Food talk: An excellent list of culinary podcasts
Editor’s note: From culinary histories to celebs on their ghar ka khana, here’s the spailner team’s list of fave food podcasts. Funny, informative—with excellent ideas for your next foray into the kitchen.
Dish: This interview podcast is hosted by Nick Grimshaw—a former BBC Radio 1 host—and Michelin star chef Angela Hartnett. They chat with TV and movie celebrities while sharing a meal—from wines to main course and desserts. Aarthi loves the free-flowing format—which is, however, sharply focused on food habits and cultures. She highly recommends the episodes with Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Tom Holland. The best bit: You can get all the recipes here.
Table Manners: This is another celebrity interview podcast with hosts Chef Lennie Ware and her daughter Jessie—who have recorded over 200 episodes together since 2017. The episodes are at least an hour long but you hardly feel the passage of time. It almost feels like you’re at the dining table with them. Aarthi recommends their recent episode with Jesse Eisenberg—which gives you added insight into his Jewish heritage and, of course, food! A bonus: Milly Bobby Brown—which is beyond hilarious.
Gastropod: This one’s for the food nerds! The award-winning podcast was launched in 2014 and is co-hosted by journalist Cynthia Graber and author Nicola Twilley. They offer deep dives through the lens of science and history—interviewing food scientists, chefs and historians. They look for answers to all sorts of intriguing questions—for example, ‘How the Carrot Became Orange, and Other Stories’ or ‘How Refrigeration Changed Everything’.
Beyond Butter Chicken: A podcast about the rich and diverse regional cuisines of India. Hosted by food and travel writer Roxanne Bamboat—better known as The Tiny Taster—each episode explores flavors, dishes, and food traditions of a regional cuisine. Yash’s favourite episode features Rakesh Raghunathan talking about common misconceptions around South Indian food. The episode covers street food, desserts, and the differences in biryani styles across the region.
Big Food Energy: Host Smitha Menon—former Culinary Editor at Condé Nast Traveller—brings over a decade of experience covering the evolution of food in India. She speaks to the top food entrepreneurs shaping the future of dining, drinks, and hospitality in the country—be it innovative chefs like Prateek Sandhu in India or Michelin chef Deepankar Khosla in Bangkok. A standout episode is with Nakul Bhonsle, founder of Great State Aleworks, where he discusses how building a strong community—not just great beer—helped his brand thrive.
NoSugarCoat: Pastry chef and founder of Mumbai’s Le15 Patisserie Pooja Dhingra talks about ‘food entrepreneurship’ with the smartest minds in the culinary industry.
Together, they trace the journeys of specific businesses—what can and does go wrong in the kitchen, and what makes a winner. The latest episode has chef Ranveer Brar in conversation with Dhingra, and one of our favourite episodes is the one with Bangalore’s Vinesh Johny—-where two pastry chefs talk about everything other than sugar.
