Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Taste The Nation With Padma Lakshmi’ Season 2 On Hulu, Where The ‘Top Chef’ Host Explores More Of The Flavors And Traditions Of “American Food”

In a new season of Taste The Nation With Padma Lakshmi, the Top Chef host travels the United States to discover more of the American food experience via the various communities that have been built by immigration over the country’s history. The new season takes Lakshmi to some unexpected enclaves, experiencing the communities and their cuisines.

TASTE THE NATION WITH PADMA LAKSHMI SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Views of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Padma Lakshmi’s voice over opens by saying “Welcome to America. Well… sort of.”

The Gist: The first episode spends time in Puerto Rico, where Lakshmi, assisted by chefs, farmers and other experts about the island’s cuisine, tries to make the country’s signature dish — pasteles — using all local ingredients.

That’s significant, because, despite the island’s agricultural history, very little of what it consumes is produced there, especially since it became a U.S. territory in 1898. Lakshmi talks with various people who want to raise awareness of the island’s agricultural history and potential.

As she travels the island, she asks people if they eat their pasteles with ketchup or not. Apparently, the ketchup is not only a symbol of the American influence on the island over the last 125 years, but it’s also a symbol of the colonialism that chafes at many Puerto Ricans. The ketchup on pasteles question is a microcosm of just how beneficial the relationship between P.R. and the U.S. is, and she fields opinions from those calling for statehood, independence, or continued status as a territory.

In other episodes, Lakshmi visits Houston, home of the country’s largest Nigerian community, to explore Nigerian cuisine with comedian Yvonne Orji, visits the Afghan enclave in Washington, DC, goes to New York’s Brighton Beach to link borscht to Ukraine’s current struggles with Russia, visits the Arab-American “bubble” in Dearborn, Michigan during Ramadan, and more.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Taste The Nation is definitely in the same category as any of Anthony Bourdain’s shows or Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy.

Our Take: Our Season 1 review of Taste The Nation (from 3 long years ago already!) took a bit more of a skeptical eye towards the series than we remembered, wondering if Lakshmi’s presence was going to be distracting to the message she was trying to convey with the series. After watching that season, and the brief Holiday Edition season from 2021, it’s safe to say that we shouldn’t have worried about that. Lakshmi’s presence on the show is a big plus, and we see that during its second season.

One of the reasons it’s a plus is that Lakshmi is so curious about the various immigrant experiences in the United States, a natural outcropping from the fact that she came here from India when she was 4. She knows what her experience was here, the difficulties she had, and the struggles her mom faced to keep Indian culture as a significant part of Lakshmi’s life. It’s something that every community in this country of immigrants have faced, and many still face. And that’s the most fascinating aspect of this series.

One of the strengths of the series is that Lakshmi visits particular immigrant enclaves and then expands their experience to the experiences of that group in general. It feels that, in Season 2, the enclaves she’s visiting are a bit surprising, even to people who consider themselves to be aware of where particular enclaves are. For instance, we had no idea that the country’s largest Nigerian population is in Houston, or that DC had a significant Afghani population.

By visiting these enclaves, though, she’s able to link their cuisine, and the efforts of the people she talks to to bring that cuisine into more of a spotlight, with the larger issues that face the community. In the Nigerian episode, for instance, Lakshmi, Orji and the other people she talks to discuss just how Nigerians felt removed from the racism African-Americans felt, as well as the fact that their history in the country didn’t involve being enslaved. But the racism is there, of course, which has helped the Nigerian community bond more with the African-American community.

The other reason why Lakshmi’s presence is helpful is that she’s a warm and knowledgeable presence and a good representative of the audience. Just by virtue of the fact that she’s been writing about food and hosting shows like Top Chef for over 20 years, she’s not exactly clueless around a kitchen. That helps when she tries to pull off some of the dishes herself or with help from some of her guests. It also keeps her in good humor, for instance, when the mother of a Beard-award-winning chef half-jokingly admonishes Lakshmi for not putting together her pasteles correctly.

Sex and Skin: Like in the first season, the only thing sexy is Lakshmi and others getting semi-orgasmic when they taste the great food being made..

Parting Shot: As we see more scenes of San Juan, Lakshmi talks about how Puerto Rico needs to have the ability to make their own decisions and policies, whether it’s via statehood or independence.

Sleeper Star: As with most of these shows, the cinematography is fantastic, and the side interviews producers do are always interesting.

Most Pilot-y Line: None we could find.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Taste The Nation With Padma Lakshmi continues to help viewers redefine the notion of “American food,” with Lakshmi serving as an effective ambassador to cuisines and communities you don’t need a passport to experience.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.