Some people travel to see landscapes. Others travel to explore cultures. The Taste Storyteller does both, with a particular curiosity for local customs, traditions and gastronomy. What people eat, how they prepare it, and why they do it that way have always been more interesting than any monument.
More than 35 countries across five continents. Tea farms in Yunnan. Spice markets in Marrakech. Street food stalls in Hanoi. Family kitchens in rural Italy. Coffee ceremonies in East Africa. Cacao farms in Central America. In every place, the same question: where did this come from?
That question, repeated over years, became a habit. The habit became research. And the research, cross-referencing published scholarship, historical chronicles and conversations with producers, farmers and local storytellers, eventually became books.
The aim is clarity and delight without sacrificing respect for the record.
The books are not academic texts. They are collections of curious stories for people who pick up a cup and wonder what it took to get here. Where a fact could be verified, it was. Where a story belongs more to legend than to record, the text says so.
The pen name is deliberate. The stories matter more than the person telling them.
Why “Taste”
The name was chosen for food. The plan was to write about the cultural, mythical and historical journeys of what we eat and drink, and that work continues in the books of Curious Unknown Histories.
But the question does not stop at the kitchen door. Where did this come from? applies just as well to a handshake, a fork, a white wedding dress or a sticky note, and the answers are often just as surprising. This site follows the question wherever it leads: famous dishes, customs and traditions, the objects we use every day, and the inventions and discoveries we now take for granted.
How the research is done
Every article starts with the story most people have heard, and then goes looking for the earliest evidence behind it. A few rules apply to all of them:
- The oldest record wins. A document, recipe or report from the time carries more weight than a story first told decades later.
- Record and legend are kept apart. When a famous story cannot be supported, the article says so, and many articles end with a short table separating the two.
- No single inventor is invented. When an object or a dish has no known creator, the article says that, instead of choosing the most convenient name.
- Sources are listed. Each article ends with the sources it relies on and the date they were consulted, so readers can check them.
How the articles are written, and the role that tools such as AI do and do not play, are set out in the editorial policy.
The books
The Taste Storyteller is the author behind Curious Unknown Histories, a growing collection of books about the cultural, mythical and historical journeys of everyday foods and beverages. The first book is about tea and the second about chocolate. You will find them on the books page and on the collection’s own website, curiousunknownhistories.com.
Contact
Questions, corrections and curious stories are welcome at [email protected].