Presented by
Carlyn Berghoff, Restaurateur, Caterer, Author
With
Nancy Ross Ryan, Co-author, Berghoff Cafe Cookbook

Berghoff Cafe
Lower level, 17 W. Adams St., Chicago

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

What better way to enjoy Chicago’s culinary history than to congregate at not only the city’s oldest restaurant (opened 1898), but also the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States. Join us as Carlyn Berghoff, great-granddaughter of founder Herman Berghoff, dishes out a generous portion of Berghoff family history (along with some fresh-made coffee cake) and describes the Cafe dishes of old Chicago: beer braised pork loin, Lyonnaise potatoes, bacony green beans. Continue reading →

Presented by
Mark Seaman, Master Sugar Artist/Instructor/Judge

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

We will partake of a chip of chocolate history when award-winning master sugar artist, teacher, and judge Mark Seaman makes his second appearance before CHC for a bittersweet history lesson on the evolution of chocolate in France. Come join us as we savor the story of the oldest chocolate house in France and of the chocolatiers who indulged the kings of France and Marie Antoinette (who apparently craved more than cake–if only she had said: “Let them eat chocolate.”) Continue reading →

Food writer Nancy Ross Ryan will conduct a live interview with John Coletta, executive chef-partner, Quartino Ristorante Pizzeria Wine Bar, and author of the new 250 True Italian Pasta Dishes.

Quartino
626 N. State St. (at Ontario), Chicago

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Italy is arguably the most fiercely regional country in the world where culinary traditions are concerned. Before 1861, when it was unified, Italy was a collection of 20 separate kingdoms (ruled by disparate foreign invaders) and each kingdom had its own culinarytraditions and variations, among them pasta. These traditions and the arguments that surround them persist today.  Continue reading →

Presented by
Suzanne Martinson, Author, Food Editor, with
Linda Mitzel, Photographer

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Not every historic house has its own cookbook, but Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater has Elsie Henderson to tell tales about the iconic house built over a waterfall in Pennsylvania. In “The Fallingwater Cookbook: Elsie Henderson’s Recipes and Memories,” the cook, now 96, chronicles the history of the house and its owners, Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann, the millionaire Pittsburgh department store owners, and their son, Edgar jr. (It was an avant-garde family – on her first day of work, Elsie saw them swimming in the stream. Not every cookbook author gets to use the words “buck naked” in her book.) Continue reading →

Presented by
Nancie McDermott
Author, Cooking Teacher

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Join former Peace Corps volunteer Nancie McDermott on an armchair tour of the traditional Thai kitchen, with a focus on regional distinctions, religion, and a taste of Southeast Asian history. Nancie will elaborate on the role of particular ingredients and kitchen equipment in the traditional cuisines of the Thai kingdom, offering a context for the extraordinary dishes and flavors that have earned Thai food a permanent place on the restaurant scene throughout the United States. Continue reading →