Tales

The birth of cuisine. Humanity ventures into the unknown in order to feed itself. Through historians, anthropologists, artisans, and world-class chefs, Tales tells how gastronomy serves as an X-ray of our cultures and identities around the world.

From sacred offerings to global obsession, chocolate charts humanity’s sweetest odyssey. Through historians, anthropologists, cacao farmers, master chocolatiers, and world-class chefs, Tales uncovers how cacao, born of ritual, trade, and terroir, maps our migrations, mythologies, and tastes.

From sacred seed to street staple, maize threads our past to our plates. Through historians, anthropologists, campesinos, nixtamal masters, and world-class chefs, Tales follows corn’s journey, from milpa cosmology and pre-Columbian ritual to tortillas, tamales, and polenta, revealing how a single grain engineered civilizations and still feeds identity, resilience, and imagination.

Rice has fed more people than any other crop, and it may feed our future, too. Tales follows rice across the terraces, exploring how new cultivation techniques could help humanity confront hunger on a warming planet.