Cellist Joe Kwon of the The Avett Brothers talks about his food blog and eating on the road, where it's more about finding a good veggie burger than debauchery.
Journalist Anna Badkhen has spent years covering war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq. In her book Peace Meals, she says she "felt the need to explain to people who are so far removed from war zones that people on the other side are very much like them."
Chef Daniel Patterson makes a strong case against using tongs in the kitchen. "There is nothing that is better suited to toss a salad than your hands," he says.
When it comes to cooking vegetables the Italian way, chef Mario Batali says it's important to seek out products that are local and in season. Plus, you need a really hot pan.
Sally Schneider of Improvised Life shares five ways to make the most out of fresh cherries: iced, cooked, with goat cheese, in ice cream, or as a milk shake.
"People always seem to think that corn is, like most vegetables, problematic when it comes to wine," says wine expert Joshua Wesson. "But it's the easiest vegetable in the world to pair with wine because it has such a dominant taste of sweetness and nuttiness."
Each year we remove 170 billion pounds of fish and shellfish from the ocean, according to Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish. He says we need to back away from industrial fishing, which has put some species of fish in danger.
In 1966 David Lett and his wife, Diana, spent their honeymoon planting the first commercial pinot noir grapes in Oregon. "I wanted to make the great American pinot noir," Lett says. That was the start of The Eyrie Vineyards, which went on to attain cult status.
Maya Angelou stands high on my list of extraordinary people: teacher, mother, poet, playwright, professor, San Francisco's first black cable car conductor -- and a woman who really cooks.
Synesthesia causes some people to pair senses -- like Michael, who tastes shapes. Research neurologist Dr. Richard Cytowic says "all of us are synesthetic, but we're not aware of it."
Nikolay Vavilov collected more seeds, tubers and fruits than any person in history. Gary Paul Nabhan chronicled Vavilov's quest in Where Our Food Comes From.
