meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

797: Melissa Clark’s Deep Dive into Salt & Crystal Wilkinson on her Kitchen Ghosts

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Arts, Food

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we talk to two award-winning authors about their latest work. First, The New York Times cooking columnist Melissa Clark talks to us about her deep dive into the world of salt. From exploring salt harvesting in France to the history and revival of artisanal salts, she walks us through different types of salt and their uses in cooking. She sticks around to answer your cooking questions. Melissa Clark's latest book is Dinner in One, and for a taste of her style, check out her recipe for Roasted Cauliflower & Potatoes with Harissa, Yogurt & Toasted Almonds. Then, award-winning author Crystal Wilkinson talks to us about her new memoir, honoring her maternal ancestors, her kitchen ghosts. She talks about feeling them deeply while cooking and realizing their presence in her life. Crystal's memoir is Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks, and she leaves us with her recipe for Indian Creek Skillet Cornbread.


Broadcast dates for this episode:



  • February 9, 2024 (originally aired)







Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Frances Lamb and this is the splendid table from APF.

0:07.0

Let me read you something really quick.

0:15.0

People are always surprised that black people reside in the hills of Appalachia.

0:22.0

Those not surprised that we were there are surprised that we stayed.

0:27.0

Those are the first lines of an absolutely gorgeous new book, a blend of memoir and cookbook by the wonderful writer,

0:35.6

Crystal Wilkinson, the recent poet laureate of Kentucky, who tells stories from five generations

0:41.4

of her family in praiseise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts.

0:44.8

It's a book I had the honor of working on and it's made me think not just of her

0:49.1

family stories but so much about who my kitchen ghosts are, the people and ancestors who come to you when you're cooking.

0:57.0

I'm so excited to talk with Crystal later on in the show.

1:00.0

But first, we're going to talk about the one ingredient that every cook, every kitchen

1:05.8

ghost, in every place in every era will agree that you need every time you cook.

1:11.8

Salt.

1:14.0

Now look, straight up, whether your salt comes from a pristine coastal tide pool or a mountain

1:21.0

in the Himalayas, or out of a cardboard shaker that you lifted from a picnic cable,

1:26.0

you can make great food with it.

1:28.0

But there is something special about traditional hand-harvested salts.

1:34.8

Our dear friend, the New York Times cooking columnist Melissa Clark,

1:38.4

reported on how these unique salts are produced in France, England, Oregon, and beyond and being the great cook and

1:46.0

cooking teacher that she is. She dug into the nitty gritty of how to get the most out of these

1:50.8

salts and when you can forget about them.

1:54.1

She's dropped by the studio today to tell us all about that,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from American Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of American Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.