In January 2017, 20-year-old Birna Brjánsdóttir disappeared after a night out in Reykjavík. The last confirmed footage shows her walking alone down Laugavegur, eating a falafel pita. Within days, Iceland launched the largest search in its modern history.

This episode of True Crime Culinary recounts the facts of Birna’s case and follows an unexpected thread: how falafel — a dish that began as fasting food in Egypt — became a common late-night meal in Iceland.

From fava beans to chickpeas, from religious kitchens to street food, this is a story about how food travels, adapts, and becomes ordinary in places far from where it began.

1. 📚 References

   • Falafel (Wikipedia). Overview of the dish’s ingredients, origins, variations, and cultural context. Wikipedia
     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel

   • Falafel: A Humble Vegetarian Staple in Middle Eastern Cuisine — Munchery. Article on falafel’s cultural role, classic preparation, and serving ideas. munchery.com
     https://www.munchery.com/blog/falafel-a-humble-staple-in-middle-eastern-cuisine/

   • The History of Falafel (CultureMap). Notes on falafel’s likely origins, the fava bean → chickpea shift, and global spread. The Culture Map
     https://theculturemap.com/history-of-falafel-and-best-countries-to-taste-it/

   • Murder of Birna Brjánsdóttir (Wikipedia). Factual timeline of the disappearance, search, and conviction. Wikipedia
     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Birna_Brj%C3%A1nsd%C3%B3ttir

   • The Murder That Devastated An Entire Country — True Crime Edition. Context and narrative details of Birna’s case. True Crime Edition
     https://www.truecrimeedition.com/post/birna-brjansdottir

They drilled through concrete. They lined up multiple trucks. They stole more than 100 tons of something most people would never notice.

In early 2022, one of the largest agricultural heists in Israeli history left investigators baffled. The target wasn’t gold, fuel, or electronics — but a food so ordinary it barely registers as valuable… until you understand its history.

In this episode of True Crime Culinary, we follow the logistics of the theft, the suspects’ background, and the surprising reason this product was worth breaking through reinforced walls to steal. Then we trace its journey across continents — from ancient burial sites in South America, through West African kitchens, into American fields — and uncover how a quiet survival food became a global commodity hiding in plain sight.

This isn’t a story about snacks. It’s a story about planning, scarcity, and the foods we stop seeing once they become everywhere.

Sources:

• “That’s nuts!: 104-ton peanut heist leads to quick arrest” — Israel Hayom (2025) www.israelhayom.com

• “Suspect arrested for stealing over 104 tons of peanuts in Be’er Sheba” — Jerusalem Post (2025) Jerusalem Post

• Peanut plant origin and cultivation history — Wikipedia Wikipedia

• Peanut domestication & ancient cultivation — ScienceDirect summary ScienceDirect

• Peanut origin & spread via European trade — Etymonline etymonline.com

• George Washington Carver biography and bulletins — Wikipedia Wikipedia

• Carver’s contributions to peanut agriculture — History.com HISTORY

• George Washington Carver agricultural legacy — National Peanut Board National Peanut Board

In 2002, Gwen Araujo, a 17-year-old transgender girl, was murdered in California for living openly as herself.

In this episode of True Crime Culinary, host Leah Llach tells Gwen’s story with care, personal reflection, and historical context — examining how everyday cruelty escalates, how violence is excused, and how one case helped change the law.

We follow Gwen’s life, the night of the attack, and the aftermath that led to the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, which limited the use of the so-called “trans panic” defense in court.

Then, through the show’s culinary lens, we step back to examine the object at the center of the crime: a can of food.
Invented to preserve life — to feed armies, families, and people facing scarcity — the can represents humanity’s long struggle to protect what matters. This episode asks what it means when something designed to sustain becomes a weapon instead.

This is a story about memory, dignity, and the responsibility to see people as fully human — before harm is done.

📚 References & Further Reading

• Wikipedia — Murder of Gwen Araujo
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Gwen_Araujo
  (Chronology, trial details, and legal outcomes)

• ACLU of Northern California — Trans Panic Defense and Legal Reform
  https://www.aclunc.org

• The New York Times — Coverage of Gwen Araujo trial and aftermath

• Smithsonian National Museum of American History — The History of Canning
  https://americanhistory.si.edu/

• Encyclopaedia Britannica — Food Preservation / Canning
  https://www.britannica.com/topic/canning-food-processing

• National WWII Museum — Canned Food and Military Rations
  https://www.nationalww2museum.org