Welcome to A Curious Appetite with Dr Alessandra Pino, a podcast exploring food, culture, memory, and identity, and the stories we tell through what we eat. Each episode brings together writers, chefs, historians and artists to examine how appetite shapes who we are.

I started this podcast because my own interests sit across many different food worlds. I’m half Venezuelan and half Italian, I’ve lived in several different countries, and I’m now based in the UK, so my work naturally moves between cultures, histories and disciplines. My research introduced the concept of Gothic food in literature, which grew out of my work on food in horror films, and more recently I have focused on developing a cultural memory theory of ‘dark food’. As you can see, my interests are niche, but my curiosity is infinite!

I hope you enjoy the conversations I have here, and that they spark your own curiosity about food, culture, and the many stories that live at the table.