Wander into any town in the U.S., no matter how small and remote, and you’re likely to find at least one Chinese restaurant. In fact, there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King combined. And the food they serve is completely unlike anything you’ll find in China. In this episode of Gastropod, we ask one crucial question ... Show More
Jan 13
Canned Tomatoes and the Myth of the San Marzano
Canned tomatoes are a perfect winter food. As you'll know from our tomato episode, the beautiful fruits in fresh aisle of the supermarket are mostly flavorless outside of the summer season—but the tomatoes that get packed in a can are cheap, readily available, and, most important ... Show More
50m 16s
Dec 16
Is Your Cinnamon Fake? Where Does Kefir Come From? Plus: Why Is Citric Acid In Everything? Ask Gastropod!
The season for holiday baking is upon us, and before you spice up your cookies and pies, you’ll probably want to know: is most of the cinnamon on grocery store shelves actually fake? That’s one question we’re investigating this week on behalf of you, dear listeners, in the latest ... Show More
42m 33s
Dec 2
Forget Plain Vanilla: You'll Never See The World's Favorite Flavor the Same Way Again
Today, 'vanilla' often means boring, and yet the edible seedpod of this Central American orchid is one of the most expensive spices in the world, not to mention one of the most popular flavors globally. So how did this coveted bean get such a ho-hum reputation? Listen in this epi ... Show More
50m 45s
Nov 2021
CLASSIC: How White America Tried To Destroy Chinese Restaurants
<p>Today Chinese restaurants serve some of the most popular cuisine in the United States, with more than 41,000 restaurants scattered around the country. Yet in the 1900s these restaurants were so controversial that labor unions, hate groups and even politicians joined forces in ... Show More
36m 19s
Jul 2024
Michelle T. King, "Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food" (Norton, 2024)
In 1971, the New York Times called the Taiwanese-Chinese chef, Fu Pei-Mei, the “the Julia Child of Chinese cooking.”
But, as Michelle T. King notes in her book Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food (Norton, 2024), the inverse–that Julia Child was ... Show More
45m 41s
Jul 2023
Have We Reached Peak Korean Food? Plus, How to Menu: Nolia Kitchen
Dave and Chris kick things off with a "How to Menu" of chef Jeffrey Harris’s Cincinnati restaurant, Nolia Kitchen. Things take a turn as Dave does a mini-MOIF where he declares the single greatest restaurant menu hack (when it’s available). After the break, the discussion shifts ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2019
Episode 338: American Cuisine and How It Got This Way
What is American cuisine? Is there an American cuisine? It’s probably one of the most debated questions in food circles, certainly by food writers. Historian Paul Freedman, author of the recent best-selling book, Ten Restaurants that Changed America, explores the question in his ... Show More
48m 3s