Welcome into the Smoke Circle for the start of season 8!
The sisters have cooked up another episode of food history with part two of The Munchies That Made Us! In part one, we discussed four food staples that grew civilizations and created the classic munchies we know and love.
Part two traces the origins of "The Holy Trinity" of savory stoner foods: pizza, tacos, and instant ramen. This episode shows how global trade, migration, war, and convenience shaped what we eat when the munchies hit. Along the way, we debate who has the best pizza, get delightfully sidetracked by tomato lore (did you know the tomato isn't native to Italy?!), the mystery of the taco, and what a hostage crisis did for instant ramen sales.
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Timestamps
01:05 - Part two preview: pizza, tacos, and instant ramen
06:31 - Recap of part one and the role of staple crops
07:30 - Why pizza belongs on every munchies list
09:58 - Focaccia, flatbreads, and the missing tomato
12:39 - Tomatoes begin in Mesoamerica, not Italy
15:03 - Columbus, Cortés, and the Columbian Exchange
19:26 - Europe mistrusts tomatoes as “wolf peaches”
27:28 - Naples, volcanic soil, and the first tomato sauce pizza
30:07 - The Margherita pizza legend and royal branding
32:24 - Pizza spreads through Italy and into the United States
38:35 - What counts as a taco and why chalupas are real
40:05 - Corn tortillas in Mesoamerica and the roots of taco culture
42:40 - One theory for the word taco from silver mines
46:37 - The “chili queens” and tacos entering American food culture
49:52 - Glenn Bell, Taco Bell, and the commercialization of tacos
54:10 - Instant ramen as one of the world’s most consumed foods
56:10 - Japan closes its doors, then reopens under the Meiji Restoration
58:00 - Chinese noodle soup becomes ramen in Yokohama
59:48 - World War II destruction and the food crisis in Japan
64:28 - Momofuku Ando spots the long ramen line that sparks an idea
66:26 - The invention of shelf-stable instant noodles and the launch of Chicken Ramen
70:31 - Cup noodles and the push into the American market
73:52 - The hostage crisis accidentally becomes a massive ramen commercial
78:40 - The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum and ramen culture today
81:12 - Why convenience foods matter and what they trade off
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Mentioned in the Episode:
Episode 90: The Werewolf Trials of Europe
Half Baked (1998) Munchies List
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The Socials and Patreon!
Patreon-- The Best Buds Club!
Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory
TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod
YouTube-- @High Tales of History
Facebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory
Email—[email protected]
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Source Material and References:
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN00PtRWjlU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza
https://www.history.com/articles/a-slice-of-history-pizza-through-the-ages
https://www.twistedtaco.com/the-history-of-the-taco
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/where-did-the-taco-come-from-81228162/
https://www.google.com/search?q=firebombing+of+japan+vs+atomic+bombs
https://ramenmuseum.nyc/history-of-ramen/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nov7lFsvBIo
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Intro/outro and Transition Music created all from: "Hit the Streets" Music licensed through Soundstripe on Riverside.fm
Code: 5SFLA6TCMVWJERUU, EMPRILZIRAMJL8ZR
