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 Lynn Rosetta Casper with the splendid table.

Thank you. It's Lynn Rosetta Casper with the splendid table. Today, I want to take on a slightly controversial issue, touching our food.

Now, there is this odd reaction.

We weird out about touching the very thing that we absorb into our bodies, as in cooking with our hands.

You know, if you think about it, your hands are the cheapest tool you've got, and your immaculately clean hands can tell you things no gadget ever could.

And cooking with your hands could make you a cook of the first order.

Well, this hour, we talk cooking with your hands the way the pros do it

with San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson.

That and a lot more coming up on the Splendid Table.

This week's Splendid Table is a repeat of an earlier broadcast.

Hi, it's Lynn Rosetta, Casper, and you're listening to The Splendid Table, the show for people who love to eat.

Our program is produced by American Public Media. Well, today, we are taking on the ick factor in cooking, as in touching our

food with our hands. Now, we're going to learn why touch rules in the professional kitchen

from a pro's chef and writer Daniel Patterson.

So let's say you're going to buy a new grill. Well, what's worth the money and what's not?

We're going to get the answers from a grill goddess who has tried them all. Now, the man who

wrote a thousand recordings to hear before you die, and he has listened to every single one, talks what to play for eating outside.

Music for a summer night.

And as always, we're going to be talking to you, but first let's get to Jane and Michael Stern.

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