Category Archives: Chicago Foodways Roundtable

“I’ll Have What She’s Having:” The Jewish Deli

Posted on by

(Kaufman’s Deli image Catherine Lambrecht)

Docent lead private tour of the Jewish Deli exhibit

More than a place to get a meal, the Jewish deli is a community forged in food. “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli explores how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant. The exhibition reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture, and how delis served as a lifeline for many Holocaust Survivors and refugees who came to the United States. Continue reading →

Feeding the Art Deco Spirit

Posted on by

 

Podcast


A central aspect of the culture and lifestyle of the 1920s and 30s was the creation and consumption of food.  You could exist in an Art Deco world where everything from the soup to the nuts was inflected with this style. As a pervasive mode, Deco shaped a total environment and food and drink were an integral part of this.  The lecture will focus upon some of the more striking results of this encounter.

Continue reading →

A Tour of Windy City Mushrooms

Posted on by

featuring their growing rooms and 
tasting of their new fungi food products

Presented by John James
Co-Owner/Head of Sales/Mycologist

Windy City Mushroom was founded 3 years ago in 2020. With the start of the pandemic, healthy resources became scarce, and mushrooms were out of stock in nearly every grocery store and co-op. Chicago needed a sustainable option for local consumers, thus Windy City Mushroom was born. Located in the Ford City neighborhood of Chicago, we pride ourselves on growing the finest premium gourmet mushrooms Chicago has to offer at an affordable price. Continue reading →

Flora, Fauna and Foodways

Posted on by

Presented by Nancy Webster, Archivist
Highland Park Historical Society

Podcast

Recipes recorded orally by Native Americans and written by local pioneer settlers demonstrate sustenance and diet using native flora and fauna.  Using exclusively 19th century or earlier resources, an exhibit and presentation of these natural and cultivated food sources were created‌.  The images of the Jesse Lowe Smith Image Collection’s documentation of flora and fauna provided the inspiration to explore diverse natural food sources being documented. Continue reading →

Chinese Cuisine in America: Stories, Struggles and Successes

Posted on by

Tour lead by Soo Lon Moy,
Former President

Highlighting the struggles, resiliency, and entrepreneurial spirit of Chinese Americans, the exhibition chronicles the complex and often conflicting nature of Chinese Americans in America tying in its immigration history to the popularization of Chinese cuisine from chop suey to dim sum to spicy hotpot. Continue reading →