Padma Lakshmi talks Taste the Nation S2: ‘We’re looking at larger issue of immigration’

After the success of season 1, executive producer and host Padma Lakshmi is returning with a second season of her hit Hulu docuseries Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which is scheduled to premiere on May 5, 2023, on Hulu.

Lakshmi will once again take viewers among the immigrant communities in the U.S. and delve into the cultural significance of each state’s various foods. The second season has nine destinations, including Puerto Rico, D.C., Appalachia, New York City, Houston, Daly City, Tarpon Springs, Lowell, and Dearborn.

Ahead of the premiere of the docuseries, Lakshmi spoke with Variety and said, “We don’t just go into a community, visit them and we’re out and then rinse and repeat in the next town. We’re looking at the larger issue of immigration in the country that is so integral to the foundation of our modern republic but also through the ever-evolving thing that is America. Immigration is so uniquely important to this country out of all the countries in the world and it’s what has made it its superpower.”

In Puerto Rico, they examine “food sovereignty,” as the cost of produce is high, as well as the U.S. territory’s quest for statehood. “A lot of people look at Puerto Ricans and think, ‘Oh those immigrants,’ but they are not immigrants, they are U.S. citizens. But people don’t know that. And they suffered a lot because of being a territory of the United States,” Lakshmi said.

Through Houston’s Nigerian community, they “tackle the notion of Blackness in America,” while the Cambodian episode in Massachusetts focuses on refugees and what they bring to the country. “Lowell, Mass., was a factory town that went bust, went through a very hard period with gang infestations, drug problems and the property values went down and a lot of storefronts were boarded up. And Cambodian refugees, who really came here with the clothes on their backs, revitalized Massachusetts. They opened businesses, they revitalized downtown, even cleaned up the river so everybody can fish in it,” she added.

Season 2 of Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi premieres Friday, May 5th, only on Hulu.