By Nancie McDermott
Food Writer, Cookbook Author, Teacher

Author Nancie McDermott is letting her roots show. Renowned for her recipes and writings on the cuisines and culture of Southeast Asia, where she spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer, McDermott’s latest volume is truly the frosting on her culinary cake. Ms. McDermott brings us down home to her beloved south for “Southern Cakes,” which layers on a luscious bounty of coconut cakes, pound cakes, jelly cakes, fruitcakes and classics like Lady Baltimore Cake, and Thirteen-layer Cake. (And of course we’ll sample a few of these beauties!) But, since we are, after all, a serious organization, we must remember that the main course of our program will be the historical context of these mainstays of American culinary tradition. However, due to the nature of the subject matter, drooling will be tolerated as Ms. McDermott sashays through a sweet synopsis of Southern cakes from colonial times to the present. Warning: Both Ms. McDermott’s book and her powerpoint presentation contain full-frontal portraits of her subject matter and has caused extreme cake arousal in many who have viewed it. The Culinary Historians of Chicago assumes no responsibility for any gustatory effect this program may have on attendees.

Nancie McDermott’s books include several best sellers on Thai cooking, including “Real Thai” and “The Curry Book.” Her feature stories and recipes have appeared in Bon Appetit, Cooks’ Illustrated, Food and Wine, and the Chicago Tribune. Nancie lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband, her two daughters and her cake pans.

Program hosted at Robert Morris College Institute of Culinary Art.