Here's Why You Should Tune Into The Gastropod Podcast

If you consider yourself a food enthusiast, you might love trying out new recipes or spending time browsing Instagram for food presentation inspiration and tips on local restaurants to check out. But that list of foodie-centric activities might not always include thinking about the history and science of food on a regular basis. Yet, as it turns out, there's a lot more to our favorite dishes than just how they taste, which is why Gastropod exists. This popular podcast explores the true ins and outs of cuisine and gives incredible knowledge about its foundation in each episode.

Gastropod's website describes the show as a "look at the hidden history and surprising science behind a different food and/or farming-related topic, from aquaculture to ancient feasts, from cutlery to chile peppers, and from microbes to Malbec." They also mention regular trips to food labs and archaeological digs, so not only do you get the best information on food, you'll also feel like you're going on an adventure with the hosts, Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley.

Both are seasoned journalists, originally meeting in 2013 as part of UC Berkeley's 11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship program and then started Gastropod a year later (creating the name by combining the words "gastronomy" and "podcast"). Throughout the series, they use that educational background to really learn about food with a process of interviewing researchers, historians, and chefs. Recently, episodes of Gastropod have covered the origins of garlic, why we used to enjoy airplane meals, the fascination with TV dinners, and so many more great topics — pretty much every food-related idea you can imagine. 

This award-winning podcast was most recently given the honor of the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Best Podcast or Radio Show, and The Spruce Eats includes it on their list of best food podcasts of 2021. If you're ready to give Gastropod a listen, you'll have plenty of episodes to catch up on as it's currently in its 16th season, and a new episode debuts every two weeks.

But, if you're wondering who will be guiding you through the science and history of food, here's a closer look at Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley. To start, both have extensive experience in the journalism field. According to Graber's website, she's written for Wired, The New Yorker, and more prestigious publications, and her audio documentaries have utilized by a variety of media outlets, including Scientific American. Twilley is also a writer for The New Yorker, according to her bio on Gastropod's website, and you can now pre-order the book she co-authored, "Until Proven Safe," about the history and future of quarantine times. Twilley was also behind the blog Edible Geography.

You can listen to Gastropod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or directly on the podcast's website. Love food podcasts? Here's another one to check out that Bobby Flay hosts with his daughter.