Try four weeks of The Spectator absolutely free. And for this month only, you'll receive a Spectator

wireless phone charger. Go to www.com.uk forward slash charger. Hello. We recorded this

episode of Table Talk a little earlier in the year before the current situation

with COVID-19 had arisen. So if you hear a conversation about restaurants and dinner parties

with no mention of social distancing or isolation, that's why. We hope you enjoy the podcast.

Hello and welcome to you another episode of Table Talk, the Spectators' Food and Drink podcast.

I'm Lara Prendergast.

And I'm Olivia Potts.

And we're delighted today to be joined by Rory MacLean, the British Canadian historian and travel writer.

He's the author of more than a dozen books, including Stalin's nose, Under the Dragon and Berlin Imagine a City.

His latest book, Prav de Ha Ha Ha is out now.

Rory, welcome to our podcast.

Wonderful to be here.

Thank you for asking me both.

Let's start at the beginning.

Ooh, the beginning.

I know, I know.

Unconventional, but we'll go with it.

Tell us about growing up in Canada, what was the food like?

Well, I grew up in Toronto, and like many Canadians of my generation, it was a lucky, secure, healthy, loving childhood, if a tad boring.

They used to say, the old joke is there's a competition to win a trip to Toronto.

First prize is one week in Toronto.

...