Food & Cooking

Raichlen's new book is "The Barbecue Bible" (Workman Publishing) which includes over 500 recipes which he collected in his worldwide travels researching and tasting the way foods are barbecued in other countries. His travels took him to The Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Raichlen wrote the award-winning cookbooks, "Miami Spice" and the "High-Flavor, Low-Fat" series.

Food critic Ruth Reichl. Her new book is called "Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table," (Random House) and it's her memoir of a lifelong passion for food. Reichl has been the restaurant critic for the New York Times since 1993. Prior to that, she reviewed restaurants for the Los Angeles Times. She ran her own restaurant in Berkeley, California in the 1970s.

Epidemilogist Susan Oliveria is an expert on the link between nutrition and cancer. She is one of the authors of the new book, "The Strang Cookbook for Cancer Prevention: A Complete Nutrition and Lifestyle Plan to Dramatically Lower Your Cancer Risk" (Dutton). The book includes recipes from gourmet chefs. Oliveria teaches at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center, Cornell University Medical College, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Journalist Michael Ruhlman is the author of the book, "The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America" (Henry Holt). Ruhlman attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York to research his book. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

TV Critic David Bianculli reviews a cooking show from Japan called "Iron Chef". It is shown in New York and San Francisco. The show features Japan's top chefs in the heat of competition.

Jerry Strahan is the author of the memoir "Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter" (Louisiana State University) about his 20 years managing Lucky Dogs, Inc., a fleet of hot dog carts in New Orleans, French Quarter. Strahan writes that he works among panhandlers, prostitutes, pimps, con artists, drifters, transvestites, and more.

Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourette cooks and tends garden at Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery near Millbrook, New York. He's the author of several bestselling cookbooks including: "From a Monastery Kitchen" (Triumph Books), "Twelve Months of Monastery Soups" (Broadway books), as well as his introductory book to the Monastic Life: "A Monastic Year: Reflections from a Monastery" (Taylor Publishing). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).

Food writer Jean Anderson. She writes regularly for the magazines Gourmet, Food & Wine, Family Circle, and Bon Appetit. She's also written over 20 cookbooks. Her latest is "The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipies of the Twentieth Century." (Crown Publishing). The book includes such classic recipies as Green Bean Casserole, Chicken Divan, and Stroganoff Casserole.

Cooking expert Madeleine Kamman. She authored "The Making of a Cook" in 1971, and just updated her work to write "The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, and Science of Good Cooking" (William Morrow). Both of her books aim to show American cooks how to prepare their own ingredients with French culinary techniques. Kamman is also a PBS cooking show host and director of the School for American Chefs.

Culinary expert Shirley Corriher, author of "Cookwise," (William Morrow) a practical guide to culinary mysteries and the science of cooking. Corriher is a food writer and a contributing editor to "Fine Cooking" magazine.

Actress and Comedian Alexandra Wentworth. She's the author of The WASP Cookbook (Warner), a collection of purposefully bland recipes (with nicknames such as Kiki’s Cupcakes and Nummies) and plenty of standard drinks. Wentworth has acted on Seinfeld,In Living Color,Jerry Maguire, and Trial and Error.

Master chef Georges Perrier of the nationally renowned Philadelphia French restaurant, Le Bec-Fin. He has revealed many of his recipes in his first cookbook, "Georges Perrier Le Bec-Fin Recipes" (Running Press).

Roden is the winner of Italy's most prestigious food prizes and the winner of five Glenfiddich prizes. Her new book is "The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey From Samarkand to New York with More than 800 Ashkenazi and Sephardi Recipes."

Sterling is the editor of "Travelers' Tales Food: True Stories of Life on the Road." While in Asia serving in the Navy, Sterling developed an interest in the art of travel and food and claims he is willing to try any dish or drink at least once. He is also author of "The Eclectic Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area" and "Dining with Headhunters" and is the travel editor for "Fiery Foods" magazine.

Chef Nina Simonds iis a regular contributor to "Gourmet" and "Eating Well" magazines. She's studied cooking in Taiwan and in France and is the author of four books on Chinese cuisine and culture. Her latest cookbook is "Asian Noodles: Deliciously Simple Dishes to Twirl, Slurp and Savor" (Hearst Books).

Shortly before her death, the film director's mother Catherine Scorsese published a cookbook of recipes called "Italianamerican: The Scorsese Family Cookbook." Catherine acted in, and cooked in (on and off-screen) for several of her son's movies. Martin Scorsese will talk about casting his mother in his films and about the new book.

Chef Robert Lehmann is the former Executive Chef of MANNA, a meals-delivery service organization for homebound people with AIDS in Philadelphia. He developed diet and nutrition standards for people who are HIV positive. He has a new book: "Cooking for Life: A Guide to Nutrition and Food Safety for the HIV-positive Community" Lehmann is currently Projects Coordinator for HIV Nutrition Research at The Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia.

Critic John Powers reviews the new movie abut Italian restauranteurs, starry Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub.

Restaurant-owner and chef, Mai Pham. Born in Vietnam and raised in Thailand, Pham came to the United States in 1975 and became the first Vietnamese journalist in this country. Her first cookbook, "The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking" (Prima) is a collection of recipes coupled with memories and reflections of life and food in South East Asian culture. Subtitled, "Favorite Recipes from the Lemon Grass Restaurant and Cafes", the book includes 150 of Pham's recipes that have drawn accolades for her three Sacramento restaurants