Padma Lakshmi is slated to receive the ICON Award from Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration this Thursday, April 4, and for good reason.

The Emmy-nominated producer, television host, New York Times bestselling author and food connoisseur became a household name as host and producer of "Top Chef," and now carries the torch with her Hulu series "Taste the Nation." Ahead of receiving the honor from BU, Lakshmi joined The Culture Show to talk with host Jared Bowen about her work.

Lakshmi's lifelong interest in food began when she was a child.

"I certainly watched all those black and whites of Julia Child," she said. "In high school, I started buying cookbooks and read them cover to cover. [...] I think you can tell an immense amount about a person by their food practices and their food ways. I don't have a formula for how I got here, I'm just happy that I did that."

With "Taste the Nation," which dropped its second season on Hulu in 2023, Lakshmi said, "the impetus for that show was specifically to bring Americans together and to communicate with people who don't necessarily think like I do. [...] It was informed by seeing on the ground firsthand how polarized our country had become."

She treated the show as "one long road trip," where she was able to really connect with the community and visit small, locally-owned eateries. Including right here in Massachusetts — Lakshmi dedicated an episode of "Taste the Nation" to the Cambodia Town neighborhood of Lowell. She visited spots like Simply Khmer, where Lowell residents Sam and Denise Li prepared Khmer dishes and told Lakshmi about their experiences as immigrants to the U.S.

"I think that Cambodian episode is one of my favorite episodes," she said. "It's also one of the toughest. It was very tough to film, because I just wanted to be so tender and careful with these people who have gone through so much trauma and [I wanted to] just be patient and make sure that I didn't push them."

The episode was also a moment of return for Lakshmi, who has a BA from Clark University in Worcester.

"I went to school not far from [Lowell]," she said. "But I had no idea that this community was developing. And they've done amazing. [... Lowell has] had some tough times, like many New England factory towns, and it has gone through its different crises, and they've managed to resuscitate and breathe new life into it."

Listen to the full interview above, and be sure to catch The Culture Show live on GBH every weekday at 2 p.m. The Boston University School of Hospitality will award Lakshmi with its ICON Award on April 4 as part of their Hospitality Leadership Summit at BU's Computing and Data Sciences Center.