Food Guru Says 'You're Eating It Wrong'

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It happens. You mean well, you really do. But sometimes, "You're Eating It Wrong," which is the title of our eating advice guru Dan Pashman's new TV show. It airs tonight and tomorrow night on the Cooking Channel. Dan joins us now to talk about a couple of things he's going to preview that will show up in his new show. Dan, first off, congratulations.

DAN PASHMAN, BYLINE: Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate it.

MARTIN: It's very exciting. We had you first. That's all I want to say.

PASHMAN: That's right.

MARTIN: We made you famous.

PASHMAN: You did. I give you all the credit (laughter).

MARTIN: So on the premiere, the pilot, of your show, you're going to tackle a couple of burning culinary issues on your mind as of late. They are as follows, the politics of nachos and the optimal way to eat falafel. Let's start with the nachos. Political, say you? What do you mean?

PASHMAN: Oh, big time, yeah. I mean, I think that the issues that confront a group of people when a plate of nachos is placed down before them are the same issues that philosophers have been wrestling with for millennia.

MARTIN: Really.

PASHMAN: It comes down to - there are a finite number of resources.

MARTIN: Resources, we're talking about...

PASHMAN: We're talking...

MARTIN: A plate of chips with cheese.

PASHMAN: Right, you got your toppings, and you got your melted cheese.

MARTIN: Yeah.

PASHMAN: And then, typically, you're going to have some chips that are totally dry, that have nothing on them. So the question becomes, you know, how do you decide who's going to get the best chips? If you're sort of a free market advocate, you're going to say, hey, put the plate down, and whoever gets the most cheese...

MARTIN: Wins.

PASHMAN: Was just the person who was best at getting cheese.

MARTIN: Wins the nachos. Yes, exactly.

PASHMAN: Right, right. Other people might say government needs to intervene and set some parameters to make sure that everyone at least gets a livable wage of cheese.

MARTIN: And so you suggest a more communal way of approaching a platter of nachos. How do you do it?

PASHMAN: That's right. I suggest what I call the one hand, two chips rule of nacho morality.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

PASHMAN: And what that says is that you may take one hand, and you may grab two chips. And you may pull them from the nacho pile. And whatever comes with them is yours to keep.

MARTIN: That's your lot in life.

PASHMAN: Right. And then the other thing I'll suggest is what I call the ethical nacho sandwich. You start with a cheesy chip on the bottom. Then you put a soggy chip that's imbued with some toppings of your choice in the middle. And then you put a dry chip on top. And that gets you crisp and cheese and toppings. And it does your duty to society.

MARTIN: That's the socialist nacho sandwich.

PASHMAN: Right (laughter).

MARTIN: That's the Bernie Sanders of nacho sandwiches.

PASHMAN: Right. Well, and if it's covered with enough hot peppers, you can eat it and say, feel the Bern.

MARTIN: (Laughter) My editor's like, and out.

PASHMAN: Right (laughter).

MARTIN: Let's move on to the other burning topic...

PASHMAN: (Laughter).

MARTIN: We promised to hit upon. We're going to talk about falafels. So talk about why the perfect bite of falafel is so hard to achieve.

PASHMAN: Well, I don't know if you have this issue, Rachel. But, you know, falafel balls are round. And so the balls don't fill the whole pita.

MARTIN: I know.

PASHMAN: Right?

MARTIN: Yes.

PASHMAN: You end up with a lot of bites, I would say roughly a third...

MARTIN: Have no falafel.

PASHMAN: Right.

MARTIN: It's just all toppings.

PASHMAN: So what can we do? There's two solutions that I propose. One is to basically make one large falafel patty.

MARTIN: Yeah.

PASHMAN: And put it on a good burger bun.

MARTIN: Yeah, falafel burger, yeah.

PASHMAN: The other option is to put falafel batter into a waffle iron...

MARTIN: (Gasping).

PASHMAN: And make a falafel waffle, or waffle falafel, or fawaffle (ph).

MARTIN: A fawaffle, which - I love this option, too, because you can abandon the bread vehicle altogether. You can just put down your waffle and your toppings, and there you have it.

PASHMAN: Exactly. And the nooks and crannies of the waffle shape are ideal for containing...

MARTIN: The hummus.

PASHMAN: The hummus, the tahini, the other toppings and fixings that come with a great falafel sandwich that make it the beautiful thing that it can be.

MARTIN: (Laughter) Dan Pashman, he is the host of the WNYC podcast The Sporkful. And tonight and tomorrow night, his new TV show "You're Eating It Wrong" airs on the Cooking Channel. Dan, thanks so much.

PASHMAN: Thanks, Rachel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.