Episode 1: Preservation, with Katia Kelly

When Katia Kelly inherits a sacred family heirloom - her mother’s recipe book filled with hand-written recipes and notes - it opens up a discussion about the important role home cooking plays in helping preserve one’s history and culture. Over a pot of English breakfast tea, we discuss Katia’s journey from Germany to France and then the United States, where she eventually settles in the sleepy neighborhood of Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, New York. From condensed milk to linzer torte, we learn about the way recipes can represent a progression of our lives. Katia teaches us that no matter how much changes in the world around us, we can always stay connected to our memories and life experiences through the simple act of cooking.

Listen now on:

A recipe from Katia’s family cookbook can be found in Issue 4: Grandma.

You can become a supporter of the Peddler podcast, The House Specials, by purchasing an issue of Peddler or making a donation to fund the production of the podcast.

Episode 2: Passion, with EunYoung Sebazco

In this episode, we learn about the power that the humble grain of rice has in opening up larger conversations. We travel to Randall’s Island Park to visit horticulturist and rice pioneer EunYoung Sebazco whose passion for rice led her to create one of the only known rice paddies in New York City. We learn about her journey in creating the rice paddies—how she managed to do so in an urban setting using a single book and her grandmother’s wisdom—as well as the unexpected discovery about her own family that she stumbled upon along the way.

Listen now on:

The print version of this story can be found in Issue 3: Rice

You can become a supporter of the Peddler podcast, The House Specials, by purchasing an issue of Peddler or making a donation to fund the production of the podcast.

Learn more:

EunYoung’s rice project LiveRice
Randall’s Island Park Alliance Urban Farm

Episode 3: Yearning, with Szeki Chan

This episode is part 1 of a 2 part series on tomato and egg, a classic homestyle dish that has come to represent so much for children of Chinese immigrants. When Szeki Chan first moved to New York City from Hong Kong as a college student, she left behind her family and life as she knew it. While it’s been over a decade since she left Hong Kong, Szeki still yearns for her mother's cooking and the comfort it brings. Now raising her own family in her adopted homeland, we visit Szeki in her East Village apartment to cook her mother’s humble stir-fried tomato and egg, the dish that still tastes like home.

Listen now on:

The print version of this story appears in Issue 1: Chinatown.

You can become a supporter of the Peddler podcast, The House Specials, by purchasing an issue of Peddler or making a donation to fund the production of the podcast.

Episode 4: Belonging, with Jeremy Leung & Ryan Wilson

This episode is part 2 of a 2 part series on tomato and egg, a classic homestyle dish that has come to represent so much for children of Chinese immigrants. Modern day nomad, Jeremy Leung, attempts to make his mother’s tomato and egg for the very first time in his life. In doing so, he discovers how her iconic dish has been changed and adapted over the years to create the perfect marriage between East and West. In this episode, we discuss his experience of moving from Hong Kong to Melbourne as a child and explore the triumphs and challenges that come with trying to fit in and remain connected to your cultural heritage after moving to a new country.

Listen now on:

You can become a supporter of the Peddler podcast, The House Specials, by purchasing an issue of Peddler or making a donation to fund the production of the podcast.

Episode 5: Longing, with Ariel Barnes

While wandering through the aisles of a local supermarket, Ariel Barnes revisits her childhood memories of school lunch and the politics of the food we eat as children. She remembers the neatly packed lunches that her mother used to pack her and the loving notes left in her lunchbox. And then she remembers the day these lunches and notes suddenly disappeared. Take a walk with us down memory lane as we explore with Ariel the power of food as an expression of love, loss and longing.

Listen now on:

The print version of this story appears in the limited edition, hand-numbered zine Peddler B-Sides: Vol. 1. Available exclusively here.

Episode 6: Dedication, with Hetty McKinnon (Season Finale)

In this season finale, we follow host Hetty McKinnon as she ventures to Chinatown to pick up ingredients to cook an iconic dish from her childhood—e-fu noodles—for the Lunar New Year. While cooking the dish, Hetty reminisces on the memories of growing up in her mother’s kitchen and discovers that she really is her mother’s daughter.

Listen now on:

The recipe for E-fu Noodles appears in the limited edition, hand-numbered zine Peddler B-Sides: Vol. 1. Available exclusively through Peddler.