The Basque Country sits between Spain and France, but it doesn't fully belong to either — and that's kind of the whole point. In this episode, I sit down with Edgar Karranza, a Bilbao-area native currently living in Almaty, for my first-ever in-person podcast interview.

Over a very good bottle of wine, we dig into what it actually means to be Basque — the deep roots, the fierce community identity, and a language called Euskera that has no known relatives anywhere in the world.From there, we get into the food.

Edgar walks us through the foundational flavors of Basque cuisine — bacalao (and why that word is Basque, not Spanish), chipirones en su tinta, chuleta grilled over open fire, and the cider culture that shapes how Basques gather and eat together.

We spend a good amount of time on pintxos — not just what they are, but the entire social ritual around pintxo pote Thursdays, the txikiteo tradition in Bilbao, and why food in the Basque Country is never just about eating.

This is Part 1. Part 2 covers Basque cheesecake, txoko gastronomic societies, the Michelin star legacy, and Edgar's last meal.

Find Edgar on Instagram at @edgarkarranza

**Subscribe** so you don't miss Part 2 — and if you loved this episode, share it with a friend.

This podcast exists to share cultures and get more curious about the world we live in.

Hang out with me: Food: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tastytrailstravelpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Life in Korea: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@wherewefindhome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Identity & Belonging: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✨

✨ Coming up next:More food from around the world!If you enjoy travel that’s centered around food, culture, and real experiences, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you don’t miss what’s next.

Nigerian cuisine has a misinformation problem — and Ronke Shakirat-Edoho, founder of 9jafoodie, has spent years doing something about it.

In Part 2 of this conversation, we get into the parts of Nigerian food culture that don't always make it into the conversation: the street food scene and an unspoken rule about competition that shapes how it works, what happens when Nigerian food has to adapt to a new country and a new ingredient list, and the nutrition myths that have followed this cuisine for years.

We also get into palm oil — the real story, and why collapsing a whole traditional food culture into an industrial agricultural problem is doing a lot of people a disservice.

Ronke also shares what drove her to start 9jafoodie in the first place. There's a quote she came across on a major platform about African food that she has never forgotten — and hearing it in her words makes it land.

📍 Find Ronke:

- Instagram: @9jafoodie

- Products

- YouTube

- Healthy Nigerian Food

Hang out with me: Food: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tastytrailstravelpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Life in Korea: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@wherewefindhome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Identity & Belonging: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✨

Nigerian cuisine is one of the most layered, complex food cultures in the world — and most of us are only scratching the surface. Today I'm sitting down with Ronke Shikirat-Edoho, founder of 9jafoodie, to start changing that.

In Part 1, we get into the building blocks of Nigerian food: palm oil and why it has been a cornerstone of West African cooking for generations, the slow-stewed pepper base that shows up across dish after dish, and a deep culture of fermentation that shapes everything from the main carbohydrates to the condiments.

We break down jollof rice — what actually makes the Nigerian version distinct from Ghanaian or Senegambian jollof, and why Ronke draws a firm line between traditional jollof and what she calls "internet jollof."

We also get into egusi, a melon seed that gets turned into soup while the melon itself goes completely uneaten, and a whole world of leafy greens that have been central to West African cooking for generations but that most people outside the region have never heard of.

Part 2 drops in two weeks — Ronke gets into the palm oil controversy, Nigerian street food, and the misinformation about African food she's spent nearly 20 years correcting. Don't miss it.

📍 Find Ronke:

- Instagram: @9jafoodie

- Products

- YouTube

- Healthy Nigerian Food

Hang out with me: Food: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tastytrailstravelpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Life in Korea: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@wherewefindhome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Identity & Belonging: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✨