Spice Bags

Cake is more decadent than brioche or stollen, in that it is leavened with eggs, enriched with butter, and sweetened with sugar. To quote Nicola Humble, author of Cakes, A Global History: “Cakes are very strange things, producing a range of emotional responses far out of keeping with their culinary significance.” The idea of cake opens many questions. Did the ancient Romans, who nibbled on honey flatbreads, have “cake”? Can a cake be a tart, a pastelito, or a bun? Do you buy a cake in a bakery, make it from a box, or compose it from scratch? Why do the Spanish avoid fruit in their cakes? What is a perfect Brazilian, Irish, or Chinese cake? How do you make cake when you do not have access to an oven? When do you eat cake; is it for dessert or is it something you nibble throughout the day? Do you eat cake with savoury things, like in dim sum and afternoon tea? In this episode, we try to explore all of the above and talk about favourite recipes, our best bakers and cookbooks, our personal baking failures, and why only to trust a cake recipe from someone who is middle-aged. Mentioned in this episode: Nicola Humble, Cake, A Global History www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/7631625-cake Euzana Foran: Bola de Fubá www.spicebags.ie/post/bolo-de-fub%C3%A1-brazilian-cornmeal-cake Graham Herterich, Bake   www.ninebeanrowsbooks.com/products/bake thecupcakebloke.com/ Honey Bun www.honeybun.ie Aran Bakery: www.arankilkenny.ie Theodora Fitzgibbon: Gur Cake www.facebook.com/donalskehan/photos/a.184230568281714/686215414749891/?type=3 Maida Heatter and Book of Great Desserts www.amazon.com/Maida-Heatters-Book-Great-Desserts/dp/0836278615 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blanca, Dee and Mei recorded this special live episode in Kells Courthouse, Tourism and Cultural Hub at Samhain Festival 2022 – Celebrating 5,000 years of Food and Culture.  Samhain is such a special time of year and the ladies were delighted to be invited to be a part of the festival in County Meath celebrating it and highlighting incredible Boyne Valley food and drink. They kicked off this episode by delving into the traditional foods and feasting associated with this Gaelic festival that marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. And speaking of darker, they also explored other festivals connected to this time of year when the veil between the spirit world and ours is at its thinnest... Halloween, Dias Los Muertos in Mexico and Día de Todos Los Santos in Spain.  The stars of this episode however are Allen and Lorena Krause, the couple who have beautifully restored Killua Castle in Clonmellon, County Westmeath. Allen was born in Mexico of Austrian and Spanish ancestry and Lorena is also from Mexico. They have spent 21 years renovating the castle and land where they now use regenerative agriculture and have red deer, Irish moiled cattle, old Irish goats, Jacob sheep, Kerry Bog ponies, geese, ducks and hens. Plus they are in the final stages of their own restaurant on-site, which they hope to open soon.  Their story is fascinating and unfolded in the most charming way with our Spice Bags hosts before a live audience at Samhain. Tune in to hear it for yourselves!   https://boynevalleyflavours.ie/collections/boyne-valley-shop https://killuacastle.com/ With special thanks to Samhain Festival and Boyne Valley Flavours for including us as part of this year's line up.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hui-Wen Angel Cheng and Julien Thibault, owners of the award-winning Miso Izakaya Sligo restaurant, are not a conventional Irish culinary couple. Angel is a 23nd generation Hakka from Taiwan with a biomedical doctorate; Julien is a butter-loving chemist from France. They met and fell in love in Ireland; even while they pursued their day jobs in this country, their passion for eating endured. Tune in to get a glimpse of the different elements that comprise Taiwan’s food and culture, and what it means to be the minority Hakka (guest people). Listen for Taiwan street food tips, how one tweaks a san pei chi (three cup chicken) to perfection, and what is the most excellent fish to cook when you are courting. Plus hear insights into being an international foodies in rural Cavan. Where do Angel and Julien shop? (A favourite Spice Bags topic.) Where do they eat? Besides running Miso Izakaya, Angel and Julien are active members of Cavan 4C (Cavan Cross Cultural Community), which unites the international-Irish people in their area with festivities and – you guessed it -- food. **** Mentioned in this episode: www.misosligo.ie  www.facebook.com/mimikoshopireland/ Cavan 4C Cross Cultural Community  For more about Taiwan and its history, we recommend Murray A. Rubenstein’s Taiwan: A New History.    Getting to Know SpiceBags Our podcast episodes come in three delectable flavours: Deep dives – comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine. Staple chats – where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves. Interviews – with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene.  Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of our new season we delve into one of our favourite topics: shopping!  In the shopping trolley: What are our number one food shops both nationally and internationally? What shops did we grow up with? What do snobby French people think of Eataly? Why the shopping trolley is essential? What is the special night time ingredient men can get at Pinoy Pinoy Sari? While Mei as a child was fascinated with the deli counter and the immensity of American supermarkets, Blanca spent her childhood between the sterile supermarkets and lush food markets of Central America and Dee grew up in Tipperary with a freezer full of meat and doing shopping at Bernie's her local supermarket.  This episode is the perfect complement to our very successful shopping guides that cover Korea, China, Spain, Venezuela, ramen, Turkey, Egypt and fun grocery shopping and which are available on our website. Our cookbook Soup published by Blasta Books will be published on January 26, 2023 and you can pre-order here.                                                       **************** Mentioned in this episode: Verafoods Ayla Turkish Shop Costless (Tallaght) Pinoy Sari Sari Dasco Deli The English Market in Cork Bernie's Eataly Cavistons Getting to Know SpiceBags Our podcast episodes come in three delectable flavours: Deep dives – comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine. Staple chats – where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves. Interviews – with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene.  Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sally Barnes, the only exclusive smoker of wild salmon in Ireland and a legend in the artisanal food world, was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Food Writers’ Guild. Born in Scotland, Sally washed up on the shores of West Cork with a fisherman husband. With a kiln that she procured from a man with a drinking debt, the young woman made sea-smoking history.  In our chat, Sally talks to us about her passion for the ocean and her concerns for its future. She delves into her experience as a Scottish woman in West Cork in the 1970s, and how she refined the process of her smoked fish, which is still made by hand and continues to be one of the most luxurious products in Ireland today. As a master of her craft, Sally has also begun to do fish-smoking workshops, transmitting her broad knowledge in her smokery, outside of Skibbereen, West Cork.  Dee and Mei were privileged to take a plunge with Sally Barnes, fishwife (her term, not ours!) and fish-whisperer, and understand her love for smoke, salt, salmon, and the sea.  For Sally’s fish and for more information about her fish smoking workshops: www.woodcocksmokery.ie Special thanks to  the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, West Cork where this episode was recorded. www.celticrosshotel.com Correction 8/04/2022: We originally said Sally was the last wild salmon smoker in Ireland. That was factually incorrect, there are several other smokers of wild salmon. She is the only smoker who exclusively smokes wild fish and does not use farmed or organic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Part 2 of our St. Patrick's special minisode and in celebration of the Celtic Ross Hotel's 25th birthday, we talk to two of the hotel’s local producers – Jeffa Gill of Durrus Cheese and Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs. Both multi-award winning women were born in England. They also belong to two distinct generations of producers, and hence have different stories to tell. Legendary cheesemaker Jeffa Gill of Durrus made her first cheese in 1979, and together with Veronica Steele of Milleens, engendered the modern Irish farmhouse cheese movement. The semi-soft Durrus cheese is renowned all over the country for its pinkish-mottled rind and grassy, buttery flavour. Self-dubbed “City Chic turned Country Chick” Caroline was born in London to Irish parents, and although she spent many childhood holidays in West Cork, she never thought she would end up there. Nevertheless, in 2009 (thirty years after Jeffa made her first cheese) she found herself husbanding her first flock of hens, which would eventually produce the West Cork eggs that are so coveted today. Join us as we talk eggs and cheese, community, cottage farming, and most importantly, why women have been so crucial in shaping the West Cork artisanal food movement. For more about Durrus cheese: https://www.durruscheese.com/ For more about West Cork eggs: https://www.neighbourfood.ie/producers/west-cork-eggs/8844 For more about the Celtic Ross Hotel: https://www.celticrosshotel.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were honoured to be invited to the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery to record as part of their celebration of their 25th birthday! Like many ventures in West Cork, the hotel is a family-owned business. Operated by the Wycherley family for over two decades, its welcome is cozy and warm and with ease, you’re made to feel at home.  West Cork is widely recognised in Ireland as the cradle of modern Irish artisan food. However, it is also one of the most international spots in Ireland, having attracted people from abroad since the 1950s which has informed its culinary culture. For part 1 of our St. Patrick’s Special, we were delighted to talk to Scotsman Neil Grant, general manager of the Celtic Ross, about his childhood in Dundee and what brought him here. Plus Chef Laurentiu Samoila (known as Chef Lawrence) regales us of early days in Romania, and his time spent in France, Italy, and the UK before he, like so many others before him, succumbed to the West Cork allure.  Expect chat about pig nose-to-tail, Abernathy smokies, and gorgeous local sardines. For more about the Celtic Ross Hotel -https://www.celticrosshotel.com/     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aziz Krouch has been a chef in La Mamounia in Marrakesh (recently featured in Netflix's show Inventing Anna), La Medina in New York, and now he is the head chef of Marrakesh By Mindo on Capel Street in Dublin. As a child, he harvested cumin and made warqa pastry with his grandmother in the Atlas mountains. He has worked in Paris and has a pash for boeuf bourguignon.  From shopping in souks, tagines, and bisteeya, to almond ghriba and honey chebakia pastries at Ramadan, Aziz takes us through a tour of his rich and storied life and his understanding of Moroccan food. Why are certain fruits paired with certain meats? Why is the number 7 considered lucky in Morocco and how does that figure into the seven spices of ras el-hanout and the vegetables of couscous? How do dishes differ if they are from Tangier, Fez, or Casablanca? We chat about chefs like Spanish-born Najat Kaanache and Moha Fedal, who are reviving the best way to cook Moroccan, which is long and slow.  Also, we talk about tea, a staple in Morocco, and which, according to Aziz, just like Moroccan food, requires patience. Mentioned in this episode: Marrakesh by Mindo https://www.marrakesh.ie/ La Mamounia https://mamounia.com/en/ Chebakia pastry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chebakia Najat Kannache https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Najat_Kaanache Moha Fedal: https://darmoha.ma/index.php/en/chef-moha.html  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this mini-episode, Mei quizzes Blanca on one of her favourite topics – Kitchens in Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar's movies. From the tenebrous kitchen in What Have I Done to Deserve This? to the airy 90s kitchen in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, some of the most famous kitchens of the Almodóvar universe are discussed. Plus Mei and Blanca discuss foods like flan and gazpacho that are quintessential to understanding Almodóvar himself, Spanish society and being a woman. Almodovar has just released the movie Parallel Mothers with Penélope Cruz, one in which the kitchen tells us about the lives of the characters and his first openly political movie about the consequences of the Spanish Civil War. Furthermore, Almodóvar recently edited the Director’s issue for W magazine in which Penélope Cruz, his longtime muse, is featured as an aspiring actress in a casting of the opera Carmen. See a young Pedro in Spain’s most iconic cooking show Con las Manos en la Masa Movies and shorts mentioned: What Have I Done to Deserve This? Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Pain and Glory The Cannibalistic Councillor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a trip down memory lane! As children, Blanca, Dee, and Mei inhaled the glossy pages of food magazines and the promises of far-flung worlds from the recipes and the stories that they contained. As a result, the three of us have written, fact-checked, test-kitchened, and been editors for magazines throughout our adult lives. Magazines are dear to us. In this episode, we talk about long-form food journalism, gourmand elitism, and pretty food-styled pictures. We discuss how in Ireland, food publishing gave voice to female writers, some of whom were salty. We chat about test kitchens, about the future of food magazines and whether a tradition of “tested recipes” is financially viable on the publishing market today. Gourmet, The Gourmand, Olive, Australian Women’s Weekly – we name-drop them all. Plus we sneak in a reference to our old host Julia Langbein, and the social media account ‘70s Dinner Party’ that has brought Dee and Mei much joy and laughter. We mentioned too many publications to list here, but should you have a question, please contact us at hello@spicebags.ie. In this episode: For food magazines: Ireland local libraries libby app 70s Dinner Party: Twitter and Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We celebrated the first day of Lunar New Year, on February 1st, in a very special way this year by recording this mini-episode of Spice Bags in the Guinness Storehouse! We are delighted to have been invited to record in the Guinness Storehouse as part of their celebrations for the Dublin Lunar New Year Festival. Guinness has exported its dark, iconic brew to East Asia starting from the early 19th century, and so we were honoured to be in their beautiful Connoisseur bar discussing New Year holiday food, traditions, and, of course, Guinness.  Joining us is executive chef of the Guinness Storehouse, John Bueno, whose Lunar New Year dish in 1837 restaurant of Black Pepper and Guinness Short Rib of Beef is in collaboration with Terry Yang of Stoneybatter’s Hakkahan. What Asian foods pair well with Guinness? What's his craziest Guinness food venture? Bueno is from the Philippines, home of the world's oldest Chinatown, so he also shares some Filipino Lunar New Year memories.  Next, Taiwan-born Yvonne Kennedy and Korean-born Carol Cherico give us a tantalizing glimpse into their traditions and how they celebrate the New Year in Ireland. Moreover, Yvonne and Carol have lived in a number of places (including California, Connecticut, Beijing, Seoul) so their memories and knowledge offer a broad scope.  Tune in to hear about red versus white envelopes, Filipino mooncakes, hot pot, rice cakes, and yes, most importantly, Lunar New Year drinking etiquette!    A big thank you to the Guinness Storehouse for including us in their Lunar New Year celebrations.  LINKS For more about Lunar New Year at Guinness Storehouse For more about the Dublin Lunar New Year Festival Hakkahan Dublin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back after our mid-season break with a jam-packed episode, which we're delighted to say is sponsored by the Dublin Lunar New Year festival, whose lineup (from 26 January – 6 February) of food, art, music, and lectures pays tribute to the different cultures that celebrate this holiday here in Ireland.  Chúc mừng năm moi, Saehae bok mani badeuseyo and Gongxi facai! To mark the Lunar New Year starting on February 1, Mei, Blanca and Dee discuss New Year foods from Singaporean fish toss to Korean ddok (rice cakes) and the role that phonetic puns play in Chinese New Year foods. New Year fashion tips are shared (you don't want to wear the wrong thing and bring bad luck!) and we touch on what is many people’s favourite New Year tradition: cash in fancy red envelopes. Next, Blanca and Dee are joined by @foodstagram.ie duo Irah Mari & Lou Jurelle (Jelly) who are two of Ireland's rising stars of Instagram and TikTok. Born in Dubai and Singapore, these two Filipino/Irish girls’ Toonsbridge cannoli TikTok video took the city by storm – if you haven't seen it, check it out! These culinary influencers are known for their charm, winsome photos and videos, and real knowledge about restaurants and recipes, with a spotlight on Asian and international flavours. Spice Bags chat with them about the room that is the soul of many homes around the world (but not all!) – the kitchen. This room can be a mirror into a person’s heritage, character, habits, but more importantly, if they have loads of money, their taste. Tune in to find out what we think about all types of kitchens from pretentious to one-pot ones. Also, discover what Irah calls “dirty” kitchens, what Blanca really thinks about Agas and Dee's keen interest in the use of movie kitchens as murder scenes.  Follow Foodstagram.ie on: https://www.instagram.com/foodstagram.ie/ https://www.tiktok.com/@foodstagram.ie For information about Dublin Lunar New Year: https://www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie/ For details & to book tickets for our Sunday, Feb 6 Spice Bags Dublin Lunar New Year event: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/239577251007 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we are joined by Bart Pawlukojc, the chef/owner of Arán artisan bakery and bistro in Kilkenny, and Kamila Bystrzonowska, the chef/owner of award-winning MOMO restaurant in Waterford. On the table: What was it like to live and eat in Poland under communist rule? Why are there so few Polish restaurants in Ireland? What is the Polish personality and how does it affect the cuisine? Are there similarities between Ireland and Poland –in identity, and their attitudes towards food? There are 123,000 Polish living in Ireland right now; bringing with them history, literature, language, music, and a cuisine that is rich with pickles, wild mushrooms, smoked meats, consommé, and honey. From bartering pigs, foraging sorrel, to grandparent beekeepers, Bart and Kamila offer a tasty glimpse into a country whose inhabitants are so influential in Ireland today.                                                    ******************* Mentioned in this episode: MOMO Restaurant, Waterford Arán Artisan Bakery & Bistro, Kilkenny Gorące Gary u Barbary Kuchary, Moore Street Shopping Mall, D1 Cork & Fork, Comix Café, Kinsale Road, Cork Traditional Polish Bakery Getting to Know SpiceBags Our podcast episodes come in three delectable flavours: Deep dives – comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine. Staple chats – where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves. Interviews – with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene.  Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sevgi Tüzel-Conghaile, founder of the Dublin-based A Wine Idea, is one of the most impressive females in the Irish wine world. Born in Turkey, she is an Oenologist & Viticulturist. Sevgi, after her graduation in Food Engineering, followed her dream to become a winemaker in her home country before relocating to France to study her MSc in Oenology & Viticulture in Montpellier SupAgro and Bordeaux Sciences Agro. She continued her studies at the prestigious Hochschule Geisenheim University in Germany while living in the renowned wine region of Mosel. Among many other accomplishments, Sevgi also completed a certified course taught by Masters of Wine (MW) Romana Echensperger MW, Alison Flemming MW, Caro Maurer MW, Josef Schuller MW, Frank Smulders MW, among others.  She also married a man from Connemara, so we may need to thank him for her presence in this country!  How can one make wine accessible? Who has the better wine palate, men or women? Also, Sevgi shares some of her favourite dishes from her native Turkey, like dolma, manti, and kibbeh, her love for cooking Turkish, the “Mediterr-Asian” trend, and her favourite wine bars in Ireland.   Finally, she addresses the question, is there a future for Turkish wine? As mentioned in this episode A Wine Idea Sakhalin restaurant Geisenheim Institute Getting to Know SpiceBags Our podcast episodes come in three delectable flavours: Deep dives – comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine. Staple chats – where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves. Interviews – with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene.  Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wrapped foods are the femme fatales of the culinary world in that they exude an irresistible allure.  From maki and jambon to agnolotti and bisteeya, Blanca, Dee, and Mei discuss these most enticing edibles. We converse about the myriad of wraps out there – rice paper, masa, yuba, banana leaves, warqua, and seaweed.  Wrapped foods are easy to eat, but often laborious to make. They’ve been called “gateway” foods to international cuisines; someone might be cautious about Chinese or Mexican, but give them a dumpling or taco, and they will gobble it! Did the Chinese dumpling come from Turkey? Have wrapped sandwiches and burritos done one star turn too many? Plus co-host Blanca confesses an abiding passion for the American country fair staple, the corndog! Let’s just say that we have our wraps covered. Correction: Mei said that Kashing does not have chang-fun with crispy bean curd. It is now on the menu. Mentioned in this episode: Cranky Yankee Corn Dogs Sabenero Cheese (for taqueños) PIcado Mexican Pantry  L. Mulligan Grocer (Scotch egg) Al-sham Bakery in Cork Kashing Restaurant Gursha Restaurant Follow the Camino (Empanada Gallega) Las Muns (Empanadas) Wrap & Roll (Wrap restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City  Vietnam) Getting to Know SpiceBags Our podcast episodes come in three delectable flavours: Deep dives – comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine. Staple chats – where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves. Interviews – with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene.  Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richie Castillo is founder and chef of the Filipino Dublin pop-up venture Bahay, and  former chef of Clanbrassil House and Bastible. Although Irish, he’s a global guy. Richie’s father is Filipino, his mother is from Kerry but born in Jordan; his parents married in Jerusalem, and he grew up in Knocklyon with summers in the Philippines. Richie chats to us about cooking influences in his life (his dad, his Kerry grandmother), takes us on a tour of his favorite Filipino dishes like suckling pig lechon and adobo, and explains the mystique of the bittersweet citrus fruit calamansi. He talks about the Spanish connection to Filipino history and cuisine. Also he answers burning questions, like what’s banana ketchup and why do we need to be eating it now? Richie also tells us about Bahay’s menu and his future plans. Bahay means “home” in Tagalog, and Richie’s venture Bahay expresses all the diverse inspirations that make up his house. Richie’s Bahay is an amalgam --  pinch of this, a douse of that, uniquely Richie Castillo, and tremendously exciting indeed.   For more about Richie Castillo and Bahay, Instagram @bahay_dub Mentioned in this episode: Nicole Ponesca, I am Filipino and This is How We Cook Pinoy Sari Sari Store, 25-26 Mary Street Little, Smithfield, Dublin 7, D07 DP03; 112-113 George's Street Lower, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, A96 AK31 Our Spice Bags podcasts come in three flavours: deep dives -- comprehensive explorations into a country’s cuisine, staple chats -- where we dish about a topic amongst ourselves, and interviews with individuals who have been impactful on the international Irish scene. Pick a flavour, we hope you like more than one! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blanca, Dee, and Mei have radically different relationships with cooking schools. Dee, always inquisitive, signs up for a cooking class every time she travels; deep-diving Blanca is a Cordon Bleu graduate (pictured) who has not only taken cooking classes but also taught quite a few; and Mei refuses to take a cooking class, mainly because her Chinese side doesn’t want to be publicly shamed when she fails! Cooking schools that make you cry. Cooking schools with hot instructors. Cooking schools that are a waste of money. Cooking schools that provide a unique window into a place that might have gone hereto undiscovered. Community kitchen cooking schools. Books about cooking schools. From Madrid to Cork, Cape Town and the CIA, we’ve got your cooking school questions covered in this latest episode of Spice Bags. Mentioned in this episode: Ballymaloe Cookery School Le Cordon Bleu Alambique Books for Cooks Woodcock Smokery River Cottage Cookery School Cape Malay Cooking Safari Kevin Thornton's Kooks Picado Mexican Virtual Kitchen Aoife Noonan Masterclasses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Oseland is a multi-award winning writer, former editor-in-chief of the American food magazines Saveur and Rodale's Organic Life, and one of the most hailed arbiters of the international food world. His first cookbook, Cradle of Flavor, about the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, earned him his first James Beard award. Jim has also been a filmmaker, actor, and fashion and music journalist, and his memoir Jimmy Neurosis is a vivid and heartfelt recollection of his early gay punk days.   Jim’s latest project, a series of books, World Food published by Ten Speed Press/Penguin, reflects his passionate curiosity about cultures and his ability not only to enjoy food but also to connect with the people who make it.  On the heels of the publication of World Food: Mexico City and the eve of the publication of World Food: Paris (October), Jim chats with Spice Bags about far flung places like Greece, Queens and Jakarta. What are his thoughts about writing, research, and respectful cultural appropriation? Where would he send someone in his recently adopted home of Mexico City? (It’s not a fancy restaurant.) Finally, he brings us back to one of his favorite places, which is the kitchen, and the process of chronicling the people who inhabit it.  Travelers, writers, eaters and readers: take some tips from James Oseland! We certainly have. **  We recorded this episode remotely with James Oseland in Mexico City, so forgive the occasional, three-second delay. World Food: Mexico City is sold in Ireland by Picado Mexican Pantry, 44A Richmond St S, Saint Kevin's, Dublin 2 https://www.picadomexican.com/ **    For more about James Oseland and World Food https://www.jamesoseland.com/   Monica Patino https://delirio.mx/ On Greece:  https://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Far-Side-of-the-Mountains-Epirus/ Cradle of Flavor https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Flavor-Indonesia-Singapore-Malaysia/dp/0393054772   JImmy Neurosis https://www.harpercollins.com/products/jimmy-neurosis-james-oseland?variant=32206454325282 https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/book-review-james-oselands-jimmy-neurosis-is-a-vibrant-coming-of-age-memoir-783606/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brazil is a vast multicultural food lab where you find a myriad of flours, Amazonian, African and Asian ingredients and Portuguese inspired sweets. As more Brazilians come to Ireland, we are starting to see more exciting food ventures from Brazilian style sushi to steakhouses. In this episode, we do a whirlwind tour of Brazilian businesses and meet the charismatic baker and entrepreneur Fabiano Mayor of Sugar Loaf Bakery in Dublin who tells us about the Brazilian sweets and food history, Euzana Forkan, Masters student in gastronomy at TU Dublin tells us about cassava, the versatile root that underpins so much of Brazilian food culture. Finally, Pedro Ferraz, executive chef for Bodytonic group (Wigwam & Bernard Shaw) tells us that Russian beef stroganoff is a Brazilian family dish!  Instagram @sugarloafdublin @wigwamdublin References Brazilian food by Thiago Castanho Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malawi-born Ellie Kisyombe is the founder of Our Table and currently Ellie’s Kitchen, Home Edition. As an activist and a food producer, Ellie is well known on the political and the food scene, and has been one of the most prominent faces of a changing Ireland. Here, Ellie talks about living in Ireland in Direct Provision, but also about  growing up in Malawi and her family, which was where she got her ambition and her culinary chutzpah. Plus she talks about Malawi food and what makes it distinct; its beautiful freshwater fish, its multicultural influences, and yes, its whiskey and gin. https://ellieskitchenhomeedition.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices