A More Perfect Plate

We are wrapping up this summer series with, well, a wrap-up! In this week's Dispatch, Nick picks a favorite story from each week's Dispatch to share. Thank you so much for being a part of our journey. We hope you enjoyed listening, learned something new, and are excited about the incredible progress we've made in the American food & drink scene. This is "The Read" wher...

We are wrapping up this summer series with, well, a wrap-up! In this week's Dispatch, Nick picks a favorite story from each week's Dispatch to share. Thank you so much for being a part of our journey. We hope you enjoyed listening, learned something new, and are excited about the incredible progress we've made in the American food & drink scene. This is "The Discussion,&quo...

In the debates about encouraging more people to enter the trades and the price of food, one part of the discussion keeps getting overlooked: Butchery is a skilled profession that is underpaid compared to the "building trades" and paying the talented people who cut your meat is secondary to having affordable meat.  In this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we talk about the history of Labo...

In the debates about encouraging more people to enter the trades and the price of food, one part of the discussion keeps getting overlooked: Butchery is a skilled profession that is underpaid compared to the "building trades" and paying the talented people who cut your meat is secondary to having affordable meat.  In this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we talk about the history of Labo...

It's fall. It's football season. It's tailgate season. Tailgating is a deliciously American tradition that maybe started at a battle and maybe started at a football game. Either way, there are few things that are more decidedly American than enjoying food and drinks in a parking lot surrounded by 100,000 of your newest best friends. This week, we dive into a tour of tailgating aroun...

It's fall. It's football season. It's tailgate season. Tailgating is a deliciously American tradition that maybe started at a battle and maybe started at a football game. Either way, there are few things that are more decidedly American than enjoying food and drinks in a parking lot surrounded by 100,000 of your newest best friends. This week, we dive into a tour of tailgating aroun...

Why beef costs what it costs right now, who's making money on it is a hot topic right now, and in this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we dive into the topic. We go over the hundred and sixty years of Americans getting good at logistics to reduce the price of beef, and then share how beef gets on your table today while discussing some of the issues we all face. This is "The Read" w...

Why beef costs what it costs right now, who's making money on it is a hot topic right now, and in this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we dive into the topic. We go over the hundred and sixty years of Americans getting good at logistics to reduce the price of beef, and then share how beef gets on your table today while discussing some of the issues we all face. This is The Discussion where N...

Bourbon is THE spirit of the United States of America. Undefined for most of our history, it has a murky origin story deep in marketing cover and tall tales. On this week's episode of A More Perfect Plate, we share the competing origin stories of American Bourbon Whiskey and how marketing shaped the path of this most highly regarded of American spirits. This is "The Read" where Nick...

Bourbon is THE spirit of the United States of America. Undefined for most of our history, it has a murky origin story deep in marketing cover and tall tales. On this week's episode of A More Perfect Plate, we share the competing origin stories of American Bourbon Whiskey and how marketing shaped the path of this most highly regarded of American spirits. This is "The Discussion" wher...

Indigenous foods are staples in our diet, even if we don't know it. Foods from corn to tomatoes to jerky are native to the Americas, even if it took centuries of effort to get the foods we love to our tables today. This Dispatch is the story of 7 different dishes and foods that have their origins in the Americas: Chips & Salsa Succotash  Maple Syrup Wild Rice Jerky Bison Burgers Cedar Pla...

Indigenous foods are staples in our diet, even if we don't know it. Foods from corn to tomatoes to jerky are native to the Americas, even if it took centuries of effort to get the foods we love to our tables today. This Dispatch is the story of 7 different dishes and foods that have their origins in the Americas: Chips & Salsa Succotash  Maple Syrup Wild Rice Jerky Bison Burgers Cedar Pla...

The Fair is a beloved part of summer in America, and the food is always a highlight.  It's hard to think of anything other than "food on a stick" when you think of fair food, but the first American fairs featured no food, and definitely not anything on a stick. Here's how America found its love for fairs, how the Midway came to be, and the story of the culinary arms race that i...

The Fair is a beloved part of summer in America, and the food is always a highlight.  It's hard to think of anything other than "food on a stick" when you think of fair food, but the first American fairs featured no food, and definitely not anything on a stick. Here's how America found its love for fairs, how the Midway came to be, and the story of the culinary arms race that i...

Every sausage-making culture came to America, but only Wisconsin ended up embracing the bratwurst. This is the story of how the bratwurst became the National Sausage of Wisconsin. You'll learn about the many flavors of bratwursts in Germany, hear why so many Germans settled in Wisconsin, and why bratwurst has stuck in Wisconsin in a way it hasn't elsewhere. This is "The Read" w...

Every sausage-making culture came to America, but only Wisconsin ended up embracing the bratwurst. This is the story of how the bratwurst became the National Sausage of Wisconsin. You'll learn about the many flavors of bratwursts in Germany, hear why so many Germans settled in Wisconsin, and why bratwurst has stuck in Wisconsin in a way it hasn't elsewhere. This is "The Discussion,&...

Barbecue is America's contribution to the world's table, as well as the beloved regional food of many different Americans.  In this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we talk about barbecue's roots in the Carribean, how it became distinctly American, and take a tour through some of the most important and popular regional styles of American barbecue.  This is "The Read" where...

Barbecue is America's contribution to the world's table, as well as the beloved regional food of many different Americans.  In this episode of A More Perfect Plate, we talk about barbecue's roots in the Carribean, how it became distinctly American, and take a tour through some of the most important and popular regional styles of American barbecue.  This is "The Discussion"...

Before whiskey, America ran on rum.  This week's Dispatch shares the story of how rum in America went through booms and busts and booms and busts by looking at six different cocktails. From George Washington to the Cuban revolution, and much more, we learn about what America was drinking, and why rum came and went. This is "The Read" where Nick narrates the entire story to save you...

Before whiskey, America ran on rum.  This week on A More Perfect Plate, Nick and Bridget chart rum's booms and busts through six drinks, and they make and taste every single one: colonial bumbo (the drink that got George Washington elected), navy grog (the reason you feel groggy), the Cuba Libre, the classic daiquiri, Trader Vic's 1944 Mai Tai, and end with the wonder that is a Milk Punc...

Nine out of ten Americans used to farm for a living. Today, fewer than two in a hundred do.  In this Dispatch, we travel through seven made-up (but historically grounded) American families to find out how that happened, from a Connecticut homestead in 1750 all the way to a GPS-guided Iowa combine today. Along the way: girdled trees, a locust swarm bigger than California, two very different Virgini...

Nine out of ten Americans used to farm for a living. Today, fewer than two in a hundred do.  In this episode, Nick and Bridget travel through seven made-up (but historically grounded) American families to find out how that happened, from a Connecticut homestead in 1750 all the way to a GPS-guided Iowa combine today. Along the way: girdled trees, a locust swarm bigger than California, two very diff...

We're celebrating America's 250th birthday with this 4th of July hot dog and hamburger episode! This is "The Discussion" where Nick and Bridget talk about all of the fun facts Nick wrote out for this week's dispatch in a more casual and fun way. We get into the immigrant roots of the hot dog and the hamburger: why we call it a "hot dog" (and what's any legen...

We're celebrating America's 250th birthday with this 4th of July hot dog and hamburger episode! This is "The Read" where Nick Nick narrates the entire story to save you from reading it - but if you prefer reading, you can find the link to the blog post below! On our companion episode, "The Discussion," Nick & co-host Bridget dive into the topic with a bit of fun,...

Before refrigerators, before freezers, before the grocery store, a small windowless building behind the farmhouse was the difference between a comfortable winter and a hungry one for many Americans. This week on A More Perfect Plate, we dig into how Americans kept meat from spoiling with nothing but salt, smoke, and an absurd number of pigs, and how that survival technology turned into the ham san...