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WAMU's Local Food Podcast "Dish City"


Ruth Tam

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Hi all, I'm a producer at WAMU working on a new show called Dish City. With my co-host Patrick, I'm exploring city change in Washington, D.C. through the District's iconic foods (think: half smokes, Ethiopian food, mumbo sauce, pupusas, jumbo slice, etc). 

There are food & food history podcasts out there, but I don't know of one that zeroes in on D.C. specifically. Would you listen? What kinds of foods do you think we should be covering and what kinds of questions do you hope we explore? We're really open to feedback. 

We launch in September. It'll be just one season of 7 episodes --around 20 minutes each. If you like, you can follow us on Twitter to see what we're reading and what we're up to. 

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I'm surprised no one has responded yet.

This sounds great!  I'd like to hear about the big chefs that put DC on the food map, from Jean Louis Pallidan, to Jose Andres, to Aaron Silverman.  (Apologies to the dozens of great chefs I omitted.)  Also the recent (20 years or so!) explosion in the quantity and quality of restaurants.

Also, I'd like to have you interview Don.

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I would definitely listen.  I am not a big podcast person, but I like gaining local food knowledge.  I always like hearing about how things came to be- who started the trends, etc.  I would also love to hear tips on making things at home, or good recipes people like.

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20 hours ago, Ruth Tam said:

There are food & food history podcasts out there, but I don't know of one that zeroes in on D.C. specifically. Would you listen? What kinds of foods do you think we should be covering and what kinds of questions do you hope we explore? We're really open to feedback. 

I'd love to hear more about the places of yesteryear. I'm completely into nostalgia, so places and people  that have paved the way for the new guard, is what I would be interested in learning. 

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20 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

  I would also love to hear tips on making things at home, or good recipes people like.

Great idea!  Continuing this thought, maybe you can discuss how to make some classic dishes around here like the Lychee Salad at Rose's or the Roast Chicken at Kinship.

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23 hours ago, Bart said:

I'm surprised no one has responded yet.

This sounds great!  I'd like to hear about the big chefs that put DC on the food map, from Jean Louis Pallidan, to Jose Andres, to Aaron Silverman.  (Apologies to the dozens of great chefs I omitted.)  Also the recent (20 years or so!) explosion in the quantity and quality of restaurants.

Also, I'd like to have you interview Don.

We're planning on interviewing Don next week! I'm really excited. We don't know where he fits best in the series yet, but it's nonetheless valuable to our reporting process to talk to as many local food experts and figures as possible. I've already learned a lot just from our informal chats. 

We are definitely speaking to chefs (some of them of the celebrity variety). Our plan is to use longtime local dishes and cuisines to explore how things have changed rapidly in the past few decades. Each episode will focus on a different food and answer a question about how things have shifted in regards to neighborhood development, demographic shifts, etc. We'll do that by interviewing a wide range of Washingtonians: diners, restaurant owners, suppliers, chefs, etc. and welcome any more thoughts on who you think we should chat with.

23 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

I would definitely listen.  I am not a big podcast person, but I like gaining local food knowledge.  I always like hearing about how things came to be- who started the trends, etc.  I would also love to hear tips on making things at home, or good recipes people like.

That's great to hear! So far, Dish City is more of a food history project than a cooking project. But my cohost Patrick and I love to cook so perhaps recipes can be part of what we share on WAMU.org or on Twitter.

23 hours ago, curiouskitkatt said:

I'd love to hear more about the places of yesteryear. I'm completely into nostalgia, so places and people  that have paved the way for the new guard, is what I would be interested in learning. 

Good news: We'll definitely be covering places that play a role in local history and have been around for decades. Let me know if there are specific institutions you're interested in!

23 hours ago, Bart said:

Great idea!  Continuing this thought, maybe you can discuss how to make some classic dishes around here like the Lychee Salad at Rose's or the Roast Chicken at Kinship.

Interesting idea! I think for some folks, the lychee salad at Rose's or the roast chicken dish at Kinship might be classic. But for others, they may be relatively new, or not as accessible, as other so-called classics.

Our series focuses on dishes or cuisines that could be considered iconic because of their history with the District (half smokes, Ethiopian cuisine, pupusas, Jumbo Slice, mumbo/mambo sauce, etc.). While restaurants like Rose's and Kinship are certainly a part of D.C.'s story, we are opting for a populist approach to what could be considered "classic."

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Hey all, Dish City's first episode just dropped! You can subscribe on your favorite app of course, but it's also online if you prefer the web experience: https://wamu.org/story/19/09/12/dishcity-half-smokes.

If you have thoughts...you can share them with me in person! I'll be at The Passenger with my co-host Patrick next Tuesday to chat about the episode. In fact, every Tuesday for the next two months, we'll be at a different local bar to discuss our most recent episode. We figured it would be a fun way to meet listeners and hear feedback. Hope to see you there!

Here are the details: dishcity.org/sidedish

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