June: The Month of Good Eats
By: Autumn Jemison
It’s summer time but one could say we’re entering a holiday season of sorts. Every day in June is marked by a food holiday and we’re here to celebrate all month long! From World Oceans Day to Dry Martinis Day to Vanilla Ice Cream Day - we’ve created an advent calendar dedicated to consuming food radio! Each day we have a delicious podcast recommendation that matches the occasion. Plus follow along on our Instagram stories for recipes, tips, and fun facts each day.
June 1st: National Olive Day
“It’s the first time in olive oil history that we’re able to get fresh, high quality, and fully harvested oils into the marketplace at any kind of scale.” -David Garci-Aguirre on Pizza Quest
Pizza Quest Episode 3: A New Era for Olive Oil: The best olive oil no longer comes from old trees in romantic olive groves. There is a new art and science emerging, and it promises to revolutionize the olive oil industry across the world. Master miller David (pronounced Daveed) Garci-Aguirre and educator Lisa Pollack, explain how Corto, and other olive oil producers around the world, are applying new knowledge to the most ancient of crafts to create the best olive oil you ever had.
June 2nd: National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day
"You know, that's a great example of it's an heirloom flavor. Rocky road is an heirloom tradition, but we just took it in an entirely different direction than ice cream." - The Beekman Boys on A Taste of the Past
A Taste of the Past Episode 147: The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook: Linda Pelaccio visits The Fabulous Beekman Boys at their farm to discuss The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook. Larn about the nostalgic properties of family recipes, and what makes an "heirloom" dessert. Hear how Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell relied on their hometowns in North Carolina and Wisconsin for regional inspiration and why Beekman, New York is the perfect setting for a new handmade culinary resurgence! Hear about some of the specific recipes from the book, such as their party favors section where they explain the idea behind their Rocky Road Potstickers.
June 3rd: National Egg Day
“Everybody has a very specific way they like their eggs, and I think that’s perfectly okay. As long as you’re getting what you want.” -Damon Boelte on The Speakeasy
The Speakeasy Episode 445: Bitters n’ Eggs: Lauren Mote, the Diageo Global Cocktailian and founder of Bittered Sling, joins the band all the way from Amsterdam to talk martinis, bitters, dating a chef, and the relative merits of Waffle House. Plus, everyone on The Speakeasy is very particular about how they like their eggs, and Damon can drink a surprising amount of water.
June 4th: National Cheese Day
Cutting the Curd Episode 483: Natural Cheesemaking Today: A check in with David Asher from The Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking on his journey to promote natural cheesemaking around the world.
June 5th: National Gingerbread Day
"Christmas is an odd mix of real tradition and what we think is tradition. Much of the Christmas tradition as we know it was invented in the 19th century." -Michael Krondl on A Taste of the Past
A Taste of the Past Episode 222: Sugarplums and Gingerbread: A History of Christmas Sweets: "While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads..." But, what exactly is a sugarplum? On the season finale of A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio is in studio with Michael Krondl and Cathy Kaufman discussing the history behind the sweets enjoyed throughout the holidays. Embarking on a great fruitcake debate, explaining the plethora of sweeteners used throughout the ages, as well as the origins of the infamous yule log and more, this episode covers it all!
June 6th: National Applesauce Cake Day
Snacky Tunes Episode 364: Secret Apples and Slice Guys: Thomas Raquel is the Executive Pastry Chef at New York City’s legendary seafood palace, Le Bernardin. The Los Angeles native entered culinary school at the tender age of 16, and has cut his teeth at some of the best restaurants on the planet including Pierre Hermé Paris and L20. Thomas has been wowing diners with his elegant, and sometimes whimsical dishes such as this apple dessert, which he painstakingly crafted to look just like a shiny red apple, and is filled with layers of apple cake and caramel mousse. We roll back to 2013, and pull one of our favorite musical performances out of the archives. Brooklyn trio, Radical Dads--guitarists Lindsay Baker and Chris Diken and drummer Robbie Guertin--joined us to play songs from their debut LP, Rapid Reality. In addition to the great music, they also shared the history of their soda zine, defined what “slice guys” are and told us what compels them to pursue gastro adventures.
June 7th: National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
Special Features Episode 127: Single Origin Ice Cream? Not Your Grandma’s Vanilla: Choctál is a company that focuses solely on making single-origin ice creams. They have 4 types of chocolate and 4 types of vanilla ice cream each sourced from a different region of the globe.
June 8th: World Oceans Day
Opening Soon Episode 59: Diversification for a More Sustainable Business Model with Local Oceans Seafood: Most of our conversations over the last several months have emphasized the struggles of maintaining a food business during the pandemic, from adding delivery concepts, to indoor dining floundering to building and heating their street patios. Today we are excited to hear how a West Coast business has been able to grow and increase employee benefits during this challenging time. Our guest today is Laura Anderson, owner and operator of Local Ocean Seafood in Newport, Oregon. Laura comes from a small boat fishing family and has grown Local Ocean into a market with a small eatery attached to a full blown restaurant with double the capacity. Throughout the pandemic they've helped keep their business running with DockBox, a weekly, seafood-focused meal kit that contains all the ingredients and instructions needed to make Local Ocean's signature recipes at home (if you live in Oregon!).
June 9th: National Strawberry-Rhubarb’s Pie Day
"If you want to know what it's like to own a fruit farm - now's your chance." -Sarah Huck on Eat Your Words
Eat Your Words Episode 193: Fruitful: Four Seasons of Fresh Fruit Recipes: Who doesn't love good, local fruit? Tune in to this week's episode of Eat Your Words as guest host Talia Ralph chats with Sarah Huck and Brian Nicholson, the duo behind Fruitful: Four Seasons of Fresh Fruit Recipes. Fruitful is a trip to the local orchard, overflowing with ripe, seasonal produce and it's not just desserts! From sweet to savory, including fresh juices, every chapter is devoted to the produce of the moment: rhubarb, strawberries, apples, plums, apricots, peaches, quinces, pears, and more. This delectable cookbook showcases the bounty from New York's favorite orchard, Red Jacket Orchards, illustrated with gorgeous full-color photography throughout but all of the fruit can be found wherever you live.
June 10th: National Ice Tea Day
Japan Eats! Episode 227: What is the Difference Between Japanese and Chinese Tea?: Our guest is Don Mei who is the Director of Mei Leaf, an awesome tea company based in London. Don also has a wonderful YouTube Channel called “Mei Leaf”, which has 80,000 subscribers. His videos are extremely educational and uniquely fun based on his extensive knowledge of both Chinese and Japanese tea. His global and analytical perspective helps viewers to appreciate tea even more. In this episode, we will discuss various aspects of Japanese tea such as production, flavor and terroir in comparison with Chinese tea, Don’s intriguing path to become a tea specialist and much, much more!
June 11th: National German Chocolate Cake Day
My Family Recipe Episode 1: Motherhood & Chocolate Cake with Lisa Ruland: A story about how chocolate cake - a festive treat if there ever was one - brought about unlikely healing through grief. Lisa Ruland is a food writer, professional baker, and the curator of The Food + Grief Project. She talks about her relationship to food after the tragic loss of her husband, how she found connection while mourning, and how a chocolate birthday cake catalyzed what is now an honored family tradition. Her step-daughter Margot joins the conversation to share memories and talk about mothers lost and found.
June 12th: National Jerky Day
"I'm about preserving the animal - using the animal to the best of out ability. If I can use every single cut and utilize preserving techniques - I'm a better member of our society for doing that as a hunter." -Chris Griswaldi on Wild Game Domain
Wild Game Domain Episode 2: Preserving Game Meat: The Wild Game Domain continues on! This week, host Chad Pagano is joined by friend and fellow chef Chris Griswaldi. Chris lends his culinary expertise to listeners and gives tips on how to preserve venison and other game in many different forms. First, learn about curing venison. What cuts of meat should you use? How should it be sliced? Later on, get the inside scoop on everything from brining to smoking.
June 13th: National Kitchen Klutzes Day
"Salt acts as a desiccant... So the salt is going to absorb a lot of the red wine and then you can brush it away or vacuum it up. Then you'll be able to stain treat the red wine." -Jolie Kerr on Ask a Clean Person
Ask A Clean Person Episode 24: Give the Gift of Clean: Are you a kitchen klutz? Accidents happen to some more than others but the holidays can be especially messy. Ask a Clean Person host Jolie Kerr tackles the infamous holiday messes along with guests Meredith Haggerty and Julia Rubin, Reports Editor and Features Editor at Racked. Between a capsized gravy boat, a rogue bottle of red wine, and more gravy splatter, this is the ultimate episode addressing all festive disarrays. Plus, tune in to hear details on this year's Clean Person Gift Guide!
June 14th: National Strawberry Cake Day
Wedding Cake Episode 06: How to Elope: Joining DJ CherishTheLuv in the studio is HRN's very own Jennifer Leuzzi, of Tech Bites! Jen tells us how she eloped, Cynthia talks about how she eloped too, but only one of them did it the right way. Plus, a strawberry cake you won’t want to miss.
June 15: World Gin Day
"There's three main categories of gin, there's Dutch Genever gin, London Dry, and then you have style of gin that's essentially been forgotten, very popular in the 1800s called Old Tom." -Chris Murillo on Fuhmentaboudit!
Fuhmentaboudit Episode 105: Shot of Queens Courage: Hosts Mary Izett and Chris Cuzme are talking distilling with Chris Murillo, president of the Astoria Distilling Company. Specifically talking about distilling gin, Chris shares how he got his start in distilling and how he arrived at crafting his own gin. Talking about his distillery's original gin called Queens Courage, it is an "Old Tom" style gin, a type that was popular during the 1800s. Sweetened slightly using locally sourced honey, he explains that it can be used to craft classic cocktails or even to drink on its own. After the break, Chris shares that unlike most gins, Queens Courage's botanicals are distilled in separate fractions. This allows the distillery to treat each botanical fraction differently to get the best individual flavor from the carefully selected botanicals. Astoria Distilling Company then marries all the components together to get the best unified flavor profile possible. Taking Chris and Mary through the gin making basics and more, tune in to learn all about this classic spirit.
June 16: National Fudge Day
“Kali Puja is a Pooja as a holiday that coincides with the Diwali everywhere else in India. You go to the temple. And at the temple, there are two things that you're supposed to bring to the Goddess. One is hibiscus blossoms because they're blood red and Kali is a bit of a bloodthirsty goddess. So you she likes hibiscus flowers. But the other thing is something called Peda. It is essentially milk cooked down with sugar, so that it is this highly concentrated and it's these little discs almost fudged like discs.” -Michael Krondl on A Taste of the Past
A Taste of the Past Episode 132: Easter Sweets and Ancient Rites of Spring: Michael Krondl is talking Easter sweets, including fudge! Michael joins Linda Pelaccio in the studio to shed some light on some confusing Easter mythology. Why do we give chocolate bunnies at Easter time? Why are rabbits and eggs Easter symbols? Also, listen in to learn how to make Peda, a fudge-like sweet that is highly favored by the goddess during Kali Puja. Hear about other ancient spring celebrations, and find out what foods were eaten to improve fertility. How do desserts differ across Europe, and how do their traditions help distinguish desserts from everyday breads?
June 17: Eat All Your Veggies Day
"It's so much easier to make a dish that is focused on the vegetable. It's so enjoyable!" -Mollie Katzen on A Taste of the Past
A Taste of the Past Episode 148: Mollie Katzen on Vegetables: Host Linda Pelaccio speaks with special guest Mollie Katzen, known throughout the culinary world as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. A 2007 inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame—and largely credited with moving plant-based cuisine from the fringe to the center of the American dinner plate—Katzen has been named by Health Magazine as one of The Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat, and she has been a member of the faculty at Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives, the groundbreaking annual symposium co-hosted by The Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard School of Public Health, since its inception. Today's topic on the show includes the evolution of vegetarian cuisine, and how Mollie has taken the rise of vegetarian popularity to even further heights. Her latest cookbook, The Heart of the Plate, completely reinvents the vegetarian repertoire, unveiling a collection of beautiful, healthful, and unfussy dishes — her "absolutely most loved." Whether it's a salad of kale and angel hair pasta with orange chili oil or a seasonal autumn lasagna, these dishes are celebrations of vegetables.
June 18: International Picnic Day
The Shameless Chef Episode 24: Adventures of Eating Outside: From Picnics to Mountain Food: Head outside with The Shameless Chef this week. Michael’s ideal picnic was easy to transport and easy to clean up but that doesn’t mean the food has to be forgettable. His favorite hamper meals included a combination of chicken breast (broiled, barbecued, or in a sandwich), crudités with a tangy dip, and a hot beverage or a bottle of wine. Plus, Michael always brought colorful cloth napkins. When it comes to barbecuing, Michael preferred to leave it up to the Boy Scouts but he shares a few tips anyway. Lastly, take a trip to the sporting goods store for groceries as Michael talks freeze dried food. Mountain food doesn’t just have to consist of snacks; you may be surprised that meat, vegetables and soups can be made to fit inside your pocket.
June 19: National Dry Martini Day
The Speakeasy Episode 439: Bikes, Bees, and Martinis Please!: Gin fan and certified New Yorker Lacy Hawkins joins the band to gab about bees, bikes, the best way to beat the heat with a martini and the benefit of tiny boozy snacks. Oh, and gin I guess too.
June 20: National Vanilla Milkshake Day
"Vanilla is just like wine and cacao, depending on where it's grown, soil conditions, extraction, etc... it all makes a difference." -Marc Boatwright on Straight from the Source
Straight from the Source Episode 22: Vanilla + Cacao = Oxygen?: We've heard of single-source coffee and chocolate, but single-source ice cream? That's the topic this week on Straight From the Source. Guest Marc Boatwright is the founder of Choctal, the makers of the first single-origin chocolate ice cream line in the US. They extended to create a complementary line of single-origin vanillas. Tune in and learn more and hear about his project called Oxygen Farming Foundation.
June 21: National Peaches & Cream Day
Eat Your Words Episode 357: How to Eat A Peach: Award-winning British food writer Diana Henry returns to Eat Your Words to discuss her latest cookbook, How to Eat A Peach, and much more. Hear Diana and Cathy talk about how fun it is to create a menu for a dinner, even if it only exists in your head. And hear Diana share what food writers have inspired her the most, and how food writing was her second career.
June 22: National Onion Rings Day
Inside Juila’s Kitchen Episode 142: Meet Deborah Madison: Host Todd Schulkin welcomes chef, award-winning cookbook author and vegetable guru Deborah Madison. They discuss how she became a pioneer in vegetable-forward cooking; her memoir, An Onion in My Pocket; and what role meat-eating should have in our diets. As always, Deborah shares her Julia Moment.
June 23: National Hot Dog Day
A Taste of the Past Episode 344: The Coney Island Hot Dog Returns: Charles Feltman, a German immigrant, invented the hot dog in Coney Island during the summer of 1867 as a convenient way for beachgoers to enjoy quality sausages on a bun without plates and silverware. The business closed in 1954, but the name lived on. Now entrepreneur and historian Michael Quinn and his brother have resurrected the brand FELTMAN'S OF CONEY ISLAND and tell us all about the history.
June 24: National Pralines Day
Hot Grease Episode 111: Ingersoll Garden of Eden & ROC NY: Arnetha Singleton, Virginia Cunningham, and Joan Bryant are in the studio talking about their work in the Ingersoll Garden of Eden in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn. Tune in to hear the ladies talk about about food from the South, from bony fish like porgies, to wild pokeweed green to pralines. Hear their opinions regarding the new interest in gardening and farming amongst young people. Later, Nicole is joined by Rahul Saksena and Jamel Freeman of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, better known as ROC NYC. Tune in to hear about the need for justice for restaurant workers, as well as all workers who supply us with food.
June 25: National Strawberry Parfait Day
“There's different varieties grown in different regions of the state because some have been bred to be like what are called short day varietals. So there have been bred to work well in the winter months when the days are shorter. So those are grown in the southern part of the state. So they can, they can have ah, having strawberries pretty early on like February. Then there's the day neutral varieties that tend to be grown further north. So there's that big difference. In any given moment, there's probably 12 different varieties that are used pretty routinely.” -Julie Guthman on Eating Matters
Eating Matters Episode 156: Julia Guthman: Take a deep dive into strawberries! Host Jenna Liut speaks with author Julie Guthman about her new book, Wilted: Pathogens, Chemicals, and the Fragile Future of the Strawberry Industry, which tells the story of how California's strawberry industry came to rely on soil fumigants, and how that reliance reverberated throughout the rest of the fruit’s production system.
June 26: National Chocolate Pudding Day
Processing Episode 71: Shelia Dee: “Chocolate Pudding Pie: On this week's show, we welcome the lovely Sheila Dee. In 2017 Sheila lost her sister Stephanie suddenly, and she joins us today to unpack her complicated grief surrounding this tragic loss. Sheila talks so candidly and honestly about her grieving process, and also about the beautiful and rich memories that she has surrounding cooking and eating with her sister, including one revolving around chocolate pudding pie.
June 27: National Orange Blossom Day
Life’s A Banquet Episode 159: “ORANGE You Glad I Didn’t Say LEMON?” - The Citrus-sode: Folks, this week's episode sucks. It's sour. It's truly the pits. That's because this week we are talking all about CITRUS!!! That's right, ya hot babes, it's time to pucker up and get ready for the super depressing history of Florida Oranges, AND the grainy and space-aged history of literally no one's favorite drink, TANG! So put that lime in the coconut, and call me in the morning, it's Life's a Banquet the podcast!
June 28: National Ceviche Day
The Food Seen Episode 362: Llama Inn with Erik Ramirez: Erik Ramirez grew up in New Jersey with his Peruvian-Japanese grandmother. Decades later, his restaurant Llama Inn in Brooklyn, is in exploration, and honor to, his blended past. There's a long history behind Nikkei cuisine, a proverbial bridge blending Peruvian ingredients and Japanese techniques, which sees ceviche in a similar vein to sashimi, anticuchos (grilled skewers) akin to yakitori. Just like the great expanse between the Andes and Amazon, there's a range of flavors that are found at Llama Inn, worlds apart, bound by Brooklyn.
June 29: National Almond Buttercrunch Day
Speaking Broadly Episode 87: Valerie Gordon: But first, Toffee: When she finally healed from multiple surgeries, got a life-threatening infection under control, and emerged from the haze of years of intense pain, Valerie Gordon thought of one word: Toffee. An enthusiastic baker since childhood, she wanted to create a business around this crunchy, beloved sweet. On this episode of Speaking Broadly, Gordon tells host Dana Cowin about baking her way to comfort when she was a scared latchkey kid; the illness that consumed her; and about Valerie Confections, the extraordinary Los Angeles-based business that she's built in the last 15 years.
June 30: National Mai Tai Day
A Hungry Society Episode 54: Shannon Mustipher on Modern Tiki and Rum: Shannon Mustipher is a spirits educator, cocktail consultant, and expert on the topic of rum and cane spirits. In 2014, she became the beverage director of the former Glady’s Caribbean in Brooklyn, and has poured cocktails in settings ranging from neighborhood pubs to Michelin restaurants. She is also the author of Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails. The show delves into bartending in New York City, why rum is a “window on the world” and more.
