No Passport Required

Food Series / 2 Seasons

Join chef Marcus Samuelsson on an inspiring journey across the U.S. to explore and celebrate the wide-ranging diversity of immigrant traditions and cuisine woven into American food and culture.

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Preview: Boston

30s

Host Marcus Samuelsson goes to the greater Boston area to learn more about Portuguese, Brazilian, and Cape Verdean food traditions. Marcus eats Portuguese chowder with halibut on a fishing boat, visits a Portuguese marketplace where he tries plenty of bacalhau, and later, in a home kitchen, he makes a bacalhau gratin with cheese and potatoes.

Preview: Las Vegas

30s

Host Marcus Samuelsson visits Las Vegas to learn more about the city’s long-standing Chinese community and their food traditions. He makes hand-pulled noodles and Peking duck, eats regional favorites from xiao long bar and beef noodle soup to cumin lamb and fish braised in clay pots.

Preview: Philadelphia

30s

Host Marcus Samuelsson heads to Philadelphia, where he meets new friends and old, and learns more about the city’s Italian food scene. Italian-Americans have been driving food culture in the U.S. for over a century, and Philadelphia is one of the original hubs for both classic and modern Italian cuisine.

Preview: Houston

30s

Host Marcus Samuelsson visits Houston to learn more about food and community in the Nigerian and greater West African diaspora. Centered around the large Nigerian population but also focused on Senegalese, Ghanaian, and other West African cultures, the episode explores how West African immigrants preserve recipes and food traditions and re-contextualize them in the Houston dining scene.

Sara Porkalob on the Origin of Seattle's Coalition Activism

2m 51s

Playwright Sara Porkalob tells Marcus about her quirky grandmother, her upcoming theater series, and the origins of coalition activism in Seattle, forged in the wake of racist miscegenation laws targeting African- Americans and Filipino-Americans people in the 1930's.

Meet Aunt Leila at Oriental Mart

1m 43s

"Tita" Leila, a leader in Seattle's Filipino food scene, shows Marcus the ropes at Oriental Mart, where she's worked for 37 years. Marcus describes the unique notes of sourness present in many Filipino dishes.

Do You Know the History of Filipino Immigration?

2m 44s

After a generous helping of comfort food at Ludi's, we meet Dorothy Cordova, co-founder and executive director of the Filipino-American National Historical Society, for a lesson on the history of Filipino immigration to the U.S.

Ara Zada at Zorthian Ranch

2m 53s

Armenian-American LA surfer and chef Ara Zada discusses his Egyptian and Armenian roots, eating cow foot soup atop the tallest peak in Armenia, his discoveries about the origins of traditionally Armenian dishes, and the ongoing conversation between the cuisine of the Armenian diaspora, and the cuisine that can be found in Armenia proper today.

Professor Emeritus Sue Fawn Chung

1m 50s

Author and UNLV Professor Emeritus in History Sue Fawn Chung discusses the incentives that brought thousands of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the gold rush and the building of the railroads. Marcus explains the strange American expectation for monolithic Chinese food experiences despite the many differences between many types of Chinese cuisines.

James and Jolly Onobun at Jolly Jolly Bakery

2m 7s

James and Jolly Onobun, owners of Jolly Jolly Bakery, share their passions for their business, their origin story, what to look for in a Nigerian agege bread (a pillowy texture), and their desire to leave something good for their sons.

Andy Kozanian at Kozanian Ranch Market

3m

Andy Kozanian, owner of Kozanian Ranch Market in LA, discusses the beauty of some of his imported Armenian food ingredients, and points out other nations' dishes to which Armenians have added their own signature. He then shows Marcus the preparation of simple, ageless Armenian flatbread, lavash.

Kemi Ariyo and Kavachi Ukegbu at Wazobia Market

3m 3s

Jollof rice is one of the most popular dishes in West Africa. Marcus tries some Nigerian jollof rice at Wazobia Market in Houston and draws comparisons to jambalaya from the southern U.S., essentially a derivative of jollof. Kavachi tells Marcus a story about her third grade teacher not accepting West African food, after having asked the students to bring in home cooking to share with the class.

Vincent, Joseph, and Vincent Jr. at Termini Bakery

2m 10s

Termini Bakery owner Vincent Termini and his sons, general managers Joseph Termini and Vincent Termini Jr., guide us through the century-old process of baking their famous family recipe for ricotta cheese cannoli with chocolate chips.

Chef Yong Liu at Chengdu Taste

1m 34s

Chef Yong Liu of Chengdu tastes remarks on the unique and comprehensive flavors of Sichuan cuisine: numbing, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and more. He discusses his desire to appeal to a wide audience, beyond just the Chinese community, while preparing kou shui ji (steamed chicken with chili oil and peanuts), as well as toothpick lamb.

Capoeira in the Context of the Brazilian Slave Trade

3m 9s

Capoeira is a combination of music, dance, and martial arts, originally used by African slaves for secret intercommunication. Mestre Chuvisquinho, a master capoeirista, talks to Marcus about growing up practicing capoiera in his community in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and how it helped him focus his energies. Marcus touches on the inextricable influence of the slave trade on Brazilian culture.

Candida Rosa at Izzy's Diner

2m 5s

On a cold day in New Bedford, Massachusetts, singer Candida Rosa talks with Marcus about her roots. She is from Cape Verde: a group of islands 400 miles off the western coast of Africa, a crossroads of early exploration of the Atlantic, and supposedly home to the first slave trading post.

Preview: Los Angeles

30s

Host Marcus Samuelsson arrives in sunny Los Angeles to meet with Armenians influencing the city's food scene. Armenian food is diaspora food — the community is widespread, building homes in countries like Turkey and Syria following the Armenian Genocide.

The Yegiazaryans at Su-Boereg and Monta Factory

2m 31s

Mother and son Evelina and Sarges Yegiazaryan explain their process for churning out 10,000 sini-monta (Armenian beef dumplings) per day, by hand. Having begun as a wholesale operation, they eventually opened their doors to the public, and since then, they've provided a hearty taste of home to members of the Armenian diaspora, while also broadening the palates of non-Armenian Angelenos.

Chef Jonathan "Jonny" Rhodes at Restaurant Indigo

3m 46s

Chef Jonathan "Jonny" Rhodes discusses aking the reigns from African-American soul food pioneers and their industrious use of available ingredients. Chef Jonny demonstrates his creativity for Marcus, cooking a dry-aged heritage pheasant filled with jollof rice, and finishing with a dessert of emulsified candied yams, pecan butter, granola, and torched marshmallows.

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