José R. Ralat has an amazing job title: Taco Editor, Texas Monthly. His new book American Tacos explores the history and regionality of the country's greatest import/export. Kansas City tacos? They're the business.

Related episode: Tex-Mex with Josef Centeno

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Secrets of Top Chef and how to fix the restaurant industry with Lee Anne Wong, Nini Nguyen, and Melissa King. Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407

How Italians and Americans use technology differently (it's cultural), la dolce vita - but more importantly, dolce far niente - and the perfect Roman lunch. Plus a great mini-history on Jews in Rome. Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://italoamericano.org/story/2018-11-29/trippa-romana http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180604-has-rome-declared-an-artichoke-war https://www.eater.com/2018/5/9/17312188/what-is-roman-food-italian

Prince William! Teddy Savalas! Rockettes! They all have something do to with Diet Coke. Or "diet Coke," with a lower case d. Those Coca-Cola lawyers are DASTARDLY. Listen to part two here: https://soundcloud.com/smartmouthpodcast/ginger-ale-vernors-mountain-dew-baja-blast Listen to part one here: https://soundcloud.com/smartmouthpodcast/soda-pop-history-invented-7-up-lithium-pepsi Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/the-extraordinary-story-of-how-diet-coke-came-to-be https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_880981 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28038988 https://culinarylore.com/drinks:what-was-the-first-diet-soda/

More soda pop madness! It's all about the moonshine mixers. Listen to part one here: https://soundcloud.com/smartmouthpodcast/soda-pop-history-invented-7-up-lithium-pepsi Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://www.tastingtable.com/drinks/national/difference-between-ginger-beer-and-ginger-ale https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/a26934763/best-ginger-ale-brands/ https://web.archive.org/web/20130624005710/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/JF02/canadianfoodfirsts.asp https://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/GingerAle_Previtali.pdf https://www.keurigdrpepper.com/en/our-brands https://web.archive.org/web/20141010210120/http://www.knoxnews.com/knoxville/life/drinking-in-history https://web.archive.org/web/20160205113023/http://www.frederickshome.net/mtdew/mtdew_smyth72794.htm https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-17/pepsico-aims-to-bring-urban-cool-to-mountain-dew-image-retail https://web.archive.org/web/20101121125233/http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/art_scene/index.php/2010/06/24/dew-tour-green-label-shop-series https://mountaindew.fandom.com/wiki/Baja_Blast https://money.cnn.com/2004/08/06/news/fortune500/pepsi/ https://www.tacobell.com/food/drinks/mountain-dew-baja-blast-freeze

Today we talk generally about the start of the soda pop industry (unlicensed pharmacists! Cocaine everywhere!), and next week we'll (that's Katherine and Drew Mackie) get to listener-requested specifics. Ginger ale is so popular! Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2UgLhnP https://amzn.to/2xlBovZ https://amzn.to/3doZd6R https://www.sodaparts.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-soda/ https://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/karen-berger/2019/02/soda-fountains--their-pharmacist-inventors http://www.historyofsoftdrinks.com/ https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-toxic-history-of-soda-pop/ https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/an-interview-with-pharmacy-drugstore-and-soda-fountain-antiques-collector-bill-soderlund/

Oh, you thought you knew. Or at least I did, but turns out the history of Key lime pie isn't quite what I thought it was. Tell me: meringue or whipped cream? Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2x1dl5w https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PieHistory/KeyLimePie.htm https://gothamist.com/food/key-lime-pie-the-state-pie-of-florida-may-have-originated-in-nyc https://www.facebook.com/floridakeys/posts/10216828844776953 https://historycollection.co/an-exploration-into-why-the-word-hooker-came-to-describe-certain-workers/2/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-08-20-9408200176-story.html https://www.miamiherald.com/living/food-drink/article215758680.html https://keylimefestival.com/ https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-nicole-rucker-fiona-key-lime-pie-recipe-20190702-story.html

Is your appetite for chocolate ruined by the end of this? Or, can you recommend a source of ethical (like, actually ethical) chocolate? DeAnne Smith wants to know. The Washington Post story mentioned in this episode: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/ Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2IEgXwB https://amzn.to/2wLBYD7 https://amzn.to/3cO8gh9 https://www.history.com/news/the-sweet-history-of-chocolate https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0697-x https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/powis314/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-chocolate-21860917/?no-ist https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/01/earliest-evidence-chocolate-north-america https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/18/15995478/chocolate-health-benefits-heart-disease https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333799301_Dark_Chocolate_To_Eat_or_Not_to_Eat_A_Review https://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800 https://blog.equalexchange.coop/child-labor-in-the-cocoa-industry/ https://www.cjr.org/analysis/the_history_behind_the_chocolate_hoax.php https://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk426/files/content/infosheets/fact-pro-flavonol.pdf https://www.cocoavia.com/pages/see-the-science https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/sustainability/shared-business/responsible-sourcing.html

What is "silver cake"? Jessie Sheehan knows! My continued bafflement with GBBO, feminine foods, and alcohol in your cake. Do you buy Nabisco chocolate cookies and if so, for what purpose? Get the cookbook here: https://amzn.to/39jOdVG Want food stories from around the world? Subscribe to the Smart Mouth newsletter here: https://smartmouth.substack.com/ Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2wvLaLt https://amzn.to/2TlrAL0 https://amzn.to/2PN4MBQ https://www.clarionledger.com/story/life/2016/04/12/kimbrough-icebox-pies-old-fashioned-but-still-cool/82814908/ https://www.thekitchn.com/an-ode-to-the-original-icebox-cake-22931840 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18114-2004Jul27.html http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq1.html#englishtrifle https://sweets.seriouseats.com/2012/06/american-classics-classic-icebox-cake.html

Ashley Blaine Featherson is here to tell you how to make the best meatloaf - and also how not to ruin it. Is scrapple a meatloaf? Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2PF6oO3 https://www.bonappetit.com/story/history-of-meatloaf https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/09/from-budget-fare-to-culinary-inspiration-the-history-of-meatloaf/245265/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/what-is-breakfast/589411/