About this episode

Ashley and Ken Albala discuss the importance of food in fostering connection and the cultural significance of sharing meals.

Preserving the Family Meal is on the Table Today! On the second episode of our Food and Connection Series , we are joined by Dr. Ken Albala. Ken Albala is a Tully Knoles Endowed Professor of History at the University of the Pacific, where he received the Distinguished Faculty Award for 2023. He has published 29 books on food including academic monographs, single subject food histories, cookbooks, encyclopedias, handbooks, anthologies, translations and is now working on an Atlas of Fermentation . He did three video/audio series for The Great Courses, Food: A Cultural Culinary History , Cooking Across the Ages and A History of Bourbon on Audible. He was coeditor of the journal Food, Culture and Society and series editor for several publishers, having edited over a hundred titles in the past two decades. His latest books are The Great Gelatin Revival , A Century in Stockton and a cookbook titled Opulent Nosh . Ken joins Ashley for a conversation about the importance of food and the role it plays in fostering connection. Together, they discuss their shared love of cooking and hosting, as well as Ken’s extensive research into the anthropological significance of sharing meals and…

People in this episode

Host: Ashley

Guest: Ken Albala

Topics covered

• food and communication
• family meals
• cultural significance of food
• anthropology of food
• modern food industry
• connection through cooking

Keywords

• food
• connection
• family meal
• anthropology
• cooking
• modern food industry
• Thanksgiving
• cultural history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of the Pacific

Books & works: Food: A Cultural Culinary History, Cooking Across the Ages, A History of Bourbon, The Great Gelatin Revival, A Century in Stockton, Opulent Nosh

More episodes of On the Table with Ashley

• Food and Connection Series: Why Smell Shapes Everything We Eat with Rachel Herz, Ph.D. · May 20, 2026 · 49 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the On the Table with Ashley podcast page.