Wednesday Food: Best Food Podcasts

On the road trip to Portland a few weeks back I learned the true value of a food podcast. Podcasts in general are a wonderful alternative to music when whiling away an arduous drive. Podcasts specifically about food have broad appeal, as most people like to eat, and like to eat well. Four of us happily idled hours of passing landscape with Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

I keep coming back to The Splendid Table because I usually gain practical information for kitchen use, and the guests often have something interesting to report (excluding the Road Food segment which makes me queasy– we get it, you like hot dogs.) I learned how to make better ice cream at home, that the happiest people in the world eat meals together, and that my goal in life is to become a personal friend of Amy Sedaris. That last one I already knew. Bonus: the archive is extensive.

For a laugh, or when I only have a few minutes of car time to kill, I love Spilled Milk with Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette blogging fame) and Matthew Amster-Burton. They have great chemistry, which is no small feat in a podcast, and often venture into generational nostalgia (see hard candy and cereal). Their side-by-side tastings constantly remind me that whatever I’m doing my time would be better spent sitting down with five brands of mac and cheese.

Although they get very girly and anecdotal, I like Whitney Adams and Christina Pickard on The Crush. Wine knowledge does not magically dispense itself upon my senses the way beer does, and hearing it from two women to whom I relate makes it less imposing.

Locally, I enjoy Good Food, though it can be dry and my attention dwindles.

And at this point, dear readers, you ask what else to listen for? With only that handful of favorites at my disposal, I offer that question back to you. Are there any podcasts (including video) loosely based on food, beer, wine, spirits, restaurants, recipes, or brief justifications of the ontological necessity of modern man’s existential dilemma, that you can recommend?

Please make your offerings in the comment section and be glad you’re not contemplating ditching your car (and your sanity) on the side of the I-405.