The dried noodles are then reinvigorated with boiling water and a little bit of flavor. It can be reconstituted very easily and once it was invented it was easy to manufacture. You can, manufacturing plants, rung up in places like Indonesia and India which you might expect as well as Japan but then Nepal, Nepal as a centre exporting ramen noodles to India. I mean that really surprised me when I realized about it but it has been a huge success.
Rachel Laudan, visiting scholar at the University of Texas and author of Cuisine and Empire, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the history of food. Topics covered include the importance of grain, the spread of various styles of cooking, why French cooking has elite status, and the reach of McDonald's. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the appeal of local food and other recent food passions.