekeeping," which means that he doesn't use a "foundation" in his hives.  Traditional beekeeping uses plastic or beeswax foundations printed with a hexagonal cell pattern to draw their comb.  Instead, backwards beekeepers use a strip of wood or cardboard and allow the bees to draw their own comb, naturally.  Backwards beekeepers pride themselves for being chemical-free.

Kirk raises feral bees which he collects from trapping swarms of bees.  He sells honey on his website.

Music Break: Blockbuster by KPM All Stars

Guest Interview

Caviar King ()

Armen Petrossian is the President of Petrossian Fine Foods.  Armen is the son of Mouchegh who, with his brother Melkoum, began importing Russian caviar to Paris in the 1920's.

Some of Petrossian caviar offerings include farm-raised sturgeon.  Currently, Beluga Caviar, perhaps the most prized variety of caviar, is illegal in the US as their numbers have plummeted.

Petrossian Cafe & Boutique

321 North Robertson Boulevard