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A woman in a red shirt is standing in a commercial kitchen and is excited to try the tacos that are right in front of her.

Beyond The Menu

The story of the food on your plate is more than just the recipe. Each ingredient and every cooking technique goes back hundreds if not thousands of years, crisscrossing the globe on a wild culinary adventure. In Beyond The Menu, host Cecilia Phillips uncovers the backstory on some of today’s most popular dishes.

Don’t miss an episode! SUBSCRIBE to Beyond The Menu on YouTube.

Support for this program comes from the Krishnan Shah Family Foundation and supporters of the KQED Studios Fund.

A young light-skinned black woman stands in the foreground holding a bottle of chamoy. In the background, a large bottle of chamoy sauce is squeezed onto half an orange.

It’s Mexican, Asian, a Candy, a Sauce…It’s Chamoy

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A young light-skinned black woman with long hair holds chile peppers in two outstretched hands. There is a bowl of spicy chile paste behind her.

This Fiery Hot Sauce Uses a Pepper Lost To History

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A plate with a piece of fried chicken sitting on top of a waffle next to the show's host, Cecilia Phillips

Chicken and Waffles: from Amish Country to Harlem

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A close-up of a metal serving dish with rocky road ice cream scoops topped with marshmallow fluff next to a woman holding a jar of mini marshmallows and almonds in each hand.

The Chilling History of Ice Cream

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A close-up of a bag with store-bought corn tortillas next to a woman tearing up a tortilla with her hands.

Your Corn Tortilla Sucks…Science Can Fix It

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A smiling woman holding a samosa is positioned against a backdrop that is a closeup of a bowl filled with crispy triangular samosas

Samosas aren’t from India…Wait, what?

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A close-up of a birria taco with cheese next to the show's host, Cecilia Phillips.

Your Birria Taco Is Ancient History—Here’s Why

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A smiling woman is standing in the kitchen in front of four different sweet buns that each have a flag from their country of origin next to them.

Hong Kong’s Most Popular Treat Has A Surprising Backstory

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