This presentation is from a book Alice Weinreb is currently working on: Matters of Taste, Food, War, and Germany in the Twentieth Century. This paper is based on a chapter on the way in which familial and gender roles were connected to domestic food consumption and production in Cold War divided Germany. It focuses on the ways in which German socialism negotiated the meaning of private, female cooking as something that was both productive labor and consumptive leisure. Continue reading
Cooking with Fire — from cavemen to contemporary cooks
Presented by Paula Marcoux
Archaeologist, Food Historian and Author
Long before the charcoal grill was invented, humans have been cooking with fire — for hundreds of thousands of years. Countless bygone cultures have manipulated fire and food to create desirable flavors and textures. This ancient process — people messing around with ingredients and combustion — is at the foundation of virtually every culinary tradition worldwide. Continue reading
Midwestern Newspaper Food Editors: Ruth Ellen Church, Clarice Rowlands & Peggy Daum
Presented by
Kimberly Wilmot Voss, PhD
American Midwest Foodways Scholar’s Grant recipient, 2013
This talk is the story of three significant Midwestern food editors from the 1950s and 1960s. Ruth Ellen Church joined the Chicago Tribune as cooking editor in 1936 and oversaw one of the first test kitchens at a newspaper. She published many cookbooks—several under the pen name of Mary Meade. She remained the food editor until 1974 and became the nation’s first newspaper wine editor in 1962. Clarice Rowlands joined the Milwaukee Journal as food editor in 1943 based on an interest she developed as a member of the 4-H Club in high school. She occasionally wrote under the pen name Alice Richards. Peggy Daum began working in the women’s pages in the 1950s and was the food editor at the Milwaukee Journal from 1968 to 1988. She initiated the creation of what is now known as the Association of Food Journalists and was its first president. These women documented what home cooks were making and what was served in fine restaurants. They judged cooking contests and oversaw recipe exchange programs. They also had a lot of fun. Continue reading
There’s more to Sardinia Than Sardines! The story of the island, its food and its people
Presented by Viktorija Todorovska
Food and Wine Writer, Author, Educator
Sardinia, the isolated and majestic island off the southwest coast of Italy, has a rich and ancient history as home to different Mediterranean peoples whose customs have intertwined over the centuries. The result is an unparalleled richness of cuisine that surprises even those familiar with the cuisines of other Italian regions. From myrtle, saffron, and honey to lamb, seafood, and specialty cheeses, Sardinian food features a broad variety of flavors for any occasion. Many traditional Sardinian recipes are simple and straightforward — reflecting the peasant cuisine heavy on legumes, fresh vegetables, olive oil, and bread. However, it is common for Sardinians to celebrate holidays with lavish feasts and special delicacies: suckling pig, lobster, bottarga (Sardinian caviar), and the full-bodied home-made Sardinian sausages. Continue reading
Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America’s Heartland
Presented by
Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, Author & Journalist
for Chicago Foodways Roundtable
For almost all people, food is journey to identity. More than sustenance, food holds memory, desire, reward from frustration, and a link to place; food can represent how we live and who we are; food holds story.
Biting through the Skin centers on the life of an Indian family in pre-long grain rice America. In 1960s Kansas, eating was cause for inquiry. All key cultural, spiritual and family values transferred in the Mukerjee family via the rituals around Bengali food preparation. Food was, in fact, the only way these elements of identity were passed down in an area and era where there were no other avenues. Biting through the Skin shows how we maintain our differences as well as come together, what we learn about ourselves and about others from the rituals of cooking, serving, and eating. It examines the idea of belonging and the tiny details of life it rests upon. Continue reading