Ate Ate Ate Sam Low and Jean Teng

Sam Low and Jean Teng talk to James Beard award-winning author John Birdsall (The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard) about the question: what is queer food?

We talk about cooking as resistance, the broadness of the term "queer", queer spaces and community building, the history of queer food and stories, how queerness affects your cooking or perspective on food, whether or not chefs and hospitality figures should be asked to talk about their queerness, and, also, about how the "masc bro chef" is ON THE RISE ONCE AGAIN (thanks The Bear).

Thanks so much to our guest, John Birdsall!

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Articles mentioned:

America, Your Food Is So Gay (Lucky Peach)

Straight Up Passing (Jarry Mag)

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Sign up for John Birdsall's Substack, Shifting the Food Narrative

Both Sam and Jean don't eat breakfast - they eat coffee. In this episode, Sam (former NZ Barista Champion, Latte Art Champion, coffee trainer and all-around expert) talks to Sarah Allen (the editor of USA-based Barista Magazine) and his co-podcast host Jean (consumer of coffee) about the ins and outs of coffee and its culture.

We talk about the raw material, how you can tell if coffee is good or not (objectively speaking), the rise of cafe culture, where coffee culture is going next (cool specialty drinks galore!), and the cultural capital of coffee.

Plus, we get an overseas person to say how good the coffee in New Zealand is (which we always love hearing, thanks Sarah), and learn a bit more about Barista Magazine, which is read by hundreds of thousands of people in over 83 countries around the world.

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Thanks to our special guest, Sarah Allen!

Read the digital edition of Barista Magazine

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Sam and Jean talk to comedian David Correos (Taskmaster NZ) about their childhood faves and memories from youth, including all-you-can-eat buffets, Lone Star, Dennys, and food courts. We then pick David's mind about his relationship to food and what he actually eats. Afterwards, we went to Dennys!

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Thank you to our guest, David Correos. David is performing in a New Zealand International Comedy Festival show called I Can't Stop Vibrating in Auckland and Wellington. Get your tickets here!

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Sam Low and Jean Teng don't know much about foraging. In this episode, they talk to Liv Sisson (author of Fungi of Aotearoa) about the fungi of Aotearoa, the beauty of foraging, and why framing foraging against the cost of living crisis is lazy, actually (i.e. it will not be able to replace your grocery shop, fyi!).

We also go urban foraging with a friend of the show, Ezra, who runs a foraging Instagram account showcasing his best finds @berrysnacker.

Disclaimer: This episode is not a field guide to foraging, but a beginner's engagement with the act... and, perhaps, a gentle encouragement for you to try it on your own.

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Thanks to Liv Sisson and Ezra Whittaker.

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Buy her book, Fungi of Aotearoa

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Jean and Sam go to Malaysia! In this episode, our two food-obsessed hosts talk about the cultural cuisine of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, their favourite meals and dining experiences, what they loved and the joys of eating and travelling, from fine dining to hawker stalls.

(This is an unsponsored episode btw, but we'd be totally down for travel sponsorship, dear airlines, media publications, or overseas tourism boards! Lol.)

*Jean mistakenly attributed nasi kandar to Malay cuisine instead of Indian, apologies!

Specific places mentioned, in order:

Dewakan (Level 48, Naza Tower, KLCC)

Eat and Cook (Pusat Perdagangan Bandar, Bukit Jalil)

Unwined Plus (Jalan Tewali, Bangsar)

Siam Rd Charcoal Char Kway Teow (Jalan Siam, George Town, Penang)

Gurney Drive Hawker Centre (Penang)

Teluk Pulai Bak Kut Teh (Klang, Selangor)

Norm Micro Roastery (George Town, Penang)

Peranakan Mansion (Melaka)

gēn (George Town, Penang)

Nam Heong Chicken Rice (Jalan Sultan, KL)

You can find more information about the places we ate at on Sam's Instagram story highlights.

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Sam and Jean talk about the influence of social media on the way we eat, consume, and think about food.

Featuring guest Emily Contois (the author of Food Instagram: Identity, Influence and Negotiation; and Diners, Dudes and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide).

They discuss TikTok and Instagram influencers, what makes a good influencer, how hard is it really, the conflict of authenticity and advertising, how food culture on social media trickles down into restaurants and magazines, parasocial relationships, and the democratisation and diversity of the digital world. A lot!



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Special thanks to our guest Emily Contois.

Follow her on Instagram and buy her book!