I have a new hero. Her name is Evan Kleiman and she is the
host of Good Food, which airs Saturday mornings at 11:00
a.m.
on KCRW, Santa Monica public radio. Evan has a warm,
comforting, slightly nasal voice; is prone to big laughter, ooh-ing,
ahh-ing, and hmm-ing; and has a palpable love for everything related to
food.
I didn’t know about Good Food until last weekend when my best
friend, Patty, up visiting from Los Angeles, downloaded the latest
episode and insisted that I listen to it. Evan had me at “Hello”:
“Today, let’s start at the beginning and meet some of the people who
harvest the food we eat every day. Then we’ll take a trip with that
food through your body… and out. Meet your colon, people!”
The show led off, as it always does, with a report from the Santa
Monica Farmers’ Market. It went on to include coverage of the food
shortage in Haiti; an interview with Raghavan Iyer, author of the
cookbook 660 Curries; an investigation into the devastating
working conditions of migrant farm workers; a conversation with a
harvester of sea urchins; and a segment on the controversy/benefits of
colonics. Good Food‘s range of topics, cultural perspectives,
and underlying affection for food has me obsessively working my way
through the online program archives. This week, I’ve learned how to
render my own lard and bison tallow and heard Evan interview a man
about his website showcasing meat hats (www.hatsofmeat.com). Thankfully,
Evan’s been Good Food‘s host since 1998, so I’ve got a lot of
great listening and learning ahead of me.
Listen to and download episodes of Good Food at www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf.
