Making a Meal of It is for eaters of all appetites who want to reimagine and reinvigorate their relationships with food, food culture, and food systems. Taking a deep dive into the ways we feed our bodies, psyches, and societies, the podcast helps make sense of the complexity that makes food so fascinating. Each episode unpacks a specific subject or theme, while host David Szanto—a professor, writer, and artist from Montréal ...
... Read more
This episode is all about the sweet, sour, and sometimes bitter taste of sugar—and honey, maple, and molasses! Two conversations unpack the sticky subject, one with food marketing expert Dr. Jordan LeBel, and the other with pastry artist and entrepreneur, Sonya Sammut. David and Maxime taste three sweet substances during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and union organizer (and podcaster sister) Elisabeth Szanto responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Jordan LeBel professor and researcher in food and experience marketing. Jordan started working in professional kitchens at the age of 12 and has since worked as a chef, a restaurant reviewer, and an industry consultant. His research looks at how we derive pleasure and comfort from what we eat—and how that affects our consumption behaviour—and he is an expert in chocolate and maple, among other things. Sonya Sammut a pastry artist, entrepreneur, and proprietor of Sachère Desserts. Her shop in the Centre-Sud neigborhood of Montreal is a destination for cake and ice cream lovers of all kinds, drawn by her distinctive flavour combinations and elegant visual aesthetics. Elisabeth Szanto is a union organizer working in healthcare and higher education, trying to make sure that the people who do the work have a voice in the decisions that affect them. She has volunteered and worked in labour for nearly 40 years, improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands and thousands of people. Also mentioned: the story of Sachertorte Miels d’Anicet (Québec honey producer) Le Faubourg à m’lasse (former molasses-scented neighborhood of Montreal) Sweetness and Power by Sidney Mintz Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Bees sound recording by Scottish Guy from Pixabay @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com
This episode is about the dynamic, transformative, ancient, and contemporary process that is fermentation. We also get into feminist theory, the queering of food, and taste in zero gravity during conversations with fermentation experts Joshua Evans and Maya Hey. David and Maxime taste kimchi, miso, and perga (bee bread) in the fermented edition of ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and filmmaker Bruce LaBruce responds scrumptiously to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Joshua Evans is a senior researcher at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen, where he founded and leads the Sustainable Food Innovation Group. Their work brings together culinary research and development with academic research and practice in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Dr. Maya Hey is a postdoctoral researcher with the Centre for the Social Study of Microbes at the University of Helsinki. She is the instigator of food feminism fermentation, an organization that brings together the three themes in publications and conversations that cross culinary, health, and educational participants. Bruce LaBruce is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist based in Toronto and working internationally. He has written and directed fourteen feature films, including Gerontophilia, which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2013, and Pierrot Lunaire, which won a Teddy Award at the Berlinale in 2014. Other references: a list of global fermented foods NewScientist article about “space miso” Sandor Katz’s, The Art of Fermentation Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Stock media: ProSoundEffects / Pond5 @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com
This episode focuses on the design, politics, and economics of restaurants, including some of the reasons that the experience of dining out is a lot more complex than it may seem. One conversation with restaurant design and consumer behaviour expert Dr. Stephani Robson, and another with chef-turned-social gastronomer Christophe Dubois, shed light on the dynamics of cooking and serving food. (The conversation with Christophe is in French—see transcript for English translation.) David and Maxime go humble in the bread-and-butter edition of ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ segment, and vocalist and drag performer Gabriel Dharmoo responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Stephani Robson is an expert in restaurant design and consumer behaviour with a master degree in Design and Environmental Analysis and a PhD in Environmental Psychology, both from from Cornell University. She works in both educational and commercial settings, helping to create and optimize hospitality environments. For more, see her LinkedIn profile or listen to this episode of NPR’s Planet Money podcast. Christophe Dubois is a former restaurant co-owner and cook who now studies and practices social gastronomy. He is also a co-founder of the Parti culinaire du Québec, a provincial political party focusing on “gastronocracy.” For Christophe, preparing food is a way to acquire confidence and a sense of belonging, to bring transformation to political and environmental contexts, and to increase solidarity among diverse communities of people. Gabriel Dharmoo an experimental vocal artist, composer, and performer, including as Bijuriya, his curious and vulnerable drag identity inspired by South Asian culture. Also mentioned: Eric Kim’s article in Saveur about bread-and-butter pickles Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Stock media: ProSoundEffects / Pond5 @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com
This episode unpacks gastronomy, including the way the concept has evolved in terms of meaning and practices. It also poses the question: Is the holism and complexity of an idea like eco-gastronomy too much for times when socio-political-environmental crises keep us focused on short-term needs? A conversation with Mark Panayiotis Notaras focuses on how an eco-gastronomic social enterprise is working wonders in Timor-Leste, while David and Maxime taste what might be the most important food on the planet. (“important?” hmm…) Finishing things off, author Taras Grescoe responds with wit and wisdom to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Mark Panayiotis Notaras is the Greek-Australian co-founder of the Timor-Leste Food Lab social enterprise and its flagship restaurant Agora Food Studio. Mark has focused his career on international development and peacebuilding in South-East Asia and Timor-Leste in particular. Since returning to Australia in 2020, he has worked as general manager for the multicultural marketing agency CulturalPulse, leading the strategy in multicultural fan engagement for the recent FIFA Women's World Cup. He is the executive producer of the podcast, Statecraftiness, and also shows up in the episode titled Foodcraftiness (S2E2), featuring his work in Timor-Leste. Taras Grescoe is a Canadian non-fiction writer who is the author of, among other books, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood and Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile. Most recently, he published The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past. He lives in Montreal. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com
This mini-episode explains why it’s not the actual gastronomy episode, but is instead a placeholder for the eventual episode 108. Due to a late-arriving bit of bad news, one of the original conversations couldn’t be used, so we’re pivoting and re-editing. In the meantime, and to keep you occupied for the next week, check out the first ever Making a Meal of It crossword puzzle at makingamealofit.com. You can either download and print it out, or play online. And yes, it makes references to past episodes, so you might have to go back and listen again. Enjoy! Do the MMI crossword at makingamealofit.com! Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com