heatstories: Alan Bergo on Sichuan Pepper in the US Midwest, Spicy Foods, Fine Dining

heatstories: Georgia Freedman, Cooking South of the Clouds - Talking Yunnan Cuisine and Chilli

Yunnan is China's most diverse province, in biodiversity and culture/peoples - and Georgia Freedman learned about it from the tropical South to the mountains of the north - and east, and west. We talk about how she got to Yunnan in the first place, what it was like to find out more about local cooking - and so much more, not least about the chilli!

heatstories: Brian Dott on the Cultural Biography of the Chile Pepper in China

How did the chilli really spread in China? Brian Dott, associate professor of history at Whitman College, went deep into this topic for his book "The Chile Pepper in China. A Cultural Biography [http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-chile-pepper-in-china/9780231195324]" - and we sat down together (virtually) to share notes, dive deep into its meanings and movements! The book on Amazon (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/2X3JiVl

heatstories: Alan Bergo on Sichuan Pepper in the US Midwest, Spicy Foods, Fine Dining

Did you know that Zanthoxylum species (which include the Sichuan peppers) grow in the US Midwest - and would you believe that there are ones with potential for fine dining, used like the Japanese kinome? Is expensive wine the real reason fine dining does not do spicy foods? This conversation was very focused and ranged far, at the same time. And it provided a different perspective, from a forager and chef trained in high culinary skill!

Benign Masochism, Meat, Microbes, and the Love of Chilli: In Talk with Paul Rozin

Paul Rozin is the psychologist of chile pepper lovers - there's no getting around his hypothesis of why we humans, uniquely among animals, develop a craving for the spiciness of hot chilli pepper: "benign masochism"!

heatstories: Miranda Brown and the Riddle of Spice - and Dairy - in China

Talking with Miranda Brown, professor of Chinese studies at University of Michigan, food historian, currently working on a book about the history of dairy in China... and regularly coming across the medical/culinary history of spices in China. You can find here on Twitter @Dong_Muda [https://twitter.com/Dong_Muda], and her blog is at https://www.chinesefoodhistory.org/ [https://www.chinesefoodhistory.org/]