Appetites®

Every week, we bring you local and regional food and drink news, trends, reviews, flavors, recipes and advice. Appetites airs every Wednesday on MPR News' All Things Considered with host Tom Crann.

Foraging food from our landscape
The temperatures have dropped. The leaves are changing. And people across Minnesota are getting outdoors to savor the season — but Alan Bergo really savors it. He goes by “The Forager Chef.” He’s built a career on plucking food from our landscape and turning it into gourmet dishes. He says you can do it, too.
The secret to farming on Mars? A bit of alfalfa
Farming on Earth can be challenging enough with intensifying droughts and climate events. But a team of researchers is trying to figure out how to grow food on Mars — and they might have found a way. Pooja Kasiviswanathan joined Appetites to share her breakthrough research.
Appetites: Connecting culture and cuisine for Hispanic Heritage Month
To kick off this year's Hispanic Heritage Month, Amalia Moreno-Damgaard joined Appetites to talk about the connection between culture and cuisine and share a spicy rabbit stew recipe from her latest book, “Amalia’s Mesoamerican Table".
Appetites live at the state fair with Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
On the last Appetites, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl made some predictions about which new state fair foods will get the glory. She returns to see how they held up and fields questions from fairgoers in a special live broadcast from the fairgrounds with MPR News host Tom Crann.
Appetites: Predicting the Minnesota State Fair hits and misses
The Minnesota State Fair is upon us, and all of that food can be daunting. So we called on Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine food writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl to get us prepped for what to eat — and also what to avoid.
The history of Minnesota's state muffin
Minnesota is known for many things — its over 10,000 lakes, the birth place of Prince, Minnesota nice and frozen tundra — but what about muffins? Doug Mack wrote about the history of state foods, including Minnesota's state muffin.
'Like medicine from God': Wisconsin cherry orchard offers taste of home for immigrant families
On a single day each year, dozens of people from the Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin flock to Maple Leaf Orchard to get their fill of sour cherries. It's one of the only places you can find tart cherries in the region — and for that reason, it's been a draw for many immigrant families that use them in their cooking.
Lutunji's Palate is built with purpose, fortified with love
Lutunji Abram finally has her own kitchen after years of selling her famous cobblers at local markets. She took us inside her new cafe to share her secrets for the perfect cobbler and how she hopes to help others find their purpose.