Hungry for History with Eva Longoria and Maite Gomez-Rejón

What do arepas, gorditas, and pupusas have in common? Each is a golden pocket of corn masa — crisp on the outside, tender within — stuffed with everything from beans and cheese to meats and vegetables. In this episode, Eva and Maite explore the histories behind the Venezuelan and Colombian arepa, the Mexican gordita, and the Salvadoran pupusa, and ask a bigger question: why do stuffed foods taste so good?
Along the way, they talk migration, identity, and how corn-based foods carry memory across borders.
They also tap into a timely conversation: California recently passed a law requiring folic acid to be added to corn masa products like tortillas — a move intended to improve public health, but one that has sparked debate about tradition, nutrition, and how food policy intersects with culture.
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Butter is so ordinary we barely notice it — until you stop and ask how it’s made, who made it first, and why it once symbolized power, wealth, and even ritual life. In this episode, Eva and Maite trace butter’s story from its accidental invention to its central place in religious and ceremonial traditions. They explore how butter became one of the earliest globally traded foods, prized for its portability, shelf life, and value long before refrigeration, and how it signaled status across cultures.
Along the way, they break down the simple alchemy of turning cream into butter and pause at butter’s most controversial rival: margarine!
They travel to France, where butter reshaped baking and regional identities and speak with baker Clémence de Lutz of Santa Monica’s Petitgrain Boulangerie and learn how laminated dough turns butter into edible architecture.
Link to Petitgrain Boulangerie: https://www.petitgrainboulangerie.com
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Eva and Maite opened the season with a series on revolutions, asking a simple but urgent question: what does it take for people to finally say, enough?
This week, Maite talks with Clémence de Lutz of Santa Monica’s Petitgrain Boulangerie about bread, strikes, and social responsibility. A baker and activist, Clémence reflects on food as a political act and how our everyday choices carry real weight. It’s a reminder that bread has always carried meaning beyond the oven, especially in moments of social tension.
If you are able, consider donating to:
Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights
National Immigrant Law Center
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
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In this episode, Eva and Maite toss up the surprisingly juicy history of salads—from the invention of the Caesar salad on the U.S.–Mexico border to the rise of the Asian chicken salad. They dig into where the word salad comes from, the origins of France’s vinaigrette ratio, and how ranch dressing became America’s most beloved condiment.
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Spoiler: mushrooms aren’t plants, they’re fungi! Eva and Maite dig into the history of mushrooms and why they exist on every continent on Earth. From the sacred mushroom ceremonies of María Sabina in Oaxaca to the ritual significance of huitlacoche, the Mexican corn fungus, and the global obsession (and hunt for) truffles, they uncover how fungi have shaped food, medicine, myths, and culture.
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