Category Archives: Culinary Historians of Chicago

Culinary Street Smarts

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How Latin American Street Food Catapulted into a Mainstay
Presented by Sandra A. Gutierrez
Cookbook Author, Food Writer, and Culinary Instructor

Learn how the dishes found in the streets of Latin America showcase the historical evolution of an entire culinary culture. According to Sandra A. Gutierrez, street food has been a constant in the culinary landscape of the Americas since Ancient times. By the time the Europeans conquered the New World in the 1500’s, outdoor markets and food stalls were commonplace. Historians documented finding tortillas, tamales, and atoles (hot drinks) sold in the streets of Mesoamerica. Continue reading →

Jambalaya, Congri, & Hopping John

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Culinary History in an Atlantic Context ‘from the Bottom Up’
Presented by
Anthony Buccini

In this talk we focus initially on two iconic regional dishes from the American South, jambalaya and Hopping John (and its Haitian and Louisianan cousins congri), which are related directly only through their inclusion of rice as a core ingredient and the etymologies of their names, and use them as exemplars of instances of the importation of culinary aesthetics from the ‘Old World’ by poor whites and enslaved blacks. In addition to offering new etymologies for these dishes’ names which are based on both sound linguistic arguments and thorough analysis of the relevant culinary history, we also examine the development of these dishes in their broader Atlantic socio-historical context. Continue reading →

For the Love of Soul Food

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Presented by,
Adrian Miller, author, attorney

What gives soul food its soul? Join for sweet and savory talk on the history of soul food with Adrian Miller, author of the recently published Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time. He describes his book as “a love letter to African American cooks.” Continue reading →

Turning on with Turmeric!

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Presented by,
Colleen Sen
For thousands of years, spices have played an important role in Asian medicine. Of all the spices, none was more important than turmeric. It was used to treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary disorders, diabetes, atherosclerosis, bacterial infections, and skins diseases. A couple of decades ago, medical researchers noticed that countries where peoples’ diet regularly includes turmeric and curry powder have much lower rates of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers childhood leukemia and Alzheimer’s than people who are not turmeric-eaters. Continue reading →

A Toast to Beer

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The Story of America’s Beer Renaissance
Presented by
John Holl

 

Join us as beer maven, John Holl, delves into our foamy past and pours forth a glorious history of craft beer. “It’s been 40 years since the first post-prohibition microbrewery opened in the United States, but craft beer is only now hitting its stride,” says Mr. Holl. “There are now more than 2,300 small breweries opening in the country, and they are producing some of the most flavorful and innovative brews that have ever been created.” Our beer leader will give us a guided tasting through the world of craft beer, with interesting facts, colorful stories, and a look at why beer matters. Continue reading →