francisco migoya

From still-life bowls of fruit and pastel paintings of cake – to sensually photographed peppers and iconic Campbell soup cans, food is one of our favorite things to portray and observe through the visual arts. It also plays a role in some of the earliest known artworks – where the animals painted on cave walls may have represented sources of food for early humans.

This week, we look at the evolution of how the culinary and art worlds have become tightly intertwined. Stories focus on food sculpture, bread as art, the iconic works of Wayne Thiebaud, and how instagram has changed the way we share and consume food.

You can find the entire series of Modernist Breadcrumbs here.

And you can hear more from Michael Harlan Turkell's The Food Seen here.

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Andrew took his podcasting gear on the road again (this is getting to be a habit) and recorded interviews with 5 participating chefs at the recent Chef’s Roll Anti-Convention in San Diego, California, earlier this month. This 3-hour episode should keep you entertained through our between-season break: Listen at your leisure to intimate conversations with LA’s Nyesha Arrington; Boston’s Barbara Lynch; Napa’s Ken Frank; San Diego’s own Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins; and Modernist Cuisine’s Francisco Migoya. See you in May with a new roster of guests for the spring and summer!

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THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. 

Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

In this episode, we’re exploring the intersection of bread and art, and the idea of bread as art. From Renaissance paintings of The Last Supper (complete with pretzels) and still lifes from the Dutch Golden Age to scoring videos on Instagram—the aesthetics of bread, and all that it symbolizes, have long been on display.

We'll look for bread in art history with Maite Gomez-Rejon (founder of Art Bites), consider the influence of art on baking with an interview from HRN Happy Hour featuring head chef of Modernist Cuisine Francisco Migoya and author Daniel Isengart, talk about craft with baker (and former ceramic artist) Sarah Owens, weigh bread's artistic value with Guy Frenkel of Ceor Bread, and find out how co-authors Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, tackled bread's beige aesthetics when writing Modernist Bread.

Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold/ The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Hughes & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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It’s a season of celebration, and no matter what you’re celebrating, that usually means baking. Sweet or savory, traditional or cutting-edge, more people fire up their ovens during the holiday season than any other time of the year. In this episode, we're exploring holiday breads and the traditions that bring us back to them, year after year.

We'll talk Stollen with Brian Hart Hoffman of Bake From Scratch, Challah with Mike Zaro of Zaro's Bakery, and Pandoro vs Panettone with Italian baker Luigi Biasetto. Co-authors of Modernist Bread, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, help us figure out what the holiday hoopla is all about—is it just nostalgia, or something deeper?

Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Hughes & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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We're going down the rabbit hole of breads with holes! From the New York vs Montreal bagel debate—and the power of water and lye—to the twists and turns of pretzel history, focusing on the presence of negative space is a positive thing.

We'll explore the power of lye with Harold McGee, check out NYC bagel culture with Dianna Daoheung of Black Seed Bagels, learn about the Simit with Zoe Kanan, and head to Pennsylvania's classic Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery. Along the way, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, co-authors of Modernist Bread, will address "the water myth," and their findings may surprise NYC bagel purists.

Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings).

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We're hopping in our Winne-bread-go and hitting the road—to explore the state of regional breads in America! We'll travel to New Orleans for a Po'boy, New England for Anadama, and to Appalachia for Salt Rising Bread, all in search of an answer to the question, "Is there a regional bread culture in the United States?"

Featured in this episode are Sandy Whann of Leidenheimer Baking Company, Alison Pray of Standard Baking Company, chef Travis Milton, author Ronni Lundy, and, of course, co-authors of Modernist Bread, Francisco Migoya & Nathan Myhrvold.

Here's the link to Rising Creek Bakery, as mentioned in the episode.

Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings).

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Flatbreads and quick breads may seem like strange oven-fellows, but hear us out. In the Venn Diagram of bread baking, they both fall in the overlap of “speed” and “differently leavened.” So we're firing up the tonir, the tandoor, the griddle, the bastible, the wok, and even a rock, to travel around the world through bread.

We'll chat flatbreads with chef Mike Solomonov of Zahav, head baker Peiwen Lee of Hot Bread Kitchen, and author Kate Leahy of the forthcoming Lavash. Then, producer-at-large Conor O'Donovan will dive deep into Irish Soda Bread with Darina Allen of The Ballymaloe Cookery School and cookbook historian Dorothy Cashman. And, as always, we'll hear insights from co-authors of Modernist Bread Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya.

Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings).

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Bread has been paired with other fermentations for millennia—with beer in Russian literature, wine in religious texts, and cheese in sandwiches around the world every day. What is it about bread that makes it a natural ally to these fermented products? Well, bread itself is a fermented product.

In this episode, we’ll look at co-fermentations and variations on the process of yeast eating sugar and releasing carbon dioxide. We'll hear from Keith Cohen of Orwasher's Bakery, Nina White of Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, Tracy Chang of PAGU, Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing, and, of course, co-authors of Modernist Bread, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya.

Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast.

Industrialization, and the semi-dwarf wheat developed during the Green Revolution, created a disconnect between farming and flour. But now, consumers are rejecting these commodities and rediscovering the foods, flavors, and farmers around us.

This episode is about the growing movement to bring back heritage grains and strengthen local and regional food systems. In direct opposition of the Green Revolution, we’re going to the front lines of the “Grain Revolution."

We'll hear from author William Alexander, baker Ellen King of Hewn, Henry Blair of the Greenmarket Regional Grains Project, "The Grain Lady" Mona Esposito, miller Jennifer Lapidus of Carolina Ground, and, of course, co-authors of "Modernist Bread," Nathan Myhrvold and Francsico Migoya.

Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme music: Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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Welcome to Season Two of Modernist BreadCrumbs!

It seems only natural—and appropriately poetic—to start this season talking about starters. They’re the inception of the loaf, the first step. You don’t need a starter to make bread, but the story of cultivating yeast from the environment around us—whether you call it “starter,” “culture,” “levain," or “mother”—is what we’re focusing on in this episode, from microbes to miche.

We'll hear from Executive Producer Michael Harlan Turkell about his "mother," baker Sarah Owens about her "Beast," microbial ecologists Dr. Erin McKenney and Dr. Rob Dunn of The Sourdough Project, and, of course, co-authors of "Modernist Bread," Nathan Myhrvold and Francsico Migoya.

“Sourdough for Science” Link: http://studentsdiscover.org/lesson/sourdough-for-science

“New Year, New Bread” Link: http://studentsdiscover.org/lesson/new-year-new-bread

Puratos Sourdough Library Virtual Tour Link: https://www.poppr.be/virtualtour/puratos/#p=scene_p1.html

Photo credit: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme music: Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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The guests of the hour are Daniel Isengart and Francisco Migoya! Both men have combined a deep love of art with their culinary aspirations, and have truly unique perspectives on cooking, eating, and creating.

Daniel Isengart is the author of The Art of Gay Cooking, a literary appropriation of The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, that includes a foreword by Jeremiah Tower, the legendary Godfather of California Cuisine. Isengart was born in Munich, Germany and raised in France. Since his NYC stage debut in 1994 (in Tina Landau’s Stonewall – Night Variations), he has become a specialist in the intimate performance style of the cabaret genre.

Francisco Migoya, head chef of Modernist Cuisine and co-author of Modernist Bread: The Art and Science, grew up in Mexico City surrounded by the cultures of his parents: Italian-American and Spanish. Chef Migoya’s first calling, however, was not culinary school but art school, where he planned on studying painting, drawing and sculpture. Encouraged by a friend, he acquired a staging position in a Mexico City hotel at age 16. Migoya quickly realized that the kitchen was where he belonged.

Our theme song is “Suns Out Guns Out” by Concord America.

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Modernist Cuisine founder Nathan Myhrvold and head chef Francisco Migoya are back with Jordan Werner Barry and Michael Harlan Turkell for season two of Modernist BreadCrumbs, a special series taking a new look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet: bread. This season builds on where we “startered” last year, looking at the discoveries and techniques from Modernist Bread and interviewing the bakers, scientists, chefs, authors, millers, and Bread Heads who are shaping the future of bread. We’ll take deep dives into the microbial world, regional grain projects, flatbreads, and breads with holes, but we’ll also step back and look at how bread intersects with culture, fermentation, immigration, art, and tradition. Fire up your oven and follow the breadcrumbs.

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This is Episode Eight of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Breadbox.”

Bread is immeasurable, no longer bound by precepts. The new dictum of baking bread is built on shapes and sizes we haven’t even dreamt of. This episode, the proverbial breadbox of the series, will hold all the bits of bread we haven’t gotten to yet, or have yet to be made.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Theme Music by Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse

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This is Episode Seven of Modernist BreadCrumbs: "Thermal Mass," on baking and ovens.

We’ll discuss “thermal mass," or the ability to absorb and hold heat, in two-parts: within bread itself, and the ovens it's baked in. It’s a complex physicochemical process… that’s more than just hot air.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast

This is Episode Six of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Balls & Sticks,” on shapes, scoring, and semiotics.

Balls & sticks. You’ll hear this idiom over and over in this episode, as if we’re talking in circles. The two shapes' repetitive figures have been a constant in bread’s identity over time, but why?

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast

This is Episode Five of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Against the Grain,” on politics.

How does bread play a part in politics you ask? Withholding grain has been part of party lines as well as a catalyst of war. Though the fight still continues to bring bread to those impoverished and underfed around the world, we urge you to chew on this: become as active as a sourdough starter, and be part of the bread revolution. Rise up!

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Music by Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast

This is Episode Four of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Milling About,” History Part II, Pre-Industrialization.

When we look back on how modern baking came to be, it’s the same old story of craft informing art, and how the artisanal approach was replicated through the aid of mechanization. This episode picks up where Episode One left off, telling bread's life story from All Purpose to Zopf.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast

This is Episode Three of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “On the Rise,” on yeast, leavening, and fermentation.

Here, we observe a microscopic single-celled organism from the fungi kingdom, and its full effect on bread: yeast. How can something so small make such a big impact? When it comes to bread, the proof really is in the proofing.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast

This is Episode Two of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “The Great Civilizations of Grain,” on grains, flour, and milling.

In this episode, we look inside with a kernel of knowledge, sprout ancient grains, and take a journey through wheat’s history. We could go on for flours.

Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think.

From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Nathan Myhrvold and Michael Harlan Turkell kick off Modernist BreadCrumbs, their new podcast series on Heritage Radio Network, with a special conversation about the future of bread. Myhrvold will share insights from his new 5-volume book Modernist Bread (on sale November 7, 2017), the inspiration behind the podcast, as well as what the Modernist Cuisine team learned over four years of nonstop research, photography, experiments, writing and baking. From its surprising history to the complex science behind every loaf, this discussion will reveal why we need to take a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet.

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