Show Notes
Recipes online seem to have all become… kind of the same.
They're described in lots of words that end in y – creamy, jammy, lemony – and they tend to use lots of globally sourced pastes like miso, gochujang and harissa. The luscious photos and videos that accompany them border on erotic. But how did this become the norm? What has the internet done to our palates – and what do today's tastes say about us?
To find out, Brittany is joined by Ruby Tandoh, cookbook writer and the author of All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now.
(00:00) Why online recipes all seem the same (01:59) What shapes our tastes? (03:28) How food influencers capture your attention (06:53) 'Twist culture': why there's miso in everything (09:30) American food is inescapable (13:03) The roots of 'silly little drink' culture (16:58) How algorithms drive orthorexic food ideas (19:20) The rise of ultra-processed 'healthy' foods (24:47) The politics of cooking and performative homemaking
For more episodes about food culture and how we eat, check out: It's healthy to eat your feelings. Here's why. Is your city shaped by yuppie taste? The heavy weight of diet culture
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