The Spice Curve: From Pepper to Sriracha with Sarah Lohman

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2016

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

American food has a reputation for being bland—but, according to historical gastronomist Sarah Lohman, “It’s nonsense that Americans don’t like spicy food.” Lohman is the author of a new book, Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine, which explores the stories behind the flavors that have come to define American cuisine. In this episode, she takes us on a journey through the history and science of black pepper, the oldest flavor described in her book, to the hot new taste sensation that is sriracha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When I was 16, my mom told me it was too old to sit at home over the summer anymore
0:07.2	and that I had to get a job.
0:08.8	And she happened to work at a living history museum.
0:11.6	That's like Ella, Cody Williamsburg, or maybe a planetation.
0:16.4	I was really embarrassed to go work for my mom at this history museum.
0:20.4	I wanted to go work at Arby's with my friends.
0:23.3	And that was in an option.
0:24.5	So at least to my mom's mind.
0:27.6	And then it turns out it really changed my life.
0:30.7	So I went to Colonial Williamsburg when I was a kid.
0:33.5	And well, my life didn't change.
0:35.6	In England, we have Yorvik, the Viking museum.
0:38.8	Which is kind of the same thing.
0:40.6	I remember it smelled really bad.
0:42.4	But for our guest this week, Sarah Lomon,
0:44.6	spending a whole summer at a living history museum
0:47.0	didn't just get her more comfortable in those huge, unwieldy skirts.
0:50.5	It helped her figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
0:52.9	Well, I look at the food of people of the past
0:56.6	to both understand their lives.
0:59.1	And also I use it to understand not only why we eat what we eat today,
1:05.0	but who we are as a country, both today and in the past.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.