A Taste of the Past

This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda’s guest is culinary historian, storyteller, and Soul Food authority, Tonya Hopkins. Linda and Tonya talk about American master cook Anne Northrup (wife of Solomon Northrup) and the significance she had on American cuisine and in particular, soul food. This program has been sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . Today’s music provided by Plexophonic . Imag...

This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda explores the origin of the chocolate chip cookie. Her guest Carolyn Wyman is the author of The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie , among other books that document the history of America’s most iconic foods. Later, Linda and Carolyn discuss the history of SPAM. This program has been sponsored by Fairway Market . Today’s music provided by Plexophonic . “Coo...

This week on A Taste of the Past: is candy food? Linda Pelaccio interviews Samira Kawash, author of Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure . Samira explains to us how difficult it was to make candy back in the 1800s, and how technological innovations allowed the candy industry to boom. Later, she and Linda discuss society’s perception of candy, how many other foods and beverages are less healthy,...

This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda talks to Nic Mink, professor at the Center for Urban Ecology at Butler University, President and co-founder of Sitka Salmon Shares, and author of Salmon, A Global History . Nic tells us about the various evolutionary mechanisms that salmon have developed to survive. Later, Nic and Linda discuss the developments in catching and storing salmon – from wild to f...

This week on A Taste of the Past, the subject is New York City food. Linda speaks with Andrew Smith, author of New York City: A Food Biography , about the history of food in New York City. Andrew brings us back thousands of years, and describes what the food culture were like throughout time. After the break, they discuss some specific food establishments such as the automat and the supermarket th...

This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio welcomes guest Gustavo Arellano to discus the history of the taco. Gustavo is the author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America , an editor at OC weekly, and a contributing editor to the LA Times. Linda and Gustavo discuss the evolution of the meal we now know as the taco, and how the taco differs around the U.S. This show has been sponsore...

“A cold chain is a supply chain that transports and stores temperature sensitive perishable goods. The most visible manifestation of the cold chain is the electric household refrigerator.” – Jonathan Rees The world was changed by the innovation of refrigeration. This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio is joined by Dr. Jonathan Rees. Dr. Rees is a professor of history at Colorado State Uni...

This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio explores the roots of the Christmas celebration. She brings in guest Alice Ross, a distinguished culinary historian who recreated the recipes for a modern version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Dinner”. Alice brings us through history, explaining where countless Christmas food traditions come from. This program has been sponsored by Heritage Foods...

This week on a thrilling episode of A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio brings in features writer for EaterNY.com, Robert Sietsema. Robert educates us on the history of pizza, and enlightens us about where many aspects of modern pizza originated. After the break, they discuss more in depth how pizza and the pizza industry spread throughout Italy and the U.S. This program has been sponsored by Heri...

Imagine having to cook Thanksgiving dinner over an open fire! This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio is joined in the studio by historical interpreter Carolina Capehart. Carolina is a hearth-cooking expert, and prefers to cook all types of food over an open flame. Tune into this episode to learn what tools were used in the 1800s to boil vegetables, roast meat, and bake breads. Hear why C...

Adam Shprintzen discusses 19th Century vegetarianism in his book, The Vegetarian Crusade . This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio talks with Adam about the roots of meat abstention in the 19th Century with the British Bible Christians. How was vegetarianism related to the American Reform Movement and the murmurings of temperance? Tune into this episode to find out how the American Vegeta...

This week on A Taste of the Past, Abigail Carroll joins host Linda Pelaccio via phone for a discussion on the American meal. Abigail Carroll is the author of Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal , where she upends the popular understanding of our most cherished mealtime traditions, revealing that our eating habits have never been stable—far from it, in fact. Whether we’re pouring ou...

It’s Halloween on A Taste of the Past at the HRN studios! Host Linda Pelaccio welcomes historic gastronomist and blogger, Sarah Lohman, and together they talk about the history of Halloween, trick-or-treating, superstitions, costumes, Halloween cakes, and more! Learn more about the origins behind the Halloween tradition as Sarah takes us through the history from the very beginning. Also tune-in to...

On today’s episode of A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio talks about the huge craze that surrounds fried foods: fried chicken! The guest on today’s show is Michael Twitty, culinary historian of African and African American foods. What makes each fried chicken dish so special? Learn more about the history behind fried chicken, it’s many cultural influences, and what truly makes fried chicken...

Rachel Laudan is taking a culinary approach to world history in her book, Cuisine & Emire ! This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio talks with Rachel about the influences of medicine, politics, and religion on cuisine throughout the ages. Learn about humorism, and how this system of belief affected the food that ancient people ate. Find out what agricultural products different religio...

On today’s episode of A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio welcomes Anya Von Bremzen, author, journalist, food writer, and contributing editor of Travel + Leisure magazine, into the studio for a talk about food, and the history of traditional Soviet dishes. Anya also talks about her latest book, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing . In the book, Anya tells the gri...

On today’s episode of A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio speaks with special guest Mollie Katzen, known throughout the culinary world as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. A 2007 inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame—and largely credited with moving plant-based cuisine from the fringe to the center of the American dinner plate—Katzen has been named by Hea...

Linda Pelaccio visits The Fabulous Beekman Boys at their farm to discuss The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook on this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past! Tune into this program to learn about the nostalgic properties of family recipes, and what makes an “heirloom” dessert. Hear how Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell relied on their hometowns in North Carolina and Wisconsin for regional i...

Betty Crocker is not, and never was, a real person – but that doesn’t change the effect she had on generations of people in America. Learn more about the history of the iconic Betty Crocker on this episode of A Taste of the Past! Linda Pelaccio is joined by Susan Marks, author of Finding Better Crocker . Discover the many faces of the marketing genius that is Betty Crocker – from her early radio a...

Learn about the social and economic implications of the supermarket on this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past. Linda Pelaccio talks with University of Minnesota History Professor Dr. Tracey Deutsch about “building a housewives’ paradise.” Tune into this program to learn about the inception of the supermarket as an American institution in the 1930s. Find out how supermarkets aimed to appeal to...

Most of us eat breakfast every day, but we rarely think of the the origins behind the meal. From etymology to cultural history – go deeper behind breakfast on this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past as Linda Pelacchio is joined by author of “Breakfast, A History” , Heather Arndt Anderson. Hear how the grab-and-go approach for breakfast has maintained over time and why grains have proven to be s...

What foods were historical figures like Emily Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo Da Vinci eating during their lifetimes? On this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio chats with Tori Avey- author and food writer- and the editor and curator of TheHistoryKitchen.com ! Tori, who also serves as the chair for the IACP Food History Section, became interested in history through he...

Learn about the history of Antarctic exploration and cuisine on this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past. Linda Pelaccio is talking with Jason Anthony, author of the recent Hoosh . But what is ‘hoosh’? Antarctic explorers used ingredients like pemmican and melted snow to create a stew that they named hoosh; find out how a diet of hoosh lead to vitamin deficiencies on the cold continent. Tune in...

William Sitwell, author of A History of Food in 100 Recipes , joins Linda Pelaccio for this week’s episode of A Taste of the Past to talk about the evolution of the food industry over hundreds of years. Tune in to hear William talk about the initiation of fast food and supermarkets, and how the idea of self-service mechanized the business of eating. From Mesopotamia to Mario Batali, William highli...

Mark Pendergrast comes into the studio this week on A Taste of the Past to talk about the history of coffee! Mark Pendergast is an American independent scholar, and author of six books, with his most recent titled, “Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World”. Telling the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks, Mr....