Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country.

We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing.

Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.

It's the splendid table from APM American Public Media. I'm Lynne Rosetta Caspers.

So you're toying with taking on cooking, but where to begin?

Well, the standard answer and the sound one is learn to control heat, the different techniques

for simmering, sauteing, roasting, but when it comes to creating fantastic tastes, get

thee to a good Indian cookbook.

Today, Raghavan Eyre, a master Indian chef and teacher,

will reveal all. To me, the beauty of Indian food is creating that complexity with really not

a bazillion spices, but maybe just one or two spices, treated in such a way that you're going to end up

with a complexity that just blows your mind. Wow. The tricks you're going to learn will echo through your food for the rest of your life. And Michael Pollan's here, too, with some new brilliance. Using fast food, that was the progressive thing to do. That kind of campaign, I think, really undermined home cooking. There's no money to be made in farming or selling simple food. All the money is in processing it.

Stay with us for lots more this hour on The Splendid Table.

This is The Splendid Table from APM American Public Media,

the show for people who love to eat.

I'm Lynn Rossetto, Casper. Edley was a Korean-American kid growing up in Brooklyn.

Now he's the celebrated chef at 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky.

Famous for surprising recipes like chicken fried pork chops with ramen crust and slow-cooked collards with Kim Chi. Well, they're all part of his new book, Smoke and Pickles, along with the

unlikely story of how a Korean-Brooklynite can become a southerner. Food writer Francis Lamb is

an editor at Clarkson Potter. He's a Chinese American

who, like Ed, grew up with immigrant parents. Ed talked to Francis from his restaurant in Louisville,

610 Magnolia. Hi, Ed. It's great to have you. It's great to be on blend of table. Thank you.

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