It's Never JUST Food!

Episode 21: Garlic and how it can taste like 10 different ingredients!

Raw garlic can punch you in the face. Roast that exact same garlic and suddenly it’s sweet, mellow and spreadable. So what the heck happens in between? In this episode, we’re following garlic from it...

2026-10-17

Downloaden

Episode 20: Why do leftovers sometimes taste better the next day?

Why does a curry, stew or pot of chili sometimes taste better the next day…while leftover fries are basically a punishment? In this episode, we’re looking at leftovers from the beginning: how people ...

2026-09-29

Downloaden

Episode 19: Chili peppers. How one plant conquered the world

Chili peppers feel so deeply connected to cuisines around the world that it’s hard to imagine Indian, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Hungarian, African and countless other food traditions without them. Excep...

2026-09-17

Downloaden

Episode 18: Exploring umami, the science behind savory food and MSG

What do Parmesan, tomatoes, kombu, mushrooms, miso and soy sauce have in common? They’re all connected by one of our five basic tastes: umami. In this episode, we’re going back to Japan in 1908 to ex...

2026-09-09

Downloaden

Episode 17: Food packaging and the science behind the things we throw away 

Why are cucumbers individually wrapped in plastic? Why is half your bag of chips seemingly filled with air? How can milk sit unrefrigerated on a shelf for months? Food packaging sounds like it should...

2026-08-31

Downloaden

Episode 16: Cheese, part 3. Why does cheese melt, stretch or refuse to cooperate? The science behind the deliciousness.

Why does mozzarella give us that glorious cheese pull while halloumi can sit in a screaming-hot pan and somehow keep its shape? And…why does American cheese melt SO well? In the final episode of our ...

2026-08-22

Downloaden

Episode 15: Cheese, part 2. How one ingredient became thousands of cheeses

How can one simple ingredient (milk) be transformed into more than 4,000 completely different cheeses? In part 2 of this cheese series, we're diving into the science, history and craftsmanship be...

2026-07-29

Downloaden

Episode 14: Cheese, part 1. The accidental invention that changed food forever

Who invented cheese? It turns out...we don't actually know. In this first episode of a new cheese mini-series, we're traveling back roughly 8,000 years to explore one of humanity's oldes...

2026-07-15

Downloaden

Episode 13: Hawaiian Shave Ice. History, kakigori & global ice desserts

After a short podcast hiatus and a trip to Hawaii, Noha is back with an episode on Hawaiian shave ice: what it is, where it came from and how it's related to other shaved ice desserts around the w...

2026-07-04

Downloaden

Episode 12: Honey...the ancient sweet made by bees (and why it’s one of the most faked foods on earth)

Episode Description Honey is one of the rare foods we eat that’s essentially a finished, shelf-stable product made by another species. Bees do the work, we take the credit. Join me as we dive deep ...

2026-05-09

Downloaden

Episode 11: Kimchi. History, fermentation science and why it’s more than “spicy cabbage”

Episode Description Kimchi is often treated like a trendy fermented side dish, but it started as a practical survival food and became a cultural cornerstone long before it hit Western grocery stores....

2026-05-05

Downloaden

Episode 10: Pizza and its 1000 years of evolution

Episode Description Believe it or not, pizza didn’t start as a global “fast food.” It started as practical street food in Naples, then became a craft, then became a symbol and eventually became a mas...

2026-04-26

Downloaden

Episode 9: The fascinating world of ultra-processed foods, Part 2

In Part 2 of this ultra-processed foods series, we go behind the curtain. Not the boring org chart stuff. The unexpected roles and design choices that shape the experience of eating ultra-processed fo...

2026-04-04

Downloaden

Episode 8: The fascinating world of ultra-processed foods, Part 1

Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, but most people don’t fully know what the term means. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we start from the beginning: how the modern ultra-processed food concept...

2026-03-22

Downloaden

Episode 7: Why cilantro tastes like soap to some people!

Coriander is either fresh, citrusy, and full of bursts of happiness or it tastes like soap and ruins your entire meal. There seems to be no in-between. In this episode, we unpack what coriander is, w...

2026-03-15

Downloaden

Episode 6: Rice vs potatoes - why different cultures experience them differently! 

One of my listeners, Emily, shared a question that sent me down a nerdy rabbit hole. She grew up in Canada eating potatoes as a staple and can eat a lot of them with no problem but rice makes her full...

2026-03-08

Downloaden

Episode 5: Chocolate wasn't meant to be sweet!

Today, we're exploring everything chocolate which wasn't something that ever started out with an intention to be used in sweet concoctions! In this episode: Where chocolate originated and ...

2026-02-28

Downloaden

Episode 4: Sushi started as WHAT?

If you think sushi started in the same format you know and love today, you’re not alone but, its origins are totally different. Tune in to learn more! In this episode: Sushi’s origin story What c...

2026-02-22

Downloaden

Episode 3: The delicious world of dumplings

Dumplings are everywhere, and people love arguing about what counts, what doesn’t, and what the “best” dumpling is. So, today we’re covering these delicious bites, but with one rule: this is not a co...

2026-02-15

Downloaden

Episode 2: Bread, the 14,000 year old bite!

Every time you bite into bread, you’re taking part in something ANCIENT. In this episode, we go deep on bread as the ultimate “never just food” food. We’re talking what early bread looked like, how...

2026-02-07

Downloaden

It's Never JUST Food!

Afleveringen (21 afleveringen)

Gerelateerde Podcasts