Presented by
Mark Seaman
Pastry Chef, Sugar Artist, and Proprietor, Marked for Dessert

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

We’re going to satisfy our historical sweet tooth when sugarmaster Mark Seaman gives us a slice of French Pastry history. Savor the luscious influence of personalities such as La Varenne and Careme, along with the surprising impact that the unsavory Revolution had on some of France’s best-known pastries and desserts (i.e.) the madeleine, the macaron and the crêpe. Continue reading →

Presented by
Yanna Liakouras, partner, The Parthenon restaurant, and
Camille Stagg, author, “The Parthenon Cookbook”

“Long may its fine traditions flourish, and long may its saganaki flame to the ebullient cries of ‘Oooppa!’”–Harry Mark Petrakis

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Don’t try this at home,” cautions Yanna Liakouras as she ignites a platter of Saganaki, traditionally melted cheese over which she has poured Metaxa. “The flaming doesn’t affect the taste of the cheese–it’s just for show” she says of the searing tradition started by her father, Chris, who co-founded the beloved Parthenon in 1968.  Continue reading →

Presented by
Bill Kurtis
Documentary host, producer, conservationist, cattle rancher
and author, “The Prairie Table Cookbook”

Podcast recorded by WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

For the last 60 years Americans have been dining divinely on succulent, juicy, well-marbled grain-fed beef. But not only has the grain-fed diet been unhealthy for the cattle, it’s had a bad impact on the herd known as the human race, according to Bill Kurtis. Continue reading →