The Sporkful Podcast

Thomas English Muffins are so famous for their nooks and crannies that the recipe that produces those iconic features is a closely guarded trade secret. Only a select group of people know it, and as youll hear in this weeks show, when one of those people took a job at a competitor, all hell broke loose. This story comes from our friends at Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwells excellent podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. In this episode, the shows senior producer Ben Naddaff-Hafrey examines the beloved Thomas English Muffin.

This is part one of the story -- head to the Revisionist History feed to hear part two, in which Ben attempts to reverse engineer the coveted Thomas recipe.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres OHara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali was a doorman in San Francisco when he saw a statue that changed his life. The statue was of an Arab man holding a cup of coffee, and it led Mokhtar to learn about the origins of coffee, in Yemen, where his family is from. While coffee’s roots in Yemen run deep, Mokhtar learned that present-day Yemeni coffee was hard to source, and the quality was inconsistent. But when it was good, some experts said it was the best they had ever tasted. Mokhtar saw an opportunity to start his own coffee company, and help Yemeni farmers in the process. But just as he was getting started, war broke out in Yemen, and Mokhtar found himself stranded there.

This episode originally aired on October 3, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Editing help from Devon DiComo. 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. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

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 [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

In parts of Texas, a kolache is about as common as a donut — but it’s relatively unknown outside the Lone Star State. The kolache is a traditional Czech pastry made with a sweetened, yeasty dough and filled with either fruit, cheese or sausage. It got a foothold in Texas after a wave of Czech immigrants came to the state more than a century ago. This week, Alexa Lim, a producer on The Atlas Obscura Podcast, explores the Kolache Triangle, an area between San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas where you’ll find some of the oldest and most popular kolache bakeries. Then, Dan heads to Brooklyn to meet a husband and wife duo who are bringing kolaches to the Big Apple with their bakery, Kings Kolache. And Dan brings along the most hardcore Texan he knows, to find out how these kolaches rank with the ones from back home.

If you want to try some traditional Czech style kolaches, check out Helli’s Goodies — they ship anywhere in the US!

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

This was supposed to be the Queens Night Market’s big summer... When the open-air market debuted in 2015, the crowds were massive. Founder John Wang selected food vendors who represented more than 90 countries. And he had one rule for them: no item could cost more than $5. That way the market would be accessible to nearly everyone, and big businesses would stay away. In 2019 the market set a new record for attendance, and finally started to turn a small profit. In 2020 they planned to release a cookbook. Instead, because of coronavirus, the market never opened. This week, to understand some of what we’ve lost to the pandemic, we share a vivid reminder of what we had.

This episode originally aired on September 7, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, edited by Tracey Samuelson, and engineered by Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Giulia Leo, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

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 [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Sebastian Maniscalco is one of the top-grossing comedians in America, beloved for his stories about the food-obsessed family he grew up in, and his constant irritation at just about everyone around him. And in 2021, he parlayed his love of food into a new Food Network show, Well Done. Sebastian talks with Dan about what it’s like going from a working-class upbringing — during which he torched hams to earn a little extra cash — to selling out Madison Square Garden many times over. Plus, Sebastian shares his rules for being a good dinner party guest.

This episode originally aired on December 13, 2021 and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, and Andres O’Hara. It was edited by Tracey Samuelson.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.