Hidden Kitchens Texas nominated for James Beard Award
AUSTIN, Texas – May 9, 2008 – Hidden Kitchens Texas, a radio special documenting the stories of cowboy kitchens, NASA’s space kitchens, cotton pickers’ kitchens and Texas ice houses, and produced by KUT Radio and The Kitchen Sisters, has been nominated for a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award in the radio food show category.
Covering all aspects of the industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards-often called “The Oscars” of the food world-are the highest honors for food and beverage professionals working in America. The awards will be presented June 6 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Hidden Kitchens Texas first aired on public radio stations across Texas and the country in summer 2007. The sound-rich hour is hosted by Willie Nelson, singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dallas-born actress Robin Wright Penn, along with an assortment of extraordinary storytellers, and presents some of the wild and soulful community cooking traditions of the Lone Star State.
The Kitchen Sisters’ Lone Star culinary travels take them to cities in every region of Texas. The show has featured the tamale lady at Fuel City in Dallas, the “Fried Calamari Conoco” in Watauga, Christian cowboy kitchens and Vietnamese garage kitchens in Houston, a restaurant tucked in a house down a driveway in Fort Worth, a carwash kitchen in El Paso and the oystermen kitchens on Galveston Bay.
Many of Texas’ culinary contributions to the world are highlighted, including the births of the Frito, the 7-11 and the frozen Margarita, as well as the first barbeque pit on the moon.
While food takes center stage in the program, the stories touch on themes that affect the lives of listeners everywhere, such as oil, land, family, elders, war, work and immigration.
An array of Texas musicians provide the Hidden Kitchens Texas soundtrack, including Nelson, Flaco Jimenez, Lightnin’ Hopkins, George Jones, Janis Joplin, Los Lonely Boys, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Terry Allen, Lydia Mendoza, The Sir Douglas Quintet, The Flatlanders, Tex Czech polka bands and more. Just about every immigrant culture in the U.S. is in Texas and their music and food is captured in this kitchen chronicle.
The two other nominees in the radio food show category are Mouthful, the Wine Country’s Most Delicious Hour from KRCB-FM in Sonoma County, California and The Splendid Table from American Public Media.
Listen to Hidden Kitchens Texas by clicking here.
About the James Beard Foundation Awards
Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards are a program of the James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate, nurture and preserve America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate our appreciation of the culinary arts.
About KUT Austin
For nearly 50 years, KUT Radio 90.5, Austin’s listener-supported public radio, has strived to be the most trusted radio source for news and music in Central Texas. Nationally known for playing music that matters to Austin, KUT produces award-winning news programming, special features series and documentaries that are regularly broadcast nationwide, in addition to providing news from National Public Radio and Public Radio International.
