"Each time a good cook dies without passing down recipes, family dishes become suddenly lost forever." - Unknown. This week on A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio talks with food writer Donna Pierce about preserving the past through cuisine and recipes. Donna Pierce started Skillet Diares, a website dedicated to "remembering, preserving, and passing down the flavors of home." Tune in to hear Linda and Donna discuss the importance of digital media in preserving recipes, the necessity for oral traditions, and the variations in recipes from region to region. Also, check out Donna's other site, Black American Cooks, which is all about preserving an African American cultural history through generations of recipes. This episode has been brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

"When I grew up, I clung to everything about my grandmother and parents' past, and the creole food that they loved." 21min.

"I really understand the importance of [cookbook style and design]. Sometimes it's more important than the written description- and that's a hard thing for a writer to say." --Donna Pierce on A Taste of the Past

This week on A Taste of The Past goes south to Mississippi with James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Martha Hall Foose who was also the food stylist for the critically acclaimed move 'The Help', set in Mississippi in the '60s. Martha discusses the process she went through to recreate historically-accurate meals and foodstuff for the film and how sometimes she had to learn to let go of her modernist aesthetics in order to remain faithful to the time. From classic bridge party food and to her take on peanut chicken this is an episode not to miss. This episode is sponsored by Fairway Market.

Learn about the history of vegetarianism and veganism with Rynn Berry. Rynn joins Linda Pelaccio in the studio to talk vegetables, raw food, and animal rights. Rynn is a historical adviser to the North American Vegetarian Society and is on the Advisory Board of Earth Save. In his lectures, articles, and books, he has specialized in the study of vegetarianism from an historical perspective. Tune into this episode to hear Rynn and Linda discuss the cultural and religious significance of a plant-based diet. Why has vegetarianism become popular in the past fifty years? Learn about the historical link between vegetarians and abolitionists, and the health considerations of a meat-heavy lifestyle. Listen in to learn about some famous vegetarians throughout history! This program has been brought to you by Whole Foods.

"Vegetarianism often has a religious impetus; it is not entirely a secular movement." [12:25]

"People have been consuming raw food for eons. Cooking food was not financially expedient until recently." [24:50]

-- Rynn Berry on A Taste of the Past