Series A Taste of the Past

A Weekly Journey Through the History of Food

Culinary historian Linda Pelaccio takes a journey through the history of food. Take a dive into food cultures through history, from ancient Mesopotamia and imperial China to the grazing tables and deli counters of today. Tune in as Linda, along with a guest list of culinary chroniclers and enthusiasts, explores the lively links between food cultures of the present and past.

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Engineered by: HRN Staff
Produced by: Linda Pelaccio
Jewish Food Society: Preserving the Jewish Culinary Heritage from Around the World

Jewish Food Society: Preserving the Jewish Culinary Heritage from Around the World

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From growing up in a Kibbutz, to a life in New York City where her work sits at the intersection of food, culture, community building, and art, landing her in a profile article in Vogue, Naama Shefi is a leader in promoting the foods of Israel and archiving the recipes of Jewish communities around the world. On this episode, we speak with ...
Endangered Foods

Endangered Foods

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Drawing on Slow Food's Ark of Taste, a list of endangered foods throughout the world, culinary historian Sarah Lohman decided to look closer at the American local culinary traditions and rare, cherished foods that are in peril of becoming lost. She shares the stories of her travels and the people who work with these foods in her new book, ...
Ways of Eating

Ways of Eating

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Based on years of observation, ethnographic fieldwork, and countless shared meals, mother and son Merry White and Ben Wurgaft explore how our foods reach our plates and how every bite is part of a complex web of social meaning and value. From the Venetian spice trade to the Columbian Exchange, from Roman garum to Vietnamese nớc chấm, from the ...
The Contorversial History of Fasting

The Contorversial History of Fasting

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Fasting from food is a controversial, dangerous, and yet utterly normal human practice. Christine Baumgarthuber discusses our fascination with restrictive eating in cultural history from her new book, Why Fast? If fasting offers few health benefits, why do people fast? Why have we always fasted? Does fasting speak to something deep and ...
The Magic Eight: The Plants Native American Peoples Shared with the World

The Magic Eight: The Plants Native American Peoples Shared with the World

400

Lois Ellen Frank, Native foods historian, culinary anthropologist, and James Beard award winning cookbook author, joins Linda to talk about Native American foodways. She describes her teachings to Native American communities on how to "re-indigenize" their diets through the use of more plant based foods for a healthier lifestyle. Learning the ...
National Dish

National Dish

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What makes a national dish, and who decides? Food writer Anya Von Bremzen dives into the questions as she journeys to the heart of six of the world's most storied food traditions in search of how cuisine became connected to place and identity. It's all from her new book, "National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History and the ...
America’s Burgers with George Motz

America’s Burgers with George Motz

398

Burger Scholar George Motz has spent decades researching, writing about, cooking, and eating America's favorite food: Hamburgers. His documentary film, Hamburger America, was recognized by the US National Archives as an integral part of American food history. On this episode, he shares the history of the burger and its variations across the ...
Peanuts: Preserving History

Peanuts: Preserving History

397

Peanuts have a long history tied to indigenous South American people, early traders,and slavery. It was African slaves who brought the peanut to Virginia and planted and harvested the first crop. Some of those early harvesting techniques are now being preserved by a 4th generation peanut farmer and a 3rd generation peanut company. We learn ...