Tasting the Past

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Wisconsin Public Radio

Prx, Philosophy, Knowledge, Wpr, Ttbook, Wisconsin, Society & Culture

4.7 • 844 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Maybe it’s your grandmother’s cinnamon cookies, the garlicky tomato sauce your spouse cooked when you were first dating, or the chicken noodle soup you made every week when your kids were little. The sights, smells and tastes of certain foods can instantly remind us of a person or transport us back to a certain time in our lives. In this episode, we’ll meet kitchen ghosts from Kentucky, hear how religion and food are intertwined, and talk about how flavor evokes emotion – from grief to joy.

Original Air Date: May 25, 2024

Interviews In This Hour:
The comfort and community of ancestral food — Slow down and take a 'flavor trip' — The perfect french fries of Kewaunee, Wisconsin — The surprising intersections of food and faith

Guests:
Crystal Wilkinson, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Christina Ward, Joe Hardtke

Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast.
Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Is there a food that reminds you of a certain time or a certain person in your life?
0:07.8	Maybe your grandmother's cinnamon cookies, or the spicy tomato sauce your partner cooked when you were first dating,
0:14.4	or the chicken noodle soup you used to make when your kids were little.
0:17.8	Well, this week, onto the best of our knowledge, we're tasting the past. We'll
0:22.1	make kitchen ghosts from Kentucky, hear how religion and food are intertwined, and talk about how
0:28.1	flavor evokes emotions, from grief to joy. Stay with us.
0:39.8	From WPR.
0:45.4	It's to the best of our knowledge. I'm Anne Strange Champs.
0:53.3	What is it about food and cooking that makes memories come to life.
0:59.2	Walk into a kitchen, fill a pot with water,
1:03.1	and you can practically feel the ghosts hovering in the air.
1:05.4	Crystal Wilkinson does.
1:15.6	When I string green beans, I spread my legs wide and let my dress dip between my legs like my grandmother did. And used the skirt cloth to place the strings in as I go.
1:20.6	Everything was a tool in my grandmother's house, even her clothing.
1:33.3	Mine too.
1:34.3	I snap each green bean three times, wants to take off the stem, wants to take off the tip, and wants to break them
1:47.8	in half before I place them in a pan of cold water on the floor in front of me.
1:58.4	The rhythm of work like this is cellular, a memory my body carries.
2:03.6	Our connections to food are ancestral.
2:08.6	Sometimes I hear myself saying,
2:12.6	Law me or Lord have mercy.
2:24.3	I shake the strings from my dress tail into an old newspaper and reach for more.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wisconsin Public Radio, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wisconsin Public Radio and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.