7 food podcasts to deepen your knowledge of culinary history and culture
In an age where culinary trends can rise and fade within weeks, understanding the deeper currents of food history and culture can ground your appreciation of what ends up on your plate. Food podcasts have emerged as a thoughtful way to explore how ingredients, recipes and eating habits evolve, shaped by geography, politics and social change. Listening while commuting or cooking makes this kind of learning accessible without demanding screen time. The best food podcasts go beyond recipes to uncover the stories behind them, tracing how food connects people across centuries and continents. They can introduce you to overlooked cuisines, forgotten techniques and the cultural forces that shape how we eat today.
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‘A Taste of the Past’ hosted by Linda Pelaccio
Produced by Heritage Radio Network, this weekly show has been running since 2009 and now has more than 400 episodes. Culinary historian Linda Pelaccio interviews chefs, authors and academics on subjects ranging from ancient Mesopotamian cookery to immigrant foodways in modern America. Recent episodes include “Immigrant Italian Women and the Birth of an Italian American Foodway” and “The Foodways and Cooking of Nigeria”. Each episode runs about an hour and links present-day eating habits to centuries of culinary history.
‘Gone Medieval’ hosted by Matt Lewis and Pen Vogler
Part of the History Hit network, this bi-weekly history podcast often examines food culture in the Middle Ages alongside politics, belief systems and daily life. Hosts Matt Lewis and Pen Vogler are joined by historians and archaeologists to discuss topics such as royal banquets, monastic diets and the spice trade. Now past 450 episodes, it shows how food shaped and reflected the power structures of medieval Europe, providing historical context that enriches modern understandings of culinary history.
‘The Splendid Table’ hosted by Francis Lam
This long-running programme from American Public Media began in 1997 and is currently hosted by Francis Lam, who took over from founding host Lynne Rossetto Kasper in 2017. Episodes blend interviews, recipes and cultural stories, often tracing the roots of ingredients or dishes. Recent shows have featured guests like Rick Martínez and Sunny Lee discussing sauces and salsas. The series situates everyday cooking within global food culture and history, offering an accessible entry point into culinary history.
‘A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich’ hosted by Josh Scherer and Nicole Enayati
‘A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich’ explores food myths, cultural debates and changing definitions of what counts as a dish.
Run by the Mythical Kitchen team, this weekly podcast has released over 270 episodes exploring food myths, cultural debates and changing definitions of what counts as a dish. Recent topics include “Why Are Cookies So Expensive?” and “What the Heck Is Pudding?” The show uses listener questions and guest appearances from chefs and food writers to explore how culinary definitions evolve, highlighting how food culture shifts across time and place.
‘The Fantastic History of Food’ hosted by Nick Charlie Key
Launched in 2019, this podcast presents unusual and often eccentric moments from the past, from Robert May’s elaborate 17th-century spectacle feasts to the invention of modern convenience foods. It has released 57 episodes, with the most recent in mid-2024, and is currently inactive. While the tone is informal, it reveals how key events, personalities and technologies have shaped the way food is produced and consumed over time.
‘Take a Bao’ hosted by Jun & Tonic
This 10-part series is one of the food podcasts that examines Asian cuisines through a mix of personal storytelling and cultural research. It looks at how colonial histories, migration and local traditions shaped iconic dishes and continue to influence contemporary Asian food culture. Although Take a Bao has not released new episodes since late 2020, its archive offers a compact but insightful look at the intersection of food and identity within a broader historical framework.
‘The British Food History Podcast’ hosted by Neil Buttery
Created in 2021 by food historian Dr Neil Buttery, this weekly podcast explores British cuisine from medieval manuscripts to post-war rationing. Buttery draws on his research and books such asA Dark History of Sugar and Before Mrs. Beeton to examine topics like regional specialities, foraging and forgotten recipes. Recent episodes have focused on Derbyshire oatcakes and early modern cheese-making. It offers a detailed account of how social, economic and agricultural changes have shaped British food culture over time.
Food podcasts like these can expand your understanding of culinary history far beyond the kitchen. By exploring the stories behind ingredients, techniques and regional dishes, food podcasts reveal how meals carry centuries of human experience within them.
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