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This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry are back with a completely new Thanksgiving episode built for everything that happens after the basic advice runs out. First, we head to the Thanksgiving Emergency Room to tackle the disasters that can derail dinner. Frozen turkey? Broken gravy? Everything needs the oven at the same time? Tanner explains how to save the meal before anyone starts ordering pizza. Then it’s Thanksgiving Mythbusters. Do you really need to baste the turkey? Is the timing of turkey hard to get right? Should stuffing go inside the bird? We take on some of the most common Thanksgiving cooking advice and separate the useful tips from the traditions that refuse to die. Next, we look at ways to make Thanksgiving more interesting. From adding international influences, letting the kids cook, and maybe not making some of the staples. Thanksgiving doesn’t have to mean cooking the exact same meal every year. Finally, we deal with the best part: leftovers. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy aren't leftovers, they are the ingredients for your next meal. Think Shepard's Pie, enchiladas, and curry. It's about making a new meal that excites instead of reheating an old one. And if you still need the Thanksgiving basics, our original Thanksgiving episode covers hosting, guest etiquette, common Thanksgiving questions, and the dos and don’ts of Turkey Day. Find it wherever you’re listening to Flavorphiles. Happy Thanksgiving, and good luck with the turkey. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

What is it really like to be a chef? This week, Tanner and Jerry get into the reality of chef life, from the long hours and low pay to culinary school, repetition, passion, and why working in restaurants is often more of a lifestyle than a normal job. Then we talk about Tony, the Anthony Bourdain film, and ask how accurately it captures Bourdain’s life, what it gets right about being a chef, and whether the movie actually works. Tanner’s fiancée Grace also joins us to answer a different question: what is it like to date a chef? We talk unusual schedules, cooking for someone who cooks professionally, being the guinea pig for questionable food ideas, and Tanner’s inability to visit a restaurant without inspecting the plates and glassware. Finally, everyone thinks they could run a restaurant until the refrigerator dies, a huge table shows up late, or an important delivery never arrives. Jerry gets thrown into real restaurant disasters to see whether he can survive a night in the hospitality business. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a chef, dated one, worked in a restaurant, or wondered what actually happens behind the kitchen doors, this episode is for you. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

For Talk Like a Pirate Day, Tanner and Jerry dig into the surprisingly strange food and drink history of life at sea. We start with what pirates actually ate, why their diet could sometimes give them an advantage over the Navy, and how scurvy became one of the biggest threats aboard ship. That includes James Lind’s famous experiment testing cures ranging from cider and vinegar to seawater, citrus, and a truly questionable garlic-and-mustard concoction. Then we make a Bumbo and look at what pirates and sailors actually drank. Why was fresh water such a problem? Why did rum become so important? What exactly is grog, and why is it more closely connected to the Royal Navy than pirates? We also get into beer, wine, sugar, spices, and why the best treasure on a captured ship was not always gold. Next, Tanner breaks down the major styles of rum, what makes them different, and which bottles work best for Daiquiris, tropical drinks, spirit-forward cocktails, or drinking neat. Finally, Jerry gets tested on pirate history. Walking the plank, buried treasure, parrots, eye patches, pirate codes, Jolly Rogers, and all the other things movies have taught us about pirates. Which are real, and which are complete nonsense? Pour some rum, avoid the seawater, and find out what pirate life was actually like. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Fall is farmers market season, but what does that actually mean when you live somewhere like Dallas? This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry head into fall with a Harvest Highball made with applejack, an old-school American apple spirit, before turning the market into their own personal cooking competition. In Chopped: Flavorphiles Edition, they each surprise the other with mystery baskets of fall farmers market staples and have to figure out what they would actually make with them. Then we talk with the Director of the Dallas Farmers Market about what really happens when the market turns: how farmers prepare for fall, what shoppers misunderstand about seasonal produce, what changes in North Texas agriculture, and how the market gets ready for cooler weather, holiday shopping, and Thanksgiving demand. Plus, Tanner breaks down what “organic” really means, why some of the best produce at a farmers market may not be certified organic, which labels are worth asking about, and which terms are mostly marketing fluff. And finally, we meet the 10 people you always find at the farmers market. Watch the full episode now, and stream Flavorphiles on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Judging food is fun. Whether you’re ranking the best chefs on TV, challenging your friends to a ridiculous eating competition, or silently keeping score of everything a restaurant gets wrong, we all do it. This week, Tanner and Jerry are putting everything on the judging table. First, we look at food competitions you can actually do with your friends, from blind butter tastings to the kind of steak challenge that involves 72 ounces of beef and some questionable life choices. Then we rank the best food competition chefs on television. Who makes a great judge? Who makes a great host? And who would we actually want standing over us while we tried to cook under pressure. Next, MasterChef Canada judges Craig Wong and Hugh Acheson join us to talk about the new season, what they’re looking for from the competitors, and a major guest star making an appearance. Finally, Jerry unloads his biggest restaurant pet peeves, and Tanner has to decide which ones deserve defending and which ones are completely unforgivable. Food competitions, celebrity chefs, MasterChef Canada, restaurant complaints, and a lot of judging. Turns out, judging food really is fun. New episodes of Flavorphiles every Saturday. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeart, or watch on YouTube. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Bitter gets a bad rap. We’re basically born suspicious of it, kids hate it, and yet somehow adults end up obsessed with coffee, dark chocolate, bitter greens, amaro, and aggressively hoppy beer. This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry dig into why we learn to love bitter flavors, how bitterness is different from burnt, sour, and astringent, and why some people may actually experience bitter foods more intensely than others. Then Kolby Howard from Fernet-Branca joins us to explain amaro, the exptremely bitter, and very popular, Italian digestif. Tanner also breaks down how chefs use bitterness in the kitchen, from Brussels sprouts and endive to grapefruit, coffee, cacao, char, and chicory. Finally, it’s a bitter-themed Short Order: 10 cooking questions in 10 minutes, including why chefs burn food on purpose, whether cocktail bitters ever go bad, why expensive olive oil can taste bitter, and what to do when people won’t finish your dessert. It’s bitter. But in a good way. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

This week on Flavorphiles, we are committing crimes against food. Allegedly. Tanner and Jerry dig into the strange, sticky, and surprisingly sophisticated world of food true crime. First, Tanner introduces the Amuse Booze: powdered alcohol. He knows how to make it, he will not be telling you how, and depending on where you live, that may be for the best. Then Christie Wallace and Heather McKinney from Sinisterhood join the show to break down the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, a real-life caper involving millions of dollars in stolen syrup, a cartel's strategic reserve, and how 1 fork lift brought it all down. Next, Maureen Downey, known as the Sherlock Holmes of Wine, takes us inside the world of counterfeit bottles. Maureen helped catch Rudy Kurniawan, one of the most infamous wine fraudsters in history, and she explains how he fooled collectors, how investigators caught him, and why fake wine is a much bigger problem than most people realize. Yes, even Yellow Tail has been counterfeited. Finally, we open the Flavorphiles crime lab to investigate the foods you probably did not know were being faked, diluted, mislabeled, or swapped out entirely. Olive oil, honey, tequila, truffles, seafood, and plenty more are on the suspect board. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

This week, we’re taking a bite out of New Zealand. Tanner used to live in NZ, so he’s guiding Jerry through the foods, flavors, and extremely specific Kiwi words that make the country’s cuisine so much more than lamb and Sauvignon Blanc. First up, it’s Guess That Kiwi Food, where Jerry has to figure out what ingredients like kūmara, capsicum, pāua, and hokey pokey actually are based only on the name. Then, Chef Toby Archibald of Michelin-recognized Quarter Acre in Dallas joins us to talk about cooking New Zealand food in Texas and what it takes to translate a national food culture for an American audience. After that, we build the ultimate Kiwi cookout, from lamb and seafood to beetroot burgers, meat pies, pavlova, and everything else you need to throw a New Zealand-inspired backyard feast. Finally, because we are physically incapable of discussing New Zealand without talking about Lord of the Rings, we head to Middle-earth to discuss second breakfast, lembas bread, Hobbiton, and which fantasy civilization you’d actually trust to cater dinner. The Amuse Booze this week is a Pinot Noir from Marlborough, because sometimes the drink really does need to come from the place we’re talking about. Grab a meat pie, pour something from New Zealand, and join us for Taste of New Zealand. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Whiskey can feel like it comes with homework. Scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, Canadian whisky, age statements, ice rules, spelling arguments; it is a lot of brown liquid with a lot of opinions. This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry take a not-too-nerdy trip through the whiskeys of the world to figure out what actually makes each style different. Then they sit down with Robert Likarish of Ironroot Republic Distillery to talk about why great bourbon is not limited to Kentucky, how Texas heat changes the aging process, and what gives Texas whiskey its own identity. Plus, we break some of whiskey’s most sacred “rules,” including whether ice is actually a crime, whether older always means better, and whether you should keep saving that special bottle forever. Finally, we ask the important question: what else belongs in a barrel? Maple syrup? Hot sauce? Coffee? Pickles? Jerry will be the judge. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

In celebration of National Mustard Day, Flavorphiles is bringing the heat, just not the hot sauce. This week, Tanner and Jerry dive into the world of spicy condiments, from chili crisp and horseradish to hot mustard, yuzu kosho, and the jars hiding in the back of your fridge that may or may not still be alive. Then they answer one of sushi’s great green mysteries: what is wasabi, really, and why is the stuff most people eat basically wearing a disguise? Barry Levenson, founder and curator of the National Mustard Museum, joins the show to talk mustard history, mustard culture, strange mustards, great mustards, and how a baseball heartbreak somehow led to one of the world’s greatest condiment collections. Finally, Tanner walks Jerry through a blind tasting of six different peppercorns, including black, white, pink, green, long pepper, and Sichuan peppercorns. Jerry tastes them for the first time and discovers that “pepper” is not one thing—and sometimes it is not technically pepper at all. Be safe. Use a condiment. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

This week on Flavorphiles, we turn up the volume for an episode all about the strange, funny, and surprisingly important relationship between food and music. Jerry returns to his roots as a longtime radio DJ with a countdown of his top 10 songs about food, from the Beatles, to Frank Sinatra, to Jack Johnson.  Then Rob Felicetti of Bowling for Soup joins us to talk about eating on tour: the best meals on the road, the foods that make certain cities worth looking forward to, backstage catering, late-night survival meals, and why he has such a deep love for kangaroo. After that, we get into the restaurant side of the soundtrack. How do great restaurants build playlists? Why does the right song make a room feel alive, while the wrong one can kill the vibe instantly? Tanner breaks down how music shapes pace, mood, energy, and even the way guests experience a meal. Finally, we ask why live music has disappeared from so many restaurants. Is it cost, volume, changing guest expectations, or the rise of the perfectly curated playlist? And when live music does work, what makes it unforgettable? Amuse Booze: The piña colada. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Restaurants used to be places you went to eat. Now they’re also places you go to post, flex, film, and prove you were there. This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry look at the rise of dining out for clout. We start with a viral flaming cocktail stunt that looks incredible on camera and asks the obvious question: when food and drinks are built for the video, what happens to the actual experience? Then we dig into how restaurants have changed in the camera era, from better lighting and tableside service to dramatic plating, cocktail reveals, and rooms designed to be shared online. A food influencer joins the show to talk about what makes a restaurant postable, how creators build an audience, and how they balance credibility, comped meals, sponsorships, and actually enjoying dinner. We also build the ultimate Instagram restaurant starter pack, complete with neon signs, fake floral walls, hidden doors that are not hidden, and menus that are just steakhouses. Finally, we rank the great clout foods and drinks — seafood towers, A5 wagyu, caviar bumps, giant steaks, champagne, martini carts, and more — to decide what’s worth it and what’s just an edible receipt. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Great food does not have to come with a luxury price tag. In this episode of Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry dig into the places, dishes, and techniques that prove affordable food can still be serious, memorable, and packed with flavor. First, they look at why “cheap eats” is the wrong phrase. Restaurants spend money on far more than food: real estate, design, service style, branding, huge menus, and all the little details that make a place feel expensive. But sometimes the best meals come from restaurants that skip the polish and put the money where it matters: into the cooking. Then, they’re joined by the author of the Toronto Star’s Top 100 affordable restaurants list to talk about how great restaurants keep prices approachable while still delivering personality, quality, and big flavor. At home, Tanner and Jerry turn the idea into a game with the Big Flavor Draft, picking the best low-cost ingredients that can make everyday cooking taste expensive: garlic, onions, eggs, potatoes, rice, beans, miso, vinegar, and more. Finally, short order cooking returns. Jerry asks Tanner quick fire questions about dining on a budget including what budget dish he'd cook when he wants to impress someone.  It’s an episode about value, creativity, and why the best meal in town might not be hiding behind white tablecloths. It might be in a strip mall, a lunch counter, a family restaurant, or your own kitchen. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

This week on Flavorphiles, Tanner and Jerry head to the farmers’ market to figure out what is actually worth buying—and how to keep your ambitious haul from becoming expensive compost. Tanner starts with the best things to buy at the market, why high-water foods often deliver the biggest improvement over their grocery-store counterparts, and the etiquette that keeps you from becoming every vendor’s least-favorite customer. Then, Melanie Anderson, Executive Director of Farmers’ Markets Ontario, joins the show to explain what separates a great market from a disappointing one and how her organization supports more than 180 markets and 6,000 vendors across the province. Next, Tanner explains how to shop the market “backwards,” use classic flavor pairings to build meals from what looks best, and make sure your produce actually gets eaten. And when it inevitably doesn’t? There is no reason to feel guilty about the occasional forgotten vegetable. Finally, chef Cory Vitiello, Executive Director of Culinary and Concept Development at LFG Growth, talks about creating summer discount menus, overseeing the food at 12 restaurants across Canada, and the famous chef who openly admitted that he did not particularly like his customers—or his employees. It’s an episode about shopping smarter, cooking seasonally, supporting local vendors, and accepting that every farmers’ market trip begins with optimism and ends with one bunch of herbs slowly dying in the refrigerator. Amuse Booze: Local Jam Old Fashioned Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.

Canada Day and the Fourth of July are approaching, which means it’s time to fire up the grill, load the cooler, and make a few decisions that could determine whether your backyard party becomes legendary or a small insurance claim. We start with a layered red-and-white Jell-O shot—add blue for the American version—before tackling how not to ruin burgers, chicken, and every other meat somebody confidently volunteered to grill. Then Overrated/Underrated returns with the cookout edition. From coleslaw and baked beans to corn on the cob and watermelon, what's a must and what's a miss? Dessert comes down to one question: Will it melt? Tanner explains how to source and safely use dry ice, along with one very cool trick that he explains how to do but, officially and more importantly legally, does not recommend. Finally, we build a backyard bar without a crime scene, covering batched drinks, hydration, responsible hosting and the highly unofficial hammock sobriety test for deciding when someone has had enough. Thank you for listening! Join us again every weekend for more food inspired fun. Have questions you want answered, comments to make the show better, do you want to join our growing list of radio stations partners, or just keep in touch? Let us know at Flavorphiles.com.  Follow on Instagram: Flavorphiles: https://www.instagram.com/flavorphilespod/ Tanner: https://www.instagram.com/tagaragar/ Follow on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flavorphiles All episodes produced and owned by Tanner Agar. All rights reserved.