The Chicago Food Encyclopedia Debuts

Presented by Coeditors Carol Haddix and Colleen Sen,
and contributors Judy Hevrdejs and Scott Warner

 Everyone knows that Chicago is the world’s greatest food city – and we now have a book that tells you why: The Chicago Food Encyclopedia. Edited by Carol Mighton Haddix, Bruce Kraig and Colleen Taylor Sen, this 300- page volume is a free-ranging portrait of a culinary paradise, with nearly 300 entries written by 70 of the city’s leading academics, journalists, and industry experts. 

Continue reading

From Cacao to Craft Chocolate Stories from the past, Sustainability for the Future

Presented by Valerie Beck,
Founder, Chocolate Uplift, and Valerie’s Original Chocolate Tours

Editor’s note: Podcast ends abruptly during question period due to unknown technical issues.

Video clips shown during this talk

Media montage
CNN Cocoanomics

According to Chicago native Valerie Beck, “chocolate can change everything, from our mood, to the world.” So passionate is Valerie about chocolate, that after graduating from Harvard Law school, and practicing in the United States and Europe, she followed her heart and founded Chicago Chocolate Tours in 2005, to introduce chocolate lovers to small-batch chocolate shops and bakeries. Continue reading

‘Tis The Season for Preserving, Part 2: The Joys of Jewish Preserving

Presented by Emily Paster
Author, Co-Founder, Chicago Food Swap

Jewish cooks, even casual ones, are proud of the history of preserved foods in Jewish life, from the time of living in a desert two millennia ago to the era in which Jews lived in European ghettoes with no refrigeration during the last century. In a significant sense, the Jewish tradition of preserved foods is a symbol of the Jewish will to survive. Continue reading

‘Tis The Season for Preserving, Part 1: Artisinal Preserves

Presented by Madelaine Bullwinkel
Author, Cooking Teacher

Madelaine Bullwinkel says that” history informs everything I do,” and she will weave the history of the art of preserving, the discovery of its chemistry and the evolution of her preserving technique into her presentation. Madelaine is the author of Artisanal Preserves which provides 100 recipes for jams, jellies, marmalades, along with recipes for breads, muffins, and desserts that make practical use of readers’ newly made jams and jellies. Continue reading