My Fascination With Your Desert Island Meal

You are what you eat … well, kind of

Image by Anna Bogush

I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts since the beginning of the pandemic for writing inspiration. Why I didn’t tap into this sooner is because pre-COVID, I didn’t carve out 60, 90 or 120-minutes every other day for serious walks and engaging podcasts like I do now.

Lately, I’ve been invested in Jessie Ware’s Table Manners. This podcast is about life shit, food experiences, food influences and barely about table manners themselves. Each week, a candid conversation takes place around Jessie’s dinner table, where guests from the world of music, culture and politics pop in for dinner made by Lennie (Jessie’s mom) and Jessie herself. If I were to sum up the podcast in two words, they would be food and gossip and I’m all for it.

I love the concept of being fed a home-cooked meal while being interviewed. I also love Jessie’s constant use of the word “fuck” which is ironic given that the podcast is called Table Manners, or the lack thereof.

One question that gets asked of every guest in every episode is what is your desert island meal?

I can’t say I’ve learned a ton about food through listening, I think I know a fair amount. I can say with confidence, I don’t know every dish in every country and region. No one…