INGREDIENT INSIDERS: Great Things Grow in the Dark

Great things grow in the dark, like fresh truffles, and the timely idea of CW Ingredient Specialists extraordinaire John Magazino, and Andrea Parkins’ to create and host a chef ingredient-driven podcast, coming to light during the bleak early weeks of the global pandemic.

Ingredient Insiders: Where Chefs Talk.Inside the minds of the world’s top chefsand the ingredients that inspire them in thekitchen

With 15 episodes already captivating culinary pros and enthusiastic foodies alike,The Ingredient Insiders, hosted by Magazino (CW Director of Business Development) and Parkins (CW Director of Digital Merchandising) is fast becoming the most informative, fun, and food-forward podcast folks can sink their senses into.

Ingredient Insider host John Magazino

Andrea Parkins, a self-proclaimed ‘pizza-bagel’ (Italian Mother, Jewish Father) workedas recipe developer and food stylist at Woman’s World Magazine and Food Network prior to joining CW. Andrea shared how herand John’s ‘Covid Baby’ came to life:

Ingredient Insider host Andrea Parkins

‘When you go on ingredient tours in foreign countries, you’re stuck together on planes, trains, buses, and dozens of dining experiences, 24/7. During these trips, John and I discovered a natural friendship and banter.’ ‘When COVID broke out in 2019 and we were all stuck in our homes, John and I would spend hours on the phone trying to wrap our heads around what was going to become of the industry, let alone our jobs! Then one day on a group business call someone said, “You and John should do a podcast together.” I called John immediately after the group call and said ‘Do you want to do this?’ And he said ‘Yes!’

Luckily John had a friend whose daughterin-law, Haley Draznin of Hay Now Media had been a producer for CNN for ten years and had loads of experience producing podcasts.

John Magazino, (whose last name means ‘warehouse’) carved his own career in culinary spawned by his early obsession with fresh truffles. Known in the industry as the Truffledawg, John is famous amongst high profile chefs for being the very first specialist to sell fresh truffles directly to chefs out of his backpack and then his own ‘truffle truck.’

Tess McNamara, Head of Salumi & Formaggi (Eataly)

‘Fundamentally, we’re passionate about food. It preoccupies most of our waking hours, it’s just who we are.’ John shared. ‘As a result of our extensive work with chefs and purveyors, we’ve made great relationships with many celebrities and big names in the food industry. We also have the opportunity to go and see a lot of these purveyors firsthand. Telling the stories of these incredible purveyors and chefs in this dynamic, conversational way on Ingredient Insiders, is something we are very lucky to be able to do. The podcast also really serves the CW brand. Specialty ingredients are at the heart of everything we do.

Magazino commented on the early days of recording the podcast. ’I’m not joking when I say when we first put on those headphones it was really awkward! Andrea added, ‘We were both so nervous. But we really support each other. If I’m having a rough day he’ll say, ‘Come on Andrea, you got this.’ Or if he’s off on a day, I’ll say, ‘Hey John, just look at me and talk to me.

Besides being very entertaining, the Ingredient Insiders podcast is also tremendously informative for culinary professionals, not to mention die-hard foodies and home chefs. With pandemic woes at an all-time low and promise on the horizon, the current objective for Ingredient Insiders is to continue to produce intriguing episodes and grow their audience base via word of mouth (and publications like CW Magazine!) Next time you’re in your car or taking a walk, or strolling the farmers market, get plugged into an episode of Ingredient Insiders. Discover how delicious John, Andrea, and their amazing guests (like iconic Ruth Reichl) are firsthand. We promise you won’t be able to stop at one.