Based on the Southern concept of one meat and three sides, Meat and Three dishes out a deep dive and three short stories every week. These stories are told by a variety of contributors, and explore the trends, politics, and personal anecdotes surrounding food. 

I don’t recall in which online forum I saw it, but someone asked the question, "Why are so many mezcaleros named Don?" It made me laugh, but it’s funny because it illustrates one of the translation problems with agave spirits.

It’s the final episode of our series on global trade, and we’ve got our eyes set on the future.

So far, our series on global trade has focused on ingredients that are either sweet or spicy, and that shaped international trade routes. As our stories make clear, there are ups and downs when talking about the globalization of our foodways. So this week, we go from sugar and spice to bites!

We continue our global trade mini-series with one of the most distinguishing elements of a cuisine: spice. Where would any regional food culture be without its unique blend of spices? Where would Italian food be without oregano, or Thai food without the bird’s eye chili?

This episode is part of a special series in collaboration with Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies <https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica>, guest hosted by Gastronomica editorial collectiv

The desire for sweetness is biologically hardwired in humans, according to Dr. Gary Beauchamp, longtime former director and president of the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

Trade is innately human. Whether it’s baseball cards, lunchbox items or recipes, people have been exchanging goods, services, practices, and ideas since prehistoric times. Driven by curiosity and power, or most commonly money, trade has created the modern, globalized world we know today.

This week we are traveling all over the map to bring you stories about culinary diasporas. So, what exactly is a diaspora? What do we mean when we talk about it in the context of food? The term diaspora refers to a group of people with a shared heritage who have spread around the world.

Wind your way through the world’s markets, both physical and financial, to find out how they’re changing. This week on Meat + Three, we explore global food trade. First, we follow the journey of deliciously sweet dates – from markets in the Middle East to Missouri.