Saturday, April 25, 2026 @ 10 a.m., central time via Zoom

What would it mean to view history through the lens of a single, familiar dish? At first glance, the idea of macaroni and cheese having an epic history may seem whimsical, even trivial. Yet its story begins in ancient Rome and unfolds across centuries of colonization, migration, labor, industry, and identity. In this talk, Karima Moyer-Nocchi will discuss her book The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese from Ancient Rome to Modern America, where she traces the dish’s movement through Europe and America, examining the cultural meanings it accumulated, and revisiting the tidy origin stories that hardened into myth — revealing, in the process, how the dish intertwined with the forces shaping human history, and went on to become cultural icon.

Karima Moyer-Nocchi is a culinary historian and professor at the University of Siena in Italy. She is author of the book Chewing the Fat: An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita and The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome. In preparation for her latest book, The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese: From Ancient Rome to Modern America, she was awarded fellowships at the International Center for Jefferson Studies, the Smithsonian Institution, and the George Washington Presidential Library in Mount Vernon. Moyer-Nocchi resides in Umbria and has been an Italian resident for over 35 years.

Welcome our friends from the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) for a rare Joint meeting.

***

Saturday, April 25, 2026

10 AM Central Time via Zoom

If you have any questions or wish for a link,

please e-mail: Culinary.Historians@gmail.comF

Find a video copy on Culinary Historian’s youtube page within 24 hours.