meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
How to Be a Better Human

Stephen Satterfield wants his meals to match his ideals

How to Be a Better Human

TED

Self-improvement, Education

4.21.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Stephen Satterfield, the host of Netflix docu-series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” thinks the bananas in the U.S. are gross. Sure, they’re convenient to produce and ship commercially, but they’re fibrous, bland and maybe worst of all inescapable! They’re also just one example of how what we eat is shaped by culture, politics, and history. In this episode, Stephen explains why he uses gastronomy as a way to understand the world and shares how we can use food to empower people who grow and consume what we eat. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Ted Audio Collective.

0:02.0

Audio Collective.

0:04.0

You're listening to How to Be a Better Human.

0:10.0

I'm your host Chris Duffy.

0:12.0

Before I moved to Los Angeles, I had never eaten Armenian food before.

0:15.0

In fact, I would have been hard-pressed to even tell you what an example of Armenian food was.

0:20.0

But then I moved here, a city with a large thriving Armenian population.

0:24.0

And a friend took me to this restaurant called Jengelov Hats.

0:27.0

It's the name of the restaurant. It's also the name of the only thing they serve at this restaurant.

0:32.0

And a Jengelov Hatz is a kind of grittled flatbread

0:35.0

that's filled with all sorts of minced greens and herbs.

0:38.0

You walk in, and since they only serve one thing,

0:41.0

the only question they ask you is, how many. I loved it. I loved

0:43.7

it instantly as soon as I walked in. And then I tasted one of these jingle of hats and it was

0:48.0

this subtle, delicious combination of flavors that I had never had before. And look, it's not like I can say that I've been to Armenia now, I haven't,

0:56.0

but I definitely feel a sensory connection to the place and to the culinary tradition

1:01.0

that I never did before I ate my first hats. To me, that is the power and the magic of food.

1:07.0

Today's guest, Stephen Satterfield, is the host of Netflix's High on the Hog.

1:11.0

For that show and for his other work as a food writer and

1:14.0

documentarian, he has searched out and reported food stories all over the world.

1:18.6

And as someone who got his start studying wine, here's one of those moments from his travels that most stuck with him.

1:25.0

I think one of my sort of the most colorful moments was in the Republic of Georgia. I was there working on this mini dock called

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -693 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.