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Fr. Ian Delinger

Host of "Playing with Food" on Issues & Ideas

Fr. Ian Delinger currently serves as Rector at St Stephen's Episcopal Church in San Luis Obispo. He was born on the Central Coast, and was raised in both rural western Nebraska and on the Central Coast. He studied Chemistry at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Then, he moved to the Silicon Valley where he was as a project manager in a consulting firm which specializes in environmental, health and safety issues for the semiconductor manufacturing industry and other high technology industries, followed by a couple of stints in corporate events management and marketing.

Fr. Ian left the Silicon Valley after nine years to train for ordination at Westcott House Theological College in Cambridge (UK). He was then ordained in the as a Deacon in 2004 and as a priest in 2005. He trained in a parish in Manchester, and then served 8 years as Chaplain to the University of Chester.

Preparing and sharing food have been at the heart of both Fr Ian’s family life and his ministry. Fr Ian firmly believes the preparing and sharing of food to be a spiritual activity, sanctioned by God, and demonstrated throughout the Bible. He illustrated this in a reality cooking show on BBC2 called ‘Instant Restaurant’ in which he turned his home into a spirituality-themed restaurant. (And made a good profit!)

Fr. Ian has dabbled in other media, including, print, BBC Radio and currently for the University of Chester’s Radio Station for which he hosted a weekly radio show, which has been nominated for and has won the Jerusalem Awards, recognizing Christians in Broadcasting.

Ian is very interested in showing the Church and active faith in a positive light in the public arena, including in the media. One of Ian’s dream jobs would be to host a Saturday cooking and meal sharing show, as “Fr Ian” to combine his passion for food and his wish to show the Church positive, enriching and a source of spiritual nourishment.

  • First it was the pandemic in 2020 when supply chains were closed off. Then it was avian flu in 2022 when flocks were being destroyed. People bought chickens! The average American eats about 275 eggs each year. So, if they are in short supply or really expensive, someone with a decent backyard may want to build a hen house. Among those in the know, they are referred to as “backyard chickens”, but Playing With Food is focusing specifically on Urban Chickens…ones that live in the city where they might annoy neighbors or be involved in cock fights.
  • One would be forgiven for not thinking that Peruvian cuisine was popular on the Central Coast. But San Luis Obispo has TWO Peruvian Restaurants. And the next closest Peruvian Restaurant appears to be all the way in Thousand Oaks! The Playing With Food Team visited a small one-woman operation to explore Peruvian ingredients and flavors.
  • The craft cider movement on the Central Coast is producing cider where every barrel is unique in flavor and character. I just had to explore more, and I started in the orchard, and went all the way to bottle.
  • Agri-Entertainment is using agriculture for fun, education and profits.
  • Bees produce honey. It’s a simple process, yet infinitely complex! And it’s certainly fascinating! This is a look into the world of honey production…which includes a lot about bees.
  • Pretzels are a snack that comes in a wide variety of forms. We are all familiar with soft pretzels, hard pretzels, pretzel sticks and more recently pretzel buns. Here on the Central Coast, a bakery makes a traditional Bavarian soft pretzel from scratch.
  • Betsey Nash, KCBX's Grape Nut, talks with Kathy Joseph of Fiddlehead Cellars about making wine in the Santa Rita Hills. In the final episode of In Between, we explore the thriving drag scene in SLO County. The Solvang City Council reverses its denial of Pride banners. Fr. Ian learns how to make tortillas on Playing With Food.
  • A Central Coast hobby farm is raising sheep and goats for high quality meat. Just south of Salinas, part way up a hill overlooking America’s Salad Bowl sits Turning Leaf Ranch. The Playing With Food Team was very interested in this small-scale animal husbandry and the flavors that result from it.
  • Hard candy…it’s just sugar, water and flavors, right? Yes, it is…but…it takes some technique to turn it into what you want. But what if you want words inside your candy? It’s pretty simple, apparently. Craig Montgomery of Sticky Candy how simple playing with candy is.
  • The Peace Academy of the Sciences and Artssummer camp included preparing and sharing food. Having the kids playing with food was a small part of their week-long program. But like all the other elements of the program, the Peace Academy leadership knew that preparing and sharing food is a vital element in achieving their pillars and values.