The Making of James Beard, An American Legend

Presented by John Birdsall, Author,
The Man Who Ate Too Much

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Food of the past that comes to us through recipes and cookbooks can appear to be fixed evidence of what generations before us ate, their tastes and preferences. John Birdsall says that his research for The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard (Norton, 2020) challenged all his assumptions about that. Continue reading

How the Frugality of Rural Foodways Reshaped this Nationally Acclaimed Chef

Presented by Vivian Howard
Chef, Author, PBS Host

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Vivian Howard moved from New York back to her rural hometown to open a fine-dining restaurant that she hoped would reshape the palates of eastern North Carolina. But an encounter with collard kraut and a trip to “America’s largest pork display” ignited her interest in the traditional foods and culinary techniques unique to the Carolina coastal plain she calls home. Continue reading

The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food

An interview with 
Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Conducted by culinary historian and food writer
Donna Pierce

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Black cooking has always been more than “soul food,” with flavors tracing to the African continent, to the Caribbean, all over the United States, and beyond. 

Join us as internationally acclaimed chef Marcus Samuelsson highlights the diverse deliciousness of Black cooking today. Continue reading

Thoughts on the Origins of Pizzerias in America and Chicago

Presented by Peter Regas
PizzaHistoryBook.com

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In the past, the historical consensus was the first licensed pizzeria in America was opened in 1905 at 53 Spring St. in New York City by a young Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi. However, in 2019 at the U.S. Pizza Museum in Chicago, Peter Regas challenged that consensus with a talk titled “Filippo Milone and the Forgotten Pizza Makers of New York City.” Continue reading