Food & Cooking

Writer Jon Jefferson explains how deep fried food is as essential to Southern identity as the distinctive Southern drawl.

Writer and editor Corby Kummer. He's written a series of articles for the "Atlantic Magazine" on coffee, covering health effects, brewing, and decaf versus caffeine.

Food historian William Woys Weaver. Weaver is a leading expert on the culinary traditions and cooking techniques of the 18th and 19th centuries, and he often is often consulted by restoration organizations such as Old Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg. Weaver also tracks the emergence of regional American cuisines, often focusing on what the common workers, farmers, and slaves ate. Weaver's new book, "America Eats," examines American foods as a valid form of folk art. It also features traditional recipes adapted for the modern kitchen.

Novelist Anne Lamott. Her latest novel, "All New People", is an account of growing up in a Northern California railroad town in the midst of the cultural dislocations of the 1960's. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

Winemaker Robert Gerald Mondavi. He's credited with being, "one of the world's two or three most influential wine makers." ("New West" magazine). In the 1960's he severed ties with the family's Winery in Napa Valley where his father had been producing bulk wine since the 1930's. He went on to form his own winery, Robert Mondavi Winery, and to put California on the map as a world-class wine producer.

The French Chef, Julia Child. She spent three decades explaining the mysteries of classic French cuisine to modern American audiences. Child has hosted several cooking shows on Public Television, earning Peabody and Emmy Awards in the process, and written several cookboks. Her new book, is titled "The Way to Cook." It's a 50-dollar tome that...in Child's words...tells "everything [I] know about the essentials of cooking today."

Chinese chef Ken Hom. He's the author of the new cookbook, "Fragrant Harbor Taste: The New Chinese Cooking of Hong Kong." Hong Kong is in the midst of a culinary revolution, with Japanese, European, and American foods and styles of preparation all merging with traditional Chinese cuisine. Hom has taught cooking in Hong Kong for the past ten years. He's also written several previous cookbooks and hosted the public T-V series "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery."

Leslie Savan, who writes about advertising for the Village Voice, looks at Pepsi's newest ad campaign in the USSR, and reflects on the relationship between Russian culture and American corporatism.

TV critic David Bianculli says the drama, set it in a restaurant, took a while to find its footing, but is now on solid ground. But poor ratings have led NBC to retool the show as a half-hour program -- a decision Bianculli hopes won't diminish Tattinger's quality.

Jane and Michael Stern are a husband-and-wife food-writing duo who travel the country to find the best regional food. Their work has spanned twenty years and several books. Their latest is called A Taste of America.

Novelist Laurie Colwin has published a collection of essays about food called Home Cooking. While many of her friends enjoy traveling, her idea of a good time is staying home and making a good meal. She also cooks for the needy at homeless shelters.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Babette's Feast," a Danish film based on a story by Isaak Dennison. The film won the Oscar this year for Best Foreign Film.

Marian Burros, food columnist for "The New York Times." Her weekly column "De Gustibus" is an eccentric and informative look at what we eat, from trendy purple vegetables to Mother's medicinal chicken soup.

Wine critic Robert Parker. Widely regarded as the world's most influential wine critic, Parker takes a strongly consumerist view of his craft, warning consumers about overrated, overpriced wines. His opinions are recorded in his monthly newsletter The Wine Advocate. A Parker rating of 90 for a wine (on a 50-100 scale) virtually guarantees a sellout for the shipment.

Food writer Mimi Sheraton. She is the food critic for Time Magazine. She has written for the New York Times Magazine and New York Magazine, and she's written several books on food and dining out and now publishes a newsletter.

Stephen Schiff says that the recent Japanese movie Tampopo pays homage to the Seventh Samurai and countless other films. The food-obsessed plot is both absurd and telling: the movie satisfies and leaves you hungry for more.

Husband-and-wife writing team John and Marina Bear have a new book called How to Repair Food, which instructs home cooks on how to salvage failed recipes.

Humorist and reporter Calvin Trillin is known for his food columns for The New Yorker, which have been collected in three books. Trillin also writes a humor column, "Uncivil Liberties," for The Nation. His second collection of these columns, "With All Disrespect," has recently been published.

Chef and Chez Panisse restauranteur Alice Waters says that most ingredients -- from produce to shellfish -- are best served the day they're harvested. She aims to incorporate this freshness into all her dishes.

Poet and novelist Marge Piercy's work often discusses feminism and leftist organizing. Her newest novel "Fly Away Home," is about a famous chef who discovers that her marriage has fallen apart and that her husband has a secret life.