0:09

Hello, and welcome to save our production of iHeart Radio.

0:11

I'm Annie Red and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today

0:13

we have an episode for you about turmeric.

0:17

Yes, which we discussed. I

0:19

have been mispronouncing my entire

0:21

life. I have left out that are been

0:23

spelling my entire life.

0:25

The first not turmeric. It is turmeric,

0:29

turmeric, turmic.

0:31

We're gonna try our best. We're gonna

0:34

try our best. You

0:36

know, it's always the one. Do you think you know that

0:39

twists the knife? Yeah?

0:43

Was there any particular reason this was on your mind?

0:45

Lauren?

0:46

Oh,

0:49

and there could have been. I

0:51

think I was looking for a spice And

0:54

this one has been on our list for a long time because

0:56

I haven't wanted to tackle it because it's a little bit

0:58

intensive and I've forgot

1:01

that and did not give myself enough

1:03

time to research. And that's why this episode

1:05

is going up a little bit late. So here we are,

1:08

Here we are.

1:09

Yeah. I feel like that's

1:11

the twenty twenty four so far.

1:14

I'm like, oh, yeah, oh yeah, this one's a lot.

1:17

Yeah.

1:17

I was ambitious. Well look where

1:19

it got me. Well,

1:23

here we are now, Yes,

1:27

And you can see our

1:29

past episode on spices perhaps

1:32

saffron.

1:32

Specifically ginger Yeah,

1:34

yeah, other rhizomes

1:38

with sabi, I don't know.

1:40

M Yes,

1:43

I do use turmeric pretty often, but I

1:47

don't even a specific It's usually kind of like I'm

1:50

feeling it, like I'm like this, I think it'll

1:52

go good here. I don't have like one thing that

1:54

stands out okay, this

1:56

one.

1:56

I use it very little to

1:58

none, to be honest, I've just never really

2:00

gotten a hang for like what I want

2:03

to put it in. But but after

2:05

doing this reading and like reading a bunch of different

2:07

recipes from around the world for different dishes

2:10

that incorporated, I'm like, well, I should

2:12

put it in more things like why aren't

2:14

I let's go.

2:17

Let's go, let's be ambitious

2:19

about this.

2:20

Lam Yes,

2:27

oh, don't say that, Laura, No, No.

2:32

Sole episode is just be trying to talk

2:34

about.

2:36

Well.

2:37

Okay, I guess that brings

2:39

us to right question. Yes, turmeric.

2:47

Well, turmeric is a type

2:49

of spice made from the fresh or

2:51

dried and powdered underground

2:53

stem of the turmeric plant.

2:56

It grows these these fleshy underground

2:58

stems, called rhizomes, as a

3:00

source of nutrition for itself. But

3:03

sucker, we like eating them too, because

3:05

because it's got this like lovely, warm,

3:08

bitter, earthy, peppery, citrusy

3:10

sort of flavor. These

3:12

rhizomes have a thin brownish skin

3:15

encasing a bright yellow orange flesh

3:17

that's juicy and like crunchy tough when

3:19

it's raw, but is often processed into a dried

3:21

ground powder. It's used in

3:23

both of those formats to add gentle,

3:26

bright heat to soups and

3:28

stews, and the powder format

3:31

often shows up in mostly savory spice

3:33

blends like curries for all

3:35

kinds of additional applications

3:37

like like rubs and marinades and sauces.

3:40

Both are also popular in beverages from

3:43

cold juices to hot herbal teas

3:45

and beyond, and can be used

3:47

in sweet applications like drinks or baked

3:49

goods. Turmeric

3:52

is sometimes also used more as a coloring

3:54

than is a flavoring because

3:56

of that really vivid orange

3:58

yellow kind of color. It's like it's

4:01

like if Ginger had a sibling

4:05

that was way more outwardly wild,

4:07

but like actually more mellow once you get to know him.

4:09

You know. Uh, It's

4:12

like if that if that specific

4:14

kind of glowing orange

4:17

sunset, that that's just simmering

4:19

on the edge of the horizon. It's

4:21

like if that type of sunset had a flavor.

4:26

Hmm, you paint a picture,

4:28

line, you paint a picture.

4:33

Okay.

4:33

So turmeric is a member of the ginger

4:36

family, and its botanical name

4:38

is a kirkma longa. Sure

4:41

there are about one hundred wild

4:43

and or alternate species in the same genus

4:46

that are also sometimes used as turmeric

4:48

is used. Scientists like to argue

4:50

about the taxonomy, which I

4:52

always love. I love reading taxonomical

4:55

articles where they're like, well, but really we

4:57

should think about and I'm like, yes, we

5:00

should.

5:01

So cool.

5:02

Anyway, it is a tropical plant that

5:04

grows these fleshy, bulbous

5:07

rhizomes underground, running horizontally,

5:10

and then more secondary rhizomes will grow

5:12

down off of those, like like weird knobby

5:14

fingers. From those rhizomes,

5:17

the true roots shoot down, and then

5:19

above ground pseudostems will shoot up.

5:22

Meanwhile, more horizontal rhizomes will

5:24

shoot off to the sides. And that is actually

5:26

the only way that turmeric reproduces.

5:29

It does not.

5:30

Create viable seeds. Yeah

5:33

yeah right. Those above ground

5:35

pseudostems will grow large, oblong

5:38

pointed green leaves really pretty up

5:40

to about three feet tall, that's around a meter or

5:42

so, and some will grow these clusters

5:45

of flowers that are in sort of like a cob

5:47

or a cone shape, in shades

5:49

of white, with either like green, yellow, or

5:51

pink to purple coloration. Though

5:54

they don't flower consistently because

5:57

that's not how they spread. They don't

5:59

really need to, so they're like, yeah, hecket.

6:02

The nubs on the

6:04

rhizome itself are where from either

6:06

those pseudostems shot up or where it

6:08

was like thinking about sending up new ones. The

6:11

whole plant is edible. The leaves

6:14

are used as a leafy green addition to soups

6:16

and stews, and apparently have like a sort of grassy

6:18

mint tart flavor.

6:21

Yeah.

6:21

They're also used as wrappers to steam other foods

6:24

in and can be pickled. During my reading,

6:26

I ran across a recipe for Malaysian style

6:29

rendang that uses turmeric leaves,

6:31

and I was like, ooh, all right, Yeah.

6:34

The flowers apparently have like a sweet scent

6:37

and a mild sort of peppery flavor

6:39

and a real like delicate crispness

6:41

to them. They're often used in salads

6:43

or sauces or are steamed with rice

6:45

to add their flavor to the rice. I

6:49

know, right, I had never even thought about eating

6:52

heck and turmeric flowers, and now I really

6:54

want to. I've never gotten my ginger

6:57

plant to flour either. I

6:59

oh oh no, Now I'm like, but

7:01

I could eat ginger flowers.

7:03

What okay? Okay? Turmeric?

7:08

Yeah, the star of the show here really is

7:10

that rhizome. They are themselves

7:12

pretty sturdy to transport, though

7:14

they go dormant during cold temperatures and

7:17

otherwise unideal growing conditions, but will

7:19

often start sprouting new roots and stems once

7:22

they get back to a favorable condition type

7:24

of place. The rhizome can be

7:26

sliced or grated fresh into whatever

7:28

application you like, or once ground

7:30

and dried, it'll I mean, you know, it'll dull a

7:32

little bit over time, but basically keep really well.

7:36

So as a food, it

7:38

is used in curries all over the world, and

7:40

lots of other foods from the Indian subcontinent

7:42

and nearby regions, but you know, kind

7:45

of everywhere. It lends a depth

7:47

of flavor to things, a sort of

7:49

mildly bitter, peppery.

7:51

Earthy spice.

7:53

Yeah, some of The compounds responsible

7:56

for that flavor are called termerons,

7:59

named after the plant. As

8:02

a dye, it can be used to create

8:04

these beautiful shades of yellow or yellow

8:06

orange in both homemade foods like

8:08

steamed rice or pickles, or

8:11

in processed foods like check

8:13

the ingredient label of essentially anything

8:15

that is yellow, from mustard

8:18

to mac and cheese.

8:20

If it's yellow, there's a decent

8:23

chance that turmeric is in it.

8:25

It is also used to create edible or

8:27

inedible dyes and paints, and

8:30

in textiles, sometimes with religious

8:32

or other cultural significance. For

8:35

example, in some sects of Buddhism, turmeric

8:37

might be used to dye cloth for monk's robes,

8:39

or in some Hindu cultures it might be

8:42

used to dye ceremonial wearables or

8:44

festive throwing powders for weddings

8:47

for the former and various holidays like

8:49

Holy for the latter. The

8:52

color is pH sensitive. It will turn

8:54

red in very alkaline conditions,

8:56

and the red format

8:59

of it is used for similar applications.

9:01

It's also sometimes used in like litmus test

9:04

strips. So fun

9:06

ostensibly a food show. Here we are, I

9:09

will say that the coloration of turmeric

9:12

will totally stain your skin,

9:14

your cook wear, your clothing, and linens.

9:17

You can try wearing gloves when working with fresh

9:19

turmeric, or or like rubbing down your

9:21

wooden cooking utensils with cooking oil before

9:24

using them with a turmeric mix. But

9:28

once you get it in your in your linens. I am

9:30

not a laundry expert. You

9:32

ask the Internet about that one, I'm not. I'm

9:34

not even gonna try.

9:39

You air out your dirty laundry on the air.

9:41

Yeah, yeah, here on I

9:45

will.

9:45

I haven't tried it for turmeric, but I will say

9:47

that that frequent sponsor

9:50

oxy clean.

9:51

They're not paying me to say this right now.

9:53

But like it really is heck and effective on

9:55

most things that I throw at it anyway.

9:58

H again

10:02

ostensibly a food show. Yeah,

10:06

well what about

10:08

the nutrition? Hoof? Hoof?

10:11

Okay, let

10:15

me start by saying that that oof.

10:17

If you have not been to the

10:19

aforementioned Internet, turmeric

10:21

has had like a very popular

10:24

moment in the sun as a cure

10:26

all for everything that everyone

10:28

wants to tell you about and possibly sell you. That

10:31

is why I am sighing right now. I will

10:34

say, Okay, as with many

10:36

spices, you are generally not

10:38

eating enough turmeric for it

10:40

to have any kind of major nutritive

10:43

effect in your system.

10:46

In that it provides a lot of flavor

10:48

and color bang for for a

10:50

low caloric buck. It's a really great

10:52

addition to foods and drinks to make them more fun.

10:55

Yeah, all

10:57

right, but let's

11:00

let's dip into those health claims just a little

11:02

bit deeper. So historically and

11:04

modernly, turmeric has been used for

11:06

all dang kinds of potential health benefits.

11:09

Now, turmeric gets its color

11:12

from compounds called kircuminoids,

11:15

yes, named after the genus. The main one is called

11:18

curcumen, and kurcumin

11:21

has been shown to have various useful

11:23

effects, mostly

11:26

in lab research that is, not in living

11:28

creatures, that is, studies in vitro,

11:31

but occasionally in human or other

11:33

animal subjects. It can be

11:35

antimicrobial, antioxidant,

11:37

anti inflammatory, and anti cancer.

11:41

Unfortunately, kurcumen

11:44

also is not very bioavailable

11:47

when you ingest it, meaning

11:49

that that our bodies have a hard time getting

11:51

to it and using it when we eat it. Researchers

11:55

are working on ways to improve that, but

11:58

for right now, basically turmeric

12:02

and cercumen gives really

12:04

promising results in the lab in

12:06

vitro sometimes when

12:08

applied to animals intravenously, but

12:11

when we eat it, it just does not last

12:13

long enough in our bodies to

12:16

actually get used. So

12:20

all that being said, if you enjoy

12:22

it, if it makes you feel better,

12:25

go on ahead, do yeah,

12:27

eat that thing, drink that golden latte.

12:29

I want you to.

12:31

But you know, just like as always,

12:33

you know, be wary of anyone selling you

12:36

an expensive cure all and

12:38

furthermore, taking too much as a supplement

12:41

is probably going to give you a kidney disorder, so.

12:43

Don't do that.

12:45

As with anything

12:48

save or motto, bodies are complicated.

12:50

More research is necessary before

12:53

ingesting a medicinal dose, little anything,

12:55

you should consult a doctor who is

12:58

not us.

13:00

Nope, well we are not that

13:03

ambitious in this new year. No, No,

13:05

certainly never.

13:08

No.

13:10

Well, we do have a couple numbers

13:12

for you.

13:13

We do.

13:14

India accounts were around seventy five

13:16

percent of the world's turmeric production.

13:19

I've read up to eighty percent, but somewhere

13:22

right around there.

13:22

Yeah.

13:22

Yeah.

13:23

Other major producers do include China, me

13:25

and mar Nigeria, Bangladesh,

13:27

Fiji, Peru, and Ethiopia.

13:31

The United States imports the most,

13:33

accounting for around a fifth of

13:35

the total import market value around

13:38

the world. I

13:40

don't have a really good number for this one, but I really wanted

13:42

to mention it because, Okay, I mentioned Holy

13:44

earlier, but there is another

13:47

religious festival at this one Hindu temple

13:49

in like central southeast India in

13:52

the city Jeijuri, where whenever

13:54

a new moon falls on a Monday, practitioners

13:57

come and just dows

13:59

the temple in turmeric powder, just

14:02

throwing it all the heck.

14:03

Over the place.

14:04

It's it's a big, wild,

14:07

beautiful celebration, like

14:10

actual tons of powder are used.

14:12

From what I can tell, it happens like

14:14

two or three times a year.

14:16

Wow. So cool. And

14:20

sources vary.

14:22

But I read that the global market for turmeric

14:24

is worth some four and a half billion dollars a

14:27

year.

14:29

Wow. Yeah. Yeah, people

14:31

are into it and they have been for a while.

14:33

Oh my heck.

14:34

Yes, yes, we do have a

14:37

good bit of history for you, and we are going to get

14:39

into that as soon as we get back from a quick break. For a

14:41

word from our sponsors, and

14:51

we're back. Thank you sponsoring, Oh yes, thank you.

14:55

Okay. So, turmeric is

14:57

native to Southern Asia and so Pacific

15:00

islands, and its history is thousands of years

15:02

old. Particularly, it has

15:05

been cultivated for a long time in India,

15:08

and from there it spread along trade routes and

15:12

through the travel of monks as well to places

15:14

like China by seven hundred CE, East

15:16

Africa by eight hundred CE, West Africa

15:19

by twelve hundred CE, and then much

15:21

later to Jamaica in the eighteenth

15:23

century. More on that in a bit. It

15:25

also spread to the Middle East and eventually Europe,

15:29

and pretty early on people discovered the process

15:32

of boiling and drying the rhizomes

15:34

or the underground stems, and then grinding

15:36

them into this powder.

15:40

Yes, so throughout much of its history

15:42

in India for at least four thousand,

15:45

five hundred years, based on residue

15:47

found on pots in the area. I

15:50

love when we get this kind of like archaeological

15:53

archeological evidence. Yes, it

15:56

has been used as a culinary spice, but

15:58

also medicinally and in

16:01

religious ceremonies. By five

16:03

hundred BCE, it was integrated

16:06

as an integral part of the Aravedic medicine,

16:08

which is different podcasts, but essentially

16:11

this is an ancient system of natural healing.

16:14

That was developed and practiced in India, so

16:17

it was a big part of that, and turmeric was believed

16:19

to alleviate all kinds of ailments

16:22

inhaling. The smoke as it burned was

16:25

thought to act as a decongestant. As

16:27

a decongestant, the juice used

16:30

to treat bruises and cuts, the paste

16:32

was a treatment for a whole range of skin conditions,

16:35

including things like chicken pox, and

16:37

that's really just like the tip of the ice per.

16:41

Yes.

16:41

Literature from the time boasted

16:43

over one hundred medicinal uses for turmeric,

16:46

and on top of that, it was used

16:49

as a dye for clothing or

16:51

things like that, and in many cultures the

16:53

color was viewed as.

16:54

Symbolic, sure symbolic for all

16:57

kinds of different things. In Hindu cultures

16:59

it is some time associated specifically with prosperity,

17:02

fertility, and sort of general good

17:04

luck. It was

17:06

also one of the plants brought to the Hawaiian Islands

17:09

with one of the waves of Polynesian canoe

17:11

immigration and became revered there

17:13

for its flavor and color as well.

17:16

And going back to China, places

17:18

like China also had extensive medicinal

17:20

uses for it. Allegedly

17:24

Marco Polo wrote about turmeric and

17:26

its likeness to saffron in twelve

17:28

AIGHTCE. Through

17:30

colonization and globalization, turmeric

17:33

was introduced to the West in the fifteen

17:35

hundreds.

17:36

Which brings us to how

17:39

no one is sure at all how

17:41

we got the English word turmeric.

17:45

The sort of romantic story is that it

17:47

comes from this French

17:49

via Latin tera merita,

17:52

meaning meritorious or worthy

17:55

earth. But

17:58

some et homology point

18:00

to an Arabic name for it,

18:03

Kirkham, and think

18:05

that turmeric was

18:07

like a folk etymology corruption of

18:10

that word. Kirkham

18:14

is definitely where we got the genus name

18:16

from, though that's sort

18:18

of confusing too, because Kirkham

18:21

has also been used as a word for

18:23

saffron. It

18:25

seems it seems that in a bunch of different languages

18:28

throughout history, the name for turmeric

18:30

has either been the same word

18:33

as the color yellow okay, or

18:36

it's been a sort of a like a

18:38

phrase meaning not quite

18:40

saffron. The

18:45

true entry of tera into

18:47

the picture might have, in fact been from

18:49

a Portuguese name for turmeric that

18:51

basically meant to like dirt saffron, so.

18:57

Any or

19:01

turmeric always getting compared just saffron

19:04

and know.

19:04

Right, like, come on, they're both real nice,

19:06

They're both real nice.

19:09

They are is this is

19:12

this reigniting your desire for an

19:14

etymology show, Laura, Oh y, yes, turn

19:17

right, oh.

19:17

No oh no, this this is a shortened

19:20

version. I found an entire an

19:22

entire academic paper about the etymology

19:25

of turmeric, and it made me so happy.

19:29

I love it. A lot of times when I see those etymological

19:32

notes, I'm like, I'll let Lauren, it'll

19:36

give her some joy. And it's complicated

19:39

for me.

19:39

So.

19:42

Yeah, yes, anyway,

19:44

all right, anyway. So

19:48

many early English publications

19:51

indicated a fascination with the color of

19:53

turmeric. Specifically, an

19:55

herbal from sixteen ninety four mentioned

19:58

that the English believed it to be novel

20:01

and perhaps even weird, and

20:04

a part of this, given the writings at the time, was rooted

20:06

in sort of a racist exoticism. I'm

20:08

like ooh, and that

20:10

when used culinarily, it

20:13

acted as a marker to differentiate

20:15

those dishes as not traditional

20:17

English should because the color was

20:20

clear. Sure, European

20:22

recipes from this time indicate that it was not

20:24

infrequently used more for color

20:26

than for flavor. Again, Hannah

20:29

glasses seventeen forty seven book The Art

20:31

of Cookery Made Plain and Easy included

20:33

a recipe for an Indian pickle

20:36

with turmeric, and a later

20:38

edition called for turmeric as an ingredient

20:40

in Indian curry. Mary

20:43

Randolph's eighteen thirty one edition of

20:45

The Virginia Housewife also had a

20:47

recipe for an Indian curry

20:50

with turmeric as one of the ingredients.

20:53

And this is about when commercial curry powders

20:55

started to become available, and

20:58

many of the advertisements for them lauded their

21:00

purported medicinal properties for things like digestion.

21:03

I can really find more about it than that, other

21:06

than industrially industrialization

21:10

powdered form to share, we go yeah,

21:12

yep, yep.

21:14

Well. The compound Kerkuemen was

21:17

first isolated in eighteen fifteen.

21:20

Okay, okay. As

21:22

people from India immigrated around the

21:24

world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,

21:27

sometimes against their will, they brought turmeric

21:30

with them to places like the Caribbean, where

21:32

it was adopted into the local cuisine

21:34

and sometimes used medicinally. And

21:39

as you alluded to Lauren

21:41

at the top, in the US, turmeric

21:43

is having its superfood health food

21:46

moment has been for

21:48

a couple of years in my experience,

21:52

especially in like a tea form or other beverage

21:54

form like a golden latte.

21:57

Right, which is yeah, yeah

21:59

yeah, which is a which which I mentioned earlier

22:01

and then did not explain if you have not heard of this, it's

22:04

milk or often coconut milk steeped

22:06

with turmeric.

22:08

Yes, yes, it has

22:11

been incorporated into a lot of health

22:14

foods, but the popularity

22:17

came with the price. At twenty seventeen study

22:19

led by an environmental researcher found

22:21

widespread lead contamination and

22:23

turmeric purchased in stores. And

22:27

this is because to meet demand,

22:29

some producers have started adding the

22:31

industrial paint pigment chromate

22:34

to give turmeric that vibrant

22:36

color. Fadeed't have enough or if they're cutting it with something

22:39

else. The study

22:41

primarily looked at samples being sold in the US,

22:43

but found some being sold in Bangladesh

22:46

as well. Yeah yeah,

22:49

yep. And the practice goes back to at

22:52

least the nineteen eighties, when a massive flood

22:54

left a lot of Bangladesh's turmeric dull

22:56

in color and everybody really wanted that vibrant

22:58

turmeric. The producers added

23:01

in some chromates, which we've talked

23:03

about before with mac and

23:05

cheese. I believe Sharon talked about the sort

23:07

of adding and of

23:10

something that is not the thing to get the color that

23:12

you expect. Yeah. Yes,

23:17

so that's unfortunate because you

23:19

know, number one, you

23:22

don't want that. No, No, that's bad.

23:25

Number two, if it's you

23:27

think you're doing a healthy thing, and then that's

23:31

not the case because you're being misled

23:34

by producers, that's not good either.

23:37

And then I would assume that a

23:41

lot of the people behind behind

23:43

it are not getting any

23:46

of the profits, are not being paid for

23:48

this loss of due to flood

23:51

turmer crop. So it's

23:54

not good.

23:55

But here we are, Yeah,

24:00

still increasingly popular and

24:03

hopefully hopefully some regulatory

24:06

services people will clean up their acts.

24:11

Hopefully. Yeah, just

24:14

need more ambition to you. You're

24:17

right, you're right.

24:18

We all need to be just a little

24:20

bit more ambitious.

24:21

Yeah, that's right.

24:22

Okay, all right,

24:25

Well you got me on that one, Reese.

24:28

I don't know if I did, but I'll accept the wind.

24:31

I'll accept the wind. Listeners.

24:34

If you have any turmeric recipes

24:38

ways that you use it, we would love

24:40

to hear from you, but

24:43

I think that's what we have to say about turmeric for now. It

24:46

is, it is.

24:47

We do already have some listener mail for you, though,

24:49

and we are going to get into that as soon as we get back from

24:51

one more quick break for a word from our sponsors.

25:02

And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, And

25:05

we're back with listeners like

25:15

a sunset. Yeah. Oh,

25:20

I love this person so

25:23

short, but it's a brief but chilling

25:26

message and we needed to share. Christine

25:29

wrote, we are getting a new

25:32

US fast food chain looking to move into

25:34

Australia, Chuck E Cheese.

25:37

I am officially scared indoor

25:41

message you

25:45

should be. Yeah, yeah,

25:48

see, I love There's

25:52

so much of our job that is like kind

25:54

of bizarre and funny to me. But one

25:56

of the things is once you research something, you get a lot

25:58

of updates about it. I get a lot of updates

26:00

about check E Cheese. And

26:04

from what I understand, they've gotten rid.

26:07

We talked about it in the episode, but from what I understand,

26:09

they've completely gotten rid of the

26:11

animatronics, in part

26:14

hilariously due to five nights

26:16

at Freddy's, which

26:18

I love. That is great.

26:23

We don't need kids being scared these

26:25

things.

26:26

They were scared before that video game.

26:28

I promise they were.

26:30

Yes, I speak from

26:32

a personal experience.

26:33

I yep, it was unsettling.

26:36

But now, Christine, I

26:39

mean, I'm not saying you need to go to Chuck

26:41

E Cheese, but if you get any other news

26:44

or updates about the

26:46

Chuck E Cheese in Australia, we're

26:48

counting on you.

26:51

I I need to know everything about this. This

26:54

is very important to me.

26:58

As well.

26:59

How I mean, is Australia

27:02

really ready for an anthropomorphic

27:07

mouse that skateboarding,

27:10

that skateboards and loves pizza?

27:13

I think they might be.

27:15

Is it the best place for that mouse? I don't

27:17

know, I feel all let

27:19

us.

27:21

Pullee. Oh

27:27

okay.

27:28

Laurie wrote regarding

27:30

funny stories on regional foods that we in western

27:33

Pennsylvania Pittsburgh area just assume

27:35

were standard everywhere. A

27:37

woman from the area was invited to a wedding of friends

27:39

in the South. She said she would help out

27:41

with cookies. The family assumed

27:44

a few cookies to stock on while decorating

27:46

for the wedding, or in the room with the bride

27:48

and bridesmaids to get ready the

27:50

woman and her daughter baked for days. Every

27:53

possible area of the motorhome had boxes

27:55

and containers of cookies. The bride's

27:58

family was flabbergasted. They

28:00

had no idea what to do with so many cookies, and the

28:02

venue was not set up with a space traysed

28:04

tables for the cookies, nor were their

28:06

plans for cookie plates for guests to use.

28:10

Second story involves chicken salad.

28:13

In western Pennsylvania. Your chicken or

28:15

steak salad has the normal lettuce,

28:17

veggies, meat, and cheese, but also

28:19

has French fries. My sister

28:22

in law was traveling and ordered a chicken salad.

28:24

It's brought out to her and she instantly asks

28:26

the waitress where her fries are. The

28:29

waitress said she didn't order fries.

28:31

My sister in law said she ordered a chicken

28:33

salad. The waitress said yeah.

28:37

They were both so confused. Now,

28:40

when traveling, my sister in law specifically

28:42

asks if it comes with fries, and if

28:44

not, orders a side of fries on

28:47

the salad.

28:50

That's amazing.

28:51

This entire fries

28:54

on salads and sandwiches thing is fascinating

28:56

to me.

28:57

I love it. It's like such a specific

28:59

thing.

29:00

My family lived in Ohio and

29:02

in Pennsylvania for a few years when I was growing up.

29:05

At one point Dad was working

29:07

in the hotel restaurant industry

29:09

and was traveling a lot for that, so he

29:11

traveled around western Pennsylvania

29:13

quite a bit and really got a taste for the

29:15

fries on a sandwich kind of situation, to

29:18

the point that decades later,

29:20

when we were living in South Florida, he was living

29:22

in South Florida. I went to visit him and he was like,

29:25

I have to take you to this deli. I

29:27

was like, what's so cool about the deli? He was like, they

29:29

put fries on the sandwiches.

29:35

It was like a forty minute drive out to the beach.

29:38

He was so psyched. It was really I

29:46

love this so much because you

29:48

know, if you told me chicken salad,

29:50

I'm not envisioning fries at all. There's

29:53

this is the first time I've heard of it. I

29:57

think it's probably delicious. Oh yeah,

29:59

oh yea yeah.

30:00

There are very few things that honestly,

30:02

like like deep fried potatoes don't improve

30:05

at a certain point, like.

30:08

Right, oh absolutely, And

30:11

I just love like I

30:14

hope that The waitress later was like, you know

30:17

what I should try that, but

30:19

I would be I would be flummoxed as well. What

30:22

are you talking about? I

30:28

love it so much. And

30:31

then the thing with the cookies is great too.

30:33

Yeah, that's such a good, so

30:35

sweet, oh goodness, that is very

30:38

very endearing.

30:40

And I just adore so much. Again,

30:43

like we we come from these different

30:45

places, we have these different experiences. If you say

30:47

cookies to me, I'm envisioning a certain amount

30:49

yeah, ties. To someone else, they're

30:52

visioning a different amount,

30:55

a confusing amount

30:57

of cookies to you. Yes, yes, yes,

31:01

hopefully. Though I

31:03

love these like, I

31:06

find them very very cute. It's kind of like

31:09

differences in our regions. Oh yeah,

31:11

that we assume our universities. Yeah, because

31:14

they're like well everywhere where I'm from.

31:16

Mm hmm.

31:17

Yeah. If I say I'm making cookies, you

31:20

better be ready. I

31:22

love it. Oh

31:26

well. Thank you so much to both of

31:28

those listeners for writing in. If

31:30

you would like to write to us, you can our

31:32

emails hello at savorpod dot com. And

31:34

we're also in social media.

31:35

You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

31:38

at saver pod and we do hope to hear from

31:40

you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio.

31:42

For more podcasts my heart Radio, you can visit

31:44

the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

31:47

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks

31:49

as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan

31:51

and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and

31:53

we hope that lots of more good things are coming your way.