Upcoming Programs at a Glance

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Almost all our programs are presented virtually via Zoom on Central Time. We offer live and virtual programs. Please read the full event notices for details because days and times often vary. You are encouraged to join our email list to receive advance notices followed by day-of-meeting reminders with the required Zoom link. You are always welcome to become a member.

Culinary Historians of Chicago:

Chicago Foodways Roundtable:

  • Wednesday, April 23, 2025 @ 6 pm LIVE: Kerala Style food at Mintza Restaurant on Devon Ave, Limited seating 20 people. There might be a second date, so please get on the wait list for priority.
  • Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 10 am @ First Bank of Highland Park: Archival Methods for Preserving Family Recipes: How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions. We can continue discussion over lunch. Limited seating, so reservations are a must.
  • Saturday, July 13, 2024 road trip to DeKalb, Illinois: 1 PM @ tour of Food: Gathering Around the Table @ DeKalb History Center, 5 PM: Church Supper at Kingston Methodist Church – postponed due to illness.
  • Saturday, January 24, 2026 @ 4 pm Delafield, Wisconsin: Raccoon Dinner

Find Culinary Historians of Chicago and Chicago Foodways Roundtable on Twitter or Facebook.

Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance:
  • Wednesday, August 6, 2025 @ 3 PM Indiana State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the Indiana Building.
  • Friday, August 8, 2025 @ 10 AM Illinois State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the
  • Saturday, August 9, 2025 @ 3 PM Missouri State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the 4H building
  • Sunday, August 31, 2025 @ 1 PM South Dakota State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located at the Women’s Building

Find Greater Midwest Foodways on Twitter, Facebook or our website.

A Culinary Journey Through India: The Cuisine of Kerala

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Join us on Wednesday, April 23. 2025 @ 6 pm at Mintza (Kerala) Restaurant

Presented by Colleen Taylor Sen

Mintza Restaurant, 2245 West Devon Avenue | Chicago, IL 60659
Get Directions
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 6 PM Central Time

This series of dinners curated specially for members of the Culinary Historians of Chicago and Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society features the cuisines of different regions of India.

At the first dinner we enjoyed the delicious cuisine of Hyderabad. This time we’ll savor the cuisine of Kerala, a small state on the southwest corner of India famous for its beautiful scenery, diverse communities, and delicious cuisine, prepared with aromatic spices (but not hot!) and coconut in various forms. Continue reading →

Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History: Cooking to the President’s Taste

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Join us on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 @ 7 PM, via Zoom

Come join us to hear about the virtually unknown history of the many Asian heritage chefs who have prepared meals for U.S. presidents extending back more than a century and continuing to the present day. Yet many of their names are largely unknown.

Our speakers, Adrian Miller, a two-time James Beard Award-winning author, and culinary authority Deborah Chang, will present stories from their just-published book, Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History: Cooking  to the President’s Taste. Continue reading →

The Legacy and Impact of the Farm-to-Table Movement in Chicago

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Chef Jason Hammel

Come join us as one of Chicago’s most iconic chefs, Jason Hammel, takes us back to the 1990s, tracing his journey from East Coast outsider to one of the Midwest’s most passionate advocates for hyper-local sourcing. He’ll recount the early days of the farm-to-table movement, the founding of Green City Market, and the rise of restaurants dedicated to local ingredients. Lula Café, his restaurant of 25 years, has grown in parallel step to this movement, and through stories from its early days, he’ll highlight the challenges and resistance that once stood in its way. Continue reading →

Preserving Family Heirloom Recipes

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Presented by Valerie J. Frey
Sock It To Me Cake

Heirloom dishes and family food traditions are rich sources of nostalgia and provide vivid ways to learn about our families’ past, yet they can be problematic. Many family recipes and food traditions are never documented in written or photographic form, existing only as unwritten know-how and lore that vanishes when a cook dies. Even when recipes are written down, they often fail to give the tricks and tips that would allow another cook to accurately replicate the dish. Continue reading →

Food in the Midwest: More Interesting Than You May Think

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Cynthia Clampitt

The history of the Midwest is remarkable for many reasons, not least of which is the diversity of its population, and therefore of its regional cuisine. Everyone contributed to what was developing,  from the Ojibwe harvesting wild rice in Minnesota to Belgian hoteliers in Chicago inventing new dishes. There were Cornish miners in Michigan, Bohemians in Nebraska. Swiss farmers in Wisconsin, Chinese in Missouri, Germans in Ohio, and so many more. Foods found here married with introductions. Traditions of dozens of nations mixed and evolved and added to the richness of a region that became famed for the abundance of food it provides, but that is sometimes hard to define because of its variety.  Continue reading →