A SHARED LOVE OF FOOD + CULTURE, FOOD IS CULTURE | A PODCAST
BREAKING BREAD WITH BILLY
Food is an essential part of daily life. Fundamentally it is our source of maintaining good health; we require it in order to properly function both mentally and physically. The science and history of food, although a fascinating and important part of human life, isn't the perspective in which I'm discussing food with you today. The spotlight I'm shining here embraces the personal experiences that connect us to culinary traditions and one another. This perspective is one that highlights the aspects that nourish not only our palette, but our emotional needs and a deeper understanding of humanity. I'd say this is arguably just as fundamental; let me know if you agree. A celebration of cultural identities through food all while giving you an added bonus of freedom to escape to places unknown.
"This perspective is one that is angled on the aspects that nourish not only our palette, but our emotional needs and a deeper understanding of humanity."
As a natural conversationalist with a passion for the culinary arts, Billy Buttery created Food Is Culture | A Podcast, a culinary audio adventure around the world! However there is much more to her vision and it's one centred around creating awareness of all cultures by sharing traditions and breaking bread with each other regardless of ethnicity, race, religious belief. We're very fortunate to live in a city like ours but we do have our share of conflicts with room for improvement. Being Canada's largest multicultural centre, Toronto provides a vastly diverse landscape that offers access to further educating ourselves on cultural and racial matters. This is exactly where Billy drew her biggest inspiration from. With the conversations around #blacklivesmatter and need to come together as a human race this past year she saw the opportunity to further educate and create awareness for herself, her children, and her audience by celebrating diversity with friends who's roots stem from all parts of the world. Featured on Food Is Culture so far are inspiring explorations of the following destinations: Guyana, Germany, China, Italy, the UK, Jewish traditions hailing from different parts of the world, Ireland, Portugal, and this is just the beginning! Not only does Billy lay out the perfect spread sending you on a planning mission for your next vacation, but she also enlightens her listeners to further embrace cultural differences.
MIDNIGHT TABLE, PORT, & VINHO VERDE...AND BEYOND.
I recently had the absolute pleasure of sharing my culture's culinary history with the lovely Billy Buttery on her newly launched podcast - Food Is Culture. With a couple of drinks in hand and the safe socially distanced comforts of our respective homes we travelled back to my place of birth - Portugal! On Episode #8: Midnight Table, Port, & Vinho Verde, we covered culinary specialties, wine, late night eats, some of my favourite experiences on my travels back home, traditions we celebrate in Portugal and continue here within the immigrant community, and unearthed some more of what's influenced the woman I am today (the part about my grandmother). It was without a doubt one of the best conversations I've ever had about my Portuguese roots! Let me give you a tiny preview of what to expect; we played a quick fire Q&A game to which she asked "if you had to describe your personality through a food or a dish what would it be?", my instant reply..."a midnight buffet!!!!"
The timing of our recording was impeccable with the holidays approaching. It got even more perfectly aligned when she broadcasted our episode on Christmas Eve. Having to spend the holidays without my family this year was pretty difficult to say the least but in came Billy with the gift I needed most - nostalgia and a spark of light. As if she was reading my mind or something!!! Billy and I have known one another for many years. We met through mutual friends and eventually gravitated towards one another - likes attract likes after all. Thanks to the wonderful world of social media we've never lost touch. In fact I've always admired her confidence and love her perspectives as a woman, and mother. I'm not sure if she even recalls this, but I think the moment that really bonded us took place around this time of year over tangerines, an excessive amount of holiday chocolate (which we all laughed about after) and some deep mystic conversations - uh yes, of course we're into that kind of stuff! To say that we're on the same wavelength is an understatement, which you'll get a sense of when you listen to the episode!
Since we're grounded for the time being with travel restrictions in place - she's put together great recommendations for local restaurants, and recipes so you can explore the world and expand your knowledge no matter where you're located. Which reminds me that I still owe her my mother's recipe to the classic pastry, Rissóis de Camarão e Bacalhau. DISCLAIMER: You may find yourself going down a rabbit whole of food, wine regions, beaches, medieval cities, tiles, cobble stone streets, graffiti and street art - I've provided a photo gallery below to give you a little taste. I'm going to do the same with every one of her other episodes. I'm sure you're going to enjoy listening just as much as I loved doing the podcast with her. Her personality is infectious in the best way, her endless curiosity and knowledge in gastronomy adds such a great basis for each kitchen of the world she takes us into. Don't forget to follow the @foodisculture.apodcast on Instagram as well so you're up to date on every new episode. She's definitely inspired what every one of my future #staycations or longing for a quick escape looks like. So the only thing left to do is pour yourself a glass of wine...if you're anything like Billy and I you'll get the brown liquor out, and get ready to take off on a little trip to Portugal on our episode of Food Is Culture.
CHIN CHIN!!
Comments