Playing Venba, the history of veganism in America, passion fruit

Good Food

KCRW

Society & Culture

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Through trial and error, KCRW recording engineer PJ Shahamat learns to cook biryani in the new video game, Venba. Designed and developed by Abhi, the goal of Venba was to create an emotional connection to food. Alicia Kennedy unpacks the history of vegan and vegetarian eating in America and considers a diet that's kinder to the planet. From basturma in Burbank to hot links in Lincoln Heights, Memo Torres scans the city for his favorite eats. Carlos Salgado and Taco María make history, winning KCRW's Tortilla Tournament for a second time. Passion fruit and Brussels sprouts are having their moment at the farmer's market.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From KCRW, I'm Evan Klineman, and you're listening to good food.
0:05.0	Here's something you probably didn't know about me.
0:08.0	I am not a gamer.
0:10.0	Shocking, I know.
0:12.0	I never understood the appeal of dueling with gun-slingers in the Wild West, or trying to survive a
0:17.5	post-apocalyptic hellscape, ravaged by cannibalistic zombies, but then two things happened. I read or more accurately
0:26.7	devoured the novel Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which has gaming at the core of the
0:31.9	plot. And then I discovered the core of the plot.
0:33.0	And then I discovered the game Vanba.
0:36.0	Vanba opens in 1988 and follows a couple from South India
0:39.8	as they settle in Toronto, where they have to learn to navigate a new culture.
0:44.1	Eventually they have a child. Craving a taste of home the son wants to make his
0:49.8	mom's favorite dishes, but there's a problem.
0:53.0	Vemba's old cookbook is damaged and many of the instructions have been smudged out.
0:59.0	This is where you, the video game player, come in.
1:02.0	Playing as the child, you must figure out how to prepare these lost recipes through trial and error.
1:10.0	To talk about the experience of playing the video game, we asked our recording engineer,
1:15.3	PJ Chihamat, who happens to be an avid gamer to give it a whirl.
1:20.3	Hi, PJ.
1:21.3	Hi, Evan, thanks for having me.
1:23.0	Oh, this is so much fun.
1:25.0	And I have to say that you let me your switch,
	...

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