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:

  • Wednesday, July 29, 2026: Taste of Chicago – Jean Banchet Awards with Mary Slowik

Chicago Foodways Roundtable:

  •  TBA

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

Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance:
  • Wednesday, August TBA, 2027 @ 3 PM Indiana State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the Indiana Building.
  • Friday, August TBA, 2027 @ 10 AM Illinois State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the
  • Saturday, August TBA, 2027 @ 3 PM Missouri State Fair: Family Heirloom Recipe Contest located in the 4H building
  • Sunday, TBA, 2027 @ 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.

Taste of Chicago and Jean Banchet Awards

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Mary Slowik

Taste of Chicago

Founded in 1980, Taste of Chicago has grown from a one-day 4th of July celebration into one of the world’s most recognized food festivals and a defining symbol of Chicago’s culinary identity. Created to showcase the city’s remarkable restaurant community and diverse neighborhoods, the Taste has welcomed millions of visitors from around the globe while introducing generations of guests to Chicago’s celebrated chefs, iconic local dishes, and vibrant cultural traditions.

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Native Americans, Their History and Food Culture

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Chef Elena Terry

Come join is as Chef Elena Terry tells us the poignant history of Native Americans and their food culture, which is an integral part of America’s culinary history. Elena is the founder of Wild Bearies, an educational, community outreach nonprofit that strives to bring ancestral foods to communities in a nurturing and nourishing way. With goals of building stronger tribal communities through food, the organization also provides a mentorship program. “We work with our ingredients from seed to table, while promoting traditional food systems and farming techniques,” Elena says. Continue reading →

The Dining Room with John Ota

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Wednesday, May 13, 2026: 7 pm via Zoom: Jon Ota on The Dining Room

Dive into history’s most captivating dining rooms as author and architectural writer John Ota investigates the architecture, interior design, and cherished history of twelve iconic dining spaces, including the dining rooms of Claude Monet, Frida Kahlo, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
 

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How Macaroni and Cheese Shaped Human History, Karima Moyer-Nocchi

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Saturday, April 25, 2026 @ 10 a.m., central time via Zoom

 

What would it mean to view history through the lens of a single, familiar dish? At first glance, the idea of macaroni and cheese having an epic history may seem whimsical, even trivial. Yet its story begins in ancient Rome and unfolds across centuries of colonization, migration, labor, industry, and identity. In this talk, Karima Moyer-Nocchi will discuss her book The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese from Ancient Rome to Modern America, Continue reading →

American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon

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 In American Bacon, Mark A. Johnson asks (and answers) a seemingly simple question: How has bacon overcome centuries of religious prohibition, cultural contempt, and dietary advice to become a twenty-first-century culinary and cultural powerhouse? Starting in early modern Britain and tracing the story of bacon through the colonial era, the Civil War, the Progressive Era, modern fad diets, and the emerging craft bacon industry, Johnson provides a new perspective on bacon’s story from “most dangerous food in the supermarket” to pop culture and gastronomic phenomenon. Continue reading →