Label Wars. Cake for Democracy. The Battle of Borscht. And Dining Domes. This week Joshna is joined by Laura Brehaut. Laura is a food reporter for the National Post. She earned a Culinary Arts Certificate and Professional Fromager Certificate from George Brown College. She graduated with a B.A. (Hons) from Ryerson University’s RTA School of … Continue reading "Polarizing Food"

French al fresco Dining. Tech is changing indoor dining. The curfew debate. Why Tequila is the new vodka. This episode Joshna is joined by Elayne Duff. Elayne is an accomplished professional with more than 20 years within the beverage and alcohol industry. Working for the two largest drinks companies in the world AB-InBev and Diageo … Continue reading "These Strange Times"

Smuggled culture. Uncle Roger. The globalization of the grocery store. And presumptuous pumpkin spice. This episode Joshna is joined by Elayne Duff. Elayne is an accomplished professional with more than 20 years within the beverage and alcohol industry. Working for the two largest drinks companies in the world AB-InBev and Diageo Wine and Spirits has … Continue reading "Just Get a Wok"

In our 50th episode — The Pandemic vs. Irish Pubs. Can wine be any cleaner? The fermentation inoculation. And magic molluscs. Joshna is once again joined by Susan Boyle, drinks consultant, researcher, writer, storyteller, and performer based in Ireland. She writes about beer, presents drinks features on Irish national television and radio and hosts tasting and … Continue reading "The Craic"

Awards on pause. Rethinking Healthy Food. Airplane meals at sea level. And when it snows  chocolate.  Joining us this week and next is Susan Boyle @miss_susanboyle, alongside Joshna @joshnamaharaj while Mirella @beerology is on leave. Susan is a drinks consultant, researcher, writer, storyteller, and performer based in Ireland. She writes about beer, presents drinks features … Continue reading "Snowing Chocolate"

Bandaid food solutions. Mushroom proteins. Is your meal A+ grade in France? What is perfect rice? An idea which keeps re-emerging is to use corporate food waste to feed the hungry. There are a few reasons it’s not a great idea – not to mention we can all agree hungry people deserve better than waste. … Continue reading "A+ Food"

Why is cheese so delicious?  What do you really know about fish? Can your cooking get you drunk? And room temperature eating. Why is cheese so delicious? Well, it’s pretty technical – but interesting! We delve into the various complexities of production and many flavour compounds that contribute to the delight of eating cheese. This … Continue reading "The Cheese Addiction"

Sugarless juice. How do you zest? Cranberries as a cure. And pickle juice — in beer? There’s a company trying to remove sugar from juice. This got us so riled up we thought we’d better take all the juice topics this week and mix them into one juicy Hot Plate smoothie. It all stems from … Continue reading "All Juiced Up"

Moose butchery in high school. Where we draw the line with meats. Reaching isolated seniors with food. And musical ice-cream cones. This makes sense for northern communities where hunting is very common, but even just from a meat eating perspective, having to face the reality of your meat consumption is key, and why not start … Continue reading "Meaty Meditations"

In this episode we talk with photographer Carrie Solomon (Insta: @carrie_in_paris) and culture writer Adrian Moore (Twitter @majormoore Insta @adrianelvn) about their fascinating book, Chefs’ Fridges. They quite literally travelled the world to have More than 35 World-Renowned Cooks Reveal What They Eat at Home. As we discover in our chat with them, the book … Continue reading "Inside Chefs’ Fridges"

Foods to cool you down in the summer heat. Is it okay to be a picky eater? And what you probably didn’t know about Scotland. On this episode we’re grateful to have Angela Warburton, a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, share her knowledge of foods to eat which are traditionally understood to have cooling properties. It might just … Continue reading "Cooling Foods with Angela Warburton"

Prohibition and racism. A greenhouse in the North. And sexy vegetables (yes, seriously sexy vegetables!). In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with writer and historian Christine Sismondo about her two articles for Macleans about how prohibition impacted race relations in the US and Canada. This is undeniably relevant right now right down the tactic the Anti-Soloon … Continue reading "Prohibition with Christine Sismondo"

The power of bake sales. Can you describe your types of bitter? How to make the perfect cup of coffee. And please don’t drink your hand sanitizer! This episode we delve into the connection between the bake sale and grass roots activism. Then, we’ll disagree with an experiment about bitterness that seemed to misunderstand beer drinkers. We’ll stop … Continue reading "Flour Power"

Do you remember menus without prices for women? How the brewing slow-downs is affecting Marmite production. Do you treat recipes as scripture? And a brand moving on. We re-tell the story of the price-less “ladies menu” in LA which led to a high profile lawsuit after a business-woman was refused a menu showing prices (yes, you read … Continue reading "The Ladies’ Menu"

Should we let the restaurant industry die? Diving deep into seafood. Could you survive the hospital quarantine food? And, a sandwich hitting the bliss the point. We kick this one off with a look at Tunde Wey, known well in the restaurant industry known for his performance art and activism. Recently Wey has made the case … Continue reading "Letting an Industry Die"

The Guerilla Grafters. Community fridges. Alinea’s edible art at home. And are you eating ice cream wrong? You’ve heard of guerilla gardeners but have you heard of guerilla grafters? Folks are grafting fruit trees onto city-maintained decorative trees in order to provide food to the hungry. It’s compelling activism but is it a realistic fix for … Continue reading "From Street-Fruit to Edible Art"

The mental health crisis in the hospitality industry. A device to make you taste anything. How Norway is helping The Cherokee save their seeds. Hassel Aviles of Not 9 To 5 joins us for a discussion prompted by this article about the crisis of mental health in the hospitality industry. Her work, with co-founder Ariel Coplan, focuses on empowering hospitality, food and beverage service workers by mobilizing education and support for mental health and substance use - a problem likely to...

Do you love your Drive-thrus? Who cares about the taste of corn? How to freeze your food with confidence. Anti-hangover plants.

Our take on the Premier's cheesecake. The Food Professor weighs in on milk at Starbucks. Indian efficiency in the kitchen explored. And meet your new guilty pleasure: the bath beer!

Are you drinking too much? Will computers shape the future of flavour? The urban gardening revolution. And do you want VR with your dinner?

Mirella tries to join an Aspic Appreciation Group. What are Poland's Milk Bars and why don't we have them? What's behind the frenzied seed buying? And how restaurants are monetizing their cellars.

What is Joshna's new book about? When should we re-open our pubs? How did Chinese take-out containers come to be? And our favorite recipes - according to Google.

Should you uninstall your delivery apps? How much would you pay for fake meat? Do you have a sweet tooth? And which YouTube Cooking Channels are worth your time?

Eating with your hands, the bliss point, molecular coffee, and bacon for snacking on. This episode was recorded in our regular Frequency studio session just prior to the pandemic lockdown. We delayed its release a few weeks to focus on pertinent lockdown issues, but we promise it’s still timely! After all, when is bacon not … Continue reading "Manufactured Bliss"

Tips for a clean and functional kitchen, how to make natural cleaners, sparking joy in your kitchen, and storing booze.