I’ve spent most of 2025 thinking about American food. What even is American food? What are its origins and how might we define American food and culture at this moment in our history?
Over the last 9 months I’ve been producing a podcast series for non-profit media site
@thestoryexchange about the women who helped to define American food culture. It’s called Seasoned, and the first episode is out today.
The series explores the female culinary pioneers who helped define how we eat, how we cook, how we write and talk about food here in the U.S. Each episode focuses on one woman, her story and her legacy, interspersed with interviews from historians, chefs, writers, and the people who knew them. Some women you might be familiar with. Others, you might be meeting for the very first time – as their stories have seemingly slipped through the cracks of history. If you’re familiar with my work as a food historian, then you know I believe one of the best ways to recover lives lost is through food.
The first episode is about food writer MFK Fisher. Born in California in 1908, she lived in France and Switzerland at various points throughout her life, her movements influenced by world wars and intense love affairs. Wherever she was in the world, Fisher spent her days writing. She wrote about food, about love, and the world around her. Her books became the very first food memoirs — now a popular genre decorating any new release table at the local bookshop. But Fisher was the first to write about food in such an autobiographical manner. MFK Fisher walked so that Anthony Bourdain, Gabrielle Hamilton, Anya Von Bremzen, and many others could run.
Future episodes will feature immigrant restaurateur Cecilia Chiang, Creole chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard, Grande Dame of Southern cuisine Edna Lewis, Mexican-American chef Elena Zelayeta and more.
Link in the bio ☝️
Image credits: MFK Fisher, Getty Images. Cecilia Chiang, from Smithsonian Institute. Edna Lewis, Historical image. Lena Richard, Newcomb Institute, Tulane University. Elena Zelayeta, “Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking.” Corn, squash, beans Chris Feser, Flickr.
