Food expert, television host, and New York Times best-selling author Padma Lakshmi visited Fairfield University to share the stories of her encounters on the Hulu food and travel documentary series Taste the Nation.
On Thursday, Dec. 18, eager attendees waited in a line stretching across the lobby of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts to have Padma Lakshmi sign their copy of her latest book, Padma’s All American – A Cookbook: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond.
Before the book signing, Lakshmi offered a firsthand account of her Taste the Nation experiences, recounting stories of the immigrant and indigenous food cultures whose recipes and traditions are featured in the November 2025 publication.
Part of the Quick Center’s Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum, “An Evening with Padma Lakshmi” began with a welcome from Philip Eliasoph, PhD—founder, moderator, and director of the eponymous speaker series. Sissy Biggers—former Food Network personality and Today Show lifestyle contributor—then introduced Lakshmi, describing her as “a woman whose gifts defy easy definition.”
“She’s a storyteller, activist, and has the gifts of glamour and grit,” Biggers said. “She brings what happens at the cooktop into a much larger conversation. Immigrant recipes, indigenous traditions—she champions the people behind the stories.”
Christina Grdovic—advisor, connector, consultant, and former Food and Wine publisher—joined Dr. Eliasoph, Biggers, and Lakshmi onstage for the panel discussion.
“This journey took me seven years,” Lakshmi recalled, noting that the book is not just a cookbook but combines recipes with nonfiction essays. “People shared stories in a very intimate fashion… The recipes were on Taste the Nation, but the essays were separate.”
“Everything was spontaneous except the staged food shots,” noted Lakshmi as stunning photographs from the book, many taken in the author’s own kitchen, were projected during the panel. Lakshmi shared memories of the people and places that resulted in the mouthwatering photographs—from stories of Amazonian tamales to a pack rat recipe adopted for chicken thighs, to crab fried rice and pickled peanuts.
“The hat trick of the book is that I wanted to retain the essence of the recipes and the communities they came from, while at the same time making them approachable,” said Lakshmi.
She also spoke of her experience with the American Civil Liberties Union, which she described as “some of the most meaningful work of my life,” and noted that it gave her a crash-course in immigration. “What makes this country actually great is the contributions of so many generations of immigrants,” Lakshmi said. “It’s very important to marry my advocacy with my work as an artist.”
Before heading to the lobby to sign books, Lakshmi left the audience with a teaser for her newest project—a brand new cooking show set to premier on CBS this March, America’s Culinary Cup. “I have assembled who I think are the best chefs in the country," she said. "It’s a competition. There will be only one chef standing.”
