Presented by Benjamin Kant, Founder
Nestled just six miles west of the Magnificent Mile in Humboldt Park, Metropolitan Farms is a thriving urban agricultural destination, producing locally-sourced tilapia, salad greens and culinary herbs year-round from within its state-of-the-art greenhouse. They utilize aquaponics; farming that combines fish with a hydroponic growing system in a closed-loop without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
Presented by Kathryn Occhipinti, MD
Long-time Culinary Historian member Kathryn Occhipinti opened the New York Times Magazine to find an article about a Sicilian winery bearing her family name. She learned from articles in the New York Times and Wine Spectator the Occhipinti family was making world-class wines. Continue reading
Presented by
Jose O. Arrom
With the neo-normalization of Cuban-American relations and the opening of travel to that nation, interest has focused on Cuban cuisine and foodways. For years, the quality and variety of Cuban cuisine has been contested by travelers and Cubans. Continue reading
Program and exhibit tour by
Eileen A. Ielmini, Assistant University Archivist, and
Catherine Uecker, Rare Books Librarian,
Special Collections Research Center
In the pioneering culinary era of the mid-twentieth century, Chicago chef Alma Lach was one of the primary figures who transformed traditional American cooking. As a chef, cookbook author, and food consultant, Alma was widely known for her bestselling book, Cooking à la Cordon Bleu(1970), later revised and published by the University of Chicago Press as Hows and Whys of French Cooking (1974). Continue reading
Presented by Yvonne Maffei
Halal food is fast becoming a buzz-word among many urban foodies, most of whom know a good ‘halal’ food truck or two. With the influx of kabob carts and trays of rice overflowing with spicy cubed meat, we can’t ignore that this food is somewhat of a fascination and perhaps misunderstood in the broader sense, as not all halal food hails from Middle Eastern cuisine. Continue reading