After a brief foray into The Ricky Gervais Show (where I learned that Karl Pilkington's expression "I could eat a nob at night" is sweeping the nation faster than Stephen Colbert's fabulous "truthiness.") I have become obsessed with food and drink podcasts. Let me rephrase that: I have become obsessed with FREE food and drink podcasts.

Because of said obsession, I now have a new food ritual that has nothing to do with my morning coffee or my daily meals. Every day, I carve out some time to go for a brisk walk or run through Golden Gate Park and I am sustained on that run by Midwestern comfort food, the best picnic wines, and the strange attraction of saurkraut. I have recently discovered Eat Feed, "the food podcast that takes you back in time, across the country, around the world, and back to your own table." This podcast has been on just over a year and since January, I have been steadily working my way through each broadcast. Last week, however, I hit the update button on my iTunes library and gasped as I slowly realized that no new Eat Feed show was forthcoming. This was a pickle. I had become so dependent on Anne Bramley's careful voice feeding my ears as I panted and sweated that I had begun to crave it. As nothing was posted on the Eat Feed website explaining when this sudden and distressing hiatus would end, I had to temporarily take my cravings elsewhere.

My first action was to do a search on the iTunes Music Store for free podcasts in the food and drink categories. However, that was such a complicated jumble of information that I decided that it would be better to seek out the best rated food and drink podcasts over at Podcasting News before I hit the button to get my free subscription. Here are a few that I sampled in hopes I'd find a replacement for my beloved Eat Feed.

KCRW's Good Food
"By tuning in to Good Food, you can discover delicious recipes, great restaurants, and unique places to buy authentic ingredients; find out how to prepare the newest foods in the marketplace; learn techniques of master chefs and ideas for novices; and listen to discussions about food politics and the latest trends in food and eating."

A Guy, A Girl, and A Bottle
"A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle, hosted by Joe Carpenter and Lori Leahy, is a weekly internet radio show for people interested in hearing an innovative wine podcast from in and around Silicon Valley."

The Food Geek
"Some people think cooking is scary, and some people think science is scary. I say that there's no reason to be afraid of either, much less both together. Find all the different ways that you can make food tastier, in an easy-to-understand and entertaining format."

Chronicle Podcasts

The Munchies Podcast
"Ways to satisfy your cravings for snacks without a lot of time, without shelling out a lot of money and without guilt!"

Of all the above, I found that KCRW's Good Food best satisfied my Eat Feed need. Among so many informational and tasty tidbits were Laura Avery's "Market Reports," in which she tells us what's in season at the Santa Monica farmers' markets and what farmers and chefs are doing with the produce. Over with Evan Kleiman, you get deeper than usual cookbook reviews, chats with local chefs, food and drink trend exposés, and so much more.

It is quite possible that I will become as addicted to Evan Kleiman's voice as I am to Anne Bramley's.