Honestly, if you're scrolling through Hulu looking for something to watch while you eat your takeout, you’ve probably seen the thumbnail for Taste the Nation. It’s got Padma Lakshmi looking effortless, usually holding something delicious. You might think, "Oh, another travel show where a celebrity eats fancy stuff."
But you’d be wrong. Totally wrong.
I’ve spent a lot of time watching food TV, from the "bro-y" energy of early 2000s travel hosts to the high-gloss competition of Top Chef. Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi is different. It’s quiet. It’s sharp. It’s kinda political in a way that sneaks up on you while you're looking at a steaming plate of Gullah Geechee red rice.
The "Burrito at the Border" Reality Check
The show kicked off in 2020, right when the world was upside down. The first episode hits El Paso, Texas. Now, everyone in America loves a burrito, right? We eat more salsa than ketchup. But Padma asks the question nobody wants to answer: Why do we love the food but treat the people who make it like they don't belong?
She talks to chefs like Emiliano Marentes, who makes these incredible, authentic tortillas. He says something that sticks in your throat: "It’s hard for me to think that people are going to accept my tortillas before they accept my cousins."
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That’s the core of the show. It isn't just about "ethnic" food. It’s about the hands that make it. It’s about the fact that a flour tortilla isn't even "traditional"—it’s a product of colonization.
Why Padma Lakshmi Is the Only Person Who Could Do This
Padma isn't just a host here; she’s an executive producer with a massive chip on her shoulder—in a good way. She’s been open about her work with the ACLU and how the 2016 election and the "Muslim Ban" era pushed her to make this.
She’s an immigrant. She moved from India to the U.S. as a kid. She knows what it’s like to feel like you’re "straddling two cultures." In the New York City episode, "Don't Mind if I Dosa," she gets incredibly personal. She’s in the kitchen with her mom, Vijaya, and her daughter, Krishna.
Krishna admits she prefers American pancakes to dosas.
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It’s a tiny, human moment, but it represents the "hyphenated identity" struggle. How do you pass down a culture when your kid just wants what the other kids are eating? It’s real. It’s not a scripted "celebrity family" moment. You can see the slight sting in Padma’s eyes because she knows that once those recipes stop being made, a part of the history dies.
Breaking Down the "All-American" Myth
One of the best things about Taste the Nation is how it dismantles what we think is "American."
- Hot Dogs? German. Padma goes to Milwaukee and shows how German immigrants were once the "scary outsiders" until their food became so assimilated we forgot it was foreign.
- Chop Suey? It’s a San Francisco invention, a survival food created by Chinese immigrants who had to adapt to survive the Chinese Exclusion Act.
- Fry Bread? This one is heavy. Padma visits the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. Fry bread is often called "traditional" Native American food, but the show explains it was born out of government rations—flour, sugar, and lard—given to people after they were forced off their land. It’s a delicious symbol of a painful history.
The Gullah Way
The episode on the Gullah Geechee people in South Carolina is essential viewing. Michael Twitty, a culinary historian, explains how West Africans were brought to the U.S. specifically for their knowledge of rice cultivation. They are the reason Southern food exists, yet they’ve been pushed to the margins of their own story. Watching Padma crack crabs in the marsh, you realize this isn't a food show. It's a history lesson with a side of seafood.
What's New in Season 2?
After a shortened "Holiday Edition" during the pandemic, Season 2 dropped in 2023 with ten full episodes. It feels even more confident.
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Padma goes to Dearborn, Michigan, to visit the Arab American community. She points out something most people ignore: the American auto industry was literally built by Arab hands.
She also explores:
- Filipino food in San Francisco: She butchers a whole pig head to make sisig. As a Brahmin girl who grew up mostly vegetarian, you can see her struggling. It’s authentic.
- Afghan food in D.C.: A heartbreaking and beautiful look at the recent influx of refugees.
- Ukrainian food in Brighton Beach: Looking at how community and borscht provide a sense of safety during a war.
How to Actually "Taste the Nation" Yourself
If you want to move beyond just watching the show and actually engage with these cultures, you've gotta get out of the "Chipotle" mindset.
- Seek Out "Mom and Pop" Places: Skip the chains. Find the places where the cab drivers eat. That’s a tip Padma herself uses.
- Read the History: If you're eating something, ask where it came from. Why is there a large Vietnamese community in New Orleans? Why is there a "Little Lima" in New Jersey?
- Support Food Sovereignty: Many of the communities Padma visits, especially Indigenous and Gullah Geechee, are fighting for the right to grow their own traditional foods. Look into organizations like the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS).
- Cook the Recipes: Padma is a food writer first. She’s currently working on a Taste the Nation cookbook. Until that drops, try making a simple masala dosa or a real corn tortilla at home.
Taste the Nation is the most proud Padma Lakshmi has ever been of a project, and it shows. It’s a "feminist, immigrant, and deeply human" look at what it actually means to be American in 2026.
To dive deeper into the specific stories, start with the "The Original Americans" episode in Season 1. It’s the best example of how the show uses a simple meal to uncover a massive, complicated truth about our country. From there, move to the Season 2 episode on the Filipino community in San Francisco—it’s a masterclass in how colonization and cuisine are inextricably linked.