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Padma's All American: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond: A Cookbook
An upcoming book from with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published November 4, 2025
56 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
About the author
Padma Lakshmi
14 books167 followersPadma Lakshmi is an American television host, producer, author, model, and activist whose multifaceted career has spanned fashion, food, literature, and social justice. Born Padma Parvati Lakshmi in Chennai, India, she immigrated to the United States as a child, where she was raised by her mother, a single parent and oncology nurse. Overcoming significant personal hardships, including bullying, health issues, and sexual trauma, Lakshmi has used her platform to advocate for marginalized voices and promote cultural understanding.
Lakshmi first rose to international prominence as a fashion model. Discovered while studying abroad in Madrid, she quickly became the first Indian model to build a successful career in fashion capitals like Paris, Milan, and New York. She worked with renowned designers such as Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti, and posed for iconic photographers including Helmut Newton and Mario Testino. Her modeling work, often showcasing the seven-inch scar on her arm from a childhood car accident, challenged traditional beauty standards and redefined representation in the fashion industry.
She transitioned into television with hosting roles on culinary travel shows and ultimately became best known for hosting Top Chef, a position she held from 2006 to 2023. As both host and executive producer, Lakshmi earned multiple Emmy nominations and three Critics’ Choice Awards. She later created and produced Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, a Hulu docuseries exploring immigrant and indigenous culinary traditions in the United States. The series received widespread critical acclaim, winning multiple Critics’ Choice Awards and a James Beard Foundation Award.
Lakshmi is also a best-selling author. Her debut cookbook Easy Exotic won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award, and her memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate became a New York Times best-seller. Her other publications include Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs, and the children’s book Tomatoes for Neela. She has also contributed essays and articles to The New York Times, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar, and guest-edited The Best American Travel Writing 2021.
In business, Lakshmi has built several successful ventures. She created The Padma Collection, featuring fine jewelry and home décor, and launched Padma’s Easy Exotic, a line of teas, spices, and organic foods. In 2024, she introduced Padma X Bare Necessities, a lingerie line celebrating body inclusivity.
A fierce advocate for women's health, Lakshmi co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America after being diagnosed with the condition herself. She is also an ACLU ambassador for immigration and women's rights and a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador. Her activism spans reproductive rights, anti-colorism efforts, and immigrant justice.
Lakshmi’s achievements have earned her numerous honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Carnegie Corporation’s Great Immigrants Award, and inclusion in Time magazine’s 2023 list of the 100 most influential people. In 2024, she became a visiting scholar at MIT and received the ICON Award from Boston University. Through her work, Padma Lakshmi continues to empower communities, celebrate cultural diversity, and advocate for equality on a global scale.
Lakshmi first rose to international prominence as a fashion model. Discovered while studying abroad in Madrid, she quickly became the first Indian model to build a successful career in fashion capitals like Paris, Milan, and New York. She worked with renowned designers such as Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti, and posed for iconic photographers including Helmut Newton and Mario Testino. Her modeling work, often showcasing the seven-inch scar on her arm from a childhood car accident, challenged traditional beauty standards and redefined representation in the fashion industry.
She transitioned into television with hosting roles on culinary travel shows and ultimately became best known for hosting Top Chef, a position she held from 2006 to 2023. As both host and executive producer, Lakshmi earned multiple Emmy nominations and three Critics’ Choice Awards. She later created and produced Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, a Hulu docuseries exploring immigrant and indigenous culinary traditions in the United States. The series received widespread critical acclaim, winning multiple Critics’ Choice Awards and a James Beard Foundation Award.
Lakshmi is also a best-selling author. Her debut cookbook Easy Exotic won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award, and her memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate became a New York Times best-seller. Her other publications include Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs, and the children’s book Tomatoes for Neela. She has also contributed essays and articles to The New York Times, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar, and guest-edited The Best American Travel Writing 2021.
In business, Lakshmi has built several successful ventures. She created The Padma Collection, featuring fine jewelry and home décor, and launched Padma’s Easy Exotic, a line of teas, spices, and organic foods. In 2024, she introduced Padma X Bare Necessities, a lingerie line celebrating body inclusivity.
A fierce advocate for women's health, Lakshmi co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America after being diagnosed with the condition herself. She is also an ACLU ambassador for immigration and women's rights and a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador. Her activism spans reproductive rights, anti-colorism efforts, and immigrant justice.
Lakshmi’s achievements have earned her numerous honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Carnegie Corporation’s Great Immigrants Award, and inclusion in Time magazine’s 2023 list of the 100 most influential people. In 2024, she became a visiting scholar at MIT and received the ICON Award from Boston University. Through her work, Padma Lakshmi continues to empower communities, celebrate cultural diversity, and advocate for equality on a global scale.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
2025
October 2, 2025Non-fiction November TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf
January 13, 2026
filled with good recipes, and even better stories- all based in how "American" cuisine is inherently immigrant food and celebrates that
January 29, 2026
Lots of great stories and recipes. I can't wait to try out these recipes.
March 13, 2026
It was okay, had pretty pictures but nothing mind-blowing.
September 18, 2025
Thank you to Ms. Lakshmi and the publisher for access to this e-book in exchange for my review.
Knowing this author from television and having enjoyed the show that this book is based on, I was expecting a vast and colorful array of foods and well-written recipe introductions. What is offered even more in this book is an overwhelming tonic of warmth and genuine interest from the author in the story and tradition behind each dish. Stories in this book made me feel a lot about each dish… but also I am more connected and I genuinely cannot wait to cook certain dishes to honor the people that shared them.
In terms of the actual recipes and the layout of the book. I loved the standard sectioning and layout of each recipe, but what I loved MORE was the Feasts, laid out in beautiful scenes throughout the book. The Feasts beautifully crossed cultural boundaries and integrated dishes from many regions while still sounding like amazing pairings.
You get a lot of value in this books, and I would definitely recommend adding it to your collection.
Knowing this author from television and having enjoyed the show that this book is based on, I was expecting a vast and colorful array of foods and well-written recipe introductions. What is offered even more in this book is an overwhelming tonic of warmth and genuine interest from the author in the story and tradition behind each dish. Stories in this book made me feel a lot about each dish… but also I am more connected and I genuinely cannot wait to cook certain dishes to honor the people that shared them.
In terms of the actual recipes and the layout of the book. I loved the standard sectioning and layout of each recipe, but what I loved MORE was the Feasts, laid out in beautiful scenes throughout the book. The Feasts beautifully crossed cultural boundaries and integrated dishes from many regions while still sounding like amazing pairings.
You get a lot of value in this books, and I would definitely recommend adding it to your collection.
April 12, 2026
The book is fascinating and worth reading, but it's kind of a hodge podge. Although filled with stories from Lakshmi's time filming Taste the Nation, it's not really about that. Even the recipes that come from the show aren't necessarily the originals; Lakshmi has adapted most of them, not just to use slightly easier methods or ingredients, but to her tastes. She rounds things out with her own recipes and others that she happens to like.
There is zero organization by culture, merely by the very general categories of a standard American cookbook: soup, drink, vegetables, meat, and so forth. More interesting are the groupings into multiple "feasts," each with a balanced collection of dishes, but those don't relate to the order in which she presents.
For a modern cookbook, there is the glaring omission of any mention of alternative diets. Odd for someone who grew up never eating meat, for religious and cultural reasons. But now she eats anything and her previously vegetarian family loves their pork. The only variations in recipes are sparse, and have to do with availability of ingredients or personal taste. If she was presenting other people's recipes, that would be understandable, but she already alters them, sometimes considerably.
Clearly though, this is deliberate. The myth of the true foodie, someone who is game for any food offered to them. She eats meat, her old colleague on Top Chef, Gail Simmons, wrote a memoir where she talked about ignoring her food allergies so she could continue to do her job. On Top Chef too, we had one contestant hospitalized because another refused not to use a single not-common ingredient (and then another contestant used it the next day). It's a mind set.
Many of the recipes themselves are pretty awesome. There are even a few I can eat. And the stories are incomparable. Along with Lakshmi's deep understanding of food culture and the transformation of cuisines. Here it's mostly about immigration to the United States and the foods that come from that. A topic I loved in her series and enjoyed in this book, though there wasn't nearly enough of it.
There is zero organization by culture, merely by the very general categories of a standard American cookbook: soup, drink, vegetables, meat, and so forth. More interesting are the groupings into multiple "feasts," each with a balanced collection of dishes, but those don't relate to the order in which she presents.
For a modern cookbook, there is the glaring omission of any mention of alternative diets. Odd for someone who grew up never eating meat, for religious and cultural reasons. But now she eats anything and her previously vegetarian family loves their pork. The only variations in recipes are sparse, and have to do with availability of ingredients or personal taste. If she was presenting other people's recipes, that would be understandable, but she already alters them, sometimes considerably.
Clearly though, this is deliberate. The myth of the true foodie, someone who is game for any food offered to them. She eats meat, her old colleague on Top Chef, Gail Simmons, wrote a memoir where she talked about ignoring her food allergies so she could continue to do her job. On Top Chef too, we had one contestant hospitalized because another refused not to use a single not-common ingredient (and then another contestant used it the next day). It's a mind set.
Many of the recipes themselves are pretty awesome. There are even a few I can eat. And the stories are incomparable. Along with Lakshmi's deep understanding of food culture and the transformation of cuisines. Here it's mostly about immigration to the United States and the foods that come from that. A topic I loved in her series and enjoyed in this book, though there wasn't nearly enough of it.
March 26, 2026
The book is full of warming anecdotal stories. What struck me the most was the vulnerability of the author to admit that she was clueless in how to interview, and that in the process of the book, the chef from Iran, she was trying to coax a story from him, versus allowing him to tell HIS story. She stated she learned.
Each of her little stories about the food the people were well worth the read, then recipes all seem achievable with the PADMA twist, for the everyday home cook/chef, and solutions for items that would be hard to source. Her "Taste of the Nation" is one of my favorite as it brings the world to us and us to the world through food and identity exploration. This books is much like that show.
While i love watching Padma's on TV, I do not view her as a Chef, Kinda like I do no view Rachel Ray or Daphne Oz (the one thing I LOVED about Anthony Bourdain his dislike of Rachel Ray's food opinion), as one either. But I do thinks she has great food and taste knowledge with a discerning palate and take on food. I would eat whatever she cooks, with an open mind.
Each of her little stories about the food the people were well worth the read, then recipes all seem achievable with the PADMA twist, for the everyday home cook/chef, and solutions for items that would be hard to source. Her "Taste of the Nation" is one of my favorite as it brings the world to us and us to the world through food and identity exploration. This books is much like that show.
While i love watching Padma's on TV, I do not view her as a Chef, Kinda like I do no view Rachel Ray or Daphne Oz (the one thing I LOVED about Anthony Bourdain his dislike of Rachel Ray's food opinion), as one either. But I do thinks she has great food and taste knowledge with a discerning palate and take on food. I would eat whatever she cooks, with an open mind.
January 21, 2026
What a beautiful book - not just the recipes but also the photography. I had loved the show, Taste the Nation, when it originally aired and enjoyed the many cultures and foods represented throughout the show and its commentary. The chef's stories are presented with respect and honoring their traditions and process and the recipes authentically replicated.
A highlight of the book is its collection of complementary recipes into party menus or feasts to save the host a frantic back and forth through the book. And yes, even the desserts and drinks are brought into the feast menu to pair with the food recommendations.
This review was written based on my library's copy so I could review the contents before purchasing... something I will do next :)
A highlight of the book is its collection of complementary recipes into party menus or feasts to save the host a frantic back and forth through the book. And yes, even the desserts and drinks are brought into the feast menu to pair with the food recommendations.
This review was written based on my library's copy so I could review the contents before purchasing... something I will do next :)
November 11, 2025
I loved her memoir and her work on Top Chef and Taste the Nation, so this book is wonderful just for having her voice so richly spoken throughout. The photography was amazing. But I didn't find a lot in here I wanted to cook, with a lot of ingredients hand-waved as "check your local Middle Eastern market" like that's something every town has. Nonetheless, I look forward to trying some of these soups this winter!
November 12, 2025
Padma is an incredible chef, TV host, mother and person. This cookbook tells incredible stories through food and how it can unite all of us. Her show brings many people of different cultures together and these recipes reflect just how diverse our world is and how culinary creations brings everyone together. I have been a fan of hers for such a long time and this book felt like I was traveling the world without leaving my kitchen! A must book for everyone!
April 14, 2026
Geez, just write a cookbook, why does everyone have to make things political? I like reading the background stories, but ended up skipping & went straight to recipes. Unless you live in a large city with specialty markets, many of the products are unavailable in most American cities. You have to order online, which is hard to take the experience of smelling, choosing & buying process from hands on to a no fun Amazon processing task.
November 7, 2025
This one hit me right in the heart and the kitchen. The way Padma writes about food — how it holds memory, identity, and love — reminded me why I’m happiest cooking at home. Every chapter made me want to pull out my spice rack and make something that tastes like comfort and curiosity at the same time. It’s tender, a little nostalgic, and full of flavor — just how I like it.
May 4, 2026
Again, to be fair, the rating is based on the introduction where the author feels the need to let me know her political leanings. I am not interested in her politics. I wanted to check out her recipes, but I do not need to look any further. If she is so unhappy with the current state of the U.S., she is welcome to leave at any time.
May 6, 2026
This is not a cookbook that the average American cook will use. Unless you live in large cities, you’ll be hard pressed to find many of the ingredients locally. Quite a few recipes don’t have photos. Honestly, there are only a handful of recipes I’d try. For $40 US that’s not a good value for me. If you’re a fan of Padma’s you might like to add this to your collection.
July 18, 2025
Having adored Padma since her days hosting Top Chef
I of course followed her when she broke away
to do her own culinary adventures.
With inherent charm and an undeniable passion for
discovering new food and the way a culture
represents and expresses itself with food.
Especially in America where we are one
country but a people divided.
The ways food can cross cultures
And more importantly allow a people to remember their heritage.
I of course followed her when she broke away
to do her own culinary adventures.
With inherent charm and an undeniable passion for
discovering new food and the way a culture
represents and expresses itself with food.
Especially in America where we are one
country but a people divided.
The ways food can cross cultures
And more importantly allow a people to remember their heritage.
January 9, 2026
What a treat for fans of Padma and her wonderful , inventive cooking. The book is filled with an international array of recipes, adapted for the home cook. Padma brings together the very best cooking from our nations melting pot. Highly recommend.
April 16, 2026
A nice mix of food, deep stories.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews