Cuba’s Culinary Heritage

Join us on Wednesday, November 18, 2025, 7 PM via Zoom 

Presented by Terry Fucik,
Co-owner, Dirk’s Fish & Gourmet Shop, Lincoln Park

One thing that Scott Warner, president and program chair of the Culinary Historians of Chicago likes to do is take cooking classes. Not just because he likes to cook, but because many cooking teachers know culinary history, and Scott knows when to nab them as speakers. One of Scott’s favorite places for cooking classes is Dirk’s Fish in Lincoln Park, where co-owner Terry Fucik dishes out a groaning board of recipes showing students how to cook the fresh fish that her husband Dirk showcases. Continue reading →

Rich History of Lebanese Baking with Maureen Abood

Join us on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 7 PM via Zoom

Podcast

Recipes:
Apricot Gems
Mocha Cardamom Snack Cake
Pomegranate Mousse with Lime Icing

Lebanon’s culinary repertoire includes a multi-faceted baking tradition that is influenced by the country’s history as much as by the diaspora the world over. Maureen Abood’s new book, Lebanese Baking, offers a sweeping, deeply personal guide to the baked traditions of Lebanon. With more than 100 recipes and detailed process instruction, this is the first English-language cookbook of its kind. A tribute to Lebanese baking in all its forms, the book provides a tour in chapters, photos, recipes, and stories of the many facets of baking that make up and express the Lebanese culture of hospitality, feasting, community, sharing, and family. 

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Preserving Family Heirloom Recipes

Presented by Valerie J. Frey
Sock It To Me Cake

Heirloom dishes and family food traditions are rich sources of nostalgia and provide vivid ways to learn about our families’ past, yet they can be problematic. Many family recipes and food traditions are never documented in written or photographic form, existing only as unwritten know-how and lore that vanishes when a cook dies. Even when recipes are written down, they often fail to give the tricks and tips that would allow another cook to accurately replicate the dish. Continue reading →

The Soul of Jewish Food

Presented by Dylan Maysick, co-owner Diaspora Dinners

Links to Recipes:
Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate, Pistachio, and Orange Blossom
Halloumi and Orange Salad with Pomegranate, Pistachio, and Herbs

Montreal Bagels

What is Jewish food? That is the question Dylan Maysick has been on a quest to answer through his Diaspora Dinner project, a Chicago-based series of dinners that explores the cuisines of the Jewish Diaspora.

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Examining History through Recipes: Crofton Cookbook (Manuscript cookbooks from Fort Sheridan, 1890s)

 

Presented by Catherine Lambrecht, and
Nicole Stocker, Museum Education Manager, Dunn Museum

Dive into the Dunn Museum’s collections to explore two 1800s Crofton family cookbooks that were used at Fort Sheridan with guest speaker Cathy Lambrecht and Museum Educator Nicole Stocker. Learn more about the Crofton family’s time at Fort Sheridan and hear about Cathy and Nicole’s experiences at testing out some of the recipes. Continue reading →