This New Podcast Brings You The Hidden History of Local Dishes

Last summer, we shared about The California Migration Museum (CalMigration), a non-profit sharing immigrant and refugee stories, launched Melting Spots, an adorable interactive SF map showcasing immigrant chefs, restaurants, and unique local dishes. This November, CalMigration is bringing us a miniseries to compliment their interactive map project launching November 19th.

Whether you’re interested in the history of our beloved burritos or pop-ups featuring Malaysian food, this podcast takes you on a journey into the heart of San Francisco through its food.

“There are some dishes that are so quintessentially San Francisco—garlic noodles, sourdough bread, cioppino, tea leaf salad, to name a few—that it’s impossible to imagine the City today without them,” notes California Migration Museum Founder and Melting Spots cohost Katy Long. “And it’s impossible to trace the origins of these dishes without their immigration stories.”

What will you learn about on the Melting Spots Podcast?

This podcast is planned to be 8 different episodes. Episodes are themed in such a way that you can go into a bit of a deep-dive into what makes our local food history so interesting – such as episides which talk about community, the beginnings of our food culture here and the immigrants who brought us our most iconic dishes, a full episode on authenticity and more.

“These local stories speak to wider conversations happening across the US and even the world: about how immigrants shape our communities, what it means to live and belong in multicultural cities, and what we encounter along the way,” added Gabrielle Santas, Melting Spots cohost and Director of Research for the Museum.

I’m especially excited for Episode 2, which dives into the theme of Family. My favorite dishes come from chefs who adapt the family recipes they grew up with—it tells a story that feels so personal. For this episode, chefs and owners from Bi-Rite Market, Yank Sing, R&G Lounge, Estrellita’s Snacks, working alongside generations, and preserving a legacy through food.

Every episode will be fascinating, truly. Episide 4 is called “Made in SF” and will go into some of our favorite foodie finds you find done best in our city by The Bay. Founders and historians from Anchor Oyster Bar, The Buena Vista Cafe, El Faro, Thanh Long, and the Japanese Tea Gardens share and talk about our satisfyingly-massive Mission burrito, the always-delicious and iconic Irish Coffee and that crunchy cutie, The Fortune Cookie.

What will you learn about on the Melting Spots Podcast?

The 8-episode miniseries drops Tuesday, November 19, and is available on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other platforms. As we mentioned a while back, there are small snippets to listen to which match different spots on The Melting Spots map.

Fun Fact: There’s also a limited edition print of the Melting Spots map originally released in 2023. This adorable map was created by award-winning illustrator Alex Foster. The limited-edition map will be signed and can be obtained with a donation to the California Migration Museum, at calmigration.org/meltingspots