The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters · American Public Media

811: Does This Taste Funny with Stephen and Evie McGee Colbert and Taste in Music with Alex Bleeker and Luke Pyenson

·50 min·4 clips

Evie Colbert reveals how her daughter demanded a roommate-style cooking schedule during their pandemic lockdown.

Francis Lam opens by revisiting an interview from last year after the terrible news of the end of the Colbert show, with Hevy Colbert, Stephen Colbert's wife and writing partner for *Does This Taste Funny*. The focus is their cookbook, which treats humor and family cooking as part of the same conversation. He starts with a cocktail pairing. Hevy walks through the smoky, sweet logic of bourbon and why it works. Francis then follows the thread back to a dish with family history. Charleston oyster pie becomes the anchor, described as basically scalloped oysters: oysters with heavy cream and a little cheese. It was a holiday constant. Her sister took over making it, and the ritual kept coming back year after year. The issue was timing. The dish was always the one thing still waiting in the oven while everything else was ready to come out. That delay became part of the joke. It also pushed them to rethink the recipe for the book. The newer version aims for the spirit of the original without the same wait. It leans toward an oyster Rockefeller feel, with breadcrumbs, cream, and Parmesan on top. Hevy notes that the old version had mace and a very specific taste. The new one is meant to be a little more universal, but still satisfying. The conversation keeps returning to how recipes hold family history even when they change shape. Francis lets the story stay domestic and funny at once, with the kind of easy follow-up that invites more than a simple recipe answer. The episode then shifts to Alex Leaker and Luke Pineson, the authors of *Taste in Music: Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians*. The closing stretch keeps the show's affectionate rhythm and leaves the listener with food, memory, and musicians on the road.

As heard by us

Family recipes and tour food keep this episode grounded, even with familiar names in the mix.

Two kitchen conversations give this episode its shape: first with Hevy Colbert about the Colberts' cookbook, Does This Taste Funny?, and then with Alex Bleeker and Luke Pyenson about Taste in Music, Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians.

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You want celebrity kitchen talk that stays close to the food.

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