Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi

First of all, deducting one star simply because Padma needs to get a tad more educated about immigration when it comes to generalizing politics. Republicans (myself a moderate one) are NOT against immigration, just ILLEGAL immigration. All of my great grandparents were immigrants in the late 1890's like millions of other people, and they faced so much prejudice and poverty once here (particularly the irish side). And many of my friends are immigrants, most of them Indian. I believe other people deserve the same chance my ancestors had, and we need to make immigration more reasonable, not some Mount Everest that few can conquer.

Maybe I'm a minority in this, but I envy people who have a defined culture. Being a white american of european descent, I feel like I have no real cultural connections or traditions, and throughout my life I've been very envious of people who have that kind of cultural experience.

Padma's reference to raising a first generation American child and how do you get them to embrace their ancestors' culture immediately brought my favorite book to mind: The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri (so-so movie, fantastic book). I've recommended it to countless people over the years, both Indian and American, and it has really opened hearts and minds in great ways, particularly in my field where people were fearful when the flood of L1/H1B visas were at their height. It will stay with you forever.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I started watching, because I didn't know the series would focus on a topic so near and dear to my heart.

Obviously I LOVED this show. I learned quite a few things and I think we need more shows like this which introduce us to the immigrant experience today (as well as the past, like the Milwaukee episode), and I think that using food as that common factor is the perfect vehicle.

I didn't find it preachy at all.

Padma comes across a bit too serious (to me) on Top Chef, so it was a ton of fun to see her in a more interpersonal setting and see her humor come out (that aspect was awesome, keep that up). I loved all of it, and I really hope it continues with future seasons. Kudos!

Not your usual US cookery show and one that I grew increasingly fond of over the course of the first season. Padma is a charismatic host but always very wisely takes a backseat to whoever she's interviewing - the focus of each show is a different ethnic group in the enormous and sprawling United States. Refreshingly not confined to a whistle-stop tour of high-class fine dining but also a fairly admirably researched deep-dive into what these groups eat and a look at the history of their cultural identity via food.

The first episode caught me right away with a nuanced look at border states and Mexican cuisine and identity in the modern era. The whole series feels like a very strong reaction to anti-immigration rhetoric in a country made up of thousands of different diasporas and I genuinely felt like I learnt a great deal. The style of the show is a pleasant departure from US norms of nauseatingly fast editing and a general detached sense of embellishment and has the pleasingly elegant and granular texture of a documentary film.

What ties all this together is the effervescent Lakshmi - a person I'd never heard of before but is well-known for "Top Chef" in America. She's a tremendously strong and personable host and, much like the show itself, manages to mix the personal and the professional extraordinarily well. I'm oddly quite excited at the prospect of more of it and what else the format could go on to cover.

I don't think that I've ever seen Padma Lakshmi before this show, but I had a general idea of who she was. Gotta say, this show has made me love her! She's super down to earth and very charming, and she has a good voice for narration. Also, gotta say, she's looking freaking awesome for a fifty year old. This is a woman who knows how to take very good care of herself and it shows.

I really appreciate that this isn't JUST a food show, but it also delves into the cultures and history of the people behind the food Padma gets to eat and learn about.

My only complaint is that I wish the show was an hour long instead of just half an hour so that Padma could spend more time with the people she talks to, and so that some of them don't take up a third or more of the running time of an episode.

I didn't know what to expect when I first started watching this series, but I have found each episode to be interesting, informative, and enlightening. It's above so many shows, whether cooking shows or those where people have gone around the world sampling different cultures, maybe because it is what is here-the melting pot of the world. I don't know if I expected to become so engrossed in what I was learning. It's not only the food but the histories of those who came to this country. I am so enjoying this series. I hope there will be another season.

I love how Padma addresses the culture and history so sensitively and relates to the people she meets. She has a lovely and respectful manner and comes across authentically. She really found her voice in telling these stories. It's beautifully produced and I thoroughly enjoyed every episode. I look forward to another season - there are so many more stories to tell.