Good Food
The price of pork, giant marrow and an Asian fried chicken crawl
Phillip Vowles talks about growing armchair-sized vegetables in Wales, then Christian Schwarz gives us a primer on California mushrooms and reporter David Jackson discusses his investigation into the hog business in Illinois. We also get tips for cooking and growing tomatoes from The Bazaar's Holly Jivin and Pernille Carpenter of Coastal Organics. Plus, Jonathan Gold's favorite Asian fried chicken spots and Sonoko Sakai's recipe for bacon and scrambled egg onigiri.
By Evan Kleiman • • 58m ListenIn this episode
6 storiesThe giant veg specialist
Phillip Vowles has been growing vegetables in Wales for more than 30 years. But these aren't your average veg. His ginormous zucchini, known as marrow in those parts, are armchair-sized monsters that regularly top 100 pounds. We reached Vowles in the Vale of Glamorgan to find out how he grows his behemoths.
Read the story7 minMushrooms of the Redwood Coast
Fungi are among the oldest living things on Earth. Mycologist Paul Stamets believes they can be used to clean polluted soil, create insecticides and even treat smallpox and flu viruses. Christian Schwarz is one of the authors of the new field guide Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast . He gives us a primer on California fungi.
Read the story11 minTomato time!
This time of year, our farmers markets are full of red, purple, yellow and orange tomatoes — from pint-sized Sungolds to heirlooms to other more robust varieties for sauces. Since this summer's bounty will only be around for a few more weeks, you'd better stock your pantry now.
Read the story8 minThe price of pork
Last month, the Chicago Tribune began to publish the findings of a nine-month deep dive into the Illinois pork industry. In recent years, hundreds of new industrial hog operations have popped up across Illinois, which is the fourth largest pork-producing state in the nation.
Read the story13 minRice craft
Imagine warm, hand-shaped triangles of rice sprinkled or filled with salted salmon or Japanese pickled vegetables that are wrapped in roasted nori. These are onigiri or, as they are also called, omusubi. They're popular, easy-to-make Japanese snacks that Sonoko Sakai says are convenience store darlings and every mom's answer to bento-style sushi.
Read the story10 minAn Asian fried chicken crawl through LA
Jonathan Gold closes out this week's show with the scoop on where to find the best Asian fried chicken in Los Angeles. "There are so many chicken frying traditions all over Asia," says Jonathan, "every country has its own or many, many different kinds and we're lucky to have a lot of them."
Read the story6 min
