Liev Schreiber: Finding the meaning in 15,000 gallons of borscht. Plus a recipe for Catalan spinach and José answers questions

Episode 5 is here.

Amigos, hola!

Can you believe it? This is episode 5 of Longer Tables?

This week on the show we are hearing from someone I really admire: Liev Schreiber.

Liev is a brilliant and genuinely interesting actor, a man who can do Shakespeare and is also a Marvel Superhero. But I didn’t get to know Liev on any movie set…I met him in Ukraine when he came to help us at World Central Kitchen. On the show, he tells us why he felt the need to come and cook and what making thousands of gallons of borscht gave back to him.

Liev is a real food guy. So we also talked about what it was like to grow up on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1970s, at the literal intersection between the Polish, Ukrainian, Puerto Rican, and Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. He also tells us about the food that ended his experiment with vegetarianism (I can tell you…it’s not bacon!).

And you know it, I’ll also be cooking. This week I am making one of my favorite vegetable dishes: Catalan spinach.

It’s absolutely delicious anytime of year. But if you’re already thinking about Thanksgiving, it’s a very good way to get something green on to your holiday table. I’ll post the recipe here on Wednesday.