Chef Alon Shaya says that as a kid, he wasn’t just in with the wrong crowd — he was the wrong crowd. But with the help of a home ec teacher, he turned his life around and became one of the most successful chefs in the South. Still, it took him a long time to rediscover the food of his childhood and return to his roots in his restaurants, a process that involved his own family’s inherited recipes. Now, after years spent researching, traveling, and cooking, Alon and co-author June Hersh have published a new cookbook of recipes passed down through other families — Memories of a Good Meal: Recipes of Resilience Inspired by Stories of World War II Survival. Alon tells us about the bit of cloth that sparked the idea for the project, and about cooking for a 107-year-old Navajo Code Talker.

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The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Maya Franz.

Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music:

• "Get In The Back" by Kenneth J. Brahmstedt
• "Sidewalk Chalk" by Hayley Briasco
• "Iced Coffee" by Josh Leininger"Like That" by Paul Fischer and Michael Redict
• "Silhouette" by Erick Anderson
• "Brain Wreck" by Bijou Basil
• "When You're Away" by Kenneth J. Brahmstedt
• "Kellyanne" by Paul Fonfara
• "Madame Prez" by Karla Dietmeyer and Olivia Diercks

Photo courtesy of Dan Pashman. 

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