Every Day is a Food Day

Apr 26 2023 37 ep. 50 mins 524

Every Day is a Food Day Podcast artwork

Every food you love has a story. Nerd out on the stories, scandals, history and holidays behind all your favorite foods with foodie Odd Couple and friends Lia Ballentine (The Chef-Creator) and Anna Van Valin (The Foodlosopher). Hear the fascinating stories like the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the surprising history of Chinese Takeout, an ex-clown who started a movement to get back to the church called "Pretzels for God," food you didn't know was poisonous, how Prohibition brought Margaritas to the US, whether or not "aphrodisiac foods" really are, and the epic McDrama of the McDonald's french fry. Recently featured on The Spruce Eats' list of "11 Food Podcasts You Should Be Listening To" and the number 1 Indie Food Podcast on Goodpods! Follow us at @FoodDayPod on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook or check out our webpage at yumday.co/podcast.

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

It's Wine Crime time: Introducing "Vinfamous"!

Apr 26 2023 2 mins

Hi Listeners! We know you love all our food crime and scandal stories - so how about some wine crimes? We're excited to introduce you to the new podcast Vinfamous, from Wine Enthusiast magazine! As we say, every food you love has a story. That goes for every drink you love, too - especially wine. These stories reveal hidden histories and techniques, flavors and passions. Sometimes

Gingerbread: Oh Snap!

Nov 16 2022 60 mins

It's our Season Finale, Listeners! And it's also the holidays! So we're celebrating the end of 2022 with one of our favorite festive foods: GINGERBREAD! Our Chef-Creator Lia Ballentine kicks things off with a brief history of gingerbread, the medieval monk that helped make it popular in Europe, and how food hero Amelia Simmons introduced the first American gingerbread recipes in he

Filipino Food: "Ang Sarap!" ("It's Delicious!")

Oct 27 2022 65 mins

Mabuhay, Listeners! October is Filipino American History Month, and we're excited to celebrate with a special Filipino food episode! Our Chef-Creator Lia Ballentine shares her Filipino culture with us and dives into her culinary heritage with stories about her favorite family dishes, traditional ingredients, and how Filipino food is becoming mainstream in America (even though Filip

Peppers: Comin' in Hot!

Aug 31 2022 69 mins

Hi Listeners! Anna and Lia are ready to get jalapeño your business, because this episode is all about Peppers! In the Deep Dish, our Foodlosopher Anna Van Valin takes us through the science of what makes Chile peppers spicy, the chemical chain reaction that's triggered in your body when you eat a spicy pepper, and why in the world we keep eating a food that hurts to eat! Anna also

Who Let the (Hot) Dogs Out?

Jul 20 2022 64 mins

Hi Listeners! Anna and Lia are about to get frank with you, because this episode is all about Hot Dogs! Prepare to play detective as Anna Van Valin, our Foodlosopher, helps us solve the mysteries of the mystery meat in the Deep Dish: Is the mismatch between the number of buns and wieners in a pack a conspiracy? Is the Hot Dog a sandwich? And the question we’re all afraid to ask:

Cookies: Double Stuffed - Part 2!

Jun 29 2022 59 mins

We’re back with Part 2 of “Cookies: Double Stuffed” Get ready for an extra deep Deep Dish with our Foodlosopher, Anna Van Valin, as she dives into one of the most epic food business rivalries in history: the century-long battle between Oreo and Hydrox. When a ruthless lawyer and two bitter baker brothers collided at the beginning of the 20th century, it led to the creation of

Cookies: Double Stuffed - Part 1!

Jun 21 2022 59 mins

There’s DOUGH much we want to tell you about cookies, we had to do it in two episodes! In Part 1 of this epic two-parter, Anna and Lia share their fondest cookie memories and tell us how letting their creativity go wild with cookie decorating was important part of their holiday traditions growing up. They also debate Oreo cookie eating methods — the twist and the dunk — and p

"A MEAD-ing of the Minds" with Drinking Horn Meadcast

May 18 2022 72 mins

This is a crossover episode you MEAD to hear! Our Foodlosopher Anna Van Valin and Chef-Creator Lia Ballentine have joined forces with Evan Anderson and Nick Irvine of the Drinking Horn Meadcast to discuss (and DRINK) mead! Evan and Nick tell us all about the world of making and drinking this ancient fermented honey drink at their Meadery in Flagstaff, AZ, the care and feeding of be

Pretzels: Get it Twisted

Apr 12 2022 65 mins

Anna and Lia are tied up in knots — delicious, doughy knots — because this episode is all about pretzels! Lia Ballentine, our Chef-Creator, starts us off with the pretzel baking basics and tells us how changing the dough’s pH by boiling it in baking soda or dropping it in a lye bath (that’s right, a lye bath) is essential to achieving the perfect pretzel taste and texture.

Oysters: a Mysterious and Tragic Dramatic Reading

Mar 23 2022 9 mins

Overture, curtains, lights! Prepare to be mesmerized by Anna Van Valin’s and Lia Ballentine’s portrayals of the moving characters in this highly-lauded short play written by the world’s most creative storytellers — at the FDA. That’s right, in this bonus episode, we’re performing our much anticipated (and requested) dramatic reading of “Carlos’ Tragic and Mysterious