Welcome to Ping and Echo, a daily newsletter that links to one amazing podcast episode that is guaranteed to be a great listen for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos and activities related to the podcast so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
Today’s podcast episode is from Hidden Kitchens, an old series that was broadcast on NPR back in 2004. The Hidden Kitchen’s series, produced and created by the Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva), is full of wonderful bite-sized stories that connect food and cooking to important parts of our history and politics. In this episode you will learn about the “Chili Queens of San Antonio” and how serving chili in a public square became a political act, bound up in discussions of race and culture along the border.
Podcast: Hidden Kitchens
Episode: The Chili Queens of San Antonio
URL: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4107830
Length: 7 minutes
🧐 You Should Know
We’ll always give you a heads up if there is anything in the podcast that might surprise or worry kids. Nothing to worry about in this episode!
💡 Try This
After you listen to the episode you can cook up some projects of your own with the links and activities below:
Cook your own San Antonio chili queen dish with this recipe from the Institute of Texan Cultures
Listen to Lydia Mendoza, the first star of recorded Tejano and Norteno music.
Interview someone in your family about a favorite old family recipe
🔎 Explore More
Read up on more history about the Chili Queens with these links:
The Bloody San Antonio Origins of Chili Con Carne - Texas Monthly
The Forgotten Chefs Who Made Carne con Chile a Texas Mexican Standard - Atlas Obscura
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. You can send us pictures of the art and activities created by your kids. Email them to pingandecho@gmail.com and we’ll post all your echos on our Twitter page.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox.
Ruby, Toby, and Josh