歪歪漫画

BEMIDJI 鈥� Amy Thielen has cooked in some of New York City鈥檚 top restaurants. She鈥檚 a two-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author. She鈥檚 hosted a Food Network show and written for national magazines and newspapers.

And this week, she鈥檚 bringing all that experience to northern Minnesota airwaves, hosting the new 鈥淗am Radio鈥� show on KAXE and KBXE, an Independent public radio station with studios in Grand Rapids and Bemidji. It will be a mix of interviews, commentary, recipes and calls from listeners. The first six episodes will be broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays beginning May 23. They will also be available online at and on podcast platforms.

鈥淚'm looking forward to hearing people鈥檚 stories,鈥� said Thielen, a Park Rapids graduate still living in the area. 鈥淵ou just put a topic out into the universe, and I know that what's going to come back is going to be new to me and be exciting.鈥�

The first hour-long show, titled 鈥淩isky Business,鈥� will include an interview with Wally Everson of Hixton, Wisconsin, an octogenarian who has been making hundreds of pounds of lutefisk for his community for 30 years.

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鈥淭he idea came out of a project that I did this winter,鈥� Thielen said. 鈥淚 made lutefisk from scratch. I'm not Scandinavian, but my in-laws are. I'm very accustomed to having lutefisk for Christmas. And for me, that's kind of boring. What would it be like to actually make it from scratch? Can you make artisanal lutefisk, like gourmet or something?鈥�

To figure that out, she contacted Olsen Fish Company in Minneapolis, the world鈥檚 largest producer of lutefisk.

鈥淭hey told me I had to talk to Wally Everson,鈥� Thielen recalled. 鈥淪o I called Wally, because he鈥檚 the man, he鈥檚 the expert. He is a gem and a total resource, and now a friend in a way. Wally is a fascinating character.鈥�

Her efforts to make lutefisk from scratch were quite successful.

鈥淚t was really about the lengths that we will go to make something really delicious,鈥� Thielen said. 鈥淚 think lutefisk definitely exemplifies that, because the homemade stuff is really good. It tastes exactly like cod. It doesn鈥檛 smell at all.鈥�

Other episodes of 鈥淗am Radio鈥� will include topics like gardening and following recipes (or not). She will interview people from Minnesota and all over the country 鈥� food writers, growers, home cooks, cookbook authors and chefs. The show is produced by KAXE Director of Content Heidi Holtan.

鈥淭his whole radio show really kind of gets me back to the roots of my first book project (鈥楾he New Midwestern Table鈥�) when I was running around and collecting not just recipes but stories,鈥� Thielen said. 鈥淚've been missing that. I really feel like this project came out of a need to do that again. It will be a wide-ranging mix of voices and people. I'm just really excited to be the one to bring all that together.鈥�