There’s nothing that inspires home cooking more than the holidays. Even those of us who don’t consider ourselves chefs, foodies or even good cooks, tinkering around in the kitchen during those cozy winter months is fun. Enter Samin Nosrat’s Home Cooking podcast.

Home Cooking is a delightfully addictive show about cooking, culture and the love of good food. It’s delivered in the form of a soothing conversation between two close friends, Iranian-American chef Samin Nosrat and the Song Exploder podcast host and creator Hrishikesh Hirway. Nosrat is a NYT Food columnist and author, best known for her book and Netflix show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.

Each episode begins with the hosts asking each other “what’s the best thing that you’ve eaten lately?” The answers are sometimes as simple as, “a hot dog” or as elaborate as “butternut squash and green curry soup with coconut milk.” Regardless, the conversations that flow from there are always joyful, witty, and insightful as the hosts banter back and forth about everything from their favorite comfort foods and travels, to the history of vanilla beans.

The second half of the show is dedicated to answering listener questions in Nosrat’s signature non-judgemental and approachable style. She doesn’t believe in rigid complex recipes; she’s more about flavor combinations, improvisation and learning to work with what you have available. Her quirky tips on things like using bean water (aquafaba) to make soups, sauces, and salad dressings more creamy without adding extra cream or fat is revolutionary.

We first got hooked on Home Cooking during the pandemic lockdown. The show was originally conceived as a limited series at the peak of the banana bread craze. Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The Economist, and The Atlantic, all named it as one of the best podcasts of 2020. And then, much to the disappointment of its diehard fan base, it stopped — which is why the appearance of 9 new episodes was a special treat this holiday season. We truly hope that the next season won’t be so long in the making, because we need our ‘Samini’s, teeny, tahini, sardini, panini’ (an inside joke from episode 23). Check it out.

WHERE TO LISTEN– You can tune in on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anghami | iHeart.

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