Monday, September 2, 2024

Omnivore

I am a fan of James Burke's Connections and Carl Sagan's Cosmos. When I watched Omnivore on AppleTV+, it seemed like host RenĂ© Redzepi was revealing connections in the cosmos of comestibles. 

Is Redzepi the Burke/Sagan of foods? Yes he is. (I try to quash any envy I might harbor toward people like Redzepi, but acknowledge I will never be as good at anything as Redzepi is at food.)

The story of what we eat is the story of us. Omnivore tells the story in eight chapters: Chile, Tuna, Salt, Banana, Pig, Rice, Coffee, and Corn.

The series is beautifully photographed on location in Denmark, Serbia, Thailand, Spain, Japan, France, Peru, Korea, Djibouti, India, Mexico, Colombia, Rwanda, and the US. Program participants speak in their native languages and there are no voice-overs. There are subtitles. It's nice to hear the character and inflections of participants' voices.

Of course, I have questions! 

Take a look at the world through the lens of food and explores how food explains the past and forecasts the future.