Every bite is a story

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You might not think much about the sticky bottle of vanilla sitting in the back of your pantry. But that flavor – one of the most common in the world – has a fascinating history, involving a fickle orchid and a 12-year-old enslaved boy who made the discovery of a lifetime. That’s the sort of tale that attracts poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil. From peacock feathers to the sounds of garden insects, her work is known for magnifying the wonders of the natural world. Her latest book of essays, “Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees,” explores the unexpected connections between food, memory, and community. So take a seat and pour yourself an aperitif, as Aimee Nezhukumatathil shares a few of these miniature morsels with Outside/In host Nate Hegyi: a three-course meal of grape jelly, sweet nostalgia, and just a hint of vanilla bean. Featuring Aimee Nezhukumatathil SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. CREDITS Host: Nate Hegyi Reported, produced, and mixed by Nate Hegyi Editing by Taylor Quimby Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Marina Henke, Felix Poon and Catherine Hurley Executive producer: Taylor Quimby Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio Music by Blue Dot Sessions Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, you're listening to Outside In, I'm Nate Hedgy. Right now, it is the middle of the summer.
0:07.0	Where I am in Montana, this is the best time of the year.
0:10.0	Hot, clear skies, rivers are flowing, but down in the south, in Mississippi, summer is a whole
0:17.8	another story.
0:19.3	It is sweltering, oppressive, which is why poet Amy Nizuka Matatil is so excited for the state's annual watermelon carnival.
0:33.0	That comes in August when the entire South
0:36.8	is that it's the hottest, you know, most human part
0:40.1	and then when you get that first chilled slice of watermelon, there's just that is summer.
0:46.3	For Amy, food isn't just calories. In every bite, there's a story. Take that watermelon slice. It helped get the small town of Water Valley, Mississippi out of the Great Depression.
0:59.0	It started the watermelon carnival way back in 1931 after the local bank had failed
1:04.4	and the railroad had skipped town. Nowadays, upwards of 20,000 people go to the
1:10.0	carnival every year because what brings more people together and in different ways
1:15.2	than food in a world that wants us to be fast and get food instantly I think
1:21.8	people are are longing for that moment in time when like, oh, look what we could do with our kitchen
1:28.0	garden, look what we could do with the bounty shared to us from neighbors.
1:33.0	Today on the show,
1:35.0	today on the show,
1:40.0	today on the show, a conversation with poet and author Amy Nizuka Tato. Her work has a way of
1:47.2	re-injecting wonder into the things in nature we often take for granted, the intricate tail of a peacock, or the sounds of insects
1:55.7	that inhabit her garden.
1:58.0	In her new collection of essays, bite by bite, nourishments and jamborees.
2:02.9	She's directed that infectious curiosity towards food.
	...

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