This presentation is from a book Alice Weinreb is currently working on: Matters of Taste, Food, War, and Germany in the Twentieth Century. This paper is based on a chapter on the way in which familial and gender roles were connected to domestic food consumption and production in Cold War divided Germany. It focuses on the ways in which German socialism negotiated the meaning of private, female cooking as something that was both productive labor and consumptive leisure. Continue reading
Category Archives: Chicago Foodways Roundtable
Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America’s Heartland
Presented by
Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, Author & Journalist
for Chicago Foodways Roundtable
For almost all people, food is journey to identity. More than sustenance, food holds memory, desire, reward from frustration, and a link to place; food can represent how we live and who we are; food holds story.
Biting through the Skin centers on the life of an Indian family in pre-long grain rice America. In 1960s Kansas, eating was cause for inquiry. All key cultural, spiritual and family values transferred in the Mukerjee family via the rituals around Bengali food preparation. Food was, in fact, the only way these elements of identity were passed down in an area and era where there were no other avenues. Biting through the Skin shows how we maintain our differences as well as come together, what we learn about ourselves and about others from the rituals of cooking, serving, and eating. It examines the idea of belonging and the tiny details of life it rests upon. Continue reading
Uncovering the Surprising History of Fast Food Before McDonald’s
Making Fast Food
Presented by
Nic Mink,
Author of Salmon: A Global History
Presented by
Nic Mink,
Author of Salmon: A Global History
To many, fast food is the quintessential embodiment of twentieth-century American food culture. In his talk, author Nic Mink explores the often forgotten roots of American fast food, as the industry developed between the 1920s and the 1950s. From the changes wrought to fast food by Federal Prohibition to the sweeping technological transformations that took place in restaurant kitchens, Mink shows how the development of the industry and its cuisine came from unexpected places and emerged in equally unexpected ways. Continue reading
Chicago Foodways: Crete
Crete: The Roots of the Mediterranean Diet
Presented by
Nikki Rose
Join us for an intriguing glimpse into Crete’s culinary heritage. The concepts of the Mediterranean Diet originated in Crete. Chef Rose, founder of the award-winning Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network, demonstrates that Cretan cuisine is not just a diet, but is a way of life that has much to offer in our ongoing pursuit of healthy and sustainable approaches to eating. Chef Rose shares strategies for applying the celebrated concepts of Cretan cuisine wherever we live. She will share highlights of her work during this presentation. Continue reading
Culinary Memoir & Personal Essays
Turning a Bunch of Heartland Food Stories into an Anthology
Presented by
Peggy Wolff
With readings by Carol Mighton Haddix and Melanie Benjamin
Peggy Wolff, editor of Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie: Midwestern Writers on Food (U. of Nebraska Press), talks about the inspiration for a post-WWII regional food anthology, the genre called food/lit, some anecdotes about working with writers, and how she put together essays from notable authors who could see food beyond the printed recipe on the page. Continue reading