The fall of Rome and the rise of Germanic tribal kingdoms brought significant culinary changes to Europe. In this podcast episode we’re going to examine the “barbarian” diet and the culture of “fast and feast” which emerged from the opposing ideals of ...

In this podcast we’re going to examine the Islamic take on food and cooking. We’ll contemplate the Muslim cultural values that permitted pleasure and the cultivation of the senses, and we’ll look at their creation of an exquisite cuisine.

In today’s podcast, we’re going to learn about great innovations in medieval European cooking. We’ll see how contact with Islamic civilization during the crusades and the Reconquista, changed European cooking forever.

Ironically, the horrific bubonic plagues in 14th-century Europe produced societal shifts that led to a resplendent era in food. In today’s podcast we’re going to look at the influence of three seminal Gothic era cookbooks and the craze for spices and s...

The Italian Renaissance brought a new aesthetic approach to cookery, featuring great complexity of presentation. In this podcast we’re going to uncover some of the era’s extremes in books by Renaissance food writers.

At the exact same time as the European Renaissance, the Aztec culture produced a unique food tradition that survives to this very day in Mexican cuisine. In this podcast, we’re going to learn about Aztec society, its indigenous foodstuffs,

It was actually humanity’s desire for spices and other luxury items that eventually connected the entire globe. In this episode we’re going to investigate the powerful trading empires of the Venetians and Portuguese that secured stable routes to the sp...

In today’s podcast we’re going to examine a fascinating new dynamic in culture that swept across Europe in the 1500s. We’ll see the emergence of cutlery, elaborate tableware, ritualized behavior at the table.

In this podcast we’re going to explore the rise of regional and national cuisines in Europe, focusing on Italy and Spain. We’ll read the culinary writings of Bartolomeo Scappi – a brilliant Italian chef who brought together specialty dishes from all ov...

In the mid-17th century, France assumed a preeminent position in the art of cooking. In today’s podcast we’re going to explore the aesthetics of the newly emerging French Haute cuisine, It’s a way of cooking that is based in subtlety, refinement,