405 episodes

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.

A Taste of the Past Heritage Radio Network

    • Arts
    • 4.0 • 391 Ratings

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.

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

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

    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 Naama about her many projects, including the newest: a beautiful new book, The Jewish Holiday Table.

    • 37 min
    Endangered Foods

    Endangered Foods

    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, Endangered Eating, and talks about them on this episode of A Taste of the Past.

    • 35 min
    Ways of Eating

    Ways of Eating

    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 origins of agriculture to contemporary debates over culinary authenticity, they uncover new ways to understand food and the social rules that shape our meals.

    • 40 min
    The Controversial History of Fasting

    The Controversial History of Fasting

    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 immutable within us? Why are our bodies so well adapted to intermittent fasting? And, what might this ancient, ascetic ritual offer us today?

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

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

    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 ancestral techniques of gardening and cooking helps lead to food sovereignty and sustainable foodways.

    • 41 min
    National Dish

    National Dish

    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 Meaning of Home."

    • 46 min

Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5
391 Ratings

391 Ratings

bug🍀 ,

Dim sum discussion disappoints

A long general discussion with no descriptions of the actual food or individual dishes. I wanted to hear the history of how it came about what was originally served in a historical dim sum feast? These questions remain unanswered.instead you get broad explanations and don’t learn many hard facts. Ie. Dim Sum is like the English tea tradition? Rhubarb was used in ancient Chinese cuisine long before the English did. And something about sponge cake… that’s about all I learned here. Podcast needs more food and less fumbling rambling tangents. Next time, Delve deeper into the details of Dim Sum and why it tastes so good. Talk about dumplings etc…

unehistoiredeplage ,

Excellent podcast - ignore the crazy 1 stars

This is a wonderful podcast if you’d like food and history. You will learn much. It’s unfortunate that some rather uneducated people have come here to post negative comments because they are obsessed with Gaza and have succumbed to propaganda,
they cannot handle even mention of Israel or anything Jewish. If you don’t like a subject, you can skip it without trashing the entire podcast because you can’t think straight.

J T in AZ ,

Hamburger America episode

Thankfully the creator of Hamburger America, George Motz, was interesting. Kudos to him. A lack of pre-interview preparation by the “culinary historian” host is obvious. Clearly she didn’t know much about the history of hamburger nor of Hamburger America. A historian should not have to be constantly corrected by the guest. A skillful interviewer she is not. As a first time listener and bit of a foodie, it’s a disservice to the guest and listener.

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