Upcoming Programs at a Glance

Featured

Currently all our programs are presented virtually via Zoom on Central Time. Once we can meet again, we hope to continue with both 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:

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

Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance:

  • Wednesday, August 9, 2023 @ 3 PM Indiana State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the Indiana Building
  • Friday, August 11, 2023 @ 10 AM Illinois State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located at the Hobby, Arts and Crafts Building
  • Saturday, August 12, 2023 @ 2:30 PM: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located at the 4-H Building
  • Sunday, September 4, 2023 @ 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.

What you probably didn’t know about Indian food

Join Us on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 7 PM (Central) via Zoom!

Presented by Colleen Taylor Sen

  • What ‘ethnic food” is universally popular among Indians?
  • Who is known as India’s Julia Child?
  • What Italian restaurateur opened a restaurant called “the Maxim’s of the East?”
  • How are lichens used in Indian cuisine? 
  • How do Indian Jews celebrate Purim?

Continue reading

Made in Chicago: Stories Behind 30 Great Hometown Bites

Join Us on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 7 PM Central via Zoom!

Presented by Monica Eng and David Hammond

Chicago food shows its true depth in classic dishes conceived in the kitchens of immigrant innovators, neighborhood entrepreneurs, and mom-and-pop visionaries.

Monica Eng and David Hammond draw on decades of exploring the city’s food landscape to serve up thirty can’t-miss eats found in all corners of Chicago. Continue reading

The Multiple Heritages of Irish Soda Bread

Presented by Lucy Long, PhD

Podcast

Links to Recipes:
Ballymaloe Traditional Brown Soda Bread
Ballymaloe White Soda Bread

Soda bread, a quick bread using baking soda as the primary rising agent, is closely associated in the U.S. with Ireland. Its history and meanings, however, are much more complicated—and tasty—than the sweet loaf with raisins that is usually found around St Patrick’s Day in March. Continue reading

History of American Pies … and Illinois is well represented!

Presented by Catherine Lambrecht (Image by Catherine Lambrecht, too!)

Podcast

Pies are as American as pizza is American: we took a great idea, adapted it to our needs and ran with it. Our ancestors used what they had available locally and made the most from it. You might be thinking that pies are just for dessert, but for our American ancestors, they were often considered survival food. Sometimes, they ate pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner for months at a time. Continue reading

Bitter Sweet: A Wartime Journal and Heirloom Recipes from Occupied France

 

Presented by Kitty Morse

Podcast

Links to recipes
Civet de Lapin au Riesling – Rabbit Stew with Riesling Wine
Cruchades de Maïs – Fried Cornmeal ‘Coins’
Chocolate Almond Salami

In our speaker’s own words: “I’d never come across another suitcase quite like it. But what was the tattered black leather valise doing there, hidden behind a crocheted comforter on the top shelf of my late mother’s closet? The tarnished brass locking mechanism had already been sprung.” Continue reading