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Episode one hundred and fifty-seven of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “See Emily Play", the birth of the UK underground, and the career of Roger Barrett, known as Syd. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a twenty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "First Girl I Loved" by the Incredible String Band. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this time, due to the number of Pink Floyd songs. I referred to two biographies of Barrett in this episode -- A Very Irregular Head by Rob Chapman is the one I would recommend, and the one whose narrative I have largely followed. Some of the information has been superseded by newer discoveries, but Chapman is almost unique in people writing about Barrett in that he actually seems to care about the facts and try to get things right rather than make up something more interesting. Crazy Diamond by Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson is much less reliable, but does have quite a few interview quotes that aren't duplicated by Chapman. Information about Joe Boyd comes from Boyd's book White Bicycles. In this and future episodes on Pink Floyd I'm also relying on Nick Mason's Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd and Pink Floyd: All the Songs by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin. The compilation Relics contains many of the most important tracks from Barrett's time with Pink Floyd, while Piper at the Gates of Dawn is his one full album with them. Those who want a fuller history of his time with the group will want to get Piper and also the box set Cambridge St/ation 1965-1967. Barrett only released two solo albums during his career. They're available as a bundle here. Completists will also want the rarities and outtakes collection Opel.  ERRATA: I talk about “Interstellar Overdrive” as if Barrett wrote it solo. The song is credited to all four members, but it was Barrett who came up with the riff I talk about. And annoyingly, given the lengths I went to to deal correctly with Barrett's name, I repeatedly refer to "Dave" Gilmour, when Gilmour prefers David. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A note before I begin -- this episode deals with drug use and mental illness, so anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to skip this one. But also, there's a rather unique problem in how I deal with the name of the main artist in the story today. The man everyone knows as Syd Barrett was born Roger Barrett, used that name with his family for his whole life, and in later years very strongly disliked being called "Syd", yet everyone other than his family called him that at all times until he left the music industry, and that's the name that appears on record labels, including his solo albums. I don't believe it's right to refer to people by names they choose not to go by themselves, but the name Barrett went by throughout his brief period in the public eye was different from the one he went by later, and by all accounts he was actually distressed by its use in later years. So what I'm going to do in this episode is refer to him as "Roger Barrett" when a full name is necessary for disambiguation or just "Barrett" otherwise, but I'll leave any quotes from other people referring to "Syd" as they were originally phrased. In future episodes on Pink Floyd, I'll refer to him just as Barrett, but in episodes where I discuss his influence on other artists, I will probably have to use "Syd Barrett" because otherwise people who haven't listened to this episode won't know what on Earth I'm talking about. Anyway, on with the show. “It's gone!” sighed the Rat, sinking back in his seat again. “So beautiful and strange and new. Since it was to end so soon, I almost wish I had never heard it. For it has roused a longing in me that is pain, and nothing seems worth while but just to hear that sound once more and go on listening to it for ever. No! There it is again!” he cried, alert once more. Entranced, he was silent for a long space, spellbound. “Now it passes on and I begin to lose it,” he said presently. “O Mole! the beauty of it! The merry bubble and joy, the thin, clear, happy call of the distant piping! Such music I never dreamed of, and the call in it is stronger even than the music is sweet! Row on, Mole, row! For the music and the call must be for us.” That's a quote from a chapter titled "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" from the classic children's book The Wind in the Willows -- a book which for most of its length is a fairly straightforward story about anthropomorphic animals having jovial adventures, but which in that one chapter has Rat and Mole suddenly encounter the Great God Pan and have a hallucinatory, transcendental experience caused by his music, one so extreme it's wiped from their minds, as they simply cannot process it. The book, and the chapter, was a favourite of Roger Barrett, a young child born in Cambridge in 1946. Barrett came from an intellectual but not especially bookish family. His father, Dr. Arthur Barrett, was a pathologist -- there's a room in Addenbrooke's Hospital named after him -- but he was also an avid watercolour painter, a world-leading authority on fungi, and a member of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society who was apparently an extraordinarily good singer; while his mother Winifred was a stay-at-home mother who was nonetheless very active in the community, organising a local Girl Guide troupe. They never particularly encouraged their family to read, but young Roger did particularly enjoy the more pastoral end of the children's literature of the time. As well as the Wind in the Willows he also loved Alice in Wonderland, and the Little Grey Men books -- a series of stories about tiny gnomes and their adventures in the countryside. But his two big passions were music and painting. He got his first ukulele at age eleven, and by the time his father died, just before Roger's sixteenth birthday, he had graduated to playing a full-sized guitar. At the time his musical tastes were largely the same as those of any other British teenager -- he liked Chubby Checker, for example -- though he did have a tendency to prefer the quirkier end of things, and some of the first songs he tried to play on the guitar were those of Joe Brown: [Excerpt: Joe Brown, "I'm Henry VIII I Am"] Barrett grew up in Cambridge, and for those who don't know it, Cambridge is an incubator of a very particular kind of eccentricity. The university tends to attract rather unworldly intellectual overachievers to the city -- people who might not be able to survive in many other situations but who can thrive in that one -- and every description of Barrett's father suggests he was such a person -- Barrett's sister Rosemary has said that she believes that most of the family were autistic, though whether this is a belief based on popular media portrayals or a deeper understanding I don't know. But certainly Cambridge is full of eccentric people with remarkable achievements, and such people tend to have children with a certain type of personality, who try simultaneously to live up to and rebel against expectations of greatness that come from having parents who are regarded as great, and to do so with rather less awareness of social norms than the typical rebel has. In the case of Roger Barrett, he, like so many others of his generation, was encouraged to go into the sciences -- as indeed his father had, both in his career as a pathologist and in his avocation as a mycologist. The fifties and sixties were a time, much like today, when what we now refer to as the STEM subjects were regarded as new and exciting and modern. But rather than following in his father's professional footsteps, Roger Barrett instead followed his hobbies. Dr. Barrett was a painter and musician in his spare time, and Roger was to turn to those things to earn his living. For much of his teens, it seemed that art would be the direction he would go in. He was, everyone agrees, a hugely talented painter, and he was particularly noted for his mastery of colours. But he was also becoming more and more interested in R&B music, especially the music of Bo Diddley, who became his new biggest influence: [Excerpt: Bo Diddley, "Who Do You Love?"] He would often spend hours with his friend Dave Gilmour, a much more advanced guitarist, trying to learn blues riffs. By this point Barrett had already received the nickname "Syd". Depending on which story you believe, he either got it when he started attending a jazz club where an elderly jazzer named Sid Barrett played, and the people were amused that their youngest attendee, like one of the oldest, was called Barrett; or, more plausibly, he turned up to a Scout meeting once wearing a flat cap rather than the normal scout beret, and he got nicknamed "Sid" because it made him look working-class and "Sid" was a working-class sort of name. In 1962, by the time he was sixteen, Barrett joined a short-lived group called Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, on rhythm guitar. The group's lead singer, Geoff Mottlow, would go on to join a band called the Boston Crabs who would have a minor hit in 1965 with a version of the Coasters song "Down in Mexico": [Excerpt: The Boston Crabs, "Down in Mexico"] The bass player from the Mottoes, Tony Sainty, and the drummer Clive Welham, would go on to form another band, The Jokers Wild, with Barrett's friend Dave Gilmour. Barrett also briefly joined another band, Those Without, but his time with them was similarly brief. Some sources -- though ones I consider generally less reliable -- say that the Mottoes' bass player wasn't Tony Sainty, but was Roger Waters, the son of one of Barrett's teachers, and that one of the reasons the band split up was that Waters had moved down to London to study architecture. I don't think that's the case, but it's definitely true that Barrett knew Waters, and when he moved to London himself the next year to go to Camberwell Art College, he moved into a house where Waters was already living. Two previous tenants at the same house, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, had formed a loose band with Waters and various other amateur musicians like Keith Noble, Shelagh Noble, and Clive Metcalfe. That band was sometimes known as the Screaming Abdabs, The Megadeaths, or The Tea Set -- the latter as a sly reference to slang terms for cannabis -- but was mostly known at first as Sigma 6, named after a manifesto by the novelist Alexander Trocchi for a kind of spontaneous university. They were also sometimes known as Leonard's Lodgers, after the landlord of the home that Barrett was moving into, Mike Leonard, who would occasionally sit in on organ and would later, as the band became more of a coherent unit, act as a roadie and put on light shows behind them -- Leonard was himself very interested in avant-garde and experimental art, and it was his idea to play around with the group's lighting. By the time Barrett moved in with Waters in 1964, the group had settled on the Tea Set name, and consisted of Waters on bass, Mason on drums, Wright on keyboards, singer Chris Dennis, and guitarist Rado Klose. Of the group, Klose was the only one who was a skilled musician -- he was a very good jazz guitarist, while the other members were barely adequate. By this time Barrett's musical interests were expanding to include folk music -- his girlfriend at the time talked later about him taking her to see Bob Dylan on his first UK tour and thinking "My first reaction was seeing all these people like Syd. It was almost as if every town had sent one Syd Barrett there. It was my first time seeing people like him." But the music he was most into was the blues. And as the Tea Set were turning into a blues band, he joined them. He even had a name for the new band that would make them more bluesy. He'd read the back of a record cover which had named two extremely obscure blues musicians -- musicians he may never even have heard. Pink Anderson: [Excerpt: Pink Anderson, "Boll Weevil"] And Floyd Council: [Excerpt: Floyd Council, "Runaway Man Blues"] Barrett suggested that they put together the names of the two bluesmen, and presumably because "Anderson Council" didn't have quite the right ring, they went for The Pink Floyd -- though for a while yet they would sometimes still perform as The Tea Set, and they were sometimes also called The Pink Floyd Sound. Dennis left soon after Barrett joined, and the new five-piece Pink Floyd Sound started trying to get more gigs. They auditioned for Ready Steady Go! and were turned down, but did get some decent support slots, including for a band called the Tridents: [Excerpt: The Tridents, "Tiger in Your Tank"] The members of the group were particularly impressed by the Tridents' guitarist and the way he altered his sound using feedback -- Barrett even sent a letter to his girlfriend with a drawing of the guitarist, one Jeff Beck, raving about how good he was. At this point, the group were mostly performing cover versions, but they did have a handful of originals, and it was these they recorded in their first demo sessions in late 1964 and early 1965. They included "Walk With Me Sydney", a song written by Roger Waters as a parody of "Work With Me Annie" and "Dance With Me Henry" -- and, given the lyrics, possibly also Hank Ballard's follow-up "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More) and featuring Rick Wright's then-wife Juliette Gale as Etta James to Barrett's Richard Berry: [Excerpt: The Tea Set, "Walk With Me Sydney"] And four songs by Barrett, including one called "Double-O Bo" which was a Bo Diddley rip-off, and "Butterfly", the most interesting of these early recordings: [Excerpt: The Tea Set, "Butterfly"] At this point, Barrett was very unsure of his own vocal abilities, and wrote a letter to his girlfriend saying "Emo says why don't I give up 'cos it sounds horrible, and I would but I can't get Fred to join because he's got a group (p'raps you knew!) so I still have to sing." "Fred" was a nickname for his old friend Dave Gilmour, who was playing in his own band, Joker's Wild, at this point. Summer 1965 saw two important events in the life of the group. The first was that Barrett took LSD for the first time. The rest of the group weren't interested in trying it, and would indeed generally be one of the more sober bands in the rock business, despite the reputation their music got. The other members would for the most part try acid once or twice, around late 1966, but generally steer clear of it. Barrett, by contrast, took it on a very regular basis, and it would influence all the work he did from that point on. The other event was that Rado Klose left the group. Klose was the only really proficient musician in the group, but he had very different tastes to the other members, preferring to play jazz to R&B and pop, and he was also falling behind in his university studies, and decided to put that ahead of remaining in the band. This meant that the group members had to radically rethink the way they were making music. They couldn't rely on instrumental proficiency, so they had to rely on ideas. One of the things they started to do was use echo. They got primitive echo devices and put both Barrett's guitar and Wright's keyboard through them, allowing them to create new sounds that hadn't been heard on stage before. But they were still mostly doing the same Slim Harpo and Bo Diddley numbers everyone else was doing, and weren't able to be particularly interesting while playing them. But for a while they carried on doing the normal gigs, like a birthday party they played in late 1965, where on the same bill was a young American folk singer named Paul Simon, and Joker's Wild, the band Dave Gilmour was in, who backed Simon on a version of "Johnny B. Goode". A couple of weeks after that party, Joker's Wild went into the studio to record their only privately-pressed five-song record, of them performing recent hits: [Excerpt: Joker's Wild, "Walk Like a Man"] But The Pink Floyd Sound weren't as musically tight as Joker's Wild, and they couldn't make a living as a cover band even if they wanted to. They had to do something different. Inspiration then came from a very unexpected source. I mentioned earlier that one of the names the group had been performing under had been inspired by a manifesto for a spontaneous university by the writer Alexander Trocchi. Trocchi's ideas had actually been put into practice by an organisation calling itself the London Free School, based in Notting Hill. The London Free School was an interesting mixture of people from what was then known as the New Left, but who were already rapidly aging, the people who had been the cornerstone of radical campaigning in the late fifties and early sixties, who had run the Aldermaston marches against nuclear weapons and so on, and a new breed of countercultural people who in a year or two would be defined as hippies but at the time were not so easy to pigeonhole. These people were mostly politically radical but very privileged people -- one of the founder members of the London Free School was Peter Jenner, who was the son of a vicar and the grandson of a Labour MP -- and they were trying to put their radical ideas into practice. The London Free School was meant to be a collective of people who would help each other and themselves, and who would educate each other. You'd go to the collective wanting to learn how to do something, whether that's how to improve the housing in your area or navigate some particularly difficult piece of bureaucracy, or how to play a musical instrument, and someone who had that skill would teach you how to do it, while you hopefully taught them something else of value. The London Free School, like all such utopian schemes, ended up falling apart, but it had a wider cultural impact than most such schemes. Britain's first underground newspaper, the International Times, was put together by people involved in the Free School, and the annual Notting Hill Carnival, which is now one of the biggest outdoor events in Britain every year with a million attendees, came from the merger of outdoor events organised by the Free School with older community events. A group of musicians called AMM was associated with many of the people involved in the Free School. AMM performed totally improvised music, with no structure and no normal sense of melody and harmony: [Excerpt: AMM, "What Is There In Uselesness To Cause You Distress?"] Keith Rowe, the guitarist in AMM, wanted to find his own technique uninfluenced by American jazz guitarists, and thought of that in terms that appealed very strongly to the painterly Barrett, saying "For the Americans to develop an American school of painting, they somehow had to ditch or lose European easel painting techniques. They had to make a break with the past. What did that possibly mean if you were a jazz guitar player? For me, symbolically, it was Pollock laying the canvas on the floor, which immediately abandons European easel technique. I could see that by laying the canvas down, it became inappropriate to apply easel techniques. I thought if I did that with a guitar, I would just lose all those techniques, because they would be physically impossible to do." Rowe's technique-free technique inspired Barrett to make similar noises with his guitar, and to think less in terms of melody and harmony than pure sound. AMM's first record came out in 1966. Four of the Free School people decided to put together their own record label, DNA, and they got an agreement with Elektra Records to distribute its first release -- Joe Boyd, the head of Elektra in the UK, was another London Free School member, and someone who had plenty of experience with disruptive art already, having been on the sound engineering team at the Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went electric. AMM went into the studio and recorded AMMMusic: [Excerpt: AMM, "What Is There In Uselesness To Cause You Distress?"] After that came out, though, Peter Jenner, one of the people who'd started the label, came to a realisation. He said later "We'd made this one record with AMM. Great record, very seminal, seriously avant-garde, but I'd started adding up and I'd worked out that the deal we had, we got two percent of retail, out of which we, the label, had to pay for recording costs and pay ourselves. I came to the conclusion that we were going to have to sell a hell of a lot of records just to pay the recording costs, let alone pay ourselves any money and build a label, so I realised we had to have a pop band because pop bands sold a lot of records. It was as simple as that and I was as naive as that." Jenner abandoned DNA records for the moment, and he and his friend Andrew King decided they were going to become pop managers. and they found The Pink Floyd Sound playing at an event at the Marquee, one of a series of events that were variously known as Spontaneous Underground and The Trip. Other participants in those events included Soft Machine; Mose Allison; Donovan, performing improvised songs backed by sitar players; Graham Bond; a performer who played Bach pieces while backed by African drummers; and The Poison Bellows, a poetry duo consisting of Spike Hawkins and Johnny Byrne, who may of all of these performers be the one who other than Pink Floyd themselves has had the most cultural impact in the UK -- after writing the exploitation novel Groupie and co-writing a film adaptation of Spike Milligan's war memoirs, Byrne became a TV screenwriter, writing many episodes of Space: 1999 and Doctor Who before creating the long-running TV series Heartbeat. Jenner and King decided they wanted to sign The Pink Floyd Sound and make records with them, and the group agreed -- but only after their summer holidays. They were all still students, and so they dispersed during the summer. Waters and Wright went on holiday to Greece, where they tried acid for the first of only a small number of occasions and were unimpressed, while Mason went on a trip round America by Greyhound bus. Barrett, meanwhile, stayed behind, and started writing more songs, encouraged by Jenner, who insisted that the band needed to stop relying on blues covers and come up with their own material, and who saw Barrett as the focus of the group. Jenner later described them as "Four not terribly competent musicians who managed between them to create something that was extraordinary. Syd was the main creative drive behind the band - he was the singer and lead guitarist. Roger couldn't tune his bass because he was tone deaf, it had to be tuned by Rick. Rick could write a bit of a tune and Roger could knock out a couple of words if necessary. 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' was the first song Roger ever wrote, and he only did it because Syd encouraged everyone to write. Syd was very hesitant about his writing, but when he produced these great songs everyone else thought 'Well, it must be easy'" Of course, we know this isn't quite true -- Waters had written "Walk with me Sydney" -- but it is definitely the case that everyone involved thought of Barrett as the main creative force in the group, and that he was the one that Jenner was encouraging to write new material. After the summer holidays, the group reconvened, and one of their first actions was to play a benefit for the London Free School. Jenner said later "Andrew King and myself were both vicars' sons, and we knew that when you want to raise money for the parish you have to have a social. So in a very old-fashioned way we said 'let's put on a social'. Like in the Just William books, like a whist drive. We thought 'You can't have a whist drive. That's not cool. Let's have a band. That would be cool.' And the only band we knew was the band I was starting to get involved with." After a couple of these events went well, Joe Boyd suggested that they make those events a regular club night, and the UFO Club was born. Jenner and King started working on the light shows for the group, and then bringing in other people, and the light show became an integral part of the group's mystique -- rather than standing in a spotlight as other groups would, they worked in shadows, with distorted kaleidoscopic lights playing on them, distancing themselves from the audience. The highlight of their sets was a long piece called "Interstellar Overdrive", and this became one of the group's first professional recordings, when they went into the studio with Joe Boyd to record it for the soundtrack of a film titled Tonite Let's All Make Love in London. There are conflicting stories about the inspiration for the main riff for "Interstellar Overdrive". One apparent source is the riff from Love's version of the Bacharach and David song "My Little Red Book". Depending on who you ask, either Barrett was obsessed with Love's first album and copied the riff, or Peter Jenner tried to hum him the riff and Barrett copied what Jenner was humming: [Excerpt: Love, "My Little Red Book"] More prosaically, Roger Waters has always claimed that the main inspiration was from "Old Ned", Ron Grainer's theme tune for the sitcom Steptoe and Son (which for American listeners was remade over there as Sanford and Son): [Excerpt: Ron Grainer, "Old Ned"] Of course it's entirely possible, and even likely, that Barrett was inspired by both, and if so that would neatly sum up the whole range of Pink Floyd's influences at this point. "My Little Red Book" was a cover by an American garage-psych/folk-rock band of a hit by Manfred Mann, a group who were best known for pop singles but were also serious blues and jazz musicians, while Steptoe and Son was a whimsical but dark and very English sitcom about a way of life that was slowly disappearing. And you can definitely hear both influences in the main riff of the track they recorded with Boyd: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "Interstellar Overdrive"] "Interstellar Overdrive" was one of two types of song that The Pink Floyd were performing at this time -- a long, extended, instrumental psychedelic excuse for freaky sounds, inspired by things like the second disc of Freak Out! by the Mothers of Invention. When they went into the studio again with Boyd later in January 1967, to record what they hoped would be their first single, they recorded two of the other kind of songs -- whimsical story songs inspired equally by the incidents of everyday life and by children's literature. What became the B-side, "Candy and a Currant Bun", was based around the riff from "Smokestack Lightnin'" by Howlin' Wolf: [Excerpt: Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightnin'"] That song had become a favourite on the British blues scene, and was thus the inspiration for many songs of the type that get called "quintessentially English". Ray Davies, who was in many ways the major songwriter at this time who was closest to Barrett stylistically, would a year later use the riff for the Kinks song "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", but in this case Barrett had originally written a song titled "Let's Roll Another One", about sexual longing and cannabis. The lyrics were hastily rewritten in the studio to remove the controversial drug references-- and supposedly this caused some conflict between Barrett and Waters, with Waters pushing for the change, while Barrett argued against it, though like many of the stories from this period this sounds like the kind of thing that gets said by people wanting to push particular images of both men. Either way, the lyric was changed to be about sweet treats rather than drugs, though the lascivious elements remained in. And some people even argue that there was another lyric change -- where Barrett sings "walk with me", there's a slight "f" sound in his vocal. As someone who does a lot of microphone work myself, it sounds to me like just one of those things that happens while recording, but a lot of people are very insistent that Barrett is deliberately singing a different word altogether: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "Candy and a Currant Bun"] The A-side, meanwhile, was inspired by real life. Both Barrett and Waters had mothers who used  to take in female lodgers, and both had regularly had their lodgers' underwear stolen from washing lines. While they didn't know anything else about the thief, he became in Barrett's imagination a man who liked to dress up in the clothing after he stole it: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "Arnold Layne"] After recording the two tracks with Joe Boyd, the natural assumption was that the record would be put out on Elektra, the label which Boyd worked for in the UK, but Jac Holzman, the head of Elektra records, wasn't interested, and so a bidding war began for the single, as by this point the group were the hottest thing in London. For a while it looked like they were going to sign to Track Records, the label owned by the Who's management, but in the end EMI won out. Right as they signed, the News of the World was doing a whole series of articles about pop stars and their drug use, and the last of the articles talked about The Pink Floyd and their association with LSD, even though they hadn't released a record yet. EMI had to put out a press release saying that the group were not psychedelic, insisting"The Pink Floyd are not trying to create hallucinatory effects in their audience." It was only after getting signed that the group became full-time professionals. Waters had by this point graduated from university and was working as a trainee architect, and quit his job to become a pop star. Wright dropped out of university, but Mason and Barrett took sabbaticals. Barrett in particular seems to have seen this very much as a temporary thing, talking about how he was making so much money it would be foolish not to take the opportunity while it lasted, but how he was going to resume his studies in a year. "Arnold Layne" made the top twenty, and it would have gone higher had the pirate radio station Radio London, at the time the single most popular radio station when it came to pop music, not banned the track because of its sexual content. However, it would be the only single Joe Boyd would work on with the group. EMI insisted on only using in-house producers, and so while Joe Boyd would go on to a great career as a producer, and we'll see him again, he was replaced with Norman Smith. Smith had been the chief engineer on the Beatles records up to Rubber Soul, after which he'd been promoted to being a producer in his own right, and Geoff Emerick had taken over. He also had aspirations to pop stardom himself, and a few years later would have a transatlantic hit with "Oh Babe, What Would You Say?" under the name Hurricane Smith: [Excerpt: Hurricane Smith, "Oh Babe, What Would You Say?"] Smith's production of the group would prove controversial among some of the group's longtime fans, who thought that he did too much to curtail their more experimental side, as he would try to get the group to record songs that were more structured and more commercial, and would cut down their improvisations into a more manageable form. Others, notably Peter Jenner, thought that Smith was the perfect producer for the group. They started work on their first album, which was mostly recorded in studio three of Abbey Road, while the Beatles were just finishing off work on Sgt Pepper in studio two. The album was titled The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, after the chapter from The Wind in the Willows, and other than a few extended instrumental showcases, most of the album was made up of short, whimsical, songs by Barrett that were strongly infused with imagery from late-Victorian and Edwardian children's books. This is one of the big differences between the British and American psychedelic scenes. Both the British and American undergrounds were made up of the same type of people -- a mixture of older radical activists, often Communists, who had come up in Britain in the Ban the Bomb campaigns and in America in the Civil Rights movement; and younger people, usually middle-class students with radical politics from a privileged background, who were into experimenting with drugs and alternative lifestyles. But the  social situations were different. In America, the younger members of the underground were angry and scared, as their principal interest was in stopping the war in Vietnam in which so many of them were being killed. And the music of the older generation of the underground, the Civil Rights activists, was shot through with influence from the blues, gospel, and American folk music, with a strong Black influence. So that's what the American psychedelic groups played, for the most part, very bluesy, very angry, music, By contrast, the British younger generation of hippies were not being drafted to go to war, and mostly had little to complain about, other than a feeling of being stifled by their parents' generation's expectations. And while most of them were influenced by the blues, that wasn't the music that had been popular among the older underground people, who had either been listening to experimental European art music or had been influenced by Ewan MacColl and his associates into listening instead to traditional old English ballads, things like the story of Tam Lin or Thomas the Rhymer, where someone is spirited away to the land of the fairies: [Excerpt: Ewan MacColl, "Thomas the Rhymer"] As a result, most British musicians, when exposed to the culture of the underground over here, created music that looked back to an idealised childhood of their grandparents' generation, songs that were nostalgic for a past just before the one they could remember (as opposed to their own childhoods, which had taken place in war or the immediate aftermath of it, dominated by poverty, rationing, and bomb sites (though of course Barrett's childhood in Cambridge had been far closer to this mythic idyll than those of his contemporaries from Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle, or London). So almost every British musician who was making music that might be called psychedelic was writing songs that were influenced both by experimental art music and by pre-War popular song, and which conjured up images from older children's books. Most notably of course at this point the Beatles were recording songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" about places from their childhood, and taking lyrical inspiration from Victorian circus posters and the works of Lewis Carroll, but Barrett was similarly inspired. One of the books he loved most as a child was "The Little Grey Men" by BB, a penname for Denys Watkins-Pitchford. The book told the story of three gnomes,  Baldmoney, Sneezewort, and Dodder, and their adventures on a boat when the fourth member of their little group, Cloudberry, who's a bit of a rebellious loner and more adventurous than the other three, goes exploring on his own and they have to go off and find him. Barrett's song "The Gnome" doesn't use any precise details from the book, but its combination of whimsy about a gnome named Grimble-gromble and a reverence for nature is very much in the mould of BB's work: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "The Gnome"] Another huge influence on Barrett was Hillaire Belloc. Belloc is someone who is not read much any more, as sadly he is mostly known for the intense antisemitism in some of his writing, which stains it just as so much of early twentieth-century literature is stained, but he was one of the most influential writers of the early part of the twentieth century. Like his friend GK Chesterton he was simultaneously an author of Catholic apologia and a political campaigner -- he was a Liberal MP for a few years, and a strong advocate of an economic system known as Distributism, and had a peculiar mixture of very progressive and extremely reactionary ideas which resonated with a lot of the atmosphere in the British underground of the time, even though he would likely have profoundly disapproved of them. But Belloc wrote in a variety of styles, including poems for children, which are the works of his that have aged the best, and were a huge influence on later children's writers like Roald Dahl with their gleeful comic cruelty. Barrett's "Matilda Mother" had lyrics that were, other than the chorus where Barrett begs his mother to read him more of the story, taken verbatim from three poems from Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children -- "Jim, Who Ran away from his Nurse, and was Eaten by a Lion", "Henry King (Who chewed bits of String, and was cut off in Dreadful Agonies)", and "Matilda (Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death)" -- the titles of those give some idea of the kind of thing Belloc would write: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "Matilda Mother (early version)"] Sadly for Barrett, Belloc's estate refused to allow permission for his poems to be used, and so he had to rework the lyrics, writing new fairy-tale lyrics for the finished version. Other sources of inspiration for lyrics came from books like the I Ching, which Barrett used for "Chapter 24", having bought a copy from the Indica Bookshop, the same place that John Lennon had bought The Psychedelic Experience, and there's been some suggestion that he was deliberately trying to copy Lennon in taking lyrical ideas from a book of ancient mystic wisdom. During the recording of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group continued playing live. As they'd now had a hit single, most of their performances were at Top Rank Ballrooms and other such venues around the country, on bills with other top chart groups, playing to audiences who seemed unimpressed or actively hostile. They also, though made two important appearances. The more well-known of these was at the 14-Hour Technicolor Dream, a benefit for International Times magazine with people including Yoko Ono, their future collaborator Ron Geesin, John's Children, Soft Machine, and The Move also performing. The 14-Hour Technicolor Dream is now largely regarded as *the* pivotal moment in the development of the UK counterculture, though even at the time some participants noted that there seemed to be a rift developing between the performers, who were often fairly straightforward beer-drinking ambitious young men who had latched on to kaftans and talk about enlightenment as the latest gimmick they could use to get ahead in the industry, and the audience who seemed to be true believers. Their other major performance was at an event called "Games for May -- Space Age Relaxation for the Climax of Spring", where they were able to do a full long set in a concert space with a quadrophonic sound system, rather than performing in the utterly sub-par environments most pop bands had to at this point. They came up with a new song written for the event, which became their second single, "See Emily Play". [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "See Emily Play"] Emily was apparently always a favourite name of Barrett's, and he even talked with one girlfriend about the possibility of naming their first child Emily, but the Emily of the song seems to have had a specific inspiration. One of the youngest attendees at the London Free School was an actual schoolgirl, Emily Young, who would go along to their events with her schoolfriend Anjelica Huston (who later became a well-known film star). Young is now a world-renowned artist, regarded as arguably Britain's greatest living stone sculptor, but at the time she was very like the other people at the London Free School -- she was from a very privileged background, her father was Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet, a Labour Peer and minister who later joined the SDP. But being younger than the rest of the attendees, and still a little naive, she was still trying to find her own personality, and would take on attributes and attitudes of other people without fully understanding them,  hence the song's opening lines, "Emily tries, but misunderstands/She's often inclined to borrow somebody's dream til tomorrow". The song gets a little darker towards the end though, and the image in the last verse, where she puts on a gown and floats down a river forever *could* be a gentle, pastoral, image of someone going on a boat ride, but it also could be a reference to two rather darker sources. Barrett was known to pick up imagery both from classic literature and from Arthurian legend, and so the lines inevitably conjure up both the idea of Ophelia drowning herself and of the Lady of Shallot in Tennyson's Arthurian poem, who is trapped in a tower but finds a boat, and floats down the river to Camelot but dies before the boat reaches the castle: [Excerpt: The Pink Floyd, "See Emily Play"] The song also evokes very specific memories of Barrett's childhood -- according to Roger Waters, the woods mentioned in the lyrics are meant to be woods in which they had played as children, on the road out of Cambridge towards the Gog and Magog Hills. The song was apparently seven minutes long in its earliest versions, and required a great deal of editing to get down to single length, but it was worth it, as the track made the top ten. And that was where the problems started. There are two different stories told about what happened to Roger Barrett over the next forty years, and both stories are told by people with particular agendas, who want particular versions of him to become the accepted truth. Both stories are, in the extreme versions that have been popularised, utterly incompatible with each other, but both are fairly compatible with the scanty evidence we have. Possibly the truth lies somewhere between them. In one version of the story, around this time Barrett had a total mental breakdown, brought on or exacerbated by his overuse of LSD and Mandrax (a prescription drug consisting of a mixture of the antihistamine diphenhydramine and the sedative methaqualone, which was marketed in the US under the brand-name Quaalude), and that from late summer 1967 on he was unable to lead a normal life, and spent the rest of his life as a burned-out shell. The other version of the story is that Barrett was a little fragile, and did have periods of mental illness, but for the most part was able to function fairly well. In this version of the story, he was neurodivergent, and found celebrity distressing, but more than that he found the whole process of working within commercial restrictions upsetting -- having to appear on TV pop shows and go on package tours was just not something he found himself able to do, but he was responsible for a whole apparatus of people who relied on him and his group for their living. In this telling, he was surrounded by parasites who looked on him as their combination meal-ticket-cum-guru, and was simply not suited for the role and wanted to sabotage it so he could have a private life instead. Either way, *something* seems to have changed in Barrett in a profound way in the early summer of 1967. Joe Boyd talks about meeting him after not having seen him for a few weeks, and all the light being gone from his eyes. The group appeared on Top of the Pops, Britain's top pop TV show, three times to promote "See Emily Play", but by the third time Barrett didn't even pretend to mime along with the single. Towards the end of July, they were meant to record a session for the BBC's Saturday Club radio show, but Barrett walked out of the studio before completing the first song. It's notable that Barrett's non-cooperation or inability to function was very much dependent on circumstance. He was not able to perform for Saturday Club, a mainstream pop show aimed at a mass audience, but gave perfectly good performances on several sessions for John Peel's radio show The Perfumed Garden, a show firmly aimed at Pink Floyd's own underground niche. On the thirty-first of July, three days after the Saturday Club walkout, all the group's performances for the next month were cancelled, due to "nervous exhaustion". But on the eighth of August, they went back into the studio, to record "Scream Thy Last Scream", a song Barrett wrote and which Nick Mason sang: [Excerpt: Pink Floyd, "Scream Thy Last Scream"] That was scheduled as the group's next single, but the record company vetoed it, and it wouldn't see an official release for forty-nine years. Instead they recorded another single, "Apples and Oranges": [Excerpt: Pink Floyd, "Apples and Oranges"] That was the last thing the group released while Barrett was a member. In November 1967 they went on a tour of the US, making appearances on American Bandstand and the Pat Boone Show, as well as playing several gigs. According to legend, Barrett was almost catatonic on the Pat Boone show, though no footage of that appears to be available anywhere -- and the same things were said about their performance on Bandstand, and when that turned up, it turned out Barrett seemed no more uncomfortable miming to their new single than any of the rest of the band, and was no less polite when Dick Clark asked them questions about hamburgers. But on shows on the US tour, Barrett would do things like detune his guitar so it just made clanging sounds, or just play a single note throughout the show. These are, again, things that could be taken in two different ways, and I have no way to judge which is the more correct. On one level, they could be a sign of a chaotic, disordered, mind, someone dealing with severe mental health difficulties. On the other, they're the kind of thing that Barrett was applauded and praised for in the confines of the kind of avant-garde underground audience that would pay to hear AMM or Yoko Ono, the kind of people they'd been performing for less than a year earlier, but which were absolutely not appropriate for a pop group trying to promote their latest hit single. It could be that Barrett was severely unwell, or it could just be that he wanted to be an experimental artist and his bandmates wanted to be pop stars -- and one thing absolutely everyone agrees is that the rest of the group were more ambitious than Barrett was. Whichever was the case, though, something had to give. They cut the US tour short, but immediately started another British package tour, with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Move, Amen Corner and the Nice. After that tour they started work on their next album, A Saucerful of Secrets. Where Barrett was the lead singer and principal songwriter on Piper at the Gates of Dawn, he only sings and writes one song on A Saucerful of Secrets, which is otherwise written by Waters and Wright, and only appears at all on two more of the tracks -- by the time it was released he was out of the group. The last song he tried to get the group to record was called "Have You Got it Yet?" and it was only after spending some time rehearsing it that the rest of the band realised that the song was a practical joke on them -- every time they played it, he would change the song around so they would mess up, and pretend they just hadn't learned the song yet. They brought in Barrett's old friend Dave Gilmour, initially to be a fifth member on stage to give the band some stability in their performances, but after five shows with the five-man lineup they decided just not to bother picking Barrett up, but didn't mention he was out of the group, to avoid awkwardness. At the time, Barrett and Rick Wright were flatmates, and Wright would actually lie to Barrett and say he was just going out to buy a packet of cigarettes, and then go and play gigs without him. After a couple of months of this, it was officially announced that Barrett was leaving the group. Jenner and King went with him, convinced that he was the real talent in the group and would have a solo career, and the group carried on with new management. We'll be looking at them more in future episodes. Barrett made a start at recording a solo album in mid-1968, but didn't get very far. Jenner produced those sessions, and later said "It seemed a good idea to go into the studio because I knew he had the songs. And he would sometimes play bits and pieces and you would think 'Oh that's great.' It was a 'he's got a bit of a cold today and it might get better' approach. It wasn't a cold -- and you knew it wasn't a cold -- but I kept thinking if he did the right things he'd come back to join us. He'd gone out and maybe he'd come back. That was always the analogy in my head. I wanted to make it feel friendly for him, and that where we were was a comfortable place and that he could come back and find himself again. I obviously didn't succeed." A handful of tracks from those sessions have since been released, including a version of “Golden Hair”, a setting by Barrett of a poem by James Joyce that he would later revisit: [Excerpt: Syd Barrett, “Golden Hair (first version)”] Eleven months later, he went back into the studio again, this time with producer Malcolm Jones, to record an album that later became The Madcap Laughs, his first solo album. The recording process for the album has been the source of some controversy, as initially Jones was producing the whole album, and they were working in a way that Barrett never worked before. Where previously he had cut backing tracks first and only later overdubbed his vocals, this time he started by recording acoustic guitar and vocals, and then overdubbed on top of that. But after several sessions, Jones was pulled off the album, and Gilmour and Waters were asked to produce the rest of the sessions. This may seem a bit of a callous decision, since Gilmour was the person who had replaced Barrett in his group, but apparently the two of them had remained friends, and indeed Gilmour thought that Barrett had only got better as a songwriter since leaving the band. Where Malcolm Jones had been trying, by his account, to put out something that sounded like a serious, professional, record, Gilmour and Waters seemed to regard what they were doing more as producing a piece of audio verite documentary, including false starts and studio chatter. Jones believed that this put Barrett in a bad light, saying the outtakes "show Syd, at best as out of tune, which he rarely was, and at worst as out of control (which, again, he never was)." Gilmour and Waters, on the other hand, thought that material was necessary to provide some context for why the album wasn't as slick and professional as some might have hoped. The eventual record was a hodge-podge of different styles from different sessions, with bits from the Jenner sessions, the Jones sessions, and the Waters and Gilmour sessions all mixed together, with some tracks just Barrett badly double-tracking himself with an acoustic guitar, while other tracks feature full backing by Soft Machine. However, despite Jones' accusations that the album was more-or-less sabotaged by Gilmour and Waters, the fact remains that the best tracks on the album are the ones Barrett's former bandmates produced, and there are some magnificent moments on there. But it's a disturbing album to listen to, in the same way other albums by people with clear talent but clear mental illness are, like Skip Spence's Oar, Roky Erickson's later work, or the Beach Boys Love You. In each case, the pleasure one gets is a real pleasure from real aesthetic appreciation of the work, but entangled with an awareness that the work would not exist in that form were the creator not suffering. The pleasure doesn't come from the suffering -- these are real artists creating real art, not the kind of outsider art that is really just a modern-day freak-show -- but it's still inextricable from it: [Excerpt: Syd Barrett, "Dark Globe"] The Madcap Laughs did well enough that Barrett got to record a follow-up, titled simply Barrett. This one was recorded over a period of only a handful of months, with Gilmour and Rick Wright producing, and a band consisting of Gilmour, Wright, and drummer Jerry Shirley. The album is generally considered both more consistent and less interesting than The Madcap Laughs, with less really interesting material, though there are some enjoyable moments on it: [Excerpt: Syd Barrett, "Effervescing Elephant"] But the album is a little aimless, and people who knew him at the time seem agreed that that was a reflection of his life. He had nothing he *needed* to be doing -- no  tour dates, no deadlines, no pressure at all, and he had a bit of money from record royalties -- so he just did nothing at all. The one solo gig he ever played, with the band who backed him on Barrett, lasted four songs, and he walked off half-way through the fourth. He moved back to Cambridge for a while in the early seventies, and he tried putting together a new band with Twink, the drummer of the Pink Fairies and Pretty Things, Fred Frith, and Jack Monck, but Frith left after one gig. The other three performed a handful of shows either as "Stars" or as "Barrett, Adler, and Monck", just in the Cambridge area, but soon Barrett got bored again. He moved back to London, and in 1974 he made one final attempt to make a record, going into the studio with Peter Jenner, where he recorded a handful of tracks that were never released. But given that the titles of those tracks were things like "Boogie #1", "Boogie #2", "Slow Boogie", "Fast Boogie", "Chooka-Chooka Chug Chug" and "John Lee Hooker", I suspect we're not missing out on a lost masterpiece. Around this time there was a general resurgence in interest in Barrett, prompted by David Bowie having recorded a version of "See Emily Play" on his covers album Pin-Ups, which came out in late 1973: [Excerpt: David Bowie, "See Emily Play"] At the same time, the journalist Nick Kent wrote a long profile of Barrett, The Cracked Ballad of Syd Barrett, which like Kent's piece on Brian Wilson a year later, managed to be a remarkable piece of writing with a sense of sympathy for its subject and understanding of his music, but also a less-than-accurate piece of journalism which led to a lot of myths and disinformation being propagated. Barrett briefly visited his old bandmates in the studio in 1975 while they were recording the album Wish You Were Here -- some say even during the recording of the song "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond", which was written specifically about Barrett, though Nick Mason claims otherwise -- and they didn't recognise him at first, because by this point he had a shaved head and had put on a great deal of weight. He seemed rather sad, and that was the last time any of them saw him, apart from Roger Waters, who saw him in Harrod's a few years later. That time, as soon as Barrett recognised Waters, he dropped his bag and ran out of the shop. For the next thirty-one years, Barrett made no public appearances. The last time he ever voluntarily spoke to a journalist, other than telling them to go away, was in 1982, just after he'd moved back to Cambridge, when someone doorstopped him and he answered a few questions and posed for a photo before saying "OK! That's enough, this is distressing for me, thank you." He had the reputation for the rest of his life of being a shut-in, a recluse, an acid casualty. His family, on the other hand, have always claimed that while he was never particularly mentally or physically healthy, he wasn't a shut-in, and would go to the pub, meet up with his mother a couple of times a week to go shopping, and chat to the women behind the counter at Sainsbury's and at the pharmacy. He was also apparently very good with children who lived in the neighbourhood. Whatever the truth of his final decades, though, however mentally well or unwell he actually was, one thing is very clear, which is that he was an extremely private man, who did not want attention, and who was greatly distressed by the constant stream of people coming and looking through his letterbox, trying to take photos of him, trying to interview him, and so on. Everyone on his street knew that when people came asking which was Syd Barrett's house, they were meant to say that no-one of that name lived there -- and they were telling the truth. By the time he moved back, he had stopped answering to "Syd" altogether, and according to his sister "He came to hate the name latterly, and what it meant." He did, in 2001, go round to his sister's house to watch a documentary about himself on the TV -- he didn't own a TV himself -- but he didn't enjoy it and his only comment was that the music was too noisy. By this point he never listened to rock music, just to jazz and classical music, usually on the radio. He was financially secure -- Dave Gilmour made sure that when compilations came out they always included some music from Barrett's period in the group so he would receive royalties, even though Gilmour had no contact with him after 1975 -- and he spent most of his time painting -- he would take photos of the paintings when they were completed, and then burn the originals. There are many stories about those last few decades, but given how much he valued his privacy, it wouldn't be right to share them. This is a history of rock music, and 1975 was the last time Roger Keith Barrett ever had anything to do with rock music voluntarily. He died of cancer in 2006, and at his funeral there was a reading from The Little Grey Men, which was also quoted in the Order of Service -- "The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours lights and shades; these I saw. Look ye also while life lasts.” There was no rock music played at Barrett's funeral -- instead there were a selection of pieces by Handel, Haydn, and Bach, ending with Bach's Allemande from the Partita No. IV in D major, one of his favourite pieces: [Excerpt: Glenn Gould, "Allemande from the Partita No. IV in D major"]  As they stared blankly in dumb misery deepening as they slowly realised all they had seen and all they had lost, a capricious little breeze, dancing up from the surface of the water, tossed the aspens, shook the dewy roses and blew lightly and caressingly in their faces; and with its soft touch came instant oblivion. For this is the last best gift that the kindly demi-god is careful to bestow on those to whom he has revealed himself in their helping: the gift of forgetfulness. Lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow, and overshadow mirth and pleasure, and the great haunting memory should spoil all the after-lives of little animals helped out of difficulties, in order that they should be happy and lighthearted as before. Mole rubbed his eyes and stared at Rat, who was looking about him in a puzzled sort of way. “I beg your pardon; what did you say, Rat?” he asked. “I think I was only remarking,” said Rat slowly, “that this was the right sort of place, and that here, if anywhere, we should find him. And look! Why, there he is, the little fellow!” And with a cry of delight he ran towards the slumbering Portly. But Mole stood still a moment, held in thought. As one wakened suddenly from a beautiful dream, who struggles to recall it, and can re-capture nothing but a dim sense of the beauty of it, the beauty! Till that, too, fades away in its turn, and the dreamer bitterly accepts the hard, cold waking and all its penalties; so Mole, after struggling with his memory for a brief space, shook his head sadly and followed the Rat.

Are shallots worth the higher price tag? If you value taste, then yes!

Thursday, August 25, 2022 - The Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program is statewide, done by different organizations in different zones, having taken over from Lutheran Social services. These organizations partner with the Department of Human Services to provide support for refugees who have come to the country without an adult to care for them. We visit with Briana Miller and Shanda Hakk. They help manage the program for the Agassiz Valley Human Service Zone. ~~~ Tom Isern shares this week's Plains Folk essay. ~~~ Sue Balcom is here for Main Street Eats.

The Beats are breaking down a simple, classic Persian salad recipe, Salad Shirazi! Bright, light, crispy, crunchy! The salad staples include tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions in a simple citrus dressing. Play with the ratios to suit your taste!   All Modern Persian Food podcast episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Bita's recipe for Salad Shirazi | Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad Beata's recipe for Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   Subscribe+ to the Modern Persian Food podcast on your favorite podcast player, and tell a friend.  

This pest feasts on members of the allium family, like onions, garlic and leeks. The leek moth larvae feed on the plants' foliage and that can affect the plants' growth. They can also get into your garlic bulbs and compromise the storage life of your allium.

This pest feasts on members of the allium family, like onions, garlic and leeks. The leek moth larvae feed on the plants' foliage and that can affect the plants' growth. They can also get into your garlic bulbs and compromise the storage life of your allium.

This is THEIMPACTPLAY'S MOMOCON 2022 EPISODE 169: DAY 2 COVERAGE | INTERVIEWS – So Stay Tuned and Enjoy! - Bill Farmer is an American voice actor and comedian, who is known for his role of being the current voice of the Disney character Goofy since 1987. - Justin Cook is an American Producer, Voice Actor, Line Producer, ADR Director, and Engineer. He has provided voices for a number of English language versions of Japanese anime films and series, he is most notable role being Yusuke Urameshi in YuYu Hakusho. - Alejandro Saab is a professional Voice Actor and Youtube Influencer! As an influencer he has over 480,000+ subscribers on YouTube with over 170 million+ combined views! He's lent his voice to projects such as Dragon Ball Legends as Shallot, My Hero Academia as Naomasa Tsukauchi, and many others! #MOMOCON #MOMOCON2022 *** Your Support Keeps the Lights Running and Keeps the Content Rolling, You Can Support Us Over on Anchor: ANCHOR.FM/THEIMPACTPLAY/SUPPORT via Patreon: Where Silver Recruits and above get the show ad-free. Gold Recruits and above have exclusive access to not only the Post Show, but they can also even call in to be a part of the live show experience, early access, and so much more. https://www.patreon.com/theimpactplay We are now an #EpicPartner So, for every purchase you make within The Epic Ecosystem when you use our Creator Code THEIMPACTPLAY - We do get a commission that will help support and further elevate the show and even take us to new heights at no extra cost! --- --- Show Host(s) : ITSYAGOOH : https://twitter.com/itsyagooh *** Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theimpactplay Listen: https://www.theimpactplay.com Merch: https://merch.streamelements.com/theimpactplay Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theimpactplay Reader Mail: https://anchor.fm/theimpactplay/message --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theimpactplay/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theimpactplay/support

What if your family name was associated with being not very good at something? Why is everyone cooking steaks in the woods? How do you take your shoes off? Hey, look, it's another episode of the Just Say It podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/justsayitshow/message

Join us as we explore Persian dishes that are full of vegetables, herbs, legumes, and fruits. Persian cuisine is often plant-based protein rich without needing any meat substitutes. In this podcast episode we cover off on some of our favorite vegetarian appetizers, soups, rice dishes, and luscious khoreshts plus some of our tips and tricks to get the most flavor out of your ingredients.    Learn about Bita and Beata's favorite way to treat guests in this week's “Ask the Beats” segment.    Subscribe+ to the Modern Persian Food podcast on your favorite podcast player, and tell a friend.   All Modern Persian Food podcast episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Recipes referenced include:: Bita's recipe for Salad Shirazi Bita's recipe for Persian Yogurt Dip | Mast-o-khiar Bita's recipe for Kashk Bademjan | Persian Eggplant Dip Bita's recipe for Salad Olivier | Persian Potato Salad Bita's recipe for Sabzi Khordan | Persian Herb Appetizer Bita's recipe for Kookoo Sabzi Bita's recipe for Aash Reshteh | Persian Noodle Soup Bita's recipe for Soup eh Joe | Persian Cream of Barley Soup Bita's recipe for Lentil and Date Rice | Adas Polo Bita's recipe for Baghali Polo Bita's recipe for Khoresh Karafs   Beata's recipe for: Ash Reshteh | Persian Noodle Soup Beata's recipe for: Asheh Reshteh – Persian Noodle Soup – Original Recipe Post Beata's recipe for: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Beata's recipe for: Persian Salad Olivieh Beata's recipe for: Persian Frittata Koo Koo Sabzi Beata's recipe for: Vegan Khoresh Karafs – Celery Stew With Mint and Parsley Beata's recipe for: Persian Jeweled Tahchin Beata's recipe for: Giti Joon's Famous Tacheen Recipe   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

Do you actually need to heat the oil in the pan before adding onions? Are fresh vegetables always better than frozen? And what's so special about a shallot? You have lots of burning questions about recipes, ingredients, and food science, and this week, we get some answers. Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard, authors of Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts, bring their culinary knowledge to The Sporkful, and take your calls. They reveal the secret ingredient for the best baked mac and cheese, explain when to start worrying about the color of raw ground beef, and separate fact from fiction around salting your pasta water.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. This week's episode was mixed by Marina Paiz. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com

Wine Road Podcast Episode 144 Sponsored by Ron Rubin Winery Episode 144 | Denise Gill – Tasting Room Manager from Alexander Valley Vineyards Denise Gill, Wine Judge and Tasting Room Manager at Alexander Valley Vineyards chats with Beth and Marcy about what's going on at the winery, how she got into the wine business and how she became a wine judge. Our Fast Five recipe is from Zina Bower of Woodenhead Wines. And our wine of the day is Alexander Valley Vineyards 2018 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine of the Day: Alexander Valley Vineyards 2018 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Organically farmed) Fast Five: End of Winter Faro Salad from Zina Bower of Woodenhead Wines Podcast Sponsor – Ron Rubin Winery   SHOW NOTES 0:57 TASTE AWARDS -- Wine Road Podcast has been nominated in two categories for the 2022 Taste Awards Viewers/Listeners Choice and need your votes for Wine Road in categories # 6 Best Food Drink Podcast and # 7 Best Lifestyle Podcast— Go Here to Vote! -- http://www.thetasteawards.com/viewers-choice-voting-announced-for-13th-annual-taste-awards/ 2:20 How Denise got into the wine business and how she became a wine judge. Denise's great palate took her far as a professional wine judge. There's a lot that goes into the judging process. 12:10 Denise is celebrating her 8th year on the staff on Alexander Valley Vineyards. But First—Our Wine of the Day: Alexander Valley Vineyards 2018 Estate Organically farmed Cabernet Sauvignon. The Wetzel's, owners of the winery, are great stewards of the land at Alexander Valley Vineyards. 17:47 Fast Five Recipe – End of Winter Faro Salad from Zina Bower Woodenhead Winery IngredientsFaro,Preserved Meyer Lemon or Fresh Meyer Lemon, Green Olives, Shallots, Handful of fresh herbs. DirectionsCook the Faro, sauté all the other ingredients together and mix it together then add the fresh herbs. It's that easy. Pair with Woodenhead 2019 Chardonnay form Piper Ranch Manchester Ridge, Mendocino County. 19:20 Cave tours available at AVV at 12 and 2:30 in the original cave and they are building a new cave on the property too. New 25,000 foot Cave is being built and due to be completed in 2023. Vineyard hikes through the historic property that has the homestead of Cyrus Alexander who founded the Alexander Valley in 1840. Original home and schoolhouse is there on the property. 22:39 Denise recommends people go visit Spud Point for the clam chowder and then wind up to Bodega head to enjoy the views. 23:28 New 375 ML bottle size from Alexander Valley Vineyards feature screw caps and are perfect for picnics, available in Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. 25:00 Denise recommends Ca'Bianca in Santa Rosa great for Italian food. 26:10 New lodgings spots on the Wine Road –Russian River AutoCamp & The Gables Inn in Santa Rosa. 28:50 Wineries are still taking reservations but also able and willing to take walk-ins so don't hesitate to drop in and see what's available. Links Alexander Valley Vineyards Taste Awards Voting -- Open till March 11th. Spud Point Crab Ca'Bianca Fast Five Wine: Woodenhead –2019 Chardonnay, Piper Ranch, Manchester Ridge, Mendocino County. Russian River Auto Camp The Gables Wine Country Inn Podcast Sponsor: Ron Rubin Winery -- https://ronrubinwinery.com/ Wine Road https://www.wineroad.com Wine Road Podcast Instagram -- @wineroadpodcast Credits: The Wine Road podcast is mixed and mastered at Threshold Studios Sebastopol, CA. http://thresholdstudios.info/  

On Monday's Morning Focus, Tom Stewart from Keane's Garden Centre spoke to Alan Morrissey all about growing your very own onion, shallots and garlic! Picture (c) Keane's Garden Centre

February in the Garden show notesPeter and Chris look at some news stories of the moment. We delve into some of the plants and gardening tasks requiring attention this month and as the gardening season starts in earnest. Peter and Chris select some suggested events for you, including the Garden Centre's Graft and Grow Day on Saturday 5th February.News stories discussedNational Garden Scheme raises over three million pounds for charities in 2021.The Ripple Africa Christmas tree campaign means over 20 thousand trees were planted in 2021. Learn more about the work carried out by Ripple Africa in our recent podcastThe sad passing of gardening personality and friend of the garden trade Peter Seabrook.The Newt Hotel, will sponsor the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show for the next 4 years. The BBC continues its exclusive coverage of the RHS Flower Shows for the next three years.We are delighted to announce that Tiggywinkles is the Garden Centre's charity of the year for 2022.What's on this monthKew Gardens' Orchid Festival returns Saturday 5th February 2022.Check out some of the best Snowdrop venues around the UK.Saturday 5th February (10am-4pm) Graft and Grow Day at the Garden Centre including the Scion Swap exchange with Mid Shires Orchard Group. Our Best Dressed Potato Competition is open to children and schools to find Buckinghamshire's Best Dressed Spud!Wednesday 16th February at 4pm. FREE Masterclass on Vegetable Growing For Beginners Products and plants mentioned Snowdrops, Sweet Box Japanese maples and Witch Hazel shrubs and a large selection of Summer bulbs.Seed potatoes, Rhubarb plants, Shallots and Garlic, Broad beans and Carrot Early Nantes. Purple Carrot Purple Sun. Bare-root hedging, ornamental and fruit trees. Bio- Bean Coffee LogsHouseplant Aloe vera and our recent houseplant podcast with Jane Perrone.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sassos sit with the owners of Lady and the Shallot! Francesca & Kate talk about their humble beginnings as well as the future of the plant based eatery!​Listen on your favorite podcast directory or right click on "DOWNLOAD FILE" and click "OPEN LINK IN NEW TAB" or Left click on "DOWNLOAD FILE" to download to your computer or mobile device, then play file from there. An Interview with Lady and the Shallot [...]

Join Bita and Beata in today's culinary conversation about connecting to our culture with special guest Cynthia Banafsheh Samanian.  Cynthia is an expert in experiential marketing, teaches cooking class business school, and runs a podcast.  Cynthia is a great example of a woman who has built on her bi-cultural up-bringing to help others come together at the table, both literally and figuratively.   What is your mission with regards to experiential marketing with regards to your culture? “At the end of the day I am all about helping people share their culture and share their stories around food”   Is there a MPF podcast episode that you particularly connected with and why? Yes!  Episode 31, Caspian Chef Mom is from “shomal”, Farsi for the northern region of Iran and I had never heard anyone speak of the specialty foods of this region that I grew up eating   Favorite family foods - Cynthia's folks used to overnight the following Persian foods to her! Mirza ghassemi (and fresh eggs to cook and enjoy along side) Seer torshi Khoresh bademjoon   Persian foods Cynthia likes to cook: Sabzi polo Salad shirazi Cotlet Ghormeh sabzi Loobia polo Kookoo seebzamini   What do you hope to pass down to your young kids with regards to Persian-French (husband is French American) food culture? A rice cooker that makes perfect tahdig! A remembrance of Cynthia's mom's saying, “you can tell that a house is warm when the kitchen is busy” Side note:  Cynthia's parents (like many of ours) were immigrants - food was a way to bring people into their home and introduce them to Persian culture and to connect   Ask the Beats Cynthia asks the Beats:  If you could teach someone one thing, what dish would it be and why? How to make the perfect tahdig, tahchin, and an appetizer sampling platter Let us know if you are interested in Bita and Beata hosting their own cooking class!   Contact us at hello@modernpersianfood.com or Instagram   Resources and recipes from this episode: Episode 31:  Cultural Spotlight Caspian Regional Foods with Special Guest The Caspian Chef   Find Cynthia at: The Experiential Table Podcast | Food Marketing Podcast Hidden Rhythm: Teach Online Cooking Classes Culinary Marketing Coach (@hiddenrhythm) • Instagram photos and videos Bita's recipe links: Salad Shirazi | Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad Persian Tahdig How to Prepare Persian Rice in a Rice Cooker Tah-cheen Baked Persian Chicken and Rice Casserole Tahchin Bites   Beata's recipe links: Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Katte Persian Rice with Tahdig Persian Jeweled Tahchin All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

[REBROADCAST FROM October 20, 2021] James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Carla Lalli Music joins us to discuss her new book, That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week. In the new cookbook, Lalli Music splits the recipes between weekday and weekend cooking so that you can make great food no matter how much time you have.   Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce 4 to 6 servings This method of cooking mushrooms—by pan-roasting them, then finishing with browned butter—is incredibly effective, whether you're adding them to pasta or not. In the second step, the butter and aromatics wash a ton of flavor over the mushrooms, glossing them up. Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper6 garlic cloves, divided1 lemon½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided1 teaspoon mild chile flakes, such as Aleppo pepper1 shallot1 pound maitake mushroomsChunk of Parmigiano, for grating and serving2 cups lightly packed herbs (leaves and tender stems), such as parsley, mint, and/or arugula2 tablespoons unsalted butter1 pound wide pasta noodles, such as lasagnette or pappardelle Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it very aggressively with salt (figure ¼ cup salt per 6 quarts water). Pick out the smallest garlic clove and finely grate it into a small bowl. Grate in the zest of the lemon, then stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chile flakes. Season oil mixture with salt and pepper and set aside. Thinly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and the shallot. Trim the mushrooms; tear into bite-size pieces. Juice the zested lemon into a small bowl. Grate enough Parm to yield ¼ cup (save what's left for passing at the table). Set all aside. Add the herbs to the boiling water and cook until very softened, 2 minutes. (Cooking the herbs both mellows and deepens their flavor; they will have less fresh brightness but take on a richer, more vegetal flavor.) Use a mesh spider or tongs to remove the herbs and hold them under cold running water until cool enough to handle, about 10 seconds. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Thinly slice the herbs and stir them into the oil mixture. Taste and adjust with more salt and chile flakes, if desired. Set the herb sauce aside. Lower heat under the boiling water to maintain a simmer—you want to get your mushrooms going before starting the pasta. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for 1 minute, then add 3 tablespoons olive oil and half the mushrooms. Cook, tossing, until the mushrooms are coated with oil, then cook, undisturbed, until browned on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and toss, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned all over and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a large plate and repeat with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and mushrooms, then add these mushrooms to the first batch. Bring the water back to a boil. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat until it foams, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the sliced garlic and shallot and cook until the garlic and butter are golden brown and the shallot is translucent, about 2 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, and cook, tossing, until well combined. Lower the heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. Use a mesh spider to transfer pasta to the pot with the mushrooms, then add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Increase the heat to medium and cook, tossing energetically, until a sauce forms that coats the pasta, 2 minutes. Add the ¼ cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and another big splash of pasta water and cook, tossing, until cheese is melted and the sauce is clinging to the noodles, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add a few spoonfuls of herb sauce to the pasta and stir to combine. Serve with remaining herb sauce and more cheese at the table. -------------------------From the MarketMild chile flakesShallotTender herbsMaitake mushroomsWide pasta noodles Spin ItInstead of Aleppo pepper, use a smaller quantity of regular red pepper flakes or lots of blackReplace the shallot with ¼ onionThe herbs are truly interchangeable, in any ratio, and can include basil, chives, tarragon, and/or dill Use shiitake, oyster, and/ or cremini mushrooms instead of maitakeBig tubes like rigatoni or paccheri are good too-------------------------At HomeSalt and pepperGarlicLemonOlive oilParmigianoButter Spin ItA few dashes of sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar can replace the lemon juice and zestGrana Padano or pecorino can replace the Parm-------------------------Tall Pot AltIf you don't have a Dutch oven, use a large heavy skillet to cook the mushrooms and combine with the shallot and garlic. Scoop out 2 cups of pasta cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and return to the pot, and build your sauce from there. If the sauce gets tight or sticky, or the cheese clumps together, lower the heat and add more water than you think you should. Cook over low heat, stirring gently but constantly, until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth. Reprinted from 'That Sounds So Goodby Carla Lalli Music.' Copyright © 2021 by Carla Lalli Music. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers.Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

We are back after technical difficulties. We recap the fallout after the HotFul 8 Halloween episode, and how TUMS may have saved one of us from a trip to the hospital. We look at Bad Dragon "art" pieces, but they all resemble fertility statues. Check out our site! Get SenSoc gear in our Shop! https://www.thesensiblesociopathpodcast.com/ Support the podcast: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BQTKD2SK9RZAL https://www.patreon.com/thesensiblesociopathpodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-sensible-sociopath/message

In Episode #58, co-hosts Bita and Beata talk about one of their all time favorite Persian dishes, Lubia Polo! Also spelled Loobia Polo. They uncover what it is, how to make it (both traditional methods and modern, fast and easy tips and tricks), pairings, and lastly the duo wraps up the episode with a touching Ask the Beats question and response. After listening to this episode, you will have the tools to make Lubia Polo tonight, or on a future special occasion!   What is in lubia polo? Basmati rice Traditionally a red meat - stewed/cubed or ground Variety of spice options that may include the following Turmeric Cinnamon Saffron Advieh (spice blend or mix - sometimes including cumin, cardamom, rose, ginger, cloves) Every family and person puts their own spice twist on this dish! Modern versions may include different types of meat such as chicken, tofu crumbles or other vegetarian meats like beyond meat or incredible burger meat   How do you prepare it? Always start with piyaz dagh (fried onions) Add spices Add meat Add green beans and tomato paste and cover the pan to cook and simmer down Traditionally - layer in a large baking dish or a large pot the parboiled rice with the mixture of onion, green bean, meat mixture and some sprinkles of cinnamon, cover the pot and simmer Modern versions with short cuts - make lubia polo toppings as a “khorak” use pre cut/pre washed green beans or canned green beans and mix with rice cooked in a rice cooker   Occasions to make and enjoy lubia polo Incorporating green beans cleverly for Thanksgiving dinner Siz dah Bedar Persian New Year Picnic Potluck Taking food to friend or family member to share and/or to help out   Pairings Plain yogurt Mast-o-khiar | Persian Yogurt and Cucumber Dip Salad Shirazi Torshi | Pickled Vegetables Sabzi Khordan | Fresh herb platter Ask the Beats Leyla in San Diego asks, What is the one thing you hope to pass on to your Persian children with regards to Persian cooking? Bita:  Try some of our easy Persian recipes and bring people together and to the table.  Know that we are a loving, warm, welcoming culture - Share love through food! Beata:  Just try it.  Try not to waste food, use what you have and try not to be wasteful.  Feel free to make substitutions and experiment in the kitchen until you find something you like   Contact us at hello@modernpersianfood.com or Instagram   Resources and recipes from this episode:   Episode 3: Rice Episode 46:  Persian Meal Planning   Bita's recipe links: Loobia Polo | Persian Green Bean Rice How to Parboil Rice How to Prepare Persian Rice in a Rice Cooker Persian Yogurt and Cucumber Dip | Mast o Khiar   Beata's recipe links: Lubia Polo for the Persian New Year Sezdeh be Dar Picnic Katte Persian Rice with Tahdig Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

This week on the Kitchen Garden Magazine Podcast, we're delving into onions, garlic and shallots. Steve, Emma and Tony catch each other up on which varieties they've chosen to grow this year and give their best advice for growing! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Carla Lalli Music joins us to discuss her new book, That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week. In the new cookbook, Lalli Music splits the recipes between weekday and weekend cooking so that you can make great food no matter how much time you have.    Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce 4 to 6 servings This method of cooking mushrooms—by pan-roasting them, then finishing with browned butter—is incredibly effective, whether you're adding them to pasta or not. In the second step, the butter and aromatics wash a ton of flavor over the mushrooms, glossing them up. Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper6 garlic cloves, divided1 lemon½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided1 teaspoon mild chile flakes, such as Aleppo pepper1 shallot1 pound maitake mushroomsChunk of Parmigiano, for grating and serving2 cups lightly packed herbs (leaves and tender stems), such as parsley, mint, and/or arugula2 tablespoons unsalted butter1 pound wide pasta noodles, such as lasagnette or pappardelle Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it very aggressively with salt (figure ¼ cup salt per 6 quarts water). Pick out the smallest garlic clove and finely grate it into a small bowl. Grate in the zest of the lemon, then stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chile flakes. Season oil mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.  Thinly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and the shallot. Trim the mushrooms; tear into bite-size pieces. Juice the zested lemon into a small bowl. Grate enough Parm to yield ¼ cup (save what's left for passing at the table). Set all aside.  Add the herbs to the boiling water and cook until very softened, 2 minutes. (Cooking the herbs both mellows and deepens their flavor; they will have less fresh brightness but take on a richer, more vegetal flavor.) Use a mesh spider or tongs to remove the herbs and hold them under cold running water until cool enough to handle, about 10 seconds. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Thinly slice the herbs and stir them into the oil mixture. Taste and adjust with more salt and chile flakes, if desired. Set the herb sauce aside.  Lower heat under the boiling water to maintain a simmer—you want to get your mushrooms going before starting the pasta. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for 1 minute, then add 3 tablespoons olive oil and half the mushrooms. Cook, tossing, until the mushrooms are coated with oil, then cook, undisturbed, until browned on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and toss, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned all over and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a large plate and repeat with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and mushrooms, then add these mushrooms to the first batch. Bring the water back to a boil. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat until it foams, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the sliced garlic and shallot and cook until the garlic and butter are golden brown and the shallot is translucent, about 2 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, and cook, tossing, until well combined. Lower the heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. Use a mesh spider to transfer pasta to the pot with the mushrooms, then add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Increase the heat to medium and cook, tossing energetically, until a sauce forms that coats the pasta, 2 minutes. Add the ¼ cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and another big splash of pasta water and cook, tossing, until cheese is melted and the sauce is clinging to the noodles, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add a few spoonfuls of herb sauce to the pasta and stir to combine. Serve with remaining herb sauce and more cheese at the table. -------------------------From the MarketMild chile flakesShallotTender herbsMaitake mushroomsWide pasta noodles Spin ItInstead of Aleppo pepper, use a smaller quantity of regular red pepper flakes or lots of blackReplace the shallot with ¼ onionThe herbs are truly interchangeable, in any ratio, and can include basil, chives, tarragon, and/or dill Use shiitake, oyster, and/ or cremini mushrooms instead of maitakeBig tubes like rigatoni or paccheri are good too-------------------------At HomeSalt and pepperGarlicLemonOlive oilParmigianoButter Spin ItA few dashes of sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar can replace the lemon juice and zestGrana Padano or pecorino can replace the Parm-------------------------Tall Pot AltIf you don't have a Dutch oven, use a large heavy skillet to cook the mushrooms and combine with the shallot and garlic. Scoop out 2 cups of pasta cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and return to the pot, and build your sauce from there. If the sauce gets tight or sticky, or the cheese clumps together, lower the heat and add more water than you think you should. Cook over low heat, stirring gently but constantly, until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth. Reprinted from That Sounds So Goodby Carla Lalli Music. Copyright © 2021 by Carla Lalli Music. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers.Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Join Richard in this weeks veg grower podcast where he is discussing how he is growing garlic onions and shallots this year. He also shares the latest from his plots

It will soon be time to plant garlic but you can also put in some unusual onion varieties now and enjoy their mild flavors soon!

October is garlic planting time, but there are other onion family plants that can be sown in fall as well. Come the mid- to- end of October consider planting shallots and walking onions. You probably have heard of shallots and perhaps used them in French recipes. The French love shallots for their sweet, mild, onion flavor. Shallots come in a few different types. The red skinned and pink fleshed, torpedo-shaped shallot is called the French shallot. The Dutch shallot features a round, small, onion shape with tan-colored skin and white flesh. Dutch shallots store a long time indoors. These two types of shallots are probably the most popular. The French Gray shallot isn't as pretty to look at as the other types, but has a stronger flavor and is a favorite in many recipes. Plant shallots the same way and time as you would plant garlic. You'll have an early crop to harvest in spring. I always plant again in spring for a fall crop. Walking or Egyptian onions are an oddity. This perennial onion sends up tender shoots in spring. I love them as green onions because they emerge so early. By summer the shoots form top sets of bulbs that get so heavy they bend the stem to the ground. Wherever the top set onion lands, it roots. Hence the name, walking onion. The onion bulbs can be eaten, too, but they are pretty small. Although it's cool to have a perennial onion, watch where you plant it. It can spread and take over. I seem to be constantly pulling out errant plants in our garden.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode #52, co-hosts Beata and Bita explore the sour and acidic elements that elevate and balance Persian dishes.   List of sour and/or acidic ingredients in Persian cuisine include: Dried lime (in Farsi, Limoo Omani) Citrus  Lemon Lime Oranges Plums Onions Tomatoes Vinegar Ghoreh   Dried limes, Limoo Omani in Farsi Small, wrinkly, brown, hard, sometimes referred to as black limes Soaked and simmered directly into stews, then broken up when soft - can be either removed or consumed according to preference Also available in dried, ground form   Dishes the Beats prepare with lemon or lime juice Salad shirazi Loobia polo Fish and kababs   Dishes the Beats prepare with vinegar Garnish on top of aash With vegetables or on salad Dolmeh   Dishes the Beats prepare with ghoreh (tart, unripe grapes) Khoresh bademjoon/bademjan - eggplant stew Dolmeh   Dishes the Beats prepare with onions Most Persian dishes! Raw onions in sabzi khordan and as an accoutrement to meals   Dishes the Beats prepare with yogurt (See also: Episode 5: Yogurt) Plain Mast o khiar Mast o musir   Dishes the Beats prepare with sour plums Some Persian regional stews Lavashak (see episode Episode 38: Lavashak)   Dishes the Beats prepare with Seville oranges Some regional Persian stews   Ask the Beats This week's question comes from Farhad of Seattle: Beats, what is your go-to spice? Saffron Turmeric Salt Garlic powder/onion powder EBTB - Everything But the Bagel Seasoning mix Contact us at hello@modernpersianfood.com or Instagram   Resources and recipes from this episode: All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Samin Nosrat, Salt Fat Acid Heat   Persian Vegetarian Eggplant Stew – Khoreshteh Bademjan  Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Khoreshteh Karafs Celery and Herb Beef Stew Lubia Polo for the Persian New Year Sezdeh be Dar Picnic   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

Meet Rosie Itti Westlund, a one-and-a-half generation Asian American (born in Thailand and grew up in the states) whose family brought Thai restaurants to the Olympic Peninsula. Currently the owner of two successful Thai restaurants in Bend, Oregon, Rosie teaches us all about fish sauce and why she puts it on everything. Buckle up...this one's packed! Check out her restaurants, Wild Rose Thai (@wildrosethai) and Sen (@senthainoodles). Laab Is All You Need Cocktail by Natalee Eisenberg 2 Cucumbers 5 Mint leaves 5 Cilantro tops 2oz Infused Thai chili & cucumber vodka 1oz Lime 3/4oz Shallot simple syrup 4 Drops Fish Sauce In a shaker, gently muddle cucumber, cilantro, and mint. Combine the rest of ingredients, shake gently with ice. Double strain into a chilled Old-Fashioned glass, fill with ice and garnish with a sprig of cilantro and cucumber slice. Yum Kai Dao 4-6 eggs (dependent on serving size) 1 small shallot 1-2 Thai chilis, chopped (dependent on spice preference) 1/2 cup Chinese celery 1/2 English cucumber 1 cup green leaf lettuce 1 cup sliced Chinese sausage (optional) 2 limes 4 tbsp fish sauce 2 tbsp palm sugar (or substitute granulated sugar) 1/2 cup vegetable oil In a pan, heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil until very hot. Crack eggs into the pan and cook until over medium-hard (personal preference but with this dish the yolk should not be overly runny). The edges should get very crispy and bubbly. In Thai food, fried eggs should definitely be on the crispy side and not cooked low and slow. Turn off heat and lay eggs over a paper towel to drain and set aside. In the same pan, add the remaining 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and bring heat back up to high. Once sizzling, add sliced Chinese sausage and fry until crispy and deeper in color. Prepare vegetables by slicing the Chinese celery, cucumber, shallots, and lettuce, keeping everything separate. In a medium bowl combine fish sauce and sugar. Juice limes directly into the mixture. Alter according to taste and preference but dressing should be equally tart, salty, and sweet. On a plate, arrange chopped lettuce and fried eggs on top. In the bowl of dressing, add in friend Chinese sausage, celery, cucumber, shallots, and chopped Thai chilis and mix gently. Pour everything onto the plate of eggs and lettuce. Serve and enjoy! Check out the Next Ingredient website. Take a peek at the blog while you're there. Maybe you're more of an Instagram person: @nextingredient Thank you for listening! Please feel free to contact us with questions or comments, or if you would like to be a guest on the show. This podcast is meant to be a survey and celebration of natural ingredients. Please remember that health topics mentioned in these episodes are general. This is not to be considered one-on-one consulting with Next Ingredient, and does not replace a partnership with a trusted healthcare practitioner. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/next-ingredient/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/next-ingredient/support

In Episode #49, co-hosts Bita and Beata chat about delicious, Persian breads.  Persian breads come in several varieties.  Most of them are considered to be flatbreads.  The Beats have fun sharing which are their favorites as well as some memories of experiences with traditional bread bakeries in Iran as well as modern versions and substitutions available in the west.   Note:  Noon and naan are the Farsi words for bread and can be used interchangeably.   There are many varieties of Persian breads.  There are three or four varieties that are most common and familiar to Bita and Beata - lavash, barbari, sangak, and sheer mal.  Although all are flatbreads (typically quite long), each has unique ingredients, properties, and methods of preparation.   Lavash On the thinner side The type of Persian bread traditionally used to make bread tahdig (the bottom of the rice pot, crispy crunchy delicacy) Great for tucking herbs, nuts and cheese into for a perfect bite (in Farsi such a bite is called a “loghmeh”) Good for an herb platter Sabzi Khordan Nice to dip into yogurt dips like mast o khiar and mast o mooseer   Barbari Thicker and fluffier Often coated with sesame seeds (light and/or dark seeds) Enjoy with butter, jam and tea for breakfast; or with fresh herbs, cheese, and nuts for breakfast, appetizer, or snacking   Sangak Traditional bread, cooked on little pebbles (sang in Farsi means stone) Crispy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside Delicious, unique flavor   Sheer Mal Sweeter, milk based bread made with Persian essences of rose water, cardamom, and saffron Almost like a pastry, lovely with breakfast   Substitutions for Persian bread: Flour or whole wheat tortillas Reference to Tahdig art and instagramer Vartamelon VartaMelon – Not your ameh's kitchen Pita bread    Sweets and cookies that in Farsi contain the word Noon or nan (standing for flour based things) Noon o Gandi Noon Khormayee Noon Khameyee Naan Berenji   Ask the Beats! Sam from San Francisco asks how one can make a lighter version of koo koo sabzi? Koo koo sabzi is traditionally deep fried in a lot of oil and contains several eggs. Bake vs fry Reduce the number of eggs or use egg whites   Resources and recipes from this episode: All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Mast/Maast o Khiar recipe: Bita's recipe for Persian Cucumber Yogurt Dip | Mast o Khiar Beata's recipe for Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   Tahdig: Bita's post on Persian Tahdig | Crispy Bottom of the Rice Pot Beata's post on Katte Persian Rice with Tahdig   Koo Koo Sabzi: Bita's recipe for Kookoo Sabzi | Quiche Muffins Beata's recipe for Persian Frittata Koo Koo Sabzi    Bita's recipe for Naan Berenji Persian Rice Flour Cookies Recipe Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

In Episode #48, co-hosts Bita and Beata explore figs in Persian food culture.  Figs are enjoyed in fresh, dried, and cooked form.  Both Beats love fresh figs best however appreciate them in all forms.   Fresh figs Teardrop shaped Tiny seeds inside Soft and fleshy Thin skin or peel which can be easily be consumed   Dried figs Persian dried figs Small, round, and cute; a bit tough or hard - often mixed into Persian trailmix | Ajeel Turkish dried figs Flat, round, larger than Persian figs Great for a quick snack and an energy boost   Cooked figs - Jams Process for cooking fig jam Prick the figs with toothpick Cover with sugar Cook down Add Persian spices and essence (cardamom and rose water) Methods of enjoying Persian fig jam Breakfast with bread and tea On a cheese board as a sweet spread   Ask the Beats! Katie in San Francisco asks, “What is your go-to meal when you have a last minute guest?” Bita often grills something, steams rice, and prepares a fresh salad.  A bowl of yogurt or a yogurt dip completes the meal Beata likes to make Persian rice with lentils, Adas Polo or a dish with eggs Resources and recipes from this episode: All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food! Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes   Beata's recipe for Persian Fig Jam – Morabah Anjeer Beata's recipe for Khormah Maloos | Persian Dates and Eggs Beata's recipe for: Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   Bita's recipe for Mediterranean Mezze Board (cheese platter) Bita's recipe for Ajeel | Persian Trail Mix Bita's recipe for Fig Oatmeal Cookies Bita's recipe for Lentil and Date Rice | Adas Polo Bita's recipe for Persian Cucumber Yogurt Dip | Mast o Khiar Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

It's another 'chovie-fest! It's another pantry-essentials recipe! We're talking about the reluctant recipe queen of the pandemic, Alison Roman and her Shallot Pasta: https://anewsletter.alisoneroman.com/p/shallot-pasta-video We also discuss Grace's inability to read directions, Bucatini as the superior long nood, and lots of hot takes on parsley (we know you have them too, we're just brave enough to say it :)) Next week, we're doing another head-to-head with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's Kung Pao Chicken two ways. 1.)https://www.seriouseats.com/gong-bao-ji-ding-sichuan-kung-pow-chicken-recipe 2.)https://www.seriouseats.com/takeout-style-kung-pao-chicken-diced-chicken-peppers-peanuts-recipe Try 'em and let us know what you think! Send us your feedback and pics to TwoManyCooksPod@gmail.com or on IG @TwoManyCooksPod.

In this interview, Hardcover Cook founder, Monique Llamas, gives listeners a peek inside the summer baking box, which features the cookbook Bread Toast Crumbs by Alexandra Stafford. With praise from Dorie Greenspan, Jim Lahey, and David Lebovitz, the definitive bread-baking book for a new generation. But this book isn't just about baking bread– it's about what to do with the slices and heels and nubs from those many loaves you'll bake.After you master the famous peasant bread, you'll work your way through its many variations, both in flavor (Cornmeal, Jalapeno, and Jack; Three Seed) and form (Cranberry Walnut Dinner Rolls; Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread). You'll enjoy bread's usual utilities with Food Cart Grilled Cheese and the Summer Tartine with Burrata and Avocado, but then you'll discover its true versatility when you use it to sop up Mussels with Shallot and White Wine or juicy Roast Chicken Legs. Finally, you'll find ways to savor every last bite, from Panzanella Salad Three Ways to Roasted Tomato Soup to No-Bake Chocolate-Coconut Cookies.Bread, Toast, Crumbs is a 2018 nominee for The IACP Julia Child First Book Award, and Alexandra's Kitchen was a finalist for the Saveur Blog Awards Most Inspired Weeknight Dinners 2016  The Hardcover cook baking box includes grain from Hayden Flour Mills, and in this episode Monique interviews Emma Zimmerman of Hayden Flour Mills to find out more about the mill, the flour and products it produces and why just a half a cup of "real flour" can be a life changing baking experience.  Bread Toast Crumbs Box - https://www.hardcovercook.com/products/bread-toast-crumbs-cookbook-pantry-essentialsAlexandra's Kitchen - https://alexandracooks.com/Video to her Master No-Knead Peasant Bread Recipe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGILaYd-2OoHayden Flour Mills - https://www.haydenflourmills.com/

In this episode, I read a short essay I wrote on effective scientific writing, with references to Strunk and White, Steven Pinker, and George Whitesides. The original article was published in Chemistry of Materials, 2021, 33, 11, 3865–3867, original publication date, June 8, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater... This reading was done with permission from the American Chemical Society.

It's garlic planting time - you can be earlier than “that shortest day” myth! Usually people say: plant on shortest day and harvest on the longest day. That gives a bit of an indication of how garlic “likes it”. But over the past decade I noticed a few problems with garlic that are difficult to control and the most important one is rust disease. It’s a fungal disorder that hammers the bulb-forming members of alliums (onion genus group of the family amaryllidaceae). The fungus enters the long, soft leaves of shallots, onions and garlic and causes yellowing of the leaves, ill-thrift and sick-looking plants towards the end of the growing season, when temperatures rise in spring. The most significant diagnostic sign are the bright yellow “pustules” that form on the leaves – these pustules are easily rubbed off by your finger.So I have been trialling a much earlier planting regime: This year I started planting my first row on 2 May, second row on 15 May; third one goes in on 22 May...today! I can monitor their health and how fast they grow towards maturity. In early May we still had warm soil temperatures and plants sprouted quickly. With a bit of luck they will mature a month or 7 weeks earlier than normal, hopefully escaping a significant period of rust infection. Which variety should I plant? Printanor is the common old garlic variety you buy at “New World”. Often it is imported from China and treated to stop it sprouting, that means no good for planting! Buy some planting cloves that are either organic or simply not treated. At farmers markets you can sometimes purchase interesting varieties: Californian Red Turban: Can grow into huge bulbs (15 cm diameter bulbs) Macedonian: Strong flavour and somewhat oily West Coast Miners: Rather good, large cloves too Hard-neck garlic: Lets little flowers/bulblets up the stem, edible as soft green salad component, in mid-spring Elephant garlic: This is actually a leek, with a swollen stem. Has a very mild flavour Shallots can also be planted now! Use well-drained soil, shallow planting (tip, just above the ground) and 15 cm spacing. Cover with ground sheep dags (KINPACK) or fine, rich compost. Keep moist, but not overly moist, because that encourages rotting. Harvest when the foliage dies down (Mid-November or December if my timing works out!).LISTEN ABOVE    

In Episode #33, co-hosts Bita and Beata have a fun conversation describing what Persian cucumbers are and how they are enjoyed in Persian culture and cuisine.   What sets Persian cucumbers apart from other standard, larger cucumbers? Smaller size - approximately 5 inches long Smoother skin or peel Smaller seeds and less watery Milder flavor   How they are used in Persian culture and cuisine Always raw To snack on with salt As part of a large fruit platter In appetizer or side dish recipes   Recipes that call for Persian cucumbers Salad Shirazi - simple salad of finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, tossed in olive oil and lemon juice (and seasoned with salt and pepper) Mast o Khiar  Simple version - yogurt, cucumbers and dried mint (or dill) Fancier version - yogurt, cucumbers, dried mint, walnuts, raisins/cranberries, and sometimes garnished with dried culinary rose petals Other cultures with similar yogurt and cucumbers dishes:  Greek tzatziki (usually has dried dill and a thicker, full fat yogurt);  Indian riata which is more watery and liquidy than the Persian version   Other fun uses for cucumbers! Save the peels for a natural facial Cut into slices for a cooling eye mask   Ask the Beats! This week’s question comes from Reddit where one of our listeners asks, “how to make bangin’ Persian food for young professionals that don’t live with their families/ how to meal prep to cook Persian food” Batch cook on the weekend Pre-cook stewed meats, chicken, other meats to be repurposed into other dishes Wash and trim vegetables and herbs, store layered in paper towels to absorb the moisture and help stay fresh Batch cook the fried onions (in Farsi “piyaz dagh”) to be used through the week in recipes Cook Persian soups and Persian stews (in Farsi “khoresh”) enough for the week   Resource links and recipes from this episode:   Bita’s recipes: Salad Shirazi | Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad Persian Cucumber Yogurt Dip Mast o Khiar   Beata’s recipes: Beata’s recipe for Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   The Modern Persian Food podcast is available for free on all podcast downloading sites or at: ModernPersianFood.com Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

Support Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:18-6:2

In Episode #32, co-hosts Bita and Beata welcome a very special guest, Maz Jobrani.  Maz is a well-known Iranian American comedian who has been featured in numerous films, specials, shows, and comedy clubs.  He has more recently also started a podcast called “Back to School”.  Maz is well loved in the Iranian community and Bita and Beata are happy to have him talk about their favorite topic, Persian food, specifically Maz’s personal experiences with eating and enjoying Persian food in childhood, as a young adult, and more recently with his family.   Maz immigrated to the US at the age of 6 and grew up in northern California, in Marin, with Beata’s brothers. He now resides in Los Angeles, Southern California.   Foods and traditions Maz remembers from his childhood Maz’s favorite dishes to order from Persian restaurants Enjoying tea with parents and grandparents - chai shirin, Persian tea with sugar Eating traditional Persian breakfasts of tea, bread, cheese, and delicious jams Sabzi polo ba mahi (herb rice with fish, white fish) Kashk bademjoon (Persian eggplant dip) Mast-o-museer (yogurt with shallots) Appetizers Sabzi khordan (fresh herb platter) Gerdoo (walnuts) Paneer (Persian cheese, typically feta) Stews served over Tahdig (crispy rice from the bottom of the pot) Khoresh ghormeh sabzi Khoresh ghemeh Khoresh fesenjoon   Maz’s favorite restaurants in the LA area Darya Restaurant Shamshiri Grill  Raffi’s Place Attari Sandwich Shop for their sandwiches, i.e. mortadella sandwiches (with pickles, tomatoes, and butter), kotlet sandwich, kookoo sandwich, soups   Reference to “What I Eat - Around the World in 80 Diets” - one of the couples/authors sited Persian food as the best in the world. Reference to Padma Lashmi’s special, “Taste The Nation'' where he was one of the guests and joined in at the Elat Market.  (Persian breakfasts) Reference to Anthony Bourdain in his episode about Iran where he refers to Iranians as “the most hospitable people in the world”    Eating Persian food as a young adults/ in early 20’s Beef soltani plate Rice with oil, extra butter, raw egg All seasoned with sumac   Experiences traveling as a comedian with Persian food Restaurant hospitality (Australia, DC, SF)   Food as a bridge to cultural gaps.  Food as the #1 way to teach other people about people different than themselves and bring them closer in a way everyone understands, eating and food.  A great foray into other cultures.  Like comedy, food brings people together in joyful experiences of laughing and eating.   Ask the Beats! Maz asks Bita and Beata after sharing that he is good at eating food but not so much at making it, “what is the simplest Persian dish to cook? Bita answers with Tacheen Beata answers with Maast-o Khiar or Maast-o Laboo    Resource links and recipes from this episode:   Maz Jobrani Back to School with Maz Jobrani Podcast Darya Restaurant Shamshiri Grill Raffi’s  Atari Sandwich Shop Amoo’s Restaurant  What I Eat by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi Parts Unknown   Tacheen Recipes: Bita’s recipe for Tacheen Baked Persian Chicken and Rice Casserole Bita’s recipe for Persian Crispy Rice Cups Tachchin Bites Beata’s recipe for Persian Jeweled Tahchin   Yogurt dip/sides Recipes:  Beata’s recipe for Maast-o Laboo | Persian Beets and Yogurt Beata’s recipe for Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Bita’s recipe for Persian Cucumber Yogurt Dip Mast o Khiar   Stews: Beata’s recipe for Walnut and Pomegranate Stew | Khoreshteh Fessenjoon Bita’s recipe for Khoresh Fesenjan | Persian Pomegranate Chicken (an Instant Pot recipe) Bita’s recipe for Khoresh Gheymeh | Persian Yellow Split Pea Stew Podcast production by Alvarez Audio 

In Episode #26, co-hosts Bita and Beata uncover the subject of flowers in Persian cuisine and in Persian culture.  Bita and Beata are joined by a special guest, Maman Jaleh (MJ for short) with over 20 years of experience in the flower industry as a designer, business manager, and owner.   MJ speaks on some of the history of flowers in Iran: Iran is called the country of flowers and nightingales. Potted flowers are popular because of a history of a shortage of water. Flowers in Persian cuisine, two of which are both aromatic and pleasing to the eye are saffron and rose petals.   Beata chimes in and notes the role of flowers sofrehs: Sofreh aghd Sofreh aide Norooz/Nowruz   Saffron in cuisine: In rice, with barberries called Zereshk Polo In preparing tahdig In steeping tea Use sparingly - it is considered a precious commodity and is strong in both color and flavor...it is a flavor enhancer, brings color and fragrance to the dish   Rose and rose water, also best used in moderation: In Persian sweets and desserts Rose water in Bita’s Jeweled rice Rose petals in loobia polo and mast o khiar In tea MJ touches on ‘real rose water’ from Iran   Golnar (also known as the fire flower): The flowers on pomegranate trees - very beautiful MJ speaks of her passion of pomegranate trees The color of fire   Golpar - angelica Finely ground and served sprinkled on fava beans Also sprinkled on pomegranate arils “Awakens all your senses”   Sumac Medicinal - antibacterial Most traditionally used on kababs and beef   Ask the Beats! More info regarding the “hot and cold foods” question from episode #21 asked by Mahsa, the Moody Persian. Regional (DNA influenced by where you are from, palate gets used to what is available) Hot and Cold foods in nature have to be in balance with each other Chai nabat (Tea with rock sugar) will help balance the foods The mast-o-khiar balance example… yogurt (cold in nature) with raisins and mint (both warm in nature)   Resource links and recipes from this episode:   Rice dishes: Bita’s Persian Jeweled Rice | Shirin Polo Beata’s Lubia/Loobia polo: Green Bean Rice | Lubia Polo   Yogurt sides: Bita’s Persian Yogurt Cucumber Dip Mast-o-khiar Beata’s yogurt cucumber dip: Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

On this episode of Make It Cute, Miles talks about a couple of his favorite ways to spring into spring cleaning season. Miles talks about how cleaning isn't just a physical act, but also how it can affect other parts of your life. Brown Butter, Shallot, and Thyme Risotto: .5 cup arborio rice 1 shallot 2 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp cooking wine 3 sprigs of thyme 5 cups chicken stock Parmesan cheese Finely mince shallot and garlic. In a large pan add in olive oil, followed by shallot, garlic, and salt and pepper. Let cook 2 minutes. In a separate pot bring chicken stock to a boil and reduce heat to low to keep warm. Add in rice and toast 1 minute. Add in .5 tbsp butter and let melt and brown. Deglaze pan with cooking wine and then add stock using a ladle. Slowly add stock after rice absorbs the previous ladle-full. Continue to add stock and cook until rice is creamy and cooked through. ~20-40 minutes. Add in remaining butter and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Spring In A Cup: 1 oz vodka 1.5 oz strawberry pucker 4-5 oz fresh squeezed orange juice Sprite to top In a glass add ice. Follow the ice with the orange juice and vodka. Float on top the strawberry pucker. Top with sprite. Enjoy cold! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #16, co-hosts Bita and Beata talk about one of their favorite delicious Persian stews, Fesenjoon (also known as Fessenjoon, Fesenjan), how they enjoyed it growing up, and personal modern recipes and methods for preparing it today. What is Khoresh Fesenjoon? Khoresh means stew in Farsi, however it is more like a saucy dish served with rice Fesenjoon, is made with meat of choice (or vegetarian), pomegranate molasses, and walnuts - there are variations in spices and additional ingredients depending on region and family Described as a sweet and sour (in Farsi “torsh o shirin”), rich, sultry, comforting dish with a little texture (due to the chopped nuts) Appearance is anywhere from a light tan to a dark brown, and can be reddish in hue   Bita’s modern recipe Using accessible ingredients, cutting down on time, and lightening up a traditionally very heavy, calorically dense, rich dish Instant Pot Ingredients:  boneless chicken pieces, chopped toasted walnuts, spices (saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, salt and pepper), lemon juice/cranberry juice (optional)   Beata’s recipe Stovetop Toasting and simmering ground walnuts in a pot while cooking chicken and grated onions separately.  Combining the 2 pots and simmering with pomegranate molasses.    Ask the Beats! Jordan of San Francisco asks “How do you rehydrate walnuts for sabzi khordan/ Persian herb, cheese, and nut appetizer?” Soak the nuts in a bowl of water overnight.  This results in softer nuts with skins that can be easily peeled off if desired.   Recipe and resource links from this episode:   Fessenjoon: Bita’s recipe for:  Khoresh Fesenjoon | Persian Pomegranate Chicken Beata’s recipe: Walnut and Pomegranate Stew – Khoreshteh Fessenjoon Salads and sides: Bita’s recipe for Sabzi Khordan | Persian Herb Appetizer Bita’s recipe for Mast o Khiar | Persian Cucumber Dip Beata’s recipe for: Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

Delving into the animals behind the chinese annual zodiac, Sabryna discusses just how she (and Julianna) got to be such stubborn oxen. Julianna tells the stories of Garlic and Shallots (the Indonesian “Cinderella story”) and the Filipino moon-eater “Bakunawa”. References: https://jakartaglobe.id/culture/five-popular-indonesian-folk-tales-subtexts/ https://www.popmama.com/kid/4-5-years-old/jemima/dongeng-anak-nusantara-bawang-merah-dan-bawang-putih/3 https://www.soas.ac.uk/music/events/07nov2015-bawang-merah-bawang-putih---an-indonesian-tale-of-garlic-and-shallots.html https://www.benthis.eu/en/mls/Shallots-in-Indonesia.htm https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-10/garlic-prices-jump-in-indonesia-on-worries-about-chinese-exports https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Bakunawa https://owlcation.com/humanities/bakunawa-and-the-seven-moons https://allaboutdragons.com/dragons/Bakunawa https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/pig-chinese-zodiac-sign-symbolism.htm --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sabryna-gordon/message

In Episode #15, co-hosts Bita and Beata share thoughts on what they feel are essential ingredients and kitchen appliances/hardware to stock a Persian Pantry for basic recipes.   Ingredients White, long grain Basmati rice (refer to episode #3, ‘Rice’) Spices - saffron, turmeric, sumac, cumin, cardamom, rose petals, rose water, mint, salt, limoo omani (dried lime) Pomegranates - fresh and in molasses form Cucumbers Citrus - oranges and orange blossom water Beans and legumes - chickpeas, kidney beans, white beans, lentils, black eyed peas Tomatoes - stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato soup or ketchup as shortcuts Stocks - vegetable broth and chicken stock (homemade or ready made) Herbs - parsley, cilantro, mint Fats - vegetable oil, butter, ghee, olive oil Plain yogurt Eggs Flours - rice flour, almond flour, wheat starch, corn starch Sugar and honey   Equipment Rice cookers Nonstick pot with tight fitting lid Colanders Chopping device/food processor Instant Pot/pressure cooker (optional) Air fryer (optional)   Ask the Beats! Fariba from LA asks: “How does saffron affect flavor in Persian foods?” It has a mildly sweet flavor which is lightly floral and a pleasing, delightful aroma.  It also provides a yellowish orange tint to foods. Recipe and resource links from this episode:   Resources: Ovenhug’s resource for How to Stock a Persian Pantry Ovenhug’s Spice Guide Bita’s recipe for:  Sumac Roasted Vegetables Khoresh Karafs: Bita’s recipe for:  Khoresh Karafs | Persian Celery Stew Beata’s recipe for: Khoreshteh Karafs Celery and Herb Beef Stew Loobia Polo Bita’s recipe for:  Loobia Polo | Persian Green Bean Rice Beata’s recipe for: Lubia Polo for the Persian New Year Sezdeh be Dar Picnic Persian Salads: Bita’s recipe for:  Salad Shirazi | Persian Tomato and Cucumber Salad Bita’s recipe for:  Mast o Khiar | Persian Yogurt and Cucumber dip Beata’s recipes for Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Adas Polo: Bita’s recipe for:  Adas Polo | Persian Lentil and Date Rice Ash Reshteh: Bita’s recipe for:  Ash Reshteh | Persian Herb and Noodle Soup Beata’s recipe for: Ash Reshteh | Persian Noodle Soup Beata’s recipe for: Asheh Reshteh – Persian Noodle Soup – Original Recipe Post   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

In Episode #14, co-hosts Bita and Beata share insights on how adding fresh ingredients and nutritious Persian dishes is a welcome addition to the New Year, especially in a time of feeling like many things have been taken away from us (i.e. the current global pandemic we are in).  Cheers to a better, brighter, healthier future ahead!   Fresh, whole ingredients in Persian food Fruit, vegetables, and herbs Lean meats Beans/legumes Ancient grains Nuts Yogurts and cheeses   Similarities between Iranian cuisine and the Mediterranean ‘diet’ Heart-healthy fats - i.e. olive oil, lower fat feta cheese (vs fatty cheeses), lean meats, fish and poultry Beans and legumes - good dietary fiber, vitamins, and nutrients Nuts such as walnuts, almonds, and pistachios   Using techniques to lighten up dishes and meals  Baking vs frying (for example with eggplant and when making koo sabzi) Being mindful of portions on calorically dense foods high in fat and/or sugar   In summary, Persian cuisine uses simple and fresh ingredients that are nutritious by nature.  Adding more fresh, whole foods and learning to prepare them is a great way to forge into times ahead.   Ask the Beats! Lauren of the Bay Area asks, “What is the most common spice used in Persian food?” Bita:  saffron - saffron spray in modern cooking form Beata:  turmeric, specifically added while frying onions at the start of many recipes Both saffron and turmeric add flavor and color to Persian dishes.  Saffron adds a reddish/orange tint and turmeric adds a yellow color. Recipe links from this episode:   Eggplant dishes: Beata’s recipe for Persian Vegetarian Eggplant Stew – Khoreshteh Bademjan Bita’s recipe for Kashk Bademjan | Persian Eggplant Dip Bita’s video for Roasting Whole Eggplant Koo Koo Sabzi: Bita’s recipe for Baked Koo Koo Sabzi Beata’s recipe for Koo Koo Sabzi Fessenjoon: Beata’s recipe for Walnut and Pomegranate Stew – Khoreshteh Fessenjoon Persian Salads: Beata’s recipes for Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

The Lady of Shallot, Annabel Lee, and Patterns, each tell a tale to enthral.

In Episode #5, co-hosts Bita Arabian and Beata Nazem Kelley talk about yogurt and the role it plays in Persian food and cooking.  They cover the impressive health benefits, popular uses, and their favorite recipes using yogurt.  Plain white yogurt is a healthy addition to your food Yogurt is a delicious accompaniment to rich stews and soups How to make and drink “Doogh” Persian yogurt drink Stories and how to make yogurt at home Yogurt and cucumber dip “Maast p Chiar” and soup variations Garlic or shallot will work for “Maast o Mooseer”  Breakfast smoothie recipe Freezing yogurt for frozen treats “Ask the Beats” - What to do with Quince? Email hello@modernpersianfood.com to be featured Baked rice casserole Tacheen   Recipe links from this episode: Lubia Polo: Beata’s recipe: Lubia Polo for the Persian New Year Sezdeh be Dar Picnic Bita’s recipe:  Persian Chicken and Green Bean Rice   Yogurt dips: Beata’s recipe: Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi Bita’s recipe:  Mast o’ Khiar | Persian Cucumber Yogurt Dip Bita’s recipe:  Strawberry frozen yogurt treats Quince Jam: Beata’s recipe: Persian Quince Jam – Morabah Beh   Tacheen: Beata’s recipe: Giti Joon's Famous Tacheen Recipe Bita’s recipe:  Persian Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole;  How to Parboil Rice Podcast production by Alvarez Audio

Welcome to episode 4 of the Modern Persian Food podcast! Co-hosts Bita and Beata talk about the different ways to use onions in Persian cooking and the health benefits related to this root vegetable. Health benefits of onions and other root vegetables Raw onions with fresh herbs and in salads Fried onions as basis for Persian stews and recipes or garnish on dishes Batch cooking “Piaz Daagh” Grated onions in ground beef “koobideh” kabobs and “chang-ing” the meat Grated onions in marinade for grilled chicken “joojeh” kababs Grilled onions and use of grill pan for flavor and health consciousness  “Ask the Beats” - How to store onions? Email hello@modernpersianfood.com to be featured BeatsCheats: How to tame a strong onion flavor, and how to avoid smelling like onions when cooking them    Recipe links from this episode: Salad Shirazi  Beata’s recipe: Persian Salads:   Maast o Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi  Bita’s recipe:  Salad Shirazi | Persian Cucumber Tomato and Cucumber Salad Ash Reshteh Beata’s recipe:  Asheh Reshteh Persian Noodle Soup   Bita’s recipe:  Persian Soup (Asheh Reshteh) Vegetarian Persian Detox Noodle Soup  Kababs Beata’s recipe:  Moroccan Kebabs with Basil, Tomato, and Cannelini Bean Salad  Bita’s recipe:  Persian Kabab Slider Burgers  Bita’s recipe:  Easy Greek Meatballs Recipe with grated onions Bita’s recipe:  Borani Persian Eggplant Dip Recipe   Podcast production by Alvarez Audio