Heritage Food Stories Podcast

Chef Mireille
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Food
  • Updated Weekly

Exploring the history, culture, and traditions behind the dishes we love. Heritage Food Stories brings you global recipes, culinary stories, and food facts that celebrate the flavors and people who shaped them. heritagefoodstories.substack.com

  1. Jul 10

    Stories of Resistance in the British Caribbean

    Welcome to Heritage Food Stories - Season 2 - Episode 7 - Stories of Resistance in the British Caribbean I’m your host, Chef Mireille - culinary historian, food educator and cultural storyteller with a lifelong passion for exploring global cuisines, and the stories behind the food we eat. I preserve history, connect cultures and inspire curiosity through food. Every dish tells a story and it is my privilege to tell it. Long before Parliament voted to abolish slavery in 1833, enslaved Africans across the British Caribbean had already been fighting for their freedom — in the mountains, on the plantations, and in the kitchen. This episode traces the uprisings history books often leave out: Queen Nanny and the Maroons who forced the British Empire to negotiate a peace treaty in Jamaica, Tacky's 1760 rebellion that shook the colony to its core, Prince Klaas's daring conspiracy in Antigua, Fédon's Rebellion in Grenada, Bussa's uprising in Barbados, the Demerara Rebellion in Guyana, and Samuel Sharpe's Baptist War — the final, largest revolt before abolition. We close by connecting this history of resistance to the food it produced: how ackee, coo coo, callaloo, jerk, and rice and peas all carry the same story of survival, adaptation, and quiet defiance that shaped the Caribbean we know today. Recipe Links: Cou Cou - https://globalkitchentravels.com/bajan-coo-coo/ Saltfish - https://globalkitchentravels.com/saltfish-ground-provision/ Rice and Peas - https://globalkitchentravels.com/rice-cooker-caribbean-rice-peas/ Callaloo - https://www.tiktok.com/@chefmireille/video/7601215679936826655?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7594972479589959181 🌐 Recipes & Blog: globalkitchentravels.com 📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here 📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille   Enjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both. Chef Mireille Roc is a chef, food historian, and culinary storyteller whose work explores the intersection of food, history, and culture. Her work demonstrates that every dish tells a story—one of migration, resilience, identity, and cultural exchange. Whether teaching a cooking class, writing an article or publishing a recipe, or delivering a lecture, she uses food as a lens to preserve history, connect cultures, and inspire curiosity. Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jun 25

    Suriname’s Broken Chains: The Story of Emancipation

    Welcome to Heritage Food Stories Season 2 Episode 8 - Suriname’s Broken Chains: The Story of EmancipationHeritage Food Stories Podcast explores the intersectionality of food and history.In this episode, we take a deep dive into the History of the Maroon's of Suriname: the best example of preserved African heritage and cultural survival in the Americas.Topics covered include:* Brief History of Suriname* Slavery and the establishment of Maroons in the Interior* The Maroon Wars* How Isolation Protected the Maroons* Dictators and the Interior War* The Lasting Legacy of the Maroons* Keti Koti: Broken Chains* Afro Surinamese RecipesRecipes:Peanut Soup - https://globalkitchentravels.com/holiday-recipes-with-blogging-marathon/Bruine Bonen - https://globalkitchentravels.com/bruine-bonen/Heri HeriMoksi Alesi - https://globalkitchentravels.com/one-pot-chicken-and-rice/Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at globalkitchentravels.com🌐 Recipes & Blog: https://globalkitchentravels.com/recipe-index/ 📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here: https://heritagefoodstories.substack.com/📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jun 3

    The African Soul of Carnival: Beyond the Party

    Heritage Food Stories Season 2 Episode 7 | The African Roots of Caribbean Carnival: Beyond the PartyMost people think Caribbean Carnival is about rum and costumes. It's actually a 200-year-old act of resistance rooted in African spiritual tradition — and almost nobody is telling that story. In this episode, Chef Mireille traces the true history of Caribbean Carnival from the enslaved people's yard parties of 1783 Trinidad all the way to Junkanoo in the Bahamas, Kanaval in Haiti, Spice Mas in Grenada, and beyond.What does Jab Jab really mean? Who is the Moko Jumbie? Why did formerly enslaved people burn the cane fields — and what does that have to do with calypso music? You'll learn all of that, plus the street foods you need to eat at every Caribbean Carnival.History starts now. Food starts at [15:10].Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at https://globalkitchentravels.com Recipes: Fish Cakes French Caribbean Beignet Haitian Banana Benyen  Breadfruit Puffs Lam Veritab Stuffed Christophene Pastechi Tuna Meat Pastechi Haitian Pate Oil Down   🌐 Recipes & Blog: globalkitchentravels.com 📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here 📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille @HeritageFoodStories Enjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both. Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  4. May 25

    Why Caribbean Food Tastes Like Asia

    Heritage Food Stories - Season 2 - Episode 6 - Why the Caribbean Tastes like AsiaThe Caribbean has always been one of the most ethnically diverse regions on earth — and a huge part of that story involves the hundreds of thousands of Indian, Chinese, and Javanese people brought to the islands as indentured laborers after slavery was abolished. In this episode, Chef Mireille traces how three major Asian communities arrived in the Caribbean under colonial deception and brutal conditions — and how their cuisines didn't just survive the journey, they transformed island food forever. This is the story of how migration, resilience, and food are inseparable — and why every bite of Caribbean cooking carries more history than most people realize. Topics covered: ✅The history of Asian indentured labor in the Caribbean and why it's fundamentally different from — and should never be equated with — chattel slavery ✅ How approximately 500,000 people from India arrived in the Caribbean and which islands received the largest populations ✅ Why Indo Caribbean food tastes different from food in India, even when the same spices are used ✅ How Chinese indentured laborers — primarily from Guangdong province — used their merchant backgrounds to exit plantation life and build the Caribbean's merchant class ✅ The largely untold story of 32,000 Javanese people brought to Suriname between 1890 and 1939 who never returned home ✅ How signature Asian condiments like kecap manis, trassi, and cassareep crossed ethnic lines to become staples of Caribbean cooking broadly ✅ A deep dive into Indo Caribbean, Chinese Caribbean, and Javanese Surinamese recipes — from Buss Up Shot and 7 Curry to Lap Cheong, Pepper Steak, Saoto, and Bakabana ✅ Why an African-descended Surinamese person making Nasi Goreng, or an Indo-Trinidadian making Callaloo, is the most natural thing in the world — and what that tells us about how food becomes culture 📖 Recipes: 🔗Curry Chicken - https://globalkitchentravels.com/caribbean-curry-chicken/🔗Pholourie - https://globalkitchentravels.com/phulourie/🔗Colombo Curry - https://globalkitchentravels.com/columbo-curry-powder/🔗Sugar Cakes - https://globalkitchentravels.com/caribbean-coconut-sugar-cakes/🔗Rijstepap (sweet rice) - https://www.tiktok.com/@chefmireille/video/7562251324356693278?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7594972479589959181🔗Char Siu - https://globalkitchentravels.com/char-suichinese-bbq/🔗Ginger Shrimp - https://globalkitchentravels.com/chino-jamaican-ginger-shrimp/🔗Bakabana - https://globalkitchentravels.com/ramadan-around-the-world-surinamese-bakabana-with-peanut-sauce/🔗Bami Goreng - https://globalkitchentravels.com/bami-stir-fry/🔗Bojo - https://globalkitchentravels.com/bojo-suriname-style-gluten-free-cassava-cake/🔗Dawet - https://globalkitchentravels.com/suriname-style-javanese-rose-dawet/ 🌐 Recipes & Blog: globalkitchentravels.com 📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here: https://heritagefoodstories.substack.com/ 📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille - https://www.instagram.com/chefmireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille - https://www.tiktok.com/@chefmireille Enjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both. Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at globalkitchentravels.com Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  5. May 18

    The Lasting Legacy of the Indigenous People of the Caribbean

    In this episode, you will learn about the three primary indigenous tribes in the Caribbean - Kalinago, Garifuna and the Taino - and how they have influenced Caribbean culture - markedly in its cuisine - and how these communities live today. The indigenous people of the Caribbean did not disappear. In this episode of Heritage Food Stories, Chef Mireille explores the history, survival, and cultural legacy of the Taino, Kalinago, and Garifuna peoples — from resistance against colonization to the foods and traditions that still shape Caribbean culture today. Learn about: • The Kalinago Territory in Dominica • The survival of the Taino after Spanish colonization • The Afro-Indigenous origins of the Garifuna people • How indigenous Caribbean cuisine shaped foods like cassava bread, cocoa tea, machuca, and jerk cooking • The true origins of barbecue from the Taino word “barbacoa” This episode explores Indigenous Caribbean history without sugarcoating the realities of colonization, slavery, forced displacement, and cultural survival. 🎧 Subscribe for weekly episodes on Caribbean food history, global cuisine, migration, and cultural storytelling. Recipes: Cocoa Tea - GlobalkitchentravelsTraditional Caribbean Cocoa Tea: Hot Chocolate Recipe Pan de Yuca - GlobalkitchentravelsThe Best Cassava Cake - Gluten Free Yucca Cake Honduran Style You can also watch these relevant recipes on my Tik Tok Channel Kankey Ducana Sancoche Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at globalkitchentravels.com 🌐 Recipes & Blog: globalkitchentravels.com 📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here 📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille Enjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both. Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  6. May 10

    How the US Destroyed Haiti's Rice

    Heritage Food Stories Podcast - Season 2 - Episode 4 - How the United States Destroyed Haiti's Rice IndustryWhat We Cover in This EpisodeHaiti's rice culture — why rice is not just a staple but the foundation of Haitian cuisine and identityHaiti's agricultural history — how the Artibonite Valley made Haiti one of the Caribbean's most productive rice regions, and how Haiti fed itself for nearly two centuriesReagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative (1983) — the often-overlooked starting point of US agricultural intervention in HaitiThe Duvalier era and US complicity — how Cold War politics led America to bankroll a violent dictatorship for decadesThe 1991 CIA-backed coup — the overthrow of Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand AristideThe "death plan" tariff cuts (1995) — how IMF/World Bank structural adjustment, backed by the Clinton administration, slashed Haiti's rice tariffs from 50% to 3%, flooding the market with subsidized American rice Haitian farmers could never compete withBill Clinton's 2010 apology — what he admitted, what he left out, and why the Haitian people are the ones who truly live with the consequencesThe destruction of Haiti's broader agricultural economy — peanuts, sugar, food sovereigntyThe Khian Sea incident (1986–1988) — how Philadelphia's toxic incinerator ash ended up on a beach in Gonaïves, Haiti, disguised as fertilizerThe Basel Convention — adopted in 1989, signed by 191 countries, still not ratified by the United StatesThe 2010 earthquake — and why overcrowded Port-au-Prince was a direct consequence of rural agricultural collapseHaiti's rice revival — the ongoing, slow, determined effort to rebuild food sovereignty in the Artibonite Valley and beyondFood as resistance — why choosing Haitian rice, telling these stories, and eating manje lakay (local food) is an act of solidarityRecipes:Diri Djon Djon (Haitiam Mushroom Rice) - https://globalkitchentravels.com/haitian-black-mushroom-rice-with-shrimp/Diri Kole ak Pwa (Haitian Rice and Beans) - https://globalkitchentravels.com/instant-pot-haitian-red-beans-and-rice/More Haitian Recipes - https://globalkitchentravels.com/haitian-recipes/Connect with Chef Mireille & Heritage Food Stories🌐 Recipes & Blog: https://globalkitchentravels.com/recipe-index/📬 Substack: Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here https://heritagefoodstories.substack.com/📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille - https://www.instagram.com/chefmireille🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille - https://www.tiktok.com/@chefmireilleEnjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both.Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel, and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at globalkitchentravels.com Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  7. May 1

    Why Is Haiti Hated So Much?

    Haiti was the first free Black nation in the world — and has been paying for it ever since. In this episode of Heritage Food Stories, Chef Mireille goes deep on the history that most schools never taught you: how the Haitian Revolution directly triggered the Louisiana Purchase, why Haitian Flag Day on May 18th is one of the most significant dates in the entire African diaspora, and how a country that helped liberate half of Latin America ended up being charged 30 billion dollars for its own freedom. We cover the revolutionary leaders you know — and the women history left out. We bust the myths about Vodou that were invented in Medieval Europe. We trace the surprising origins of Haitian dishes like Salad Russe, Pikliz, and Freedom Soup — and explain exactly why Haitian cuisine is inseparable from Haitian history. This is Haitian Heritage Month. This is what the blue and red flag means. And this is the episode you share with everyone who has ever repeated a lie about Haiti without knowing the real story. In this episode: The Louisiana Purchase connection The Haitian Revolution Haitian Flag Day May 18th The women of the Revolution · The truth about Vodou Haitian cuisine and its history Western imperialism and Haiti Recipes and Resources: Salad Russe Pikliz Epis More Haitian Recipes: https://globalkitchentravels.com/haitian-recipes/ Creators in Haiti: tiktok.com/@sunjohnusa tiktok.com/@stephane_silva001 tiktok.com/@nellotourslabadee And if you would like to help Haiti via a reputable organization Dr. Bertrhude Albert and her organization P4H Global is primarily focused on education. You can also find her on Instagram and Tik Tok telling Haiti's forgotten history. Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Apr 24

    Malaysia: Where All of Asia Meets on a Plate

    What do Chinese noodles, South Indian flatbread, Portuguese colonial vinegar, and a 600-year-old fusion cuisine born from cross-cultural marriage all have in common? They're all part of the extraordinary story of Malaysian food history — and this week, Chef Mireille takes you deep inside one of the most diverse, underrated, and delicious culinary traditions in the world. From the ancient spice trade routes of the Strait of Malacca to the hawker stalls of Penang — Malaysia's culinary capital — this episode traces how centuries of migration, intermarriage, and colonial history created a multi-ethnic Malaysian food culture unlike anything else in Asia. We explore the food traditions of the Malays, Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians, the Indigenous Orang Asli and Iban peoples of Borneo, and the extraordinary Nyonya Peranakan — the community whose women created one of the greatest fusion cuisines in culinary history. If you've never cooked Malaysian food, this episode will change that. And if you already love it, you're about to understand it on a whole new level. What You'll Learn in This Episode The 2,000-year history behind Malaysian cuisine and why the Strait of Malacca made it all possible How the Malacca Sultanate attracted 15,000 traders a year from China, India, Persia, and Arabia — and what they left behind in the food Why British colonial labor policies brought thousands of Tamil Indian and Hokkien Chinese workers to Malaysia — and how that permanently transformed the cuisine The origin story of the Nyonya Peranakan — the descendants of Chinese traders and Malay women who built Southeast Asia's most complex fusion food tradition The history of nasi lemak, Malaysia's national dish — from banana-leaf-wrapped field breakfast to the country's most democratic meal How laksa became the perfect metaphor for Malaysia itself, and why every regional version tells a different cultural story The Indigenous food traditions of the Orang Asli and the Iban and Kadazan-Dusun peoples of Borneo — the often-overlooked foundation of Malaysian food heritage Chef Mireille's personal journey to Penang in 2016 and how a cooking class changed everything Resources Nazlina's Cooking Class in Penang Where to Stay in Penang: Noordin Mews Nyonya Restaurant in New York City Recipes Malaysian Fish Curry Malaysian Pumpkin Curry Puteri Ayu Chicken Curry Puffs Nyonya Laksa with Shrimp and Water Spinach Nyonya Vegetarian Laksa Malaysian Style Satay Malaysian Coconut Corn Drink Enjoying Heritage Food Stories? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people find these stories. Share this episode with someone who loves food, history, or both. Connect with Chef Mireille & Heritage Food Stories 🌐 Website & Recipes: globalkitchentravels.com 📬 Substack (podcast + newsletter): Heritage Food Stories — Subscribe here → 📱 Instagram: @ChefMireille 🎵 TikTok: @ChefMireille Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef specializing in global food history, cultural migration, travel and international recipes. Find over 1,000 recipes from around the world at globalkitchentravels.com Get full access to Heritage Food Stories at heritagefoodstories.substack.com/subscribe

See All (23)

About

Exploring the history, culture, and traditions behind the dishes we love. Heritage Food Stories brings you global recipes, culinary stories, and food facts that celebrate the flavors and people who shaped them. heritagefoodstories.substack.com

Information