0:00

A few years back, my friend Justin Warner from Food Network

0:02

moved out to South Dakota. He opened a ramen joint

0:04

and he is always posting pictures of all the great

0:07

food he's not only cooking, but eating all over South

0:09

Dakota. He's always telling me to come visit. And you

0:11

know, one of the best ways to experience a new

0:13

place is to eat your way through it. But it's

0:15

equally important to live your way through it too. And

0:17

when you summer in South Dakota, you can fill up

0:20

on all the lake days, hikes, rides, and small town

0:22

strolls that'll leave you with a regained sense of wonder

0:24

and a hunger to do it all over again. See

0:27

why there's so much South Dakota, so

0:29

little time. At travelsouthdakota.com. Hey

0:34

everyone, today's reheat is my conversation with LeVar

0:36

Burton, the actor and podcast host. He has

0:38

a fantastic new podcast, by the way, called

0:40

Sound Detectives. It's for kids who want to

0:42

explore the magic and mystery of sound. You

0:45

can also hear him on the podcast, LeVar

0:47

Burton Reads. As always, if there's an

0:49

episode from the Deep Freezer you want us to

0:51

reheat, send me a note at helloatsporkfull.com. Thanks

0:54

and enjoy. And

0:56

now, LeVar Burton reads an excerpt from

0:58

the 1883 cookbook, Practical

1:00

Housekeeping, a careful compilation of

1:03

tried and approved recipes. This

1:05

is a recipe in poem form

1:07

for Sidney Smith's Winter Salad. Two

1:11

large potatoes passed through kitchen

1:13

sieve, unwanted softness to

1:15

the salad give, of

1:17

mordant mustard at a single

1:19

spoon, distrust the condiment which

1:21

bites too soon. True

1:23

flavor needs it. And your poet begs

1:26

the pounded yellow of two well boiled

1:28

eggs. Let onion atoms

1:30

lurk within the bowl and

1:32

half suspected animate the whole.

1:34

And lastly, on the

1:36

favored compound, toss a magic

1:39

teaspoon of anchovy sauce. Then,

1:42

though the green turtle fail, though

1:44

venison's tough, though ham and turkey

1:46

are not boiled enough, serenely full,

1:49

the epicure shall say, fate

1:52

cannot harm me. I have

1:54

dined today. ["Fate

1:57

of the Year"] Today

2:01

on The Sporkful, I sit down with

2:03

longtime reading rainbow host, LaVar Burton. As

2:06

you just heard, he can make just about anything

2:08

he reads sound good. So we'll

2:10

have more dramatic cookbook reading. And the passages

2:13

are going to get weird. Er. Plus,

2:15

we'll hear stories that might surprise even LaVar's

2:17

most hardcore fans. Like the time he bought

2:20

stolen steaks as a teenager to bring home

2:22

to his badass mom. And we'll talk about

2:24

the power of food memories. I've

2:26

spent my lifetime as

2:28

an adult trying to find sausage

2:31

that tastes like my grandmother's. By

2:34

the end of this episode, you're going to know LaVar

2:36

Burton a lot better. Stick around.

2:49

This is The Sporkful. It's not for foodies,

2:51

it's for eaters. I'm Dan Paschman. Each week

2:53

on our show, we obsess about food to

2:56

learn more about people. I hope

2:58

you had a nice Thanksgiving. I'm sure it was a bit

3:00

different, but I hope you managed to connect with people close

3:02

to you in one way or another and eat

3:04

some good food in the process. I

3:07

couldn't even get my hands on a reasonably

3:09

sized turkey, although smaller turkeys sold out. So

3:12

I had a 14 pound turkey for four people, my family of

3:14

four. But it was nice. It was different.

3:16

We missed certain parts of our tradition, but it was

3:18

also nice to be home just the

3:20

four of us. I hope it went as well for

3:22

you. Quick reminder, now Thanksgiving's over.

3:25

We can look toward the end of the year.

3:27

I need your New Year's food resolutions. Record

3:30

a voice memo on your cell phone. Tell me

3:32

your name. Tell me where you're from. And

3:35

then answer this question. What food do

3:37

you resolve to eat more of in the

3:39

new year and why? Send

3:41

that voice memo to me at

3:43

hello at sporkful.com and you can

3:45

hear yourself in our year end

3:47

spectacular. All right, let's

3:49

get into it. LeVar Burton first rose

3:51

to fame in 1977 when

3:53

he started the seminal TV miniseries Roots

3:55

based on Alex Haley's novel. He

3:58

went on to play Geordie LaForge on Sunday. Star Trek

4:00

The Next Generation. He was a character with

4:02

a metal band over his eyes. But

4:05

these days, LeVar is best known as the

4:07

longtime host of the PBS kids show, Reading

4:09

Rainbow. A

4:24

few years after Reading Rainbow went off the

4:26

air, LeVar acquired the assets to the show

4:28

and did a Kickstarter to create an online

4:30

virtual library for kids. These

4:32

days, he hosts a podcast called LeVar Burton

4:34

Reads, in which he reads his favorite short

4:37

fiction. He credits his mom for

4:39

his love of books. She was an English

4:41

teacher, and in her house, reading was mandatory.

4:44

She was also a single parent, which meant

4:46

she couldn't spend hours in the kitchen making

4:48

dinner. Meals were often pretty

4:50

basic. So that didn't stop LeVar from

4:52

developing a real love of food. One

5:25

of my first jobs was working

5:27

for a man named Bernard Batiste

5:29

in Sacramento, California. He had a

5:32

tuxedo store called Mr. B's Formal

5:34

Ware, 5025 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, California.

5:36

We rented tuxedos for weddings and

5:38

proms and formals and the like.

5:41

One of the managers there was a

5:43

guy named Joe Cornish. Joe was like

5:45

the ultimate cool

5:47

hipster in, what

5:50

was this, 1975? Huge afro, rode

5:56

a motorcycle, always had a great car, a

5:58

cool whip. Joe

6:00

was connected. Joe. Was

6:02

connected. I mean if it did you

6:04

want to do anything joke a good

6:06

for you and I one day when

6:08

he chose friends the guy with the

6:11

steaks you know came in this has

6:13

access and that was my introduction to

6:15

the finer things in life that that

6:17

that that you didn't get in the

6:19

store the princess and undies you by

6:21

state so. Steaks,

6:23

Lobster yeah you name it. absolutely energy.

6:26

bring it home of coral and when

6:28

you often the door with the with

6:30

the bus station Love. Georgia say.

6:33

Weird as you get. An

6:35

I told her from a guy they sell

6:38

off access he was like let's do. This.

6:44

For dinner tonight and tomorrow. Rest.

6:48

Of my most intense. Out. See

6:53

wanted to raise a kid, thrive as

6:55

she was certainly no stranger to vice

6:57

president On and I'm no stranger. All

7:00

my mom like what my mother graduated

7:02

from college Adidas, Empty and was.

7:04

My grandfather's bookkeeper is a

7:06

my mom carrying a pistol

7:09

from the time she was

7:11

sixteen, sixteen amazon without ago.

7:14

Always. Know how to use. Missouri. See, I

7:16

use it. I never saw her use it, but I am.

7:18

I was familiar with all of her guns. Seized.

7:20

Have a Ruger. A German ruger which

7:22

was really. Was. A Cooper so. I'm

7:25

a regatta. Big trouble because I snuck in

7:27

out of her first ones to show him

7:30

said school com that was a Spartan. By

7:33

parker it's showing up as same and

7:36

Scabbard Elementary School that of Rican German

7:38

movie or. When

7:42

I was in like that the ass

7:44

I guess I better that you did

7:46

that. they're how many decades ago that

7:48

was then and day to day. Yeah,

7:50

be an. Outlet a

7:52

certain recipes of your mom's that

7:54

you especially our remember have fondness

7:56

for. By her own admission, my

7:58

mom's not a. great cook. I think

8:01

my favorite dish from my childhood was

8:03

my mom's from fried rice. My

8:05

mom tried to serve me beef tongue once and passed

8:07

it off as roast beef, but I wasn't going for

8:09

a yolky dope. Those bumps stood

8:12

out. I

8:15

knew this was some other part of

8:17

the cow. This was not roast beef.

8:20

It's funny because my six and a half year

8:22

old loves tongue. Really? But I

8:24

don't think that she understands that it's actually a tongue.

8:26

That's better than a tongue, yeah. And there's going to

8:28

be a reckoning when she does. I

8:31

was I think in the fifth grade. I was an altar boy. I had

8:33

to come home from serving an evening mass and was

8:36

very excited because she said roast beef sandwiches were for dinner.

8:39

I got into mine and I was like,

8:42

and my mom's not really the sort of person you question, you

8:45

know? She was a working mom. So

8:47

when she came home and made dinner, you

8:49

know, that was effort that you

8:51

needed to respect. Especially if you didn't bring

8:53

up a bag full of

8:55

steaks and lobster. That came much later,

8:57

right? I can't. I can't. It

8:59

came much later. Are there

9:02

foods that you eat now that kind of

9:04

connect you to your childhood? Are there foods

9:07

you eat in a restaurant or recipes of

9:10

your moms that you recreate? I'm a big

9:12

fan of a nice PB&J. And, you know,

9:14

that takes me back to my

9:16

childhood. What's your PB&J strategy? How

9:18

do you layer the peanut butter and jelly?

9:21

Just, you know, edge to edge with the

9:23

peanut butter, always creamy, never chunky. And

9:26

then glop the strawberry

9:28

preserves, which is my favorite, with

9:31

seeds and smooth it out. All

9:33

on the same piece of bread, not peanut butter on one and jelly

9:35

on the other. Peanut butter is the first

9:37

layer, then jelly, and then a piece

9:40

of bread on top. Interesting. Why not spread onto

9:42

each piece of bread? I think that's wrong.

9:47

I have a fundamental issue with that. Why?

9:49

What's the issue? The issue is that then

9:51

you have to try and put the two halves

9:53

together and you're going to lose something in

9:56

that transfer. You're going to glop, something's going

9:58

to glop. Something's going to spill. Peanut

10:00

butter would stick to the bread for that split

10:02

second bit here. But the jelly, but the jelly...

10:04

Pretty good. The jelly laid flat and

10:06

then you used the peanut butter. Lift up the

10:08

peanut butter and put it down on the jelly.

10:11

Dan Paschman, this is a revelation. You

10:15

may have just altered my life. Well

10:17

of our seeing as you've done that for so

10:19

many others, now we're even. One

10:27

more PB&J tip I'll give you. I

10:30

actually recommend jelly on both

10:32

sides, peanut butter in the

10:34

middle. Wow. Yeah, because...

10:37

But how does it spread well when you've

10:39

got jelly already on the bread?

10:41

Well, I don't like that much

10:43

jelly. And if you're gonna do

10:46

jelly on both sides, you're gonna do half...

10:48

I'm not saying increase... I'm not saying double

10:50

jelly. I'm saying half and half. So it's

10:52

a thin spread of jelly on each side.

10:54

So it's not gonna fall off or glop

10:56

off. I get you. I left

10:58

that one to Dale. Heavy on

11:00

the jelly. I'm

11:03

a heavy on the jelly guy. Okay, alright.

11:06

So that system may not work quite as

11:08

well. No, maybe not. But

11:10

I love the taste of peanut butter and

11:12

I love the taste of jelly. When

11:15

people dish peanut butter and jelly and being like

11:17

a kid's thing, it really bothers me. Because it's

11:20

still one of my favorite sandwiches. It's one of

11:22

the greatest sandwiches in the world. My wife doesn't

11:24

eat. She will never eat. She

11:26

calls peanut butter and jelly peasant food. But

11:28

I think more than anything else, it's a

11:30

texture thing for her. She has texture issues.

11:33

So the texture of peanut butter is not to her

11:35

liking. Well, that I can understand. But

11:38

I'd be curious to see if you try for her.

11:40

Because one of the reasons why I like jelly on

11:42

top and bottom and peanut butter in the middle is

11:44

because if you layer it with the jelly

11:46

on the bottom, then the jelly will hit your tongue

11:48

sooner. So you'll taste more sweetness. But

11:51

if you have peanut butter solo on the top, then the peanut butter can

11:53

get stuck in the roof of your mouth. So

11:55

the jelly on the top protects the roof of your mouth. The

11:57

jelly on the bottom gets the sweetness out of your mouth. and

12:00

your tongue and then you get the peanut butter in

12:02

the middle and so I wonder, you know. Clearly,

12:05

you've thought about this. Some

12:07

might say too much. Maybe, but I

12:10

appreciate a man who really thinks through his

12:13

PB&J strategy. Yeah, you

12:15

did a Reddit AMA and you said that you

12:17

love water. Yeah. Levar, how do

12:19

you like your water? Chilled. I

12:22

drink water all day every day. Okay. I

12:24

carry the perfect tool for the job, a

12:26

thermos, that keeps the ice, ice,

12:30

from on serious inside. Load

12:33

out all those technical terms, Levar. Well,

12:37

if you don't have the right tool, your ice

12:39

will turn to water really rapidly and then you

12:41

have warm water after a time.

12:43

But I like my water chilled. Is it

12:46

ever too cold for you? Never. It

12:48

can never be too cold. Water can never be too

12:50

cold. I don't always drink water cold. When

12:53

I'm eating, I drink at room temperature, especially if I'm eating

12:55

something that sends me a little greasy because you don't want

12:57

the coagulation to go on in your

12:59

throat or in your gullet. Interesting.

13:01

Right? Is that something you learn with

13:03

voice acting? Because I don't

13:05

ever put that together. Experience, experience.

13:08

That's very, that's deep. Yeah. So if

13:10

you have a lot of fat lining

13:12

your esophagus and your stomach cold water

13:15

will make it. Congeal, boom. Right,

13:17

and now you're like, your insides are coated in grease.

13:19

That's not good. Ha ha ha ha. Coming

13:27

up, Lavar favors us with another reading. This

13:30

one from the Star Trek book. Plus he

13:32

tells us about Sir Patrick Stewart's weird lunches

13:34

on the Star Trek set. And we'll talk

13:37

about one of Lavar's favorite children's book, enemy

13:40

pie. What kind of things are

13:42

gonna go into this enemy pie? Like what

13:44

rocks and chewing gum? I mean, what would

13:46

you put in a pie for your enemy

13:48

to eat? That's all coming up.

13:50

Stick around. Hope

14:03

you're hungry because it's time for some ads. If

14:09

you're like me, the first thing you do when

14:11

traveling is check out what's happening with the local

14:13

food scene, right? And I've been planning my big

14:15

book tour and live podcast taping all around the

14:17

country. Man, I am very excited to eat my

14:19

way across the nation. There's Atlanta, there's Miami, and

14:21

so many more. Going to local restaurants gives you

14:24

a great taste of that place. And

14:26

if you pay your bill with the Delta

14:28

Sky Miles Platinum MX, you get double miles

14:30

at restaurants. Getting

14:32

a taste of local food is the best way

14:34

to get to know the local culture. And if

14:36

you travel, you know that's how it's done. The

14:38

Delta Sky Miles Platinum American Express Card. If you

14:41

travel, you know. Norwegian

14:43

Cruise Line breaks the boundaries of global

14:46

cruise travel. When you cruise with NCL,

14:48

you're going to get award-winning specialty restaurants,

14:50

a variety of food and beverage offerings,

14:52

immersive entertainment, and the most thrilling experiences

14:54

at sea. First Class.

14:56

These ships have all kinds of

14:58

specialty restaurants. Brazilian steakhouse, French, Spanish,

15:00

Italian, Japanese, Mexican. Select ships also

15:02

feature al fresco dining on the

15:05

waterfront, an ocean boulevard, an ocean

15:07

side promenade lined with bars and

15:09

restaurants. Norwegian provides guests with truly

15:11

authentic and fresh dining and bar

15:13

experiences complemented by exceptional service.

15:16

Almost everything they'll eat is prepared from scratch

15:19

by highly experienced chefs. And they

15:21

get whatever you're going to be in the mood for. You

15:23

want a quick casual family meal? They've got that. They've

15:25

got that too. And you can

15:27

sip something delicious at one of up

15:29

to 23 unique bar and lounge options

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15:33

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15:36

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15:38

dining and entertainment times and no formal

15:40

dress codes. You have the flexibility to

15:42

design your ideal vacation. Book

15:45

your next adventure at ncl.com. Recently

15:49

I went into my closet to try to get a

15:51

collared shirt out and it occurred to me that I

15:53

don't think I have bought a new collared shirt in

15:55

five years. I mean, every shirt

15:57

in there was either really old.

16:00

or it had some kind of perma-stain situation, or

16:02

it probably never fit right in the first place,

16:05

I gotta freshen up a little bit here.

16:07

It's time for something new, right? And spring

16:09

is coming. Now is the time if you've

16:11

been looking to refresh your wardrobe, home, or

16:14

skincare and beauty routines this season. You know,

16:16

Walmart has genuinely surprising style finds that don't

16:18

break the bank. This spring, there's only one

16:20

destination for the latest fashion, home, and beauty

16:23

inspired by real life. Walmart, I

16:25

freshened up my wardrobe. I got some

16:27

nice dress shirts, a couple light hoodies.

16:29

You know, you need light hoodies for

16:31

the springtime. Very useful, very comfortable. Discover

16:34

surprisingly stylish new season

16:36

favorites at Walmart now,

16:38

or shop at all

16:40

on the Walmart app.

16:43

Go to walmart.com/nowtrending. That's

16:45

walmart.com/nowtrending. Nowtrending your

16:47

style at Walmart. I

16:50

enjoy a nice glass of wine, but I don't

16:52

pretend to be an expert in wine. I usually

16:55

just want a wine that's high quality, delicious, and

16:57

not too expensive. And to me, that's Bogle Family

16:59

Vineyards. And here's the thing about Bogle. This is

17:01

a third generation family owned winery from California that

17:03

makes exceptional wines for about 10 bucks a bottle.

17:06

Bogle wines consistently earn best by designations and high

17:08

ratings from wine enthusiasts. Let me tell you something,

17:10

the folks at Wine Enthusiast, they drink a lot

17:12

of wine. They drink a lot of fancy expensive

17:14

wine, and yet they still keep giving great ratings

17:17

to Bogle. And Bogle Vineyards has so

17:19

many different kinds of wine. Whatever your mood, whatever

17:21

you're eating, there's a wine for you. They got

17:23

this great Pinot Grigio that's crisp and fruity, goes

17:26

well with spicy food, with fish. They have a

17:28

classic Chardonnay that's balanced, amazing, with a pork tenderloin

17:30

or butter chicken. I like to

17:32

take that Chardonnay and do a Jacques-Péfant on me a

17:34

couple of ice cubes in your glass of Bogle. If

17:36

Jacques-Péfant says it's okay, then it's okay. And

17:39

there's the Bogle Pinot Noir, refined and elegant with bright fruit

17:41

and about as food friendly as a red wine can be.

17:43

You're not gonna believe it's only $10. Neither

17:46

will your friends if you tell them. So pick up

17:48

a few bottles of Bogle wherever you buy your favorite

17:50

wines. Please drink responsibly. I

17:53

just got a very wonderful shipment of goodies

17:55

from the folks at Reese's. And let me

17:58

tell you something, these people remain. the

18:00

absolute worldwide leaders in bringing together

18:02

chocolate and peanut butter. Of course

18:04

we know that peanut butter cups

18:06

remain transcendent. But have you

18:09

tried the Reese's Sticks? Their wafers with peanut

18:11

butter in between each wafer all colored in

18:13

chocolate? I mean, the combination of sweet chocolate

18:15

and salty peanut butter just brings people joy

18:17

and the folks at Reese's do it better

18:20

than anyone. So shop Reese's Peanut

18:22

Butter Cups now at a store near you, found

18:24

wherever a candy is sold. Welcome

18:35

back to The Sporkful, I'm Dan Paschke. My

18:37

cookbook, Anything's Possible, is out now. You can

18:39

buy it wherever books are sold. You can

18:41

even get signed copies and signed copies with

18:44

a pasta gift set. All the info is

18:46

at sporkful.com. Our Sporkful live Anything's Possible tour

18:48

is heading to the West Coast. In just

18:51

two weeks, I'll be in the Bay Area

18:53

for a live show and conversation with vibe

18:55

check Sam Sanders, with special appearances by the

18:57

Anything's Possible photo team and recipe developer Asha

19:00

Lupe, aka the Saucy Spice Dress. Then Seattle

19:02

with Lindy West and LA with comedian Andy

19:04

Richter. Get tickets and info at

19:07

sporkful.com. See you there. Now

19:12

back to Lavar Burton. As

19:18

I said, he was in Star Trek The Next

19:20

Generation. So asking him to read this passage was

19:22

kind of a no brainer. This

19:24

one's from the Star Trek cookbook. It's

19:27

for Borg Tricorder Pie. Take

19:30

ten spent tricorders and crush them with a

19:32

prunk dough hammer. Add

19:34

half quart plasma oil, stir. Mix

19:37

in one pound of Class 4

19:40

probe buckling, one minced Nacelle discharge

19:42

socket, and some finely chopped bio-neural

19:44

gel pack casing. Bake

19:47

for three hours in a destabilized

19:49

Hypo-Shield convex warp container, and

19:52

serve on a bed of transporter

19:54

room console siding. My mouth's

19:56

watering, yes. In

20:05

Star Trek, the VAR starred alongside

20:07

Sir Patrick Stewart as Lieutenant Commander Geordie

20:09

LaForge. Geordie was blind, but he

20:11

gained the ability to see thanks to a

20:13

metal band over his eyes that ran from

20:15

ear to ear. It was called a visor.

20:18

When I put the visor on, I lost about

20:20

80% of my vision, which was ironic because I

20:22

was playing a blind man who could see more

20:25

than anybody else. Right.

20:28

So I couldn't see my feet, which

20:30

made navigating a challenge. And

20:33

I had to learn how to walk around

20:35

without that reference of knowing

20:38

where my feet were. Because Geordie was the

20:40

chief engineer, so it was really important to

20:42

me that he moved with alacrity and confidence.

20:44

And so I couldn't be halting in

20:47

my stepper stride at all. Did

20:50

you ever eat with the visor on? Ah,

20:54

boy, I must have.

20:56

But not like a full meal, like just going to the

20:58

craft service table and grabbing a grape or something like that.

21:00

It's not the sort of thing you would want to sit

21:02

and do a meal in. Right. I

21:04

just wonder because they

21:07

say that the way that a blind person may

21:09

have better hearing. When

21:11

one senses deprive others or enhance...

21:13

Yeah. So I wonder if wearing the

21:15

visor would somehow enhance the food, the

21:17

eating experience in some way or detract from it.

21:20

No, it didn't enhance it in

21:22

any way. I was able to discern.

21:30

And I get the impression that you and

21:32

the rest of the cast members, you guys were a

21:34

tight knit group on that show. Still are. Yeah.

21:37

Did you guys eat together? We do all the time. Yeah.

21:41

Yeah, all the time. Any personal favorites of

21:43

cast members? Personal favorite foods? Patrick

21:46

used to eat

21:48

the weirdest things. He would

21:50

like go to his trailer and make

21:52

an apple and onion sandwich. Now that

21:54

might must be a British thing. Is

21:56

that a British thing, Dan Patrick? I...

22:00

I lived in London and I don't remember ever having

22:02

that. I'm gonna Google it now. Apple

22:04

and onion sandwiches, which

22:07

I just thought was just wacky.

22:12

Well, Epicurious has a recipe for toasted

22:15

Gruyere golden onion and apple sandwiches. Well

22:17

there you go. All right. If

22:20

you cook the onion, then I could get behind that. I don't

22:22

know if he was cooking the onion or not. This

22:24

is caramelized onion. A caramelized onion. That's a

22:26

whole other thing. That's a whole other thing.

22:28

Yeah. I actually could – I can

22:30

see that. Yeah. If you're talking raw

22:32

onions. Yeah. That's – I don't know.

22:35

Yeah. Yeah. That's Patrick

22:37

though. For

22:40

the record, I did tweet Patrick Stewart to

22:42

ask him if the onions were raw or

22:44

cooked. I'm still awaiting a response. Sir

22:46

Patrick, if you're out there, tweet me. I

22:49

did hear from a listener named Dana in

22:51

St. Louis who says she has a great

22:53

recipe for an apple and raw onion sandwich.

22:55

It also includes ham, mustard, and apple butter.

22:57

Apparently it's in the Twilight cookbook. Man,

23:00

this episode just keeps getting weirder. Anyway,

23:03

back to LeVar. He is

23:05

beloved for his role in Star Trek. He still goes

23:07

to some of the fan conventions, although he says he's

23:09

never had Romulan ale. But when he

23:11

walks down the street, you can bet most of the

23:13

people who come up to him love him because of

23:15

the PBS Kids show, Reading Rainbow. LeVar

23:18

hosted Reading Rainbow for more than 20 years, 1983 to

23:20

2006. Before

23:23

we talked, I rewatched some old episodes. I

23:26

also watched a bit where you ran

23:28

over eagerly to an ice cream cart and you ordered

23:30

an ice cream cone and you took one lick of

23:33

the ice cream cone and the ice cream fell off

23:35

the cone and landed on your shoe. And

23:38

then it was quick cut to a close up of your face and it

23:40

said, how does LeVar

23:42

feel? I think it was related to like

23:44

a segment about feeling. Really?

23:47

Yeah. And I wondered

23:49

if you've been scarred

23:52

at some point in your life from the traumatic

23:54

experience of dropping ice cream. And

23:56

who haven't? Certainly

24:00

I'm not alone in that. Right, right. Is

24:02

there a specific recollection that you have of that ever happening

24:04

to you, maybe as a kid? Yeah,

24:07

yeah. More than once. It wasn't

24:09

always ice cream. Sometimes it was popsicle. I used to

24:12

love missiles. And

24:14

on really hot days, I grew up in Sacramento, California, so in the summer

24:16

it gets like 110, 112 for days running. And

24:20

you got to be quick. Otherwise, it's going

24:23

to melt. Was it missiles or rockets? It's a

24:25

rocket, right? Well, I think it's a

24:27

missile on the west coast. It's a rocket on the

24:29

east. Oh, regional difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

24:32

So if your missile was melting too quickly and

24:34

a big chunk of it or most of it

24:36

fell on the ground once, would

24:39

your mom get you another one? No.

24:41

You get one shot. And

24:45

by that time, the ice cream man was gone. So

24:48

you really had to pay attention. Right.

24:51

Otherwise, you were, as my mother would say, SOL. When

24:56

you got older and had your own kids

24:59

and they dropped their missile

25:01

or rocket, would you buy

25:03

them a new one? Yeah. Because

25:05

you spoiled millennials. You've given them

25:07

everything they want and then some.

25:12

Right. Well, but isn't that

25:14

partly your fault, LeVar? You raised almost all

25:16

the millennials. I

25:20

own my part in it, but yeah, it's

25:22

just... I think they're turning out okay anyway.

25:24

They are, actually. They are. Of

25:27

the many children's books LeVar has read over the

25:29

years, he says his favorite is one called Enemy

25:31

Pie. It begins with a boy who's

25:33

looking forward to a great summer. Actress

25:35

Cameron Manheim reads an excerpt. It

25:38

was all good until Jeremy Ross

25:40

moved into the neighborhood right

25:43

next door to my best friend Stanley. I

25:46

did not like Jeremy Ross.

25:49

He laughed at me when he struck me out at the

25:51

baseball game. He had a party on

25:53

his trampoline. I wasn't even invited, but

25:56

my best friend Stanley was. Jeremy

25:59

Ross. was the one and

26:02

only person on my enemy

26:04

list. I never even

26:06

knew. And his dad resolves to help him with

26:09

his enemy problem by making enemy pie.

26:11

And the kid is just curious

26:13

as to what kind of things

26:15

are going to go into this enemy pie,

26:17

like what rocks and chewing gum. I mean,

26:19

what would you put in a pie for

26:21

your enemy to eat? The dad

26:23

says, I'll make the pie. You

26:25

have one job today. You have to go and

26:27

spend the entire day with your enemy while I

26:29

make this pie. You have to gain his trust

26:31

before you can get him to eat the pie.

26:33

And so by

26:36

the end of the story, when it's time to

26:38

eat the pie and the pie

26:40

looks good and smells good and finally

26:43

the dad cuts it and serves

26:45

it and the kid is like, no,

26:47

don't eat the pie because, you know,

26:49

we've become friends. Well,

26:52

if it's so bad, Jeremy asked, then

26:54

why is your dad already eaten half

26:56

of it? Well,

26:58

I turned to look at my dad. Sure enough, he

27:00

was eating enemy pie. Good stuff.

27:03

He mumbled through a mouthful and that

27:05

was all he said. And I

27:07

sat there watching him eating enemy pie for

27:09

a few seconds. Dad

27:12

was laughing. Jeremy was

27:14

happily eating and neither of them

27:16

was losing any hair. Seems

27:18

safe enough. So

27:20

I took a tiny taste. Enemy

27:23

pie was so bland. I

27:27

still don't know how to make it. I still

27:29

wonder if enemies really do hate it or

27:32

if their hair falls out or their breath

27:34

turns bad. I

27:36

don't know if they'll ever get an answer. I

27:39

guess so. I'm excited.

27:46

What is it about the story of enemy pie

27:49

that resonates with you so much? Well,

27:52

I love the ingenuity of the dad in

27:54

using food to help his son

27:56

out of what is clearly a traumatic event. And

27:59

I think that The link is

28:01

pretty well forged between human

28:04

beings, our emotions, and what we

28:06

eat. And food can be

28:08

a powerful emotional trigger. For

28:11

me, going to Kansas City

28:13

and visiting my grandparents, for a long time

28:15

they had a farm in the

28:17

country and my grandmother made her own

28:20

sausage, which was a combination of the

28:23

pork and the beef that they raised.

28:25

My grandmother's just the taste of my

28:27

grandmother's sausage. I've

28:29

spent my lifetime as

28:31

an adult trying to find sausage

28:34

that tastes like my grandmother's. You

28:37

know what I mean? And it just,

28:40

just even thinking about it, evokes

28:42

such warmth for me and

28:44

fondness for this woman that I loved who

28:46

was the quintessential nurturer. She

28:48

was the essence of

28:51

nurturing. Have you found anything that

28:53

comes close? I've found

28:55

in one or two country

28:58

kitchens something similar,

29:00

but not it exactly. I

29:02

don't think I ever will. That's

29:21

LeVar Burton. His podcast is called

29:23

LeVar Burton Reads. In it

29:25

he reads short fiction from a wide range of

29:28

genres. It's really great. Get it now wherever you

29:30

got this podcast. And while

29:32

you're checking that out, make sure you connect

29:34

with the sporkful. You can do it right

29:36

now while you're listening. If you're listening in

29:39

Spotify, click follow. In Stitcher, favorite. In Apple

29:41

Podcasts, hit subscribe. Thanks.

29:44

Remember that I want to hear your New Year's food

29:46

resolutions. Record a voice memo on your cell phone. Tell

29:49

me your name. Tell me where you're from. Tell me

29:51

what food you resolve to eat more of in the

29:53

New Year and why. Send

29:55

it to me at hello at

29:58

sporkful.com. produced

30:00

by Anne, Sandy, and me, Dan Charles

30:02

was our editor, engineering help from Jared

30:04

O'Connell, music help from Black Label Music.

30:06

These days, the Sporkful is produced by

30:08

Emma Morgenstern, Andres Sohara, and Tamika Weatherspoon.

30:11

Special thanks to our pal Helen Rosner from The

30:13

New Yorker, who found that 1883 cookbook

30:15

for LaVar to read. The Sporkful

30:17

is a production of Stitcher. Our executive

30:20

producers are Peter Clowney and Daisy Risaria.

30:22

Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman. And

30:25

this is Carrie Duggan. And Sarah Jamison.

30:27

From Alexandria, Virginia, reminding you to eat

30:29

more, eat better, and eat more better.

30:44

The team that produces the Sporkful today

30:46

includes me, along with managing producer, Emma

30:48

Morgenstern, and senior producer, Andres O'Hara. Our

30:51

engineer is Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful is

30:53

a production of Stitcher Studios. Our executive

30:55

producers are Nora Richie and Colin Anderson.

30:57

Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman. Time

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