Lakshmi digs deeper than food in her ‘Taste’
In the Season 2 premiere of Padma Lakshmi’s passion project, Hulu’s “Taste the Nation” (now streaming), the “Top Chef” host, cookbook author, former model and one of Time’s 100 most influential people of the year succinctly sums up her show. While visiting Puerto Rico, Lakshmi says that “to eat is political.” (And since she was in Puerto Rico, she said it in Spanish, of course.)
“The choices we make when we buy our food and feed our families − it’s political,” Lakshmi tells USA TODAY. “It’s an economic decision. It’s of course a culinary and an economic decision, but it’s also political. How you spend your money is really important.”
Lakshmi wants to point these things out in “Nation,” which is far more ambitious than your average travelogue show with a celebrity host. Lakshmi, 52, travels around the U.S. tasting foods from different cultures and areas, with the goal of highlighting and demystifying immigrant populations. That’s “the whole point of the show,” says Lakshmi, who emigrated to the U.S. from India when she was 4.
We caught up with the host to talk about Season 2 of “Nation,” the 20th season of Bravo’s “Top Chef” and how long she can keep these jobs as a working mother.
Question: In the season premiere of “Nation,” you visit Puerto Rico and use food as a metaphor to discuss the debate around independence. Why did you want to go there?
Answer: A lot of people don’t know (Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.)! I live in New York City, and I see that sometimes people, when they see Puerto Ricans (they say) “Oh, you know. I can’t believe they’re coming here.” That’s why the Puerto Rican episode is really important. Because of an archaic shipping law from almost 100 years ago, Puerto Ricans pay 25% more for groceries on the island than they would here in New York City, where it’s expensive . ... Puerto Ricans can’t grow a lot of food on a large-scale basis. So that’s a very big political issue.
What other communities do you want to highlight in Season 2?
I really wanted to do an episode on Ukrainian immigrants because of the war. We felt like that was really important to do, and also talk about antisemitism at the same time. I’m very proud of the Ukrainian episode. I think it’s really sweet, especially because we covered this babushka pageant, which is adorable.
The series premiered in 2020, which was a hard year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you think things are worse and more polarized now in 2023?
Yes, I do think that we’re more polarized. We’ve just become very, very estranged from each other . ... I didn’t create the show for an audience that thought like me because those people don’t need convincing. It’s really a show designed for people who are maybe afraid of immigration, who maybe don’t understand why we have to let a lot of these refugees (into the country), who maybe don’t vote blue, or are in red states.
“Top Chef” Season 20 is airing on Bravo right now. That show seems to get better with age. How long do you think it can keep going?
Gosh, I don’t know. Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised that it’s gone on for this long. If you had told me when I first signed up way back when that I would still be doing the show, I don’t think I would have believed you. I would have been like, “Come on, you know, it’s just cooking.”