The Sporkful

A while back on the show, food critic Mimi Sheraton told a story about a time she had 104 pastrami sandwiches in her car. She was taking them to a scale to weigh them to see which Jewish deli gave you the biggest sandwich for your money. A Sporkful listener named Bill in San Clemente, California, heard that episode and called in with a pretty provocative question: Do places make smaller sandwiches for women? So, we set off on a mission around New York City with our friend Laura "L.V." Anderson to buy a bunch of sandwiches, weigh them, and crunch the numbers (with the help of Lauren Hale) to see if the sandwiches made for L.V. are smaller than the ones made for Dan. (Be sure to check out L.V.'s companion piece on Slate!) And in the second half of this Reheat doubleheader, Dan hosts the Second Annual Brooklyn Grilled Sandwich Smackdown and talks to chefs and participants about what constitutes a grilled sandwich, as well as strategy at such events for chefs and eaters.
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The sandwich sexism episode originally aired on October 19, 2015, February 27, 2017, and September 23, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Ngofeen Mputubwele, Jared O'Connell, and Peter Clowney. The Grilled Sandwich Smackdown episode originally aired on September 25, 2012, and was produced by Dan Pashman. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer.
Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com, and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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Chef Alon Shaya says that as a kid, he wasn’t just in with the wrong crowd — he was the wrong crowd. But with the help of a home ec teacher, he turned his life around and became one of the most successful chefs in the South. Still, it took him a long time to rediscover the food of his childhood and return to his roots in his restaurants, a process that involved his own family’s inherited recipes. Now, after years spent researching, traveling, and cooking, Alon and co-author June Hersh have published a new cookbook of recipes passed down through other families — Memories of a Good Meal: Recipes of Resilience Inspired by Stories of World War II Survival. Alon tells us about the bit of cloth that sparked the idea for the project, and about cooking for a 107-year-old Navajo Code Talker.
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The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Maya Franz.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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Ahead of Veterans Day, we're recognizing our American troops. A lot of them will spend the holidays far from their families — but hopefully not far from a good meal. Of course, if you’re in a war zone, finding that good meal gets a lot harder. That was the situation for Charles Hedrick, who served in the Marines during the first Gulf War. After he volunteered to go to the front lines, he wound up in a metal shipping box (below) in the Saudi desert not far from Kuwait, where the fighting was happening. Charles and the four other guys living in that box were told to await orders. After a few weeks, they heard a rumor about a civilian settlement nearby where they could do laundry. So they set out walking into the desert with their guns and their dirty laundry. The experience changed him forever. We hear Charles's story, and then veterans call in to tell us about their memorable meals in combat — from fishing with grenades in World War II and rooftop barbecues in Vietnam, to bartering with Girl Scout cookies in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.
This episode originally aired on December 31, 2012, November 9, 2015, November 7, 2016, and November 9, 2018. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Aviva DeKornfeld, Gianna Palmer, and Dan Dzula. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer.
Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com, and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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A bottle of whiskey with no online footprint. A bar that’s long been closed. An address that doesn’t exist. Ten years ago, Akhil and Nisha Dayal found a whiskey bottle at an estate sale whose backstory they couldn’t trace. Can The Sporkful uncover the origins of this mysterious whiskey?
This episode originally aired on November 14, 2022 and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.



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When Food Network star Duff Goldman got into baking elaborate cakes, he was just trying to pay the bills while pursuing his real dream of rock stardom. So what happened? This week we talk with the Ace of Cakes host about his deep artistic roots, the risks he took as a teenage graffiti artist, and why he almost gave up on the food industry altogether. More than ten years after Ace of Cakes ended, Duff is still starring in Food Network shows — but he can’t completely shake the sense that any moment, it could all disappear.
This episode originally aired on April 11, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer.
Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com, and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.



Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.