The Podcast History of Cooking
Sponsored by Oxford University Press

The Podcast History of Cooking began as a labor of love, but now that Oxford University Press has generously offered to sponsor the series, I’m pleased to be able to bring it to an even wider audience. The focus of the History is the Western World. It begins with a speculative inquiry into prehistoric recipes and will end in 21st century America – from the Stone Age to Stone Barns, so to speak. Along the way, we’ll stop in on ancient Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome; pass through Europe’s Dark and Middle Ages, the Renaissance and colonialism, and the evolution of the great national cuisines; and end with the sometimes tragic and always fascinating rise and fall and rise of cooking in the United States.

I’ll be posting new episodes every six weeks or so; be sure to check in here or subscribe on iTunes to receive each one as it becomes available.

What is food history and why does it matter? How can the evolution of cooking over the past 5,000 years help us to understand the broader trends of human nature and history, the trajectory of civilization? More important still, what can it teach us about ourselves – our spiritual, political, social and even sexual aspirations and foibles? Feed your hunger here.

Download Podcast
Right-click (PC) or click (Mac) on link and "save as"

No one can say with any certainty how Neolithic humans cooked and seasoned their food, but we can be pretty sure that, from a culinary perspective, it was several notches above The Flintstones. In Episode 1, we look into the origins of cooking – arguably, the one activity that truly sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom – and the innovations and creativity of our earliest ancestors around the campfire and beyond.

Download Podcast
Right-click (PC) or click (Mac) on link and "save as"