Join us in the season finale of the Feast for a discussion with Lori McCarthy of Cod Sounds in Newfoundland. From salt cod to goose tongue, she takes us through a culinary cornucopia of the island's history and culture. Whether it's making a hearty scoff of fish and brewis or cooking up dandelions for a medicinal tea, learn about Lori's great work in discovering and preserving the rich food heritage of Newfoundland. Along the way, we'll dig deep into the history of salt fish, not to mention...

The Feast is headed to the library this week with a special sneak peek of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's upcoming exhibition, Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada. We'll speak with one of the co-curators of the exhibit, Liz Ridolfo, as she takes us through a chronological culinary tour of Canada. From the earliest guides on maple syrup to the growth of university domestic science departments to Depression-era recipes for magical mystery cake, we're give you a...

All aboard! This week, The Feast is riding the rails with an icon of American dining, the Harvey House. Founded by Fred Harvey in the 1870s, Harvey Houses marked the first attempt to provide standardized high quality dining experiences to passengers travelling the American West by rail. We'll also take a look at Harvey's army of waitresses, the Harvey Girls, who served the best steak and coffee from Leavenworth to Los Angeles. Find out how Fred Harvey got his start in railroad restaurants and...

More than one hundred years after its fateful encounter with an iceberg on April 14th, 1912, the Titanic still captivates history buffs as a microcosm of Edwardian society. This week we’re exploring the culinary life onboard the unsinkable ship, looking at everything from those who worked in Titanic’s state of the art kitchens to the epic meals served only a few hours before the ship sank. We’ll talk to Dana McCauley and Rick Archbold, co-authors of the definitive guide to Titanic...

From fire jumping to colored eggs, Persian New Year (Nowruz) is an epic annual tradition for millions of people worldwide. A celebration of the return of spring, Nowruz is a food-laden affair where thousand-year-old dishes are served each year on Persian tables. Join us as we chat with Iranian-born Merhnoosh Zamani and Kimia Ziafat as they prepare to ring in the new year of 1397 in Vancouver, British Columbia. We'll dig deep into the stories and legends that surround this great holiday,...

Sure, he can pull a sword from a stone, but can King Arthur dice vegetables? The once and future king is usually known more for his sword skills than his knife skills. But surely someone had to fix dinner for the Round Table! This week, we discover how feasting has played a crucial part of the Arthurian legends. Learn how feasting was a critical component of medieval European hospitality with origins in some of the earliest known English literature. From Beowulf to King Arthur, we'll discover...

It's a very special live episode from The Feast! In honor of Women's History Month, we're bringing you a live discussion of women and cocktails in American history, straight from the Rosson House in Phoenix's Heritage Square. Before the 1920s with its flappers and speakeasies, who were the mixed drinks mavens of US history? We take a long look at women and drinks in the US, from Revolutionary War era recipes for spruce beer to how many wine glasses it takes to make a Victorian dinner party to...

This week The Feast is on tour, heading to Phoenix Arizona to talk manhattans, martinis, and other mixed drinks with the fantastic folks at the Rosson House in Heritage Square. We'll be exploring the great and often forgotten women behind America's cocktail past, whether they were pouring Sazeracs in their Victorian homes or writing their own cocktail guides during the height of Prohibition. Don't worry if you can't get to Phoenix in time, we'll be bringing you this live event next week as a...

As the Year of the Dog approaches, join us for noodle rolls and year cake in the city of Markham, Ontario- home to some of the best Cantonese restaurants and Asian supermarkets outside China! We talk to Teresa Zhang, whose family hails from Guangzhou, as we feast on Cantonese specialties and go hunting for geoduck and yellow chives at a nearby Asian grocery store. And what do chives have to do with the Great Chinese Garlic Dump of 2001 anyway? And what on earth is a garlic dump? All this and...

Alexander Dumas was among the most beloved writers of the 19th century, responsible for classics like The Three Musketeers & The Count of Monte Cristo. But did you know Dumas longest work was devoted entirely to his other passion? Food! Written at the end of his life, Dumas' Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, published posthumously in 1873, is part cookbook, part memoire, and 100% unique. From celery-based hangover recipes to 200 lb. sturgeon centrepieces, Dumas' book is a portrait of...

With 2018 finally here, it's resolution time! Over 1/3 of Americans have resolved to eat healthier this year and, for many, that means adopting a more plant-forward diet. From buffalo fried cauliflower to tempeh fish and chips, it's clear that vegetarian and vegan diets are on the rise. But a meat-free lifestyle is no passing fad. From the ancient Greek Pythagoras to George Bernard Shaw, the rise of the vegetarian movement has been thousands of years in the making. But who were some of these...

Join us for a special holiday episode where we investigate the rich mixed drink history of Virginia with Micah LeMon, bartender and author of The Imbible, A Cocktail Guide for Beginning & Home Bartenders. What did Virginia citrus have to do with the birth of the California orange industry? And can we really trace an eggnog recipe back to George Washington's Mt. Vernon? We'll bust some cocktail myths while exploring the contributions Virginia has made to the mixed drink industry over the...

From medieval butter towers to prehistoric bee-keepers, this week we're examining the divine associations with global foods with Emelyn Rude, editor of the new food history magazine Eaten. Join us as she gives us a sneak peak of "The Food of the Gods", the first volume of the magazine, available now! We'll learn how mortals and immortals have been making, sharing, and fighting over food since the birth of humanity itself. Learn what foods can keep the gods on your side, from ancient Roman...

Think you can eat 50 bowls of noodles? What about 100? This week, The Feast explores the tradition of wanko soba from Iwate, Japan, where families and friends compete to see who can slurp the most noodles in a single sitting. But what makes soba, or buckwheat, the preferred noodle for this centuries-old food contest? We'll dig into the celebrated history of food competitions in pre-modern Japan where writers depicted epic battles waged amongst favorite foods. Forget tiger versus shark; what...

From the Caesar salad to Fettucini Alfredo, we're surrounded by dishes named for famous figures in history. But how many can claim to be the national dessert of not one, but two countries? This week, we're taking a look at the origins and history of the Pavlova, named for one of the world's first ballerina superstars. Famous for making the Russian ballet popular on the international stage, Anna Pavlova inspired devoted fans from Argentina to India to Japan. But how did her name end up...

Dead chefs tell no tales! Except on Halloween, that is. This week, we're bringing you the story of a ghostly banquet straight from the sagas of medieval Iceland. A mix of fact and fiction, sagas provide some of the only clues we have about early Icelandic cooking. Today, the island's cuisine may be famous for its fermented shark and its luscious skyr, but we'll learn what was on the menu 1,000 years ago when a dead woman decided to play chef for the night. Find out what happens when you eat...

This week we’re discovering the meal that changed the face of American Judaism. Featuring Dr. Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University, we’ll learn how a lavish banquet in 1883 Cincinnati kicked off a fierce debate about what it means to keep kosher. How did a dish of frogs’ legs bring about one of the largest religious arguments the US has ever seen? We’ll explore how a dispute over regional Jewish foodways changed the face of the religion at the end of the 19th century- from a dream of a...

Join us as we discover the rich culinary history of Syrian communities in New York City. Beginning in the 1880s, Syrian immigrants settled in lower Manhattan, setting up food shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. We'll taste fermented milk at Arta's Restaurant, reviewed by the New York Times in 1899. We'll listen to opera at Kalil's, a Syrian-owned restaurant which boasted seating for 1,000 at a time! We'll speak to Linda K. Jacobs, a descendant of New York's Syrian Colony and author of...

Zephyr Wright (left) & Laura Dollie Johnson (right) This week, we're exploring the unsung history of African American cooks in the White House with soul food scholar, Adrian E. Miller, author of "The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas". Join us as we uncover the history of two formidable women who put their stamp on American history through their cooking. We'll look at the life of Laura Dollie...

Courtesy of Nawal Nasrallah This week we're travelling to the golden age of the Islamic Empire in 10th century Baghdad. Hidden in a bustling paper market, we'll visit a mysterious bookmaker responsible for one of the largest cookbooks from the medieval world. While it may not have exactly 1,001 recipes (only 632 at last count...), the book is a treasure trove of medieval dining etiquette, recommendations for healthy eating, and some of...

An early 20th century advertisement for an electrical range from the Toronto Electric Light Company Discover the untold history of electricity in the kitchen. Although the earliest electrical ovens were cooking banquets by 1892, the average North American consumer was slow to adopt this electrifying new technology. With only a tiny percentage of homes wired by 1900, electricity in the kitchen had a long road to go before the countless toasters, coffee makers, blenders, and food processors of...

The Feast is back! And our debut episode for Season Two is out of this world. Literally! We're going back to one of the most (in)famous meals in the history of NASA, when a contraband corned beef sandwich snuck aboard Gemini 3 in 1965. We'll explore how space food has changed over the years. No more Tang and freeze-dried ice cream for modern astronauts, the space food of tomorrow may include everything from homemade sourdough bread to wine. We'll talk to Sebastian D. Marcu, CEO and founder of...

Dreaming of our new season....(and jello) We're cooking up a delicious new season, debuting Friday, August 4th 2017! Discover the hidden stories behind competitive Soba eating in Japan, how the electric oven revolutionized the modern kitchen, and the unsung stories of African American chefs in the White House. All this and more on our delectable season two, starting with a stellar first episode on the history of space food! Don't miss out, subscribe today to The Feast and get ready for more...

Photo by Kyle Murphy of KNM Portraits On this very special season finale, we've teamed up with Liz Birnbaum and The Curated Feast to bring you a mythic meal that'll take you from the roots to the stars. Join Liz and her guests at a secret underground location near Santa Cruz, California as they dine on food fit for the gods. We'll explore how food played an integral role in ancient folklore, representing cycles of birth, death, and renewal. Why did the ancient Egyptians associate barley with...

The Ramos Gin Fizz. The Sazerac. The Mint Julep. Cocktails can have some great origin stories, but how can you tell  sober fact from tipsy fiction? This week, we're going cold turkey to get the details behind that noble institution of pre-dinner drinking: the cocktail party. Legend (or Wikipedia) says the first cocktail party was held by Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. in 1917 St. Louis. As we'll learn, the real story is *way* more complicated, stretching from Revolutionary America to the swinging...