Food & Cooking

February sweeps ended Wednesday, so most broadcast networks are back to reruns and reality shows. TV critic David Bianculli says that one of the reality shows, NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, is much better than the rest -- and makes him hungry for more.

Two years after opening his award-winning Chicago restaurant Alinea, chef Grant Achatz was diagnosed with tongue cancer. He describes losing and regaining his taste in Life, on the Line. "My palate developed just as a newborn," Achatz says. "i don't recommend it, but I think it made me a better chef."

What's the difference between wooden and plastic cutting boards? When should you throw out frozen fish? Harold McGee, an expert on the science of food and cooking, untangles these kitchen mysteries and more in his Keys to Good Cooking.

Tilda Swinton stars as a wealthy wife and mother who gets involved with a younger man in Luca Guadagnino's acclaimed new film I Am Love. Fresh Air's critic-at-large John Powers says the movie offers grownup audiences something they've been missing.

The act of passing on a passion is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Book critic Maureen Corrigan promises that the books on this list — mostly slim, unforgettable volumes about places or things that the writers themselves deeply love — are merrily infectious.

This is the second segment of Fresh Air's two-part interview with Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia. Pauly warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans.

Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans.

The editor in chief of Gourmet joins Terry Gross to discuss the surprise announcement that the venerable magazine will publish its final edition in November. Along with recipes and regrets, she'll talk about her new recipe book, Gourmet Today.

Filmmaker Robert Kenner explores the underbelly of America's food industry — and the health consequences of its food-supply stranglehold — in his documentary Food, Inc.

Mark Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land presents a marvelous history of America's gastronomical oddities and antiques; a remembrance of tastes and customs past. Maureen Corrigan has a review.

Critic-at-large John Powers explains why Gordon Ramsay, the profanity-prone star chef of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, is "the world's greatest TV chef."

Wine critics Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher advise you to seize the day — and that bottle of wine you've been saving. The Wall Street Journal's husband-and-wife wine team host the 10th annual Open That Bottle of Wine Night on Feb. 28.

Food historian Anne Mendelson examines how varieties of animal milk have been processed and consumed since antiquity in her new book, Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk through the Ages.

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, the husband-and-wife team behind The Wall Street Journal's weekly wine column Tastings, join Terry Gross to talk grapes, glassware and more — all with an eye on the bottom line.

In an open letter to the next president, author Michael Pollan writes about the waning health of America's food systems — and warns that "the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close."

That guilty feeling after a big meal? It might be about more than calories and cholesterol. New Yorker science writer Michael Specter explains how carbon emissions released during food production are having an impact on the environment.

Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined. Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, gives us a primer on the expansive history — and the endangered future — of the seedless, sexless fruit.

New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman talks with David Bianculli about his new book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It's the most recent in Bittman's series of "How to Cook Everything" books.

The book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen has become a reference tool for many cooks. Now author Harold McGee has revised and updated the book. It's an exposition of food and cooking techniques, delving into technology and history. McGee diagrams the stages of making mayonnaise under a microscope, explains why peppers are hot, and why seafood gets mushy if you cook it improperly. McGee is a world-renowned authority on the chemistry of cooking.

Snacking on water beetles in Laos, dining on dog in Korea: Tom Parker Bowles, food writer for Britain's The Mail on Sunday, Night and Day, and Tatler (and son of Prince Charles' wife, Camilla Parker Bowles), has written what he's described as "a travel book about weird food."

It's called The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes.