Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi Episode Rating Graph

In the symbolic heart of America’s industrial past, Padma travels to Lowell, Massachusetts and sees how Cambodian immigrants (and their cooking) have become the backbone for the revival of this New England town.

Padma tastes her way through Los Angeles, sampling one of her favorite cuisines: Persian food. The community opens up about the misconceptions some Americans have about Iranians, one kabob at a time.

The Gullah Geechee people of South Carolina are fighting to preserve the traditions passed down from their ancestors, West Africans forced into slavery. Padma catches and cracks crab with new friends and old, all working towards reclaiming their heritage.

Padma visits Dearborn, a.k.a the Arab American “bubble”, during Ramadan, the holiest period of the year for Dearborn’s Muslim community. Cruising in muscle cars and diving into local eateries, Padma discovers the abundance of sweets and savory meats.

Padma’s spice meter is put to the test by comedian Yvonne Orji and others when she travels to Houston, home to the largest Nigerian population in the US, where she gets an insider experience of Nigerian food and pride.

Padma asks family, friends and those she admires how they hold onto Indian culture and pass it to the next generation. In NYC, she cooks the dishes that remind her of her original home and tastes Indian foods near her current home.

Padma heads to New York’s Brighton Beach and the East Village to learn why the debate over who really created borscht symbolizes a larger fight for Ukrainian identity.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, pretzels… Many think these foods are quintessentially American, but their origins are actually German. In Milwaukee, Padma meets descendants of early German immigrants who hold onto their heritage by celebrating and reclaiming it.

Padma gets to the heart (and stomach) of Puerto Rico’s fight for independence by examining a surprisingly controversial topic: does ketchup belong on the beloved Puerto Rican dish pasteles?

On the heels of America’s longest war coming to an end, Padma joins the Afghan American community in DC as they welcome new arrivals over feasts that remind them of the Afghanistan they left behind, and what can be built anew.

Appalachia is reinventing itself through its most beloved resource - food. Padma eats her way through the Mountain South, unearthing the inventive recipes, humble ingredients, and complex history – and picks up some banjo playing along the way.

Padma dives into Japanese culture, ubiquitous in Honolulu, to understand just how far their cultural footprint reaches. She slings fish and rolls sushi where a century and a half ago Japanese immigrants first docked on Hawaii’s shores.