Cities more known for corruption than cuisine, Cape Town and Johannesburg offer David meals with rich histories that combine the pain of apartheid and hope for the future. Here, he harvests dune spinach, eats an eyeball, and learns about the greening of townships and land reform.

Twice in pursuit of octopus (and both times failing to catch his prey), David has a near-death experience in Sardinia, then confronts his diving fears in Malta. Seeking water to brew beer, he enjoys 200 years of Malta’s history in a single meal and learns why a country surrounded by water is facing drought and an inability to feed its people.

David stares down the barrel of a gun—quite literally—to hunt game in Texas and Wyoming as he recalls filming the pilot episode of From Scratch (aka what was almost the quickest cancellation in history) and discusses the ethics of hunting culture in America.

In the Philippines, the heritage of David’s wife and son impacts his culinary pursuits as he joins fisherfolk in a difficult and disappointing pursuit of round scad and the ingredients for patis.

From the potato test in Peru to farming the potato back into Diné life in the Navajo Nation, David puts the spotlight on an often-dismissed addition to our tables and the wide variety of tubers the world has to offer.

In the land of fire and ice, David fishes, dives, uses dung for smoking butter, and finds reason to be hopeful given the strides Icelanders have made in sustainability and equity, if only the rest of the world can learn from their example.

Kenya introduces David to a vastly different cuisine and way of life when he turns off his phone’s GPS tracker and meets a shaman in the secret Forest of the Lost Child, then speaks with paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey about Africa’s past and our uncertain future.

Mesmerized by mushrooms—not that kind—David scans for Porcinis and learns about Finland’s right to forage and how it reflects cultural values, then draws comparisons to America as he seeks Chanterelles on Whidbey Island.

A born and bred New Yorker, David Moscow milks a water buffalo and muses on picking a favorite pizza joint, even as he dares to declare that the best pizza in the world can be found in Naples and misunderstandings threaten his mozzarella.