Okay, so it’s dinner time. You’re in charge. You’ve got the ingredients in and you’ve laid them all out. But cooking alone can feel a little lonely, right? One surefire way to get yourself some artificial (and generally pretty cultured) kitchen company is to whack on a podcast. And since you’ll want to be semi-focused on the cooking, it may help if they’re talking about food.
Luckily, there are many funny and fascinating series well up to the job – and we’ve sorted through them all to come up with this list of the very best podcasts that are all about food, glorious food. Just don’t get so wrapped up in what they’re saying that you leave that garlic on the hob way past ‘golden’.
RECOMMENDED: The very best podcasts to listen to right now
Hungry for more? Check out our definitive list of the best podcasts to listen to right now. Plus, we’ve got our very own podcast – ‘your city or mine?’ – in which Time Out Group CEO Julio Bruno talks to thought-leaders and pioneers about the innovations and ideas shaping our cities.
If you’re missing having friends over for dinner, this podcast, hosted by singer Jessie Ware and her mum Lennie, might just be the next best thing. They invite celebs (guests include Kylie, ‘Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski and UK MP Jess Phillips) over to Lennie’s for dinner, they have a good old chat and sometimes Jessie’s brother gets roped in to make pudding (David Schwimmer slags off his banana bread in one episode). It’s the podcast equivalent of a juicy novel. Isabelle Aron
Every episode, cheeky English chappies James Acaster and Ed Gamble invite a celebrity guest to their fictional restaurant to pick their dream menu. And what comes out of the kitchen? Banter, obviously. Loads of bloody banter. They’ve had everyone from Wahaca founder Thomasina Miers to singing megastar Josh Groban, and it always leads to some delicious conversation. Eddy Frankel
If BBC classic ‘Desert Island Discs’ is a bit heavy on Beethoven and childhood anguish for your liking, give this spin on the concept a whirl. It’s hosted by food writer Margie Nomura with an ear for a good story and a savvy sense of the connection between food and emotion. The guests usually wax nostalgic about the dishes that made them. If you fancy hearing Stanley Tucci saying the word ‘risotto’ a lot – and trust me, you do – look no further. Phil de Semlyen
You’ve seen him on ‘MasterChef’, you’ve read him in the paper and now you can have his lovely, calm-but-critical voice beamed directly into your brain via your ears, because Jay Rayner has himself a podcast. The big man of food writing (the guy’s, like, nine feet tall) talks to slebs like Charlie Brooker, Tim Minchin and everyone’s favourite Disney chauffeur, Minnie Driver, all about food and stuff. Tasty. Eddy Frankel
Former collaborators with the late, lamented Anthony Bourdain, the Roads and Kingdoms crew is dedicated to exploring culture, politics and people all over the world, via the prism of food. The post-Bourdain episodes largely consist of fascinating conversations between your host, Nathan Thornburgh, and people with great taste scattered across the planet – chefs, writers, farmers, politicians and more. Oh, and there’s booze. Pull up a chair, won’t you? James Manning
In ‘your city or mine?’, Julio Bruno – Time Out Group CEO, culture guru and global citizen – chats to the world’s most influential trendsetters, thought-leaders and policymakers about the stuff that’s shaping our cities.
From the big guns you may not have been able to listen to yet to the little-known DIY shows you need to check out, here are the top podcasts to tune into right now.
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