Eat My Globe

On this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, talks to the truly unique duo of James Beard Award Winning Chefs, Lois Ellen Frank, PhD, and Walter Whitewater about their newest book collaboration, “Seed to Plate. Soil to Sky,” and another of their great books, “Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations.”

They will be talking about Native American cuisine and its history from pre-contact to first contact to government issue ...

On this episode of Eat My Globe our host, Simon Majumdar, will be discussing the origins of cinnamon, a spice that is now in most kitchens in the world but was once the most expensive spice on earth. He will discuss the difference between cinnamon and cassia; how a Roman emperor burned a huge amount of cinnamon at the funeral of his wife; how the Silk Road and the Columbian Exchange brought the valuable spice to Europe; how its sme...

On this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be talking to Paula J. Johnson, the Curator and Project Director of The American Food History Project at The Smithsonian National Museum of American History. They will discuss her remarkable book, “Julia Child’s Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories and Legacy of an Iconic Space.” Julia’s kitchen is now on display at the Smithsonian and Paula played an important role in ...

On this episode of Eat My Globe our host, Simon Majumdar, will be looking at the history of skewers. Now this might sound like a subject that doesn’t need much thought. You put stuff on a skewer and then put it on a grill. Skewers, however, have so much interesting history. Simon will talk about the difference between “Kebab” and “Kebob”; the skewer’s origins in Central Asia; the skewers’ role in Homer’s epic poem, “The Odessey”; t...

On this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be talking with TikTok phenom Claire Dinhut about her fantastic new book, “The Condiment Book.” They will discuss how condiments were used in history to preserve food, like pickling, and how it became part of everyday life. They will also discuss the science of condiments from sweet to salty to umami, and their favorite condiments. She is a big fan of Eat My Globe and ...

On this episode of Eat My Globe our host, Simon Majumdar, will be looking at the remarkable history of the apple from its beginning point in the hills of the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan to its ubiquity in cuisines around the world. Along the way we shall see how these apples were spread around the world by the Romans, and by traders through the Silk Road. We shall see how it is related to the Bible, how it inspired Isaac Newt...

On this episode of Eat My Globe our host, Simon Majumdar, chats with celebrated chef and author, Eric Adjepong, about his new book, “Ghana To the World: Recipes and Stories that Look Forward While Honoring the Past.” They will discuss the influence of West African cooking on American cooking, the people who influenced his cooking, dishes that he loves, his multiple shows on the Food Network, where he is already one of the stars of ...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, looks at the story of the humble onion. He will look at how it went from being used in the very first recipe found on clay tablets in Mesopotamia, to its spread throughout the world. He will also discuss how some wild onions, like ramps, are now part of the “foodie” world, to how onions became a rare item in Great Britain during World War II. He will also talk about many ot...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, talks to Stephen Fried about his book, “Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West.” In this book, Stephen Fried talks about Fred Harvey, an Englishman who, in 1876, came to the US with literally nothing in his pocket. Harvey ended up building up America’s first brand of dining rooms, created ...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be looking at a superstar of the British culinary scene, but whose often more basic measures found her in opposition to some other culinary stars on British TV. Delia Smith has sold more than 21 million books in the UK often appearing in the top sellers every year. She has appeared on countless TV shows dedicated to her style of cooking. She was once described as the “...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will talk to Steve Sando, who founded and runs the company “Rancho Gordo,” a company that promotes and sells a variety of heirloom beans. He is also the author of “The Bean Book,” a beautiful and informative book on beans, and is filled with stunning bean recipes. Steve talks about how he got into the business of beans, his very funny first time selling beans at farmers mar...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, welcomes back actor, director, writer and theatrical performer, Lou Diamond Phillips to the podcast. They will be talking about Lou’s superb best-selling new book, “The Tinderbox: Underground Movement”; his upcoming theatrical, movie and TV work; and his favorite food scenes from non-food related movies. They will also talk about Lou’s favorite recipes, and his passion for ...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be looking at the story of lamb (and hogget and mutton). The story of sheep meat is an ancient one. Its earliest use can date back to a Mesopotamian recipe known to archeologists from clay tablets which dates back to 1730 BCE. Today, many people in the U.S.A. consider it to be “to gamey” and is way behind the sales of other proteins such as beef, pork and chicken. It i...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will talk to historian, Dr. Eleanor Barnett, about her wonderful new book, “Leftovers: A History of Food Waste and Preservation.” They will discuss the history of food waste from the sixteenth century all the way to the present day; the influence of women who developed food preservation, through the art of refrigeration; the role of pigs, wars, and pandemics in food waste; ...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will share the story of MFK Fisher, a wonderful food writer who lived from 1908 to 1992. She was one of the most famous food writers in the U.S. and arguably the person who established the genre of food memoirs. Without her and her books – such as “How to Cook a Wolf,” “Serve it Forth,” and “An Alphabet for Gourmets” – one could argue that we would not have works like “Kitc...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, continues his conversation with his friend and superb chef of East meets West cooking, Ming Tsai. They will discuss their thoughts on Chinese take-out and Chinese American dishes, Ming’s five favorite Chinese dishes, and his support of “Family Reach,” a charity that supports people with cancer. It’s a lively and informative conversation so tune in and don’t miss this episod...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be talking to one of his friends, Ming Tsai. His life is so rich and diverse, we have split this truly fantastic conversation into two episodes.

In Part 1, Ming talks about his change from a degree in engineering to working in his mother’s Chinese restaurant, the amazing chefs he has worked with during his career like legendary pastry chef Pierre Herme, his thoughts on...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will be interviewing Distinguished Professor and Cultural Anthropologist at The Ohio State University, Jeffrey Cohen. Simon and Jeffrey will talk about insects and how they might become a useful source of protein for some countries. Of the 8 billion people on earth, almost 2 billion of them have some form of insects in their diet. Indeed, they eat almost 2000 types of insec...

In this episode of Eat My Globe, our host, Simon Majumdar, will look at the development of milk and milk substitutes. This episode will take us through early times of human kind, when people could not keep milk, but turned it into cheese and butter; through times where drinking milk was considered barbaric by the Greeks and Romans, through the 18^th century where a rag doll made one man look to finding a sealable milk bot...