The Gastronomica podcast is where the academic field of food studies meets a public appetite for gastronomy and the culinary arts. Tune in to hear interviews wi...
In this episode, Gastronomica’s Irina D. Mihalache talks with Ozoz Sokoh, creator of Kitchen Butterfly and author of the forthcoming book, Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria (2025). Ozoz reflects on how movement and mobility have shaped her work, recounting her journey from Nigeria to Canada and from the field of geology to food, and the life stations she’s encountered along the way. The conversation centers the process of creative and curatorial work in food history and storytelling, with a focus on how food connects us. This episode concludes with a preview of Ozoz’s debut cookbook. She shares the joys of living in a diverse city while developing recipes, being able to source ingredients not only from Nigerian grocers but from a wide range of multicultural stores, with similar items, and one of the dishes she's most excited about in the book. This episode also highlights the 2024 HRN Audience Survey (now open) and the publication of Gastronomica's Fall 2024 issue (24.3): The “Care Work” of Food is now available online.Photo by Oluwapelumi Bamidele of Ovia Reflex Photography.Gastronomica is Powered by Simplecast.
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45:02
A Celebrated Condiment and a Forgotten Past
In this episode, Gastronomica’s Dan Bender talks with anthropologist Alyssa Paredes about the role that stories of celebration can play in remembering food history — and in eclipsing alternative narratives about the past. Spotlighting the case of banana ketchup, Alyssa shares competing stories about the production of this popular condiment and explains how it came to be a celebrated symbol of Filipino cultural identity, yet one that overshadows unpalatable realities. Connecting narratives of past and present, Dan and Alyssa discuss the work that stories do and the process of interpreting them in food studies scholarship. Alyssa’s new article, “Banana Ketchup: Food Memory and Forgotten Labor across the Filipino Homeland/Diaspora Divide,” will be published in the next issue of Gastronomica (24.2), coming Summer 2024.Gastronomica is Powered by Simplecast.
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42:54
How American Food Writing Changed After 2020
What do the stories we tell about food reveal about the moment in which they are written? Gastronomica’s Melissa Fuster is joined by literary scholar turned food studies scholar Julieta Flores Jurado in a conversation about American food writing and how it has changed in recent years. They discuss key shifts in food journalism and the role of the critic, where a focus on pleasure and tastemaking has given way to new emphases on systemic and structural issues, a phenomenon accelerated in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. Julieta sheds light on how contemporary American food writing differs from prior eras that showcased food as a platform for activism and change and explains what she takes to be distinctive about such writing in the current moment – its revisionary sentiment and the impulse to transform a field. Julieta’s research will be published in the next issue of Gastronomica (24.2), coming Summer 2024.Gastronomica is Powered by Simplecast.
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45:49
What to Read Now: "The Climate Reality for Independent Restaurants”
In this episode, Gastronomica’s Jaclyn Rohel talks with Dr. Anne E. McBride and Dr. Tara Scully about how climate change is impacting restaurants, the focus of their collaboration on a new report from the James Beard Foundation and the Global Food Institute, The Climate Reality for Independent Restaurants: A Deep Dive into the Supply Chain and New Economic Realities. Anne and Tara share some of the key research insights and discuss how the James Beard Foundation is mobilizing this knowledge to support chefs, engage lawmakers, and advocate for sustainable food policies and conservation programs. Bringing together food systems research and advocacy, they shed light on the role of chefs in helping to advance climate solutions and highlight how to take action. Dr. Anne E. McBride is Vice President of Programs at the James Beard Foundation. Dr. Tara Scully is Director of Curriculum Development at the Global Food Institute at The George Washington University.Gastronomica is Powered by Simplecast.
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36:39
Negotiating Dietary Change in a Time of Planetary Eating
This episode offers listeners a peek into Gastronomica’s next issue. “Coproducing ‘Planetary’ Eating Futures from Dakar: Dietary Diffusionism and the (Geo)Politics of Nutrition Transition” is co-authored by Branwyn Poleykett, Ndiaga Sall, Fatou Ndow, and Paul Young. Branwyn joins the show and talks with Gastronomica’s Jaclyn Rohel about the concept of the planetary diet and the problems with dietary diffusionism, highlighting the process of localized engagement and what it means of negotiating global food system change. Listeners can learn more and find the article in Gastronomica’s Summer 2024 issue, coming soon.Gastronomica is Powered by Simplecast.
The Gastronomica podcast is where the academic field of food studies meets a public appetite for gastronomy and the culinary arts. Tune in to hear interviews with authors whose articles or books have recently been featured in the journal (published by University of California Press since 2001), as we showcase diverse voices in the food world, tackle complex questions about cooking, cuisine, culinary traditions, food justice and equity. Each episode is hosted by a member of the journal’s Editorial Collective, representing food scholars, perspectives, and disciplines from around the world.
Gastronomica's theme song is by Robert T. Valgenti and mixed by Samuel N. Ortiz.
The photo, "A Wise Crack,” is by Carl Fleischhauer.
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