GrubTheStoryofFood's podcast

Tom and Sandra take a sip of cool, clear water and contemplate how we got to a point where we can just turn a handle and get clean, safe water. It was a long and somewhat dangerous journey from drinking out of a river (and relieving ourselves in it) to digging wells and learning to clean and sanitize the water we need to live. From ancient wells in China to underground channels dug in the middle east thousands of years ago, to flush toilets and stone water filters in Central America developed by the Maya and the contemplation of using beach sand by Francis Bacon, Part 1 spans about three thousand years of water treatment.

Sandra and Tom take a few licks at the topic of ice cream and its history. Camphor flavoured ice cream was the first... or maybe it was orange blossom, depending, apparently, on which ice cream you accept as the first - looking at your Sandra. China, Italy, Switzerland, England, France and America all have major roles to play - as does ancient Rome! So settle in and scoop yourself something delicious to enjoy while you give us a listen.

This week we talk about the history of stuff we wrap food in. We go all the way back to the discovery of paper, it's evolution into wax paper, the discovery of aluminum foil, and finally plastic wrap! There is no wrap music here, so if you're looking for that, sorry.

This episode, Tom and Sandra discover a new superfood that most of the world has known about for a long time. To be fair, it's only now becoming known in North America. Moringa, was recently introduced to the western market after it was "discovered" by a young American entrepreneur, Lisa Curtis. Loaded with anti-oxidants and vitamins, it's a durable, drought resistant tree that is grown around the world.

What were the favourite foods of the leaders of the Second World War? We look at the fuel that kept the leaders of history's biggest conflict going. America's leader ran on bread pudding and grilled cheese sandwiches. Winston Churchill didn't like marmalade but enjoyed pineapple with his parrot and Sole Champeaux! Charles DeGaulle liked a little champagne with his mimolette. Australia's leader, Jack Curtin, loved a nice shepherd's pie and New Zealand's Peter Fraser seems to run on a lot of hot buttered toast and tea! Canada's leader was William Lyon Mackenzie King... when he wasn't conversing with his dead dog he liked to, we're not sure all we know is one of his fave foods was fruit cake. Enough said.

McCance and Widdowson changed the way the world viewed food during the Second World War. The pair worked together before the war investigating the relationship between what we eat and how it interacts with our bodies. During the war, they sought out the best way to conserve food while ensuring the people had enough nutrients to be able to live healthily. After the war, they researched the impact of limited diets had on children and adults.

Thousands of years of agriculture under our collective belts, and what have we learned? Sandra and Tom take a look at what we've done with our food. We love to play with it and now, it looks like our food is the worse for it. Sure, we can bring a beef cow to market in a third of the time it took in the 50s, and we get more milk from a dairy cow and a chicken takes less time to be ready for the pot, but are they better nutritionally? The answer seems to be, no. No they are not. Chickens are fattier, milk is less nutritious and our carrots. Our fighting carrots of the Second World War would mop the floor with the carrots of today. Sigh.

With a 100 more cheese varieties than the French, with a history of roasting meats instead of frying or boiling them, why do the English and British in general, have such a poor reputation when it comes to food. Sandra and Tom take a look at the stereotype and try figure out where the bad takes came from - it can't be the jellied eel, can it?

This episode we look at some examples of when food is bad on a large scale. Sure, sometimes it makes you dance when you don't want to, but other times it can give you a bad trip - yeah, food. Lots of examples across the centuries of whole communities falling prey to food that's been contaminated. And of course, there is a hint of scandal in the air, with a fringe theory about the CIA...

It was around the Easter break when I researched this episode but instead of doing the obvious and looking at Easter Eggs (also because there is no way it's going to be uploaded in time for Easter) I looked into a whole other egg you probably never heard of and Sandra and I tell you about it - the Century Egg. The egg white is soy sauce coloured and the yolk is dark green. And it smells kind of like a rotten egg. But you can get them on a stick, so that's something!

This week we look at the impact of the challenges facing families and eating under quarantine. We examine how a town survived six months under quarantine when the bubonic plague was sweeping England and also how you can stock your home with healthy foods that have long shelf life. We also compare how we survive in challenging situations today with COVID-19 with how the pioneers did, when faced with similar challenges while trekking across North America in Canada and the United States. Suggestions and guide books for the pioneers exist today and we refer to them for guidance.

The story of candy and how it evolved from hardened honey on a stick to KitKat chocolate bars with the flavour of red potato from Japan! No matter what your taste, the candy world has something that will appeal.

So in this latest episode, we return to examining the challenges of feeding an army. With the end of the Roman civilization, especially in western Europe, logistics took a real nose dive with armies resorting to looting and pillaging for the most part to feed. The French came along with a better idea and then lost some of that because of the revolution. Then the Brits, who were faced with similar challenges as the French: colonies a long way away to secure with armed forces requiring long logistical chains, the Brits came along and improved on the French improvements. And then we leave off for a bit, because, well, that was a lot of military eating. We'll come back to the modern stage in a bit or a bite.

This week Tom and Sandra examine the challenges and solutions the Mongol army met and matched during the century or so of establishing one of the world's largest empires. An army not only marches on its stomach, but moves on an army of horses. And when the soldier heads off to war, it's atop his trusty steed and a bag lunch washed down with fermented mare's milk. Um, yum...

We have all heard the saying about an army marching on its stomach. It's true. It's been the challenge of commanders across history to keep armies fed so they can fight. How did they do this? We begin examining how different armies through time have achieved this and what, exactly, was on the menu for the soldiers and their support staff as they invaded to conquer or stood to defend.

Tom and Sandra wonder where Jen is and once they determine she is still off saving the world, move on to talking about lunch. They also talk about how women have been doing a lot more than just packing lunch bags - they've been inventing them. And of course, behind every woman creating something wonderful, there's men standing behind them, waiting to rip them off for anything valuable, take the credit and laugh all the way to the bank.  This time, the women win. Tom has trouble finishing but then pulls it together to thank Zack Twamley and his When Diplomacy Fails Podcast.

The paleo-diet is still quite a thing and this week, Tom and Sandra talk about the differences between the "new" paleo and the original paleo as eaten by a man now known as Oetzi or Ötzi. He was a shepherd found after being dying in the mountains between modern day Italy and Austria and Switzerland. Covered in ice for centuries, we now know what he ate a few hours before being shot in the back with an arrow in his late forties or early fifties, about 5,400 years ago. Now, thanks to Oetzi, you can now order a meal based on foods that he used to eat - or at least as close as we can get today.

The first in the series of podcasts about food. In this episode we look at some of the early menu items on humans' list of ideal edibles and not coincidentally, why grub sometimes means food, today. Mmmm. Tasty. With Tom Villemaire and Sandra Richmond.