This week, we bring back another all-time favorite episode about a fungi and its critical role in one of the fastest growing economies in Central Africa. Set in the thriving tech hub of Rwanda, oyster mushrooms are at the center of this story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 06, 2022•44 min•Season 11Ep. 11
This week, we bring back a listener favorite that dives into the consequences of a legislation that tried to prohibit young white women from eating at chop suey houses. This episode tells the story of an organized effort to wipe out Chinese eateries altogether and how these restaurants survived in spite of it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...
Sep 29, 2022•43 min•Season 11Ep. 10
This week, we bring back Proof's very first episode, which takes a deep dive into the former “it” vegetable of the Victorian era: Celery. Before it was relegated to a bloody Mary garnish, celery was considered a status symbol and displayed proudly on restaurant menus and well-to-do families’ tablescapes. So what caused the vegetable’s fall from grace? And is it poised for a comeback? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...
Sep 22, 2022•43 min•Season 11Ep. 9
What's actually going on in our bodies when we experience a hangover? In this last episode of the season, host Kevin Pang takes you through a Bill Nye The Science Guy-esque journey. Got an idea for a story you want us to cover in a future episode? Got a suggestion? Let us know by filling out our Season 11 survey! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6979373/Proof-Season-11-Survey Proof listeners will get 10% off their order when they go to saffifoods.com/proof. Get their Zero-Waste line of artisanal v...
Sep 15, 2022•43 min•Season 11Ep. 8
Bigma's Blackberry Pie. A warming bowl of chicken pho. Diner coffee, and a nostalgic meal at a Chinese restaurant in Japan. On this episode of Proof, the staff bring you stories of their ultimate favorite foods and meals. We here at Proof are always thinking of ways to make our show better. Got an idea for a story you want us to cover in a future episode? Got a suggestion? Fill out our Season 11 survey here! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6979373/Proof-Season-11-Survey Proof listeners will get 1...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Ever wish you could settle--once and for all--the question of whether triangular-shaped pizzas are better than square-shaped pies? The Court of Historical Review in San Francisco once decided pressing cases on pop culture, sports controversies, and of course, food. Where was the fortune cookie created? Does the San Francisco bagel live up to its rival, the New York bagel? Reporter Eliza Rothstein talks to judges, experts, and plaintiffs as the gavel hits the sounding block. See Privacy Policy at...
Sep 01, 2022•57 min•Season 11Ep. 6
What does it mean to be a dapperqueer homesteader? Author M Shelly Conner explores this question as she recounts her move from the city life in Chicago, Illinois to Conway, Arkansas, where she begins her journey of living off the land. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 25, 2022•44 min•Season 11Ep. 5
Host Kevin Pang takes a trip to the Southside of Chicago to tell the story of Chicago's most famous culinary exports--and it's not about deep-dish pizza or hot dogs. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 18, 2022•43 min•Season 11Ep. 4
Ever wish you could spend the day immersed in the fantasy worlds from your book, show, or game? Meet the characters, travel the land - or if you’re like most of us at Proof - eat the food? From the Legend of Zelda to Dungeons and Dragons, reporter Sarah Vitak talks to the fan cookbook authors who are transforming pixelated foods into irl dishes you can serve on your plate. Check out Aimee’s cookbook, The Unofficial Legend of Zelda Cookbook. Learn more about Ashley and Isaac's Dungeons and Dragon...
Aug 11, 2022•43 min•Season 11Ep. 3
Leafcutter ants have been a traditional Colombian food for millennia, long predating Spanish colonization. But the ants, eaten by Colombians since the indigenous Guane peoples inhabited the area of Santander, are now in peril. What does the future hold for this ancient food source? Reporter Camilo Garzón reports. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Aug 04, 2022•41 min•Season 11Ep. 2
As one of the most commonly consumed berries in the world, strawberries are a beloved household snack. But this soft, sweet fruit has a rocky history. From immigration to incarceration, Japanese Americans are integral to the California Strawberry origin story. Through three generations of Japanese strawberry farmers, reporter Hannah Kirshner brings us a story of ingenuity and resilience. To learn more about Japanese Americans and Strawberry farming, read: A Taste for Strawberries, by Manabi Hira...
Jul 28, 2022•52 min•Season 11Ep. 1
This season, we’re bringing you food stories from all over--from South America to the South Side of Chicago. We travel to Colombia to find out why leaf cutter ants–a common snack in the country–are disappearing. We drive around Chicago in search for one of the city's most famous culinary exports (and no, it's not deep-dish pizza or hot dogs). And we ask: Why does a Dungeons and Dragons recipe book have almost as many positive reviews as America’s Test Kitchen’s best-selling title? All that, and ...
Jul 14, 2022•3 min•Season 11Ep. 1
This week, we're bringing you a collection of some of our favorite Proof episodes. Our friends at Hark Audio curated this list so you can relive or be introduced to some of the best moments from our feed. Hark editors pick and choose these compelling podcast moments and transform them into one-of-a-kind playlists--kind of like creating a special mixtape of all of your interests in podcast form. Download the Hark app and check out our host Kevin Pang's Harklist on the origins of fast food chains....
Jun 23, 2022•44 min•Ep. 1
Here’s a special preview of Not Lost, a new podcast about finding yourself in places you’ve never been from our friends at Pushkin Industries! Host Brendan Francis Newnam takes us around the world, learning about new places by getting invited to a stranger’s house for dinner. From Montréal to Mexico City, Brendan and his guests drink, dance, and eat, learning as much about themselves as the places they visit. In this preview, Brendan and his friend Danielle Hendersen head to the Big Easy and dis...
Jun 16, 2022•49 min
For the season finale, we're bringing you three short stories on the theme: One person's trash is another person's treasure. Reporter Stephen Calabria digs into the story of a famous half-eaten piece of toast, ATK assistant editor Eden Faithful goes dumpster diving, and reporter Eliza Rothstein traces the life cycle of a pastry that turns into a spirit. Proof will be back for Season 11 late July, and in the meantime, we'll post other exciting content in our feed! You can view what items Christie...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 10Ep. 8
Baskets of bok choy, galangal, collard greens, epazote. We often take these United Nations of produce for granted, but it’s the deliberate work of farmers cultivating heritage seeds that ignites the growing diversity of fruits, grains, and vegetables. In this episode, reporter Jean Trinh chronicles the lives of three farmers who have made it their mission to plant seeds that sow a sense of home, cultural preservation, and belonging. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California ...
Jun 02, 2022•54 min•Season 10Ep. 7
The McDonald’s vegan cheese slice. Botanical flavors for your next latte. A patent to cure meats with...celery juice. Many of the next it-food innovations are engineered by a company you’ve probably never heard of but touches almost food product you know: The Kerry Group. Reporter John Ringer goes behind the scenes at this food factory and lab, as he traces the history of Kerry’s humble roots as an Irish dairy cooperative to a worldwide ingredients company. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.co...
May 26, 2022•37 min•Season 10Ep. 6
Black Americans have deep historical connections and ownership over vegan and plant-based cuisines. But after the Great Migration, many left farms and the Jim Crow South to cities where urbanization and the advent of fast food changed the landscape of accessibility to fresh foods. In this episode of Proof, writer Gabrielle Lawrence-Cormier reconnects with their family's pre-Great Migration gardening traditions and reclaims their plant-based culinary roots. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com...
May 19, 2022•48 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Many of us have family recipes that have been passed down for generations. For reporter Anh Gray, it's her late mother's piping hot bowl of beef pho. But what do we do when we need to amend these recipes? Is something lost when we make substitutions, or can we iterate and build upon that which is sacred? Anh dives in. Thanks to our sponsor, Naked Lunch. It's a new podcast hosted by Phil Rosenthal of Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil, and music journalist David Wild. Listen and subscribe to Naked Lunc...
May 12, 2022•49 min•Season 10Ep. 4
Who were some of the first people ever to make wine? Images of ancient people of the Caucasus or France might come to mind. But what if we told you that wine was being made in ancient Japan, around the same time--or even earlier--than it was in the Caucuses? And even before sake was being made in Japan? Reporter Hannah Kirshner investigates. You can read Hannah's article on the history of winemaking in Japan for Food & Wine, and her latest book is Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and...
May 05, 2022•52 min•Season 10Ep. 3
Welcome to Bear Grass, North Carolina, where moonshine, tobacco, and bootlegging were once king. Today, a storied dish called chicken mull is a staple of the town's identity and for years, Bear Grass held an annual chicken mull-making contest to see who made the best mull. What happens though, when this humble dish almost tears the small, close-knit community apart? Reporter Allison Salerno reports. Interested in making chicken mull? Find our Cook's Country recipe here. See Privacy Policy at htt...
Apr 28, 2022•40 min•Season 10Ep. 2
Black walnuts are probably nature's toughest nut to crack. But one man--television producer and newbie farmer Mike Trinklein--is determined to prove that it's a crop worth farming for. In this episode of Proof, Mike walks us through the history and benefits of these nuts, and shares his own scheme to get rich...slow off the land. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Apr 21, 2022•49 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Proof from America's Test Kitchen returns Thursday, April 21st! We kick off Season 10 by traveling to the midwest in search of a tough-to-crack crop. We ask: Who has the right to tweak a national dish? We also try to solve the mystery of The Beatles' George Harrison's piece of toast. All that, and much more on the new season of Proof! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Apr 07, 2022•3 min
Muhidin Libah was living in Syracuse, New York when he received a call from a Somali Bantu community in Maine. They wanted his help setting up a non-profit organization that would run a farm aimed to serve the growing Somali Bantu émigré community in the Pine Tree State. As Muhidin answered the call, he wondered whether they should stick to setting the organization up with a strictly for-us-by-us mentality, or whether they needed allies in a place that had shown hostility to his people. What doe...
Jan 06, 2022•38 min•Season 9Ep. 6
What does it look like when you uproot yourself from a familiar culinary place to an unknown city? The Moth performer and writer Aaron Pang dives in with this audio diary that chronicles his move from San Francisco to Iowa City. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 16, 2021•52 min•Season 9Ep. 5
One day in 2012, Proof host Kevin Pang received an email from his father, urging Kevin to watch a video on YouTube that he'd just sent. Reluctantly, Kevin opened it to discover that somehow, his retired father had created a YouTube cooking channel that had nearly a million views. This would kick off a series of events that would forever change Kevin's relationship with his father. This week's episode is a story about family, what happens when immigrants move to a new country, and how Kevin's dad...
Dec 09, 2021•43 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Around the world and throughout history, we’ve celebrated the departed with rituals that involve food. Pharaohs were buried with feasts. We pour out drinks in honor of fallen friends and family. But the precision and thought that Zoroastrian priest Marziban Hathiram puts into preparing meals for the departed is in a league of its own. Author Varud Gupta takes us through the intricacies of the stum death ritual in Gujarat, India, and walks us through what foods are--and aren’t--appropriate for th...
Dec 02, 2021•38 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Charlotte Gill was anguished by the way the lobsters at her lobster pound died a slow death in vats of boiling water. ‘There must be another way,’ she thought. ‘How about getting them high?’ In this episode of Proof, science reporter Sarah Vitak tracks Gill’s quest, invokes David Foster Wallace, and considers the lobster. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
Nov 18, 2021•45 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Jewish delis are a staple of many American cities and neighborhoods. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the restaurant industry, Jewish delis were already on the decline. In 1931, there were an estimated 2,000 delis in the Big Apple. Today--almost a century later--there’s fewer than a few dozen. So what accounts of this deli decline? Reporter Rebecca Rosman samples delis across the United States in search for answers. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California P...
Nov 11, 2021•47 min•Season 9Ep. 1
We kick off the new season by asking: Why are Jewish delis disappearing? We consider the lobster, and the most humane way to treat them before we eat them. We look at literal soul food--food that's served to the departed, and you'll hear a story from host Kevin Pang about how his dad became an unlikely YouTube cooking star. All that, and much more on Season 9 of Proof from America’s Test Kitchen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...
Oct 28, 2021•3 min
