Presented by
Catherine Lambrecht
Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
Pies are as American as pizza is American: we took a great idea, adapted it to our needs and ran with it. They used what they had available locally and made the most from it. In the Northeast and Midwest, it was apples; in the South it was molasses pies, in Florida the Key Lime Pie and the Southwest came nut pies. Continue reading
with Robert Dirks, PhD
Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
Tracing the course of the history of cooking and dining in McLean County, Illinois and the Bloomington-Normal area takes us back 180 years. Early settlers from the Southern states and parts of the Northeast brought with them divergent tastes, but irrespective of their culinary leanings they generally made do with foods they either raised or collected themselves. Continue reading
Presented by
Michael Mikusch
Master Baker and Owner
Austrian Bakery and Deli, Chicago
Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
Our program will take us to new heights as Master Baker Michael Mikusch raises our spirits and gives us food for thought with his savory, and sometimes crusty comments about the beloved bread of his homeland. Chef Mikusch will proof his way through the tender history of Austrian breads, and will be on a real roll when he tells us how he learned to make all kinds of rye bread. Continue reading
with David Strauss, PhD
Podcast Courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
As journalist Lucius Beebe remarked, it had taken “a stout heart and a sound stomach” to create a magazine of good living in 1941 as the Depression ended and Americans entered World War II. The success of Gourmet, however, depended even more on sound strategizing. Among potential readers, the staff targeted those who would replace the recipes of the ladies magazines, based mainly on processed food, with a mix of traditional American cooking and classical French cuisine. This reformulation of gourmet dining was timely in view of the Franco-American collaboration against the Nazis. And, it presented a great opportunity to staff and readers alike to devise a food regime based on un-rationed, mostly American, ingredients, which was far more patriotic than the government’s own rationing program.
David Strauss taught U.S. history, with an emphasis on cultural and diplomatic themes, from 1974 to 2002 at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. In addition to his most recent book, Setting the Table for Julia Child: Gourmet Dining in America, 1934-1961 David Strauss has also published Percival Lowell: The Culture and Science of a Boston Brahmin and Menace in the West: The Rise of French Anti-Americanism in Modern Times.
Program hosted at Kendall College.
Presented by Ellen Steinberg, PhD
Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified
Throughout the Midwest, one finds numerous ethnicities and creeds, each of which has contributed much to the amalgam that has become “the Heartland.” The Jewish immigrants, from all over Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, who settled here added their unique heritage foods and recipes to this mix. Continue reading