Padma Lakshmi Opens Up on Creating 'Taste The Nation' & Allowing Immigrants To Tell Their Own Stories

Padma Lakshmi is possibly one of the most popular names in the food industry having been a part of the business for the past 20 years but ever since then, she always had a burning question -  what even is “American food,” anyway? “We throw around a lot of platitudes like, ‘nothing’s as American as apple pie.’ Well, apple pie is not American,” laughs Lakshmi. “Not one ingredient in apple pie is indigenous to North America. Not even the apple! So what are we talking about here?”

And it is exactly to find this answer, Lakshmi created Taste the Nation, her new docuseries launching June 18 on Hulu. Each episode travels to a different part of the country to highlight a different immigrant community, eat its food, and celebrate its place in American culture. Over the course of the 10-episode season, Lakshmi visits El Paso to humanize those living at the border, the Arizonian desert to give credit where it’s due to indigenous cultures, and even her own hometown of Jackson Heights, Queens to share her own family’s favorite dishes and stories of survival. “When you scratch the surface, everybody’s story is compelling,” as Lakshmi puts it. “All you have to do is listen.”

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