Episodes

  • S8 Ep4: Make a Home

    S8 Ep4: Make a Home
    Feb 21 2025
    On umami in diaspora, from chicken salt to bay leaves.

    Dr Johnny Drain explains how garum is the root of many of our umami based sauces. Author and cook Kate Young prepares a classic Australian English mince on toast, with essential MSG. Chef Dara Klein reflects on how she's learned to find home everywhere, via the kitchen. Noby Leong considers adaptation and evolution in his family cooking.

    Plus chefs SongSoo Kim and Tim Anderson on some of the gastronomic and linguistic nuances of umami.

    In To Be Delicious, Dr Anna Sulan Masing explores MSG - and more broadly umami - through the lens of East and South East Asian food heritage and diaspora food culture in the UK. From fritters to instant ramen, fermentation to takeaways, these five episodes open out the conversation around MSG and find a breadth of new ways for us to think about its usage within cooking, and its importance within cultural heritage.

    Credits:
    Hosted by @annasulan
    Produced by @dearlovelucy & @annasulan
    Original theme music by @midorijaeger
    Podcast artwork by @npl_illustration

    Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

    The series is completely editorially independent and was made possible, along with Anna's wider research, by support from the European Committee for Umami and Ajinomoto.

    Anna's book, Chinese and Any Other Asian: Exploring East and South East Asian Identity in Britain is out now! Order here.
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    50 mins
  • S8 Ep3: The Frontline of MSG

    S8 Ep3: The Frontline of MSG
    Feb 14 2025
    Chinese takeaways are a national institution in the UK, and have also - for many years now - been the frontline where public understanding of MSG comes to a head. Angela Hui, whose book Takeaway has shone a light on life growing up behind the counter, and her mum, Jin Tian, spend a day with Lucy and Anna; showing them around their home town in South Wales, then Jin Tian's garden and home kitchen, while considering and dispelling the prevalent stereotypes around British Chinese takeaway food.

    In To Be Delicious, Dr Anna Sulan Masing explores MSG - and more broadly umami - through the lens of East and South East Asian food heritage and diaspora food culture in the UK. From fritters to instant ramen, fermentation to takeaways, these five episodes open out the conversation around MSG and find a breadth of new ways for us to think about its usage within cooking, and its importance within cultural heritage.

    Credits:
    Hosted by @annasulan
    Produced by @dearlovelucy & @annasulan
    Original theme music by @midorijaeger
    Podcast artwork by @npl_illustration

    Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

    The series is completely editorially independent and was made possible, along with Anna's wider research, by support from the European Committee for Umami and Ajinomoto.

    Anna's book, Chinese and Any Other Asian: Exploring East and South East Asian Identity in Britain is out now! Order here.
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • S8 Ep2: Evolution Not Fusion

    S8 Ep2: Evolution Not Fusion
    Feb 7 2025
    AKA infinite ways with a packet of instant noodles.

    Georgina Quach, a journalist and archivist, makes her personalised ramen for Anna and Lucy, and considers the importance of comfort in the food she makes, as well as how her Vietnamese heritage informs the savoury flavours she uses in her cooking.

    Chef and Chinese food creator Chin Taylor reflects on assumptions of how takeaway food is made and how they affect people's perceptions of the work that goes into it – and how MSG fits into this. Chef and author Tim Anderson talks about dashi, and fermentation expert and food scientist Dr Johnny Drain goes deeper on the science behind why umami is so important in a water-based cuisine like Japan's. And SongSoo Kim, head of sourcing and development at the restaurant group Super 8, talks about the complexity of umami.

    In To Be Delicious, Dr Anna Sulan Masing explores MSG - and more broadly umami - through the lens of East and South East Asian food heritage and diaspora food culture in the UK. From fritters to instant ramen, fermentation to takeaways, these five episodes open out the conversation around MSG and find a breadth of new ways for us to think about its usage within cooking, and its importance within cultural heritage.

    Credits:
    Hosted by @annasulan
    Produced by @dearlovelucy & @annasulan
    Original theme music by @midorijaeger
    Podcast artwork by @npl_illustration

    Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

    The series is completely editorially independent and was made possible, along with Anna's wider research, by support from the European Committee for Umami and Ajinomoto.

    Anna's book, Chinese and Any Other Asian: Exploring East and South East Asian Identity in Britain is out now! Order here.
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • S8 Ep1: The Sweet Spot of Savoury

    S8 Ep1: The Sweet Spot of Savoury
    Jan 31 2025
    MiMi Aye, a Burmese chef and cookbook author, has used MSG in her cooking for as long as she can remember. While preparing a meal for Anna and Lucy, she reflects on her processes in the kitchen, and how a misinformed narrative around the ingredient has impacted her personally.

    Also featuring insight into umami from Dr Kumiko Ninomiya of the Umami Information Center, and reflections on MSG 20 years on from his original Observer Food Monthly article about it from investigative journalist Alex Renton.

    In To Be Delicious, Dr Anna Sulan Masing explores MSG - and more broadly umami - through the lens of East and South East Asian food heritage and diaspora food culture in the UK. From fritters to instant ramen, fermentation to takeaways, these five episodes open out the conversation around MSG and find a breadth of new ways for us to think about its usage within cooking, and its importance within cultural heritage.

    Credits:
    Hosted by @annasulan
    Produced by @dearlovelucy & @annasulan
    Original theme music by @midorijaeger
    Podcast artwork by @npl_illustration

    Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

    The series is completely editorially independent and was made possible, along with Anna's wider research, by support from the European Committee for Umami and Ajinomoto.

    Anna's book, Chinese and Any Other Asian: Exploring East and South East Asian Identity in Britain is out in February. Pre order now.
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • S8: Introducing...To Be Delicious: A Cultural Context of MSG in the UK

    S8: Introducing...To Be Delicious: A Cultural Context of MSG in the UK
    Jan 28 2025
    The brand new Lecker mini series launches Friday 31st January.

    In To Be Delicious, Dr Anna Sulan Masing explores MSG - and more broadly umami - through the lens of East and South East Asian food heritage and diaspora food culture in the UK. From fritters to instant ramen, fermentation to takeaways, these five episodes open out the conversation around MSG and find a breadth of new ways for us to think about its usage within cooking, and its importance within cultural heritage.

    Credits:
    Hosted by @annasulan
    Produced by @dearlovelucy & @annasulan
    Original theme music by @midorijaeger
    Podcast artwork by @npl_illustration

    The series is completely editorially independent and was made possible, along with Anna's wider research, by support from the European Committee for Umami and Ajinomoto.
    Show More Show Less
    3 mins
  • Not Separate but Related (Kin with Marie Mitchell)

    Not Separate but Related (Kin with Marie Mitchell)
    Sep 27 2024
    This month: Kin by Marie Mitchell. I met Marie in the days before the book was published in June and we reflected on grief, demanding more from attitudes to Caribbean food in the UK and the importance of flavours at the heart of her recipes.

    Welcome back to the Lecker Book Club. Every month I’ll pick a newly released food related book and talk to the author about the process of writing it. I’ll also be writing about it on Substack and Patreon. Join me there as well!

    You can listen to the previous episode i made with Marie here.

    You can find a transcript for this episode at leckerpodcast.com.

    Kin is out now. Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list.

    Support Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

    Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
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    52 mins
  • Melek's London

    Melek's London
    Jul 31 2024
    Welcome back to the Lecker Book Club. Every month I’ll pick a newly released food related book and talk to the author about the process of writing it. I’ll also be writing about it on Substack and Patreon. Join me there as well!

    This month: London Feeds Itself, edited by Jonathan Nunn. This episode features Kurdish chef and writer, Melek Erdal, one of the contributors to the book, reflecting on the essay she wrote, The Warehouse, and on London and Kurdish food in general.

    You can find a transcript for this episode at leckerpodcast.com.

    The second edition of London Feeds Itself is out now, published by Open City and Fitzcarraldo. Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list.

    Support Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

    Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • Out of the Box

    Out of the Box
    Jul 15 2024
    A meandering exploration of what surrounds our food: its packaging, history and meaning for our world.

    Featuring Hugo Lynch, Sustainability Lead at Abel and Cole, Alice Kain, curator at Museum of Brands, Renée and Anshu, founders of Dabba Drop and Sohini Banerjee, chef and founder of Smoke and Lime supper clubs.

    Dabba Drop are offering 50% off the first order for Lecker listeners in London zones 1-3! Enter LECKER50 to use this excellent offer.

    You can find a transcript for this episode at leckerpodcast.com.

    This episode features excerpts from longer conversations published for paid subscribers on Substack and Patreon. Support Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

    You can buy zines on BigCartel. You can also order print-on-demand merch at Teemill.

    Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins