Category Archives: Podcast

Apples in the Midwestern Imagination

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Presented Lucy Long, PhD

Like many Americans, Midwesterners have fond memories of apples: family apple orchards are commonplace; cider mills used to be and are returning; apple butter is a traditional way of preserving the fruit; apple pies and pastries frequent many homemade and commercial tables; Johnny Appleseed is embraced as a hometown hero; and festivals frequently celebrate the fruit. These memories make the fruit a significant part of personal histories and local food cultures. Continue reading →

Beholding a Grainy History: A Woman Named King is a Queen of Our Local Bread Scene

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Presented by Ellen King, Hewn Bakery
Historian/Baker/Author

 “The future of food actually lies in the past,” says Ellen King, co-owner and head baker of the nationally acclaimed Hewn Bakery in Evanston, where she creates hand-forged artisan bread. (www.hewnbread.com).There’s more than a grain of truth to everything Ellen believes in. A historian by training, Ellen joins us to share the history of heirloom grains, and her company’s commitment to furthering the local grain economies in the Midwest.  Continue reading →

Currying Interest in Indian Cuisine From its Arrival in America to its Rise in Chicago

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Presented by Colleen Sen, PhD
Author, Culinary Historian

“The history of Indian food in America has been largely neglected, even though it is much older than Chinese American cuisine,” says Colleen Sen, PhD, one of our nation’s foremost authorities on South Asian food.

Please join us as Colleen regales us with a buffet of flavorful facts about one of the world’s greatest cuisines, and its long-simmering impact on our nation and our city. Continue reading →

Community Cookbooks: Inspiring Twain Restaurant’s Midwestern Menu

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Recipes served:
German Sausage Salad
Granny’s Orange Cake
Mom’s Gingerbread
Lily Salad

Join husband and wife team Chef Tim Graham and Sommelier Rebekah Graham’s of Twain (2445 N. Milwaukee Ave.). Logan Square’s new Midwestern-inspired restaurant, as they discuss community cookbooks with Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance. Influenced by the couple’s extensive collection of spiral-bound women’s club cookbooks from the 1940s through the present as well as Tim’s central Missouri upbringing, Twain marks passage from the past to the present with family recipes passed down through generations focusing on delicious, approachable dishes with modern twists and fun presentations. Named after prolific author Samuel Clemens’ famous pen name, Mark Twain. Continue reading →