Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle

Latest Episodes:

Top Chef Canada's Eden Grinshpan: New York Pizza Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

My first exposure to Eden Grinshpan was a photo on Instagram: she was extremely pregnant and her bare, bulging belly was wall-papered with huge slices of pizza. I instantly wanted to be her friend. Eden is host of Top Chef Canada and author of the cookbook Eating Out Loud, where she shows off her contemporary middle eastern cooking chops with dishes like tahini Caesar salad and Sesame Schnitzel Sandwich with Harissa Honey and Tarter Slaw.

Eden is tahini obsessed, so I chat with the CEO and co-founder of Soom Foods (makers of delicious tahini) about the history of the ancient condiment and what to do with the half empty jar in your fridge after using it to make hummus.

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Yuna: Tom Yum Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Yuna is an internationally acclaimed R&B pop star, born and raised in Malaysia. But after a decade of living in LA, and missing her mother’s homemade nasi lemak and banana leaf rice, she and her husband finally succumbed to learning to cook the Malaysian dishes they miss most!

Award-winning London chef and cookbook author Mandy Yi says it’s common to eat six meals a day in Malaysia, and walks us through a day of meals, snacks, street food and night markets.

Yuna talks about what it was like trying to get a record deal, as a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, and she shares a hilarious story about how a late night snack attack nearly got her into deep trouble with the Canadian government.

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The Menu's Aimee Carrero: Truffle Pasta + Chocolate Chip Cookie Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

Surprise! It's a Thanksgiving treat: a bonus episode featuring actor Aimee Carrero, who stars in the new culinary thriller (yes, I invented a new film genre, no big whoop) The Menu, in theaters now.

The Menu is about twelve wealthy food snobs who travel to a secluded island for an exclusive dining experience prepared by a revered chef. But the dinner...doesn't go as planned.

Aimee elaborates on her own, personal dinner party disaster, talks about what it was like waiting on Larry King when she worked at a restaurant, and shares her family's Puerto Rican and Dominican holiday traditions!

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Half Baked Harvest's Tieghan Gerard: Dad's Pasta Bake Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

If you're one of Tieghan Gerard's 6.6 million social media followers, or you've drooled over the come-hither food photos in one of her Half Baked Harvest cookbooks, chances are you're familiar with her cozy, comforting (read: so much melted cheeeeeeese!) recipes. But how much do you know about the woman behind the camera?

Tieghan pulls back the curtain on what a day-in-the-life of a full-time recipe content creator looks like. And if you still don't believe that being a social media influencer is a real job, Tieghan will put you in your place!

If we're talking about groundbreaking culinary content creators in 2022, we'd be remiss not to talk about Justine Doiron, known as Justine Snacks online. Justine started the viral butter board trend, both beloved and reviled by millions! Why did bread and butter make people so mad? We discuss! What's the strategy behind creating a viral video? We discuss! How was she able to quit her job within months of starting a TikTok page? We...you know what we're going to do.

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Zosia Mamet: Bolognese + Chocolate Cake Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

We absolutely adore actor Zosia Mamet in Girls and The Flight Attendant and now she's dipped her toe into our favorite world: food! She just released her first book, My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings, a collection of food-centered essays written by folks like Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, David Sedaris and Rosie Perez.
In the book, Zosia writes about her favorite holiday meal, which includes a couple of hot button, controversial American dishes: sweet potato marshmallow casserole and canned, jellied cranberry sauce. Zosia and host Rachel Belle opine on these holiday classics, and then Rick Rogers, author of Thanksgiving 101, joins the show to share the history of the sweet potato marshmallow casserole, and the folks at Ocean Spray pop in to talk about the origins of canned cranberries.

Do you snack snack snack your little butt off every time you fly? Zosia always packs a carry-on full of food, and insists there must be science behind her airplane hunger. Turns out, there is! We will discuss with Katie Sehl, writer for En Route, Air Canda's In-Flight magazine.

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Jewel: Bear Lard Biscuits Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Jewel has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and this year she released Freewheelin' Woman, her first album in seven years! But fame and fortune is a stark contrast to the way she grew up in the wilds of Alaska.

Jewel tells host Rachel Belle how her family gathered food, growing up on a remote Alaskan homestead without plumbing, electricity or a grocery store, and what it was like trying processed food for the first time after she moved out of her family's home.

Then Clay Newcomb, host of Bear Grease podcast, joins the show to talk about cooking with bear meat and bear fat, an ingredient that was once a huge part of American tradition.

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Best-Of Phil Rosenthal: Hot Dogs Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

Phil Rosenthal is the creator, co-producer and writer of Everybody Loves Raymond (yo, that show got 69 Emmy nominations!) but now his passion is introducing Americans to fantastic foreign food destinations as the host of his Netflix show, Somebody Feed Phil (and a new book coming out October 18th!).

Phil enthusiastically eats al pastor in Mexico City and pastéis de nata in Lisbon, but his last meal would be a collage of classic American childhood favorites, including the humble hot dog.

We head to Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs in Coney Island, home of the annual 4th of July Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, to learn the history of both. Next stop: Copenhagen, where hot dog carts have been a street food staple since 1920. Host Rachel Belle consults with Danish food and wine journalist Rasmus Palsgard about traditional Copenhagen hot dog toppings and is surprised to learn what drink is commonly paired with a street dog.

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Jack Johnson: Sauteed Vegetables in 1997 Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

Jack Johnson just released his 8th studio album, Meet The Moonlight, but after twenty years of touring the world, his values remain the same. A lifelong surfer, and Hawaiian, Jack is an environmentalist focused on keeping plastics out of our oceans. He tells host Rachel Belle the lengths he goes to to reduce waste and support local farms when he's out on tour.

Zero Waste Chef, Anne Marie Bonneau, joins the show to share her tips for a zero-waste home kitchen. Have you even dehydrated fruit in your car, bro?
And Jack has been married to his wife, Kim, for nearly 29 years and his last meal, and the story behind his song Banana Pancakes is a sweet little slice of their love story.

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Listen to our episode with another lovely Hawaiian musician, ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro!

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LIVE show! Ian Moore & Jon Heder: Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio & Korean Short Ribs Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

A couple weeks ago, Rachel Belle hosted a LIVE Your Last Meal show at THING, an arts + music festival in historic Port Townsend, Washington.

Her first guest is blues rock musician Ian Moore, who's put out 11 full length albums, and toured with folks like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and ZZ Top over the span of his 30 year career. Ian's from Austin, Texas and, living in the Pacific Northwest, he desperately misses Tex-Mex food, something Rachel can relate to as a burrito obsessed, native northern Californian who still hasn't found one she loves in Seattle.

Up next, Jon Heder, best known for his starring role in Napoleon Dynamite! The film is famous for its references to tots and mispronounced quesadillas and a llama named Tina who refuses to eat her food. Jon regales us with tasty behind-the-scenes stories and shares his experiences with eating competitions while living in Japan.

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Rick Astley: Raw Prawns & Crisp White Wine Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

At 21 years old, a baby faced and baritone Brit named Rick Astley released his first single, and "Never Gonna Give You Up" was an instant #1 hit in 25 countries. In 2021, the song surpassed a billion streams thanks to Rickrolling, a viral Internet prank.

On this episode of "Your Last Meal," we propose a theory: Rickrolling is the culinary equivalent of molecular gastronomy! You think you're getting one thing and POOF! you get something completely different. Culinary technologist and modernist cooking enthusiast Scott Heimendinger joins the show to exhibit how he uses molecular gastronomy to create culinary humor.

Plus, Rick shares his favorite European road snacks (he loves to drive)!

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