Eating Dirt

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Arts, Food

4.3 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2003

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we'll explore the practice of geophagy, the eating of substances like soil, chalk, and clay as a cultural custom or for dietary or subsistence reasons, with our guest Susan Allport, author of The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging and Love. Evidence of geophagy has been found at archaeological sites and still occurs in much of the world (including the United States) today. Listen in on a fascinating discussion.

Jane and Michael Stern have completed their dissertation on Philly cheese steak and report their findings. Anya Von Bremsen has returned from France with a recipe for Easy Bouillabaisse, that flavorful Mediterranean fish stew, along with a short list of the best places to eat bouillabaisse in Marseille.

Our gadget gal Dorie Greenspan suggests cooking in steamers for pure, fat-free flavor. She shares a recipe for Spiced Steamed Salmon with Chutney and Chard to get us started. Julia Alvarez, author of A Cafecito Story, tells a fable about how a cup of coffee changed a life, and Lynne takes your phone calls.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 7, 2002 (originally aired)
November 29, 2003 (rebroadcast)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country.
0:08.1	We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing.
0:24.5	Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.
0:33.1	Hi, it's Lynn Rosetta, Casper, and you're listening to The Splendid Table,
0:36.7	a show for people who love to eat.
0:39.3	Our program is produced by Minnesota Public Radio for PRI.
0:43.7	Today we're looking at eating dirt.
0:46.0	It's called geophagy.
0:47.6	And yeah, I know.
0:48.4	We're the show for people who love to eat, so what's with the dirt business?
0:51.6	Well, there are people who like to eat dirt.
0:54.4	It tastes good to them.
0:55.8	Besides, dirt may be saving lives.
0:58.2	Our guest, writer Susan Allport, reports on the science and the culture of the eating of dirt.
1:04.7	Travel and Leisure Magazine's Ania van Bremsen is stalking authentic bouillabes in Marseille.
1:10.3	Food expert Dory Greenspan is test driving the
1:13.2	unappreciated steamer. Poet and novelist Julia Alvarez brings us what she calls a green
1:19.0	fable about how a cup of coffee changed a life. And as always, in the second half of the show,
1:24.6	we're going to be opening the lines for your calls. That number is 800, 537-52-52.
1:31.3	So let's get the show literally on the road with Jane and Michael Stern.
1:35.1	They write the Road Food column in Gourmet Magazine.
1:48.6	Jane, Michael, what's the lowdown on Philly cheese steaks?
	...

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