May
13,
2021
Max Miller, creator and host of the wildly popular food history show, Tasting History, sat down to chat with us about his favorite recipes!
His channel has officially reached over 500K subscribers on YouTube. Since the channel’s inception in February 2020, amid nationwide shutdowns and stay at home orders, Max’s audience has grown significantly with loyal viewers tuning in each Tuesday for their latest culinary history lesson. Something about being locked down and cooking seem to go hand in hand…
PPLA: When did you first realize your love of cooking?
MM: I didn’t get into cooking until recently, around 7 years ago when I binged-watched the Great British Bake Off. I loved the process, sharing food with family and friends and it just grew from there.
PPLA: Were you always a fan of history or how did blending historical recipes and cooking become your thing?
MM: I have been a fan of history since I was a little kid. The blending of food and history came from watching The Great British Bake Off. I was inspired by the history segments they had in the earlier seasons and when they got rid of them, I felt the need to recreate them for myself.
PPLA: Why did you decide to launch the YouTube channel when you did?
MM: I was given the idea by a friend at work, and that inspired me to try to learn how to do YouTube videos which took me a few months. Once I was able to learn the process, I uploaded my first video in February 2020.
PPLA: You could have never predicted a pandemic would come a month later? How did the pandemic affect your show for better or worse?
MM: For better, the pandemic let me focus on the channel. I was laid off from my job and needed something to keep me busy and sane and Tasting History was there to fill that void. For the worse, it made finding ingredients for the first few months very difficult.
PPLA: Do you think cooking was an outlet for people during the pandemic?
MM: YES! I think it was an outlet to keep people busy as well as a necessity for many who didn’t have access to any alternatives, especially outside of the US, where food delivery apps aren’t as common.
PPLA: You’ve got a great following already. What are your goals with the show from here?
MM: I hope to be able to take the show on the road. There are a lot of international foods that would benefit from an on-location episode. I’m also working on a cookbook (with Simon & Schuster’s Tiller Press ) with some recipes from the show, as well as some new ones!
PPLA: Since you love cooking…. think fast!
Best restaurants in LA
I love Mozza! I always get the Pizza Bianca (a white pizza) as well as whatever pizza that has squash – they almost always have a squash offering that’s delicious!
Favorite market or farmer’s market for ingredients
It depends on what I’m cooking! Eataly and the Farmer’s Market at The Grove are my main go-tos.
Go to meal to cook for a first date
I haven’t had a first date in 7 years! I’m engaged And if I had then, I wouldn’t have cooked – I would have definitely ordered take out!
Favorite Cheat Meal
Any pizza with a side of BBQ ribs. Why not?
Biggest pet peeves for cooking
Poorly written recipes! And yet, that’s almost all I deal with on the show – most historical recipes don’t have measurements, cook times, etc. so it can be very challenging.
Subscribe to Tasting History. New episodes every Tuesday!
