A Taste of the Past
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.
- Update frequency
- every 17 days
- Average duration
- 39 minutes
- Episodes
- 409
- Years Active
- 2009 - 2025
Episode 290: The History and Evolution of Noodles
Just about every culture has some form of noodles. But when and where did noodles first appear? Food historian Ken Albala joins Linda to untangle the noodle's history.
A Taste of the Past is power…
00:41:45 |
Thu 15 Feb 2018
Episode 289: Tasting Ancient Rome: Recreating Ancient Recipes and What Archaeology Tells Us
What is most commonly known about the food and dining of Ancient Rome comes from vivid—and often fictional—descriptions of exotic foods of lavish banquets of the wealthy. But further study reveals an…
00:47:29 |
Thu 01 Feb 2018
Episode 288: David Shields, The Seed Sleuth, Repatriating Heirloom Crops
Good news to David Shields is that the Speckled Whippoorwill Cowpea, Jimmy Red whisky corn, or the Sicilian Timilia strain of durum wheat has been located, identified, and successfully grown and harv…
00:35:38 |
Thu 18 Jan 2018
Episode 287: Rediscovering Acadian Cuisine
Who were the Acadians? What was their food culture and cuisine? Food writer and journalist Simon Thibault, talks about exploring his Acadian roots and reacquainting himself with the food and recipes …
00:45:41 |
Thu 30 Nov 2017
Episode 286: History of Professional Cooking in America
Culinarians are and were intellectually curious, aesthetically experimental, and gastronomically evangelical. In his new book, The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine D…
00:49:30 |
Thu 09 Nov 2017
Episode 285: Keeping Traditions Alive: Authentic Italian
Unlike many Italian cookbooks, Autentico goes far beyond pasta. In a world where culinary shortcuts, adulteration, misleading labeling, and mass production of seemingly “authentic” food rule, culinar…
00:47:01 |
Thu 02 Nov 2017
Episode 284: The South, A - Z
The American South is a diverse region with its own vocabulary, peculiarities, and complexities. Even Southerners can't always agree on all things Southern. A new book by the editors of Garden & Gun …
00:39:58 |
Thu 26 Oct 2017
Episode 283: Gourmands Way...
Following WWII, France--particularly Paris--became the world's most stylish tourist destination and capital of fine dining. Americans were smitten. Justin Spring follows the lives of six American wri…
00:49:15 |
Thu 19 Oct 2017
Episode 282: How Tea Shaped the Modern World
Tea has been one of the most popular commodities in the world. Over centuries, profits from its growth and sales funded wars and fueled colonization. Erika Rappaport talks about her new book, A Thir…
00:48:15 |
Thu 05 Oct 2017
Episode 281: Paris: History of a Food Lover's Paradise
Paris has been associated with fine dining for centuries and the city remains a veritable walking tour of historic gastronomy. David Downie, a travel and food writer living in Paris, takes a deep div…
00:48:41 |
Thu 21 Sep 2017
Episode 280: Big Chicken, History of How Antibiotics Changed Modern Agriculture
Award winning journalist Maryn McKenna reveals the fascinating history of chicken in her new book, Big Chicken. She talks with us about chicken's rise in popularity through the routine use of antibio…
00:48:37 |
Thu 14 Sep 2017
Episode 279: Vinegar: The Alchemy of Acid
In his new book, ACID TRIP: Travels in the World of Vinegar (Abrams Books), Michael Harlan Turkell takes us on a fermented look into vinegar's soured past and bright future. He shares tales and expe…
00:49:29 |
Thu 10 Aug 2017
Episode 278: Culinary Biographies of Women with Laura Shapiro
Most biographers pay little attention to people’s attitudes toward food, but once we ask how somebody relates to food, we find a whole world of different and provocative ways to understand her. Histo…
00:52:51 |
Thu 27 Jul 2017
Episode 277: Ancient Syrian Cuisine
Scents and Flavors is a 13th century Syrian cookbook which historian and Arabic scholar Charles Perry has edited and translated. Unlike many early recipe manuals this book gives us a glimpse of the …
00:50:55 |
Thu 20 Jul 2017
Episode 276: Baking Powder Wars: a History
First patented in 1856, baking powder sparked a classic American struggle for business supremacy. For nearly a century, brands battled to win loyal consumers for the new leavening miracle, transformi…
00:57:10 |
Thu 13 Jul 2017
Episode 275: The Evolution of Grocery Stores
From early trading posts to retail chains and superstores, award winning author Michael Ruhlman--The Soul of a Chef, The Elements of Cooking--traces the history and evolution of the American grocery …
00:45:55 |
Thu 22 Jun 2017
Episode 274: Food History of the Modern South
John T. Edge joins Linda today for a conversation about his new book, The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South. John T., an esteemed writer of Southern food, traces how the food of t…
00:37:34 |
Thu 15 Jun 2017
Episode 273: Slow Food in Denver: Regenerating Heirloom Flavors
Since 2013, David Shields has been the chairman of Slow Food's Ark of Taste Committee for the South, and will be a participant in Slow Food Nations Festival in Denver, July 14-16. There he will talk …
00:28:54 |
Wed 14 Jun 2017
Episode 272: Cookbook Temptation in American Culture
Author Megan Elias explores the role words play in the creation of taste on both a personal and a national level. From Fannie Farmer to The Joy of Cooking to food blogs, she argues, American cookbook…
00:45:02 |
Thu 01 Jun 2017
Episode 271: Evolution of Industrialized Meat
It’s been 111 years since the publication of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s groundbreaking book on the cattle industry. Though improvements in animal welfare have been made since then, the industry has…
00:43:18 |
Thu 25 May 2017
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