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Winning Season 6 of The Great British Bake-Off completely changed Nadiya Hussain's life. The fan favorite went from a stay-at-home mom to the author of more than a dozen books, she's hosted nearly as many television programs and was commissioned by Buckingham Palace to bake Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday cake (orange drizzle cake with orange curd and orange butter cream, in case you're cake curious). Nadiya grew up in a British Bangladeshi family, with a dad who owned and cooked in Indian restaurants. As a kid, she was frustrated that he served watered down, westernized versions of her family's favorite foods. That is not the case at Seattle's Spice Waala. Host Rachel Belle chats with Dr Aakanksha Sinha and Uttam Mukherjee, Indian immigrants who had grown so frustrated with the lack of regional Indian food in America, they quit their corporate jobs to open an Indian street food restaurant showcasing kathi rolls and chaat. They've also translated their social justice morals and values into caring for their employees and the community. Follow host Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world's first portable pizza oven company! Rachel Belle has been making incredible, chewy, bubbly, melty pizzas in her Ooni for more than three years. If you want to make the best homemade pizza of your life, or give the gift of pizza this holiday season, visit www.ooni.com/yourlastmealSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milk Bar founder, chef and CEO Christina Tosi loves dessert so much, she would happily give up savory foods for three square meals a day of cookies and milk and ice cream. We talk about the special cake her husband designed for their wedding (that he made her promise to never make for anyone else), the career she almost chose instead of baking and the wacky flavor creations her colleagues won't let her put on the menu. Christina is known for flipping childhood classics and suburban grocery store staples on their heads, and spinning them into fantastical, crave-worthy cakes and cookies. Her three-tiered, rainbow sprinkle flecked, naked birthday cakes are one of Milk Bar's signature desserts. So we investigate the history of the birthday cake (why is it ubiquitous to celebrate with cake?) and birthday candles with Alysa Levene, author of Cake: A Slice of History and Anne Byrn, author of 15 books including her newest, A New Take On Cake. Christina has a new children's book out called Every Cake Has A Story. Follow host Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world's first portable pizza oven company! Rachel Belle has been making incredible, chewy, bubbly, melty pizzas in her Ooni for more than three years. If you want to make the best homemade pizza of your life visit www.ooni.com/yourlastmealSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carla Lalli Music has found success in so many culinary corners of the food world; from her job as Shake Shake's very first manager to Bon Appétit magazine's food director to bestselling cookbook author. Her new, cheery, bright yellow cookbook is called That Sounds So Good -- a phrase we've certainly all moaned after reading about a particularly droolworthy dish. Carla's last meal doesn't contain a drop of religious significance, but the combination of foods she craves are unavoidably biblical. So host Rachel Belle talks with Italian archaeologist and researcher Generoso Urciuoli about what Jesus and his 12 apostles would have actually eaten at The Last Supper.Carla shares the condiment her family loves so much, they go through a jar nearly every day and the gimmicky TikTok food trends they've tried over the pandemic. Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world's first portable pizza oven company! Rachel Belle has been making incredible, chewy, bubbly, melty pizzas in her Ooni for more than three years. If you want to make the best homemade pizza of your life visit www.ooni.com/yourlastmealSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate Ken Jennings' return to the Jeopardy stage, we're re-airing his episode, which happens to be one of our favorites! In 2004, Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings won 74 games in a row, making him the record holder for longest winning streak. In 2020 he slayed Jeopardy's Greatest of All Time tournament and he will be sharing Jeopardy hosting duties through the end of the year, alternating with past YLM guest Mayim Bialik. In this episode, Ken shares how he became obsessed with trivia, Alex Trebek's shockingly sugary breakfast choice and, a huge barbecue lover, tells us why he doesn't want to be known as a "Barbecue guy." He also clues us in to the regional food of Utah: Jell-O! We learn the history of Jell-O with Lynne Belluscio, executive director of the Jell-O Gallery in LeRoy, New York. Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world's first portable pizza oven company! Rachel Belle has had an Ooni for more than three years and has never made better pizza. If you want to make the best homemade pizza of your life, visit www.ooni.com/yourlastmealSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phoebe Robinson is all grown up. The standup comedian, New York Times best-selling author, and co-host of the 2 Dope Queens podcast and HBO show recently started her own imprint with Penguin Random House to focus on publishing women, POC and queer authors; including her own new book, Please Don't Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes. And even MORE adult: she says she finally has matching dishes and an Instant Pot! Phoebe's favorite tacos in the whole wide world are from a taqueria in...Copenhagen! Hija de Sanchez's Mexican American chef/owner, Rosio Sanchez, joins host Rachel Belle to share the challenges of cooking fantastic, traditional Mexican food Denmark, where many people still attempt to eat tacos with a knife and fork. Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world's first portable pizza oven company! Rachel Belle has been in love with her Ooni for 3+ years & if you want to make the best homemade pizza of your life visit www.ooni.com/yourlastmealSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Country music star, Martina McBride, has won 15 major music awards, sold more than 23 million albums, written two cookbooks and has a brand new exhibit in Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. But her roots are in a small, Kansas farm town where she grew up eating plenty of canned vegetables and ground beef with her musical family. You know what other musically gifted gal grew up on a farm in Kansas? Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz! We take a trip down the Yellow Brick Road with William Stillman, author of The Road To Oz, who shares both the fun and unfortunate food facts behind the most watched film of all time. After Martina tells host Rachel Belle about Fluff Salad, where Cool Whip is a salad dressing, we needed to know: what defines a salad?? Meggan Hill, creator and executive chef of Culinary Hill, a midwestern recipe website, explains how popcorn salad, Snickers salad and cookie salad are all...salads. A couple of years ago we did an episode all about the tomato sandwich, but have you ever had a banana sandwich? North Carolina food writer Sheri Castle says in some parts of the south, it's more common than peanut butter and jelly. Follow Your Last Meal on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the portable pizza oven company that makes one of Rachel Belle's prized possessions! Make your summer infinitely more fun & delicious by visiting www.ooni.com/yourlastmeal & prepare to make the best pizza of your life!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know Antoni Porowski as the charming, gentle, earnest food and wine expert on Netflix's Queer Eye, but before he got his big break, he was an out of work actor who spent years working front-of-the-house restaurant jobs. Antoni shares his biggest home kitchen splurge, after landing the coveted job as one of the Fab Five, and Your Last Meal listeners call in to confess their most extravagant food related flings. Antoni and host Rachel Belle were both intrigued by TV dinners as kids, something neither were allowed to have, so we'll learn the origin story of those little compartmentalized trays filled with frozen Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes. And the co-author of the new Gastro Obscura book joins the show to share the stories behind some of the world's most remarkable, strange and fascinating foods of past and present. Who invented Hawaiian pizza? Why were single Austrian women putting apples under their armpits? Listen in! Pre-order Antoni's new cookbook, Antoni: Let's Do Dinner! Follow along on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the portable pizza oven company that makes one of Rachel Belle's prized possessions! Make your summer infinitely more fun & delicious by visiting www.ooni.com/yourlastmeal & prepare to make the best pizza of your life!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony and Grammy nominated performer Joshua Henry has been in nine Broadway shows, including In the Heights and the role of Aaron Burr in the first run of Hamilton, and he's about to release his first solo album. Joshua grew up in Miami, on his mom's Jamaican food, so host Rachel Belle welcomes Jamaican culinary historian and cookbook author Victoria Burke to the show to lay out the long, fascinating history of Jamaican cuisine. Burke was a dear friend of Bob Marley, and she shares the incredibly healthy, culinary rituals of Rastafarians, including why they don't use silverware or metal pots and pans. And Rachel and Joshua bond over a shared history of Shake N Bake (and I helped!). Stars, They're Just Like Us: they shop at Trader Joe's! Joshua shares his Top 5 favorite foods from Trader Joe's and we learn what shoppers voted as their very favorite TJ's products of the year. Follow Your Last Meal on Instagram! Your Last Meal is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the portable, affordable pizza oven that makes the most incredible Neapolitan style pizza - just ask Ooni fan, Rachel Belle! Make your summer infinitely more fun & delicious by visiting www.ooni.com/yourlastmeal & prepare to make the best pizza of your life (honestly!).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Your Last Meal's 5th Anniversary, but instead of the traditional 5th anniversary gift of wood, we're giving you the gift of...this podcast episode! The show's very first guest, back in August 2016, was Seattle chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas. So we flipped the script and rallied Tom to interview host Rachel Belle about her last meal! This episode is all about party foods, so Rachel welcomes back some of her favorite celebrity guests to talk about the tiny, toothpicked party snacks they can't resist. And because there's nothing better than a surprise party, you'll have to listen in to find out who the mystery guests are! So BYOB, grab a bag of ice on your way over & please take your shoes off before you come in because it's podcast party time! Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram! This episode is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens, the portable pizza oven company that makes one of Rachel Belle's prized possessions! Make your summer infinitely more fun & delicious by visiting www.ooni.com/yourlastmeal & prepare to make the best pizza of your life!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lake Street Dive's singer, Rachael Price, and drummer, Mike Calabrese, have been buddies since college, when they formed their first band together at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music. Years and years of touring, and eating every meal together on the road, means they know each other's eating habits inside out. But there was one thing they didn't know about each other: their last meals! Through Rachael's last meal we'll learn the history of America's favorite snack food and then, inspired by Mike's last meal, we'll hop down a babysitting rabbit hole. Sittercity.com founder, Genevieve Thiers, answers every babysitter's question: can you really help yourself to anything you want in your charge's fridge and pantry?! And we discuss the role of food in The Baby-Sitters Club books with Marisa Crawford, co-editor of a new book of essays and art, We Are the Baby-Sitters Club, and writer Jennifer Epperson who wrote a critical essay about Claudia Kishi, the series' beloved junk food junky. Follow 'Your Last Meal' and host Rachel Belle on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Bittman is a veteran food writer and prolific cookbook author known for his unfussy recipes and "How To Cook Everything," a 2,000-recipe tome that's sold more than a million copies. So when it comes to his last meal, Mark stays on brand and keeps it simple. So simple, in fact, he won't actually name a specific dish! Mark is also a dad. So as a Father's Day treat, host Rachel Belle invited Mark's daughter, Kate Bittman, to join the conversation, to talk about what it was like growing up with a food obsessed dad. The verdict: it was embarrassing. Former Bon Appetit magazine food director, and current cookbook author, Carla Lalli Music teaches us how to improvise a delicious meal, without a recipe, based on what looks fresh at the market. And listeners share the delicious, disgusting and darling dishes their dads cooked when they were growing up!Follow host Rachel Belle on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few weeks ago, Rachel Belle hosted the very first Your Last Meal *LIVE* at Crosscut Festival! She was joined by brothers Mark and Brian Canlis, third generation owners of Seattle's 70-year-old fine dining institution, Canlis. The Canlis brothers just hired a new executive chef, only the 7th in the restaurant's history, and they share the quirky and unconventional application process they used to help weed out a leader without ego, who isn't afraid to be vulnerable. Canlis' doors have been closed over the past 15 months, but they've gained international attention for their ingenuity, launching 18 different pandemic culinary concepts that sold out one after the next: everything from a parking lot crab shack to the virtual learning platform, Canlis Community College. And Brian reveals his Secret Shame Food, a concoction that made his wife think twice about marrying him. Then Chinese Soul Food cookbook author, and maker of a million dumplings, Hsiao-Ching Chou joins us to talk xiao long bao, otherwise known as Chinese soup dumplings. Follow Your Last Meal and Rachel Belle on Instagram! (Photo by Chona Kasinger)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michelle Zauner is famous for playing music under the name Japanese Breakfast, but it turns out she's one of those obnoxiously talented people who creatively thrives in multiple genres. Michelle just released a wildly popular memoir called Crying in H Mart, about her complicated relationship with her Korean mother who died of cancer when Michelle was 25. Korean food plays a huge role in the book and in her conversation with host Rachel Belle. Michelle takes us to Korea, where she and her mother insatiably ate their way through Seoul every other year of her childhood. She talks about who taught her to cook Korean food, since her mother never got a chance to teach her, and how the Korean grocery chain H Mart now brings her comfort. Immigrant parents and grandparents are infamous for not writing down recipes or measuring out ingredients, making it virtually impossible to perfectly recreate their food after they're gone. Melissa Miranda, the Filipina-American chef/owner of Seattle's Musang, opened her restaurant in an effort to preserve Filipino home cooking in the community her dad immigrated to in the 1970s. She joins the show to tell her story. Follow Rachel Belle and Your Last Meal on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Actor Mayim Bialik (Blossom, Big Bang Theory, Call Me Kat) is a pickle monster. If it's crunchy, face puckering sour and floating in brine, chances are she's going to love it. Pickles are one of humanity's most ancient foods, so host Rachel Belle consults with Jan Davison, author of Pickles, a Global History to suss out their origin story and Alan Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, Manhattan's last standing pickle shop. Mayim also shares her journey to veganism, her favorite Jewish holiday foods and what it's been like since she revealed that she's in recovery for an eating disorder that developed in her 40s. Follow Rachel Belle and Your Last Meal on Instagram! Check out Every Day is a Food Day, a podcast that explores the stories, scandals, holidays and heroes behind your favorite foods, hosted by Anna Van Valin and Lia Ballentine. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening to Your Last Meal!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been 41 years since Raffi's hit children's song Baby Beluga was released and he's still plucking away at the guitar and writing new tunes. Raffi is arguably the most famous performer of children's music in North America, but he's also an outspoken environmentalist and activist for climate change, which greatly influences the way he eats (read: so many vegetables!). Raffi loves pesto, a seemingly simple, five ingredient, raw Italian sauce. But every time host Rachel Belle makes a batch, she's disappointed. So Daniel Gritzer, culinary director for Serious Eats and recipe tester of many pestos, breaks down what it takes to make the most delicious, creamy, vibrant green pesto. Hint: you won't be needing your food processor. Keeping with the theme of children's entertainment and food, Rachel chats with Erika Thormahlen and Jeremy Konner, creators of the wonderful new Netflix show Waffles and Mochi, a food and travel program for kids starring two culinary curious puppets. It's the first show produced by Michelle and Barack Obama's new production company, Higher Ground. Follow Rachel & Your Last Meal on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up, Friday nights were for slumber parties, pizza delivery and the best TV of the week: the TGIF lineup, starting with the very best show, Full House. Candace Cameron Bure was a big part of host Rachel Belle's childhood, and she's wiggled her way into the nostalgia of a new generation, reprising the role of DJ Tanner on Fuller House and writing her latest children's book, Candace's Playful Puppy. Growing up in a big family, Candace says almost every night was taco night. But her parents served them with a very American twist: ketchup! We learn the ancient history of ketchup and hear some Ketchup Confessions from listeners who get way more creative with the condiment beyond French fries and hot dogs. Plus, the history of carrot cake with The Cake Historian, Jessica Reed! Follow Rachel Belle and Your Last Meal on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julia Quinn is a New York Times bestselling author 19 times over, but a whole new audience has been introduced to her work since her popular Bridgerton romance novels were turned into a fantastically popular Netflix show. Julia doesn't write much about food in her Regency Era novels, so host Rachel Belle called on Paul Couchman, a food historian known as “The Regency Chef,” who offers Regency Era cooking classes at The Regency Town House, a restored 1820s mansion in Brighton, England. He indulges us in what the Bridgerton family would have eaten and says vintage British cuisine was far bolder and spicier than it is now. Seattle might be famous for salmon and Starbucks, but with nine months of gray and rain, locals (including Julia Quinn & family) are in love with pho, the aromatic Vietnamese beef and noodle soup. Rachel chats with former Washington state governor Dan Evans and the owners of Seattle's first pho restaurant, Pho Bac, about why there are so many pho shops in Seattle. And Julia once won $79,000 on the game show The Weakest Link, so Rachel challenges her to a round of food trivia! Follow Your Last Meal and Rachel Belle on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the 100th episode of Your Last Meal, host Rachel Belle welcomes three, 100-year-old women to the show to share their extraordinary lives, their last meals and the secret to a long, happy life: red wine and “keeping your own teeth.” It is our pleasure to introduce you to Antoinette Underwood, a World War II nurse with a love of dry, Italian wines, Ruth Samuelson, who walked a half marathon at 96, and Eleanor Owen, whose career spans from Broadway actor to co-founder of NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness. IKEA’s US culinary director joins the show to tell us how an umlaut-happy furniture store became synonymous with Swedish meatballs and lingonberry jam. And if you're single, living alone and loathe eating solo during the pandemic, Sutanya Dacers, host of the podcast Dinner For One, shares the story of how learning to cook for herself, post-divorce, made her feel whole again. Here are some highlights from the past 99 episodes, in case you missed them: Ice cream icons, Ben & Jerry, reveal the reason their ice creams are so famously packed with sweet blobs, chunks and ribbons: Ben has no sense of smell or taste and insists on loads of texture in every bite. Fashion designer Betsey Johnson had us thinking about the intersection of fashion & food, so we called up Franc Fernandez, designer of Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress, which is very appropriately made from...yes, skirt steak. Filmmaker John Waters wants to know how long it takes for a slice of coconut cream pie to show up as fat on his body. So Rachel interviews a dietician who explains the science of weight gain, busting just about every Internet myth in the process. François Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, loves okra, even its notorious slime. As does Adrian Miller, the Soul Food Scholar, who shares the history of many African American dishes that came over from west Africa during the slave trade. Actor and activist Rose McGowan loves Taco Bell and maintains the exact same order since she was 13, which she can rattle off at record speed. Rachel chats with Taco Bell's unofficial historian about how a white guy started a Mexican fast food empire. Actor Danny Trejo, notorious for his villainous roles, has died on-screen more than any other actor. But in real life, he’s focused on living; he only serves healthy versions of Mexican dishes at Trejo’s Tacos in Los Angeles. Rachel chats with Denise Vallejo, vegan chef/owner of LA's Alchemy Organica, who says the original, pre-colonial Mexican food was practically vegan and completely void of the cheese, tortillas, pork and sugar you see today. Follow Rachel Belle and Your Last Meal on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to be the best tennis player in the world? Start playing when you're four years old! That's what Maria Sharapova did and after five career Grand Slams, an Olympic medal and an impressive 28 years of playing, she retired last year. But Maria is still working -- she's CEO of Sugarpova, her very own candy company, inspired by her love of collecting sweet treats when she traveled the world playing tennis. Maria was born in Russia and her happiest childhood memories are eating pelmeni and honey cake in her grandmother's kitchen. So Bonnie Morales, chef/owner of Kachka in Portland, Oregon, joins the show to talk about why she was inspired to open a modern Russian restaurant. Turns out, Maria, Bonnie and host Rachel Belle share an undying love for one the world's most under appreciated condiments (that's what we call a tease!). And Jewish linguist and professor Sarah Bunin Benor explains why we might pronounce hummus, challah and latke differently depending on who we're talking to. Follow 'Your Last Meal' and host Rachel Belle on Instagram!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the ice cream equivalent of Cher or Madonna: they need only be introduced by their first names. The boyhood buddies are just as well known for their activism as they are for flavors like Cherry Garcia and Chubby Hubby, unabashedly seeking equality for all on their own time and through Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors. It seems social justice + ice cream go together like hot fudge + whipped cream: host Rachel Belle chats with Madison, Wisconsin's Katrina Ervin, founder of Ice Cream Social, who started selling ice cream for a cause after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's murders. Ben reveals why Ben & Jerry's ice creams are famously studded with so many delicious chunks & Rachel interviews two doctors who have collectively been studying smell and taste for decades, Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta and Dr. Pamela Dalton. They say suddenly losing these senses to Covid can have serious psychological effects. And, we are all familiar with the fifth taste, umami, but Dr. Datta says there is also a secret sixth taste! Follow Your Last Meal on Instagram! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.