‘No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski’: A docuseries of delicious anthropology
This new culinary docuseries on Disney Hotstar+ for National Geographic explores the connection between food and culture, and specifically, the preservation of it. The host is Antoni Porowski, a cookbook author and also known for his food and wine expertise on Netflix hit series Queer Eye. Although untrained in the traditional culinary sense, Porowski credits his Polish immigrant background and exposure to diverse cultures in his upbringing in the intro of the show for his passion for food, and understanding of its role in culture and family.
Porowski takes along six different guests of different ethnic origins and takes them back to their homeland in the quest for exploration of their own culture and food. For both him and the guests, a meal extends far beyond the confines of nutrition, and rather tells the story of familial legacy, regardless of where you live, where you’re eating it, and where you came from. It’s an anthropological approach he takes, and he brings this philosophy of food and culture and explores it alongside his celebrity guests on his new series, No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski.
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Antoni Porowski and Henry Golding with their guide, a member of an Iban tribe, preparing ikan semah. (Image: National Geographic)
Across six episodes, Porowski explores England with Florence Pugh, Korea with Awkwafina, Senegal with Issa Rae, Italy with Justin Theroux, Germany with James Marsden, and last but certainly not least, Malaysia with Henry Golding.
From the get go on the first episode with Florence Pugh, Porowski and the team impresses with the amount of research done, specifically on the genealogical history of the celebrity guest. The depth of research gives recognition to its National Geographic backing, detailed and thorough. It also delves into the personal lives of these celebrities, including meeting family members, and having a glimpse into their untouched lives, such as seeing their dynamic over a family dinner; it certainly satiates the itch for being nosey—especially for celebrities, and Porowski leans on this.
For Pugh’s case, Porowski dug out information on long lost relatives, their occupations, and expanded her family tree. For Pugh, as with the majority of the guests on the show, the main connecting factor throughout the family tree consists of food. What makes this a food focused show is that at each stage of discovery, Porowski finds a way to incorporate food, whether it's a meal that a relative is directly correlated with, through the creation or its consumption, or it’s a food representative of the meals consumed during that period of time.
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Chef Fabio Delledone shows Antoni Porowski and actor Justin Theroux how to make tortelli at Ristorante Belrespiro in Agazzano, Italy. (Image: National Geographic)
Porowski finds pieces of history that date back hundreds of years, including finding exact locations, distant relatives, and original documents. An unfiltered look into the reality of these traditions, whether it's making kimchi in the backyard, stuffing glutinous rice in bamboo outside, or sitting on the floor to share a platter of food.
Of course, as with many other shows, it is a glossed over version of history that is easily packaged and digestible by an audience, but the execution is well done and thoughtful. Porowski as a host eloquently manoevres through the different emotions felt by the guests, happy and sad, and presents the audience with great narration with a bubbly personality that’s as great on camera as it is with the rest of the family members of the guests.
Antoni Porowski, Awkwafina, Insook Kim, Junho Lee and Shin Aga make kimchi, which is normally a Korean tradition passed from mother to daughter. (Image: National Geographic)
The last episode of the season features Henry Golding, and the journey into the jungles and longhouses of Borneo and Kuching with meals of kolo mee, ikan semah, and a splash of tuak in between.
Golding’s journey in particular ventured into his roots dating back to his great-great-great grandparents, both of whom had occupations that were very representative of that period of the time, delving into witchcraft and headhunting.
Golding, growing up in a longhouse until moving to Surrey as a child, had struggled with his identity, as many children of mixed ethnicities do. He admitted that he tended more to his British side growing up, and was nearly ashamed of his background of Iban roots, but in a world filled with globalisation, people are now going back to their roots to find out what makes them special and unique, a realisation made during a meeting with the head brewer of Bad Cat Borneo, an independent tuak brewery.
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Antoni Porowski and Henry Golding eating ikan semah from a leaf (Image: National Geographic)
Throughout the series, Porowski and his guests are accompanied by certified historians and experts alike, bringing credibility and also to provide additional context. In a few instances, as a viewer, it would have been appreciated for the historians and experts brought along to be local, rather than a Western figure. Although knowledgable in their information, historical context might have been much richer in detail and in anecdotes from a local historian. Regardless, the information was always interesting to receive, and was always educational.
Issa Rae and Antoni Porowski enjoying a traditional meal in Senegal. (Image: National Geographic)
This show isn’t the first time food is used as a prompt to allow people to open up, especially those in the public eye. Examples such as Hot Ones, a Youtube series by Sean Evans, and Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg both take this approach. However, what differs with Porowski’s approach is the lack of formal setting, which initiates a more authentic and honest response from the guests. Even though it’s a departure from the typical formats we see for interviews, viewers still walk away learning more about this star studded line up, and the use of genealogy and family history help these guests learn more about themselves too.
The premise of this docuseries might be food at first glance, but digging deeper, it’s much more than that. It’s a gateway to a culture, no matter how long lost one might feel from it. It’s no surprise that majority of the guests on the show are of mixed heritage, and this gives a touching aspect to the show and evokes a very niche emotion within the viewer that isn’t easily replicable, but still widely relatable to, and gives people an insight into just how much history we’re a part of and actively consume (physically and literally).
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