11 European Dishes You Must Try Before You Die (Plus Movie Pairings) with Kenny Dunn

·1 hr 24 min·5 clips

Discover the scotch egg, a soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage and fried, invented in 1738 as a travel snack.

Jason Moore hosts Kenny Dunn, founder of Eating Europe, which Jason describes as the biggest food tour company on the European continent. Kenny has been based in Rome for fifteen years, originally from Philadelphia. Jason notes that Eating Europe has been featured in Rick Steves and National Geographic, and that he has known Kenny personally since college. The episode's format pairs each of Kenny's eleven recommended European dishes with a movie or TV show recommendation, designed as a stay-at-home experience as much as a travel guide. Kenny opens with a discussion of whether the romanticized image of Europeans buying daily from butchers, fishmongers, and open-air markets is still reality. He confirms that in Rome, Paris, and other major European cities the outdoor market culture is genuinely alive, with neighbors like the cheesemonger Emiliano in his local market carrying hundreds of cheeses, but acknowledges that the percentage of people shopping this way has dropped significantly over 50 years as supermarkets proliferate. He also reflects on cooking internationally at home with his 13-year-old son, who has developed a love of cooking through YouTube and frequently makes curries and other global dishes. The 11 dishes span multiple countries and culinary traditions. Kenny provides cultural background for each dish, including how the dish developed, regional variations, what to look for when ordering in a restaurant, and how to source ingredients for home preparation. Jason draws on his own experience of Eating Europe food tours in Rome to add personal observations, including comparisons between the Italian and American approaches to neighborhood food shopping. The episode's bonus section, labeled the best in travel tech final installment, focuses on money tools for pre-trip savings, on-trip spending management, and post-trip financial review. Kenny is encouraged to return for future episodes.

As heard by us

A breezy food and travel tour that feels lived in, with just enough detour to stay interesting.

Kenny Dunn turns a food tour into an easy, meandering walk through Europe, with plainspoken enthusiasm that makes each stop feel worth lingering over.

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Why you'd press play

Try standout European bites with a Porto sandwich and a surfer's movie pairing.

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