Mind of a Chef

Seeds

It all began when Sean Brock went looking for Jimmy red corn. That simple journey turned into a lifetime of searching, archiving and reviving lost crops of the South. His partners in crime are legendary owner and operator of Anson Mills, Glen Roberts, and University of South Carolina professor David Shields - a trifecta of seed nerds hell-bent on preserving Southern food heritage. In this episode, Sean travels to Anson Mills to hand-quern Jimmy red corn, discover fire threshing and cook hominy. David Shields visits Sean's R&D lab to experiment with seeds and to tell the story of the Bradford watermelon, a near-extinct fruit with a delicious and deadly history. Sean travels to Blackberry Farm in Tennessee to talk to Master Gardener John Coyenkdall about heirloom seeds. Finally, food scientist Harold McGee talks about the magic of combining corn and lye.