Listen Now

What's in a Name? Understanding nomenclature and name changes Presented by Patrick Leacock, PhD Our current system of naming started 267 years ago with Carl Linnaeus. He gave us Agaricus (gilled fungi) and Boletus (pored fungi) and nine other genus names for 89 species of fungi. Later Fries and Persoon and others published lots more scientific names. The proliferation of names got messy. So 177 years ago folks started developing rules for using names that became a code for nomenclature. Today we have about 100,000 species with more named every year. We will look at scientific names and the basic requirements for their publication. Examples will show the various reasons for names to change; splitting and lumping and splitting is common for genera and species. Patrick is a mycologist documenting the mushrooms of the Chicago Region. He teaches botany and mycology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He assists with forays and programs for the Illinois Mycological Association. He started his mushroom activities with the Minnesota Mycological Society before moving to Chicago. Patrick ran the Voucher Program for 20 years with the North American Mycological Association. Visit Patrick's website at www.mycoguide.com where he is trying to keep up with some of the name changes. Recorded via Zoom on January 18, 2021 IllinoisMyco.org

Gordon Sinclair, Live! An interview with the Chicago culinary icon conducted by award-winning food writer and publisher Michael Gebert The following information appeared in The Chicago Food Encyclopedia, University of Illinois Press, 2017, and was authored by Barbara Revsine. Gordon Sinclair was working in public relations when a psychic predicted he would become a famous restaurateur. After working part-time as a maître d’ to see whether he liked it, he opened his flagship restaurant Gordon in 1976. While Sinclair’s forte was the front of the house, he was a keen judge of culinary talent. Every chef who ever worked for him, beginning with Norman Van Aken and including Michael Kornick, Michael Foley, Carrie Nahabedian, and Charlie Trotter, turned in a bravura performance. His restaurant raised the standard for Chicago dining and became a showcase of contemporary American cuisine. Sinclair also was an urban pioneer. Choosing to open his first restaurant on the 500 block of North Clark Street when the area was littered with derelicts and seedy bars helped to jump-start the trend-setting neighborhood’s gentrification. Gordon’s clientele was a worldly as they were food savvy. They smiled at the salacious artwork in the restrooms, appreciated the avant-garde option of ordering half portions of select dishes, cheered the groundbreaking ban on cell phones, and displayed an endless appetite for the restaurant’s flourless chocolate cake and artichoke fritters. He closed the restaurant and retired in 1999. * * * * Michael Gebert is one of Chicago’s leading food writers and food media professionals. He is editor and publisher of Fooditor, which won a Peter Lisagor Award for Best Independent Blog in 2019, and has written for the Chicago Reader, Chicago magazine, Plate, First We Feast, and other publications. As video producer for the Reader’s Key Ingredient chef challenge series, he won a James Beard Award in 2011 and has been nominated two other times for his video work. He is currently working on an oral history of Chicago restaurants for Agate Publishing. Recorded via Zoom on January 13, 2021 www.CulinaryHistorians.org

An Onion in My Pocket, My Life with Vegetables Presented by Deborah Madison Thanks to her beloved cookbooks and groundbreaking work as the chef at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, Deborah Madison, though not a vegetarian herself, has long been revered as this country’s leading authority on vegetables. She profoundly changed the way generations of Americans think about cooking with vegetables, helping to transform “vegetarian” from a dirty word into a mainstream way of eating. But before she became a household name, Madison spent almost twenty years as an ordained Buddhist priest, coming of age in the midst of counterculture San Francisco. In this charmingly intimate and refreshingly frank memoir, she tells her story–and with it the story of the vegetarian movement–for the very first time. From her childhood in Big Ag Northern California to working in the kitchen of the then-new Chez Panisse, and from the birth of food TV to the age of green markets everywhere, An Onion in My Pocket is as much the story of the evolution of American foodways as it is the memoir of the woman at the forefront. It is a deeply personal look at the rise of vegetable-forward cooking, and a manifesto for how to eat well. Recorded via Zoom on December 9, 2020. http://www.CulinaryHistorians.org

How Trader Joe’s Changed the Way America Eats Presented by Susie Wyshak Discover Trader Joe’s key role in introducing fun and unusual foods into the American diet decades ago, when the company was already encouraging the non-health food store shopper to try “better for you” versions of already-popular foods. Wyshak compares items featured in a 1982 flyer to how we eat now to show TJ’s importance in creating a nation of adventurous food lovers. This is not a “history of Trader Joe’s” but rather a fascinating snapshot of a turning point in American food history. At her interactive talk, we will be encouraged to share their own memories of TJ’s early days and food shopping today. Author Susie Wyshak has lived life seeking out, selling, promoting, and enjoying good food around the world. She wrote, Good Food, Great Business: How to Take Your Artisan Food Idea From Concept to Marketplace (Chronicle Books). Her self-published book, Chocolate Chip Cookie School helps kids learn critical thinking through cookies by deconstructing the history of the cookie and its ingredients, and then learning how to plan a cookie business or bake sale. Her latest book is, TJ’s Then & Now. Wyshak grew up in L.A. and now lives in Oakland, California where she consults with specialty food companies and recently did a stint as a concierge at a prominent specialty food store. She has happily shopped at more than fifty Trader Joe’s stores around the country. If you would like to obtain a copy of Susie's book TJ’s Then & Now, it is $15 including delivery. http://foodstarter.com/product/signed-tjs-then-now-book-by-susie-wyshak/ Recorded via Zoom on December 3, 2020. www.CulinaryHistorians.com

Women in the Kitchen, 12 Essential Cookbook Writers Who Defined the Way We Eat Anne Willan Women cookbook writers have had an enormous influence on the way we eat today. In her latest book, Women in the Kitchen: Twelve Essential Cookbook Writers Who Defined the Way We Eat, from 1661 to Today, Anne Willan profiles twelve of these women–from Hannah Woolley in the mid-1600s to Fannie Farmer, Edna Lewis, Alice Waters, and her dear friend, Julia Child. From her home in London, via Zoom, Anne will discuss the lives and works of these women, whose landmark books have defined cooking over the past three hundred years. Highlighting their historical contributions and most representative recipes, Anne shows how they created the foundation of the American table. Anne will discuss these topics in a conversation with CHC President Scott Warner, and will gladly take your questions at the end of her program.. Biography: Anne Willan has more than 50 years of experience as a cooking teacher, author, and culinary historian. The founder of renowned French cooking school La Varenne, Anne was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Hall of Fame for her “body of work” in May, 2013. She has also received the International Association of Culinary Professionals Lifetime Achievement Award, multiple James Beard Foundation Awards for her cookbooks, and was named Bon Appétit magazine’s Cooking Teacher of the Year in 2000. In July 2014, Anne was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the French the Légion d’Honneur for her accomplishments in promoting the gastronomy of France. Her more than 30 books include La Varenne Pratique, (1989); The Country Cooking of France, (2007); and The Cookbook Library, (2012). Recorded on November 28, 2020 via Zoom www,CulinaryHistorians.org

Sweet Greeks: First Generation Immigrant Confectioners in the Heartland Presented by Ann Flesor Beck Gus Flesor came to the United States from Greece in 1901. His journey led him to Tuscola, Illinois, where he learned the confectioner's trade and opened a business that still stands on Main Street. Sweet Greeks sets the story of Gus Flesor's life as an immigrant in a small town within the larger history of Greek migration to the Midwest. Ann re-creates the atmosphere of her grandfather's candy kitchen with its odors of chocolate and popcorn and the comings-and-goings of family members. "The Store" represented success while anchoring the business district of Gus's chosen home. It also embodied the Midwest émigré experience of chain migration, immigrant networking, resistance and outright threats by local townspeople, food-related entrepreneurship, and tensions over whether later generations would take over the business. Ann Flesor Beck is a third-generation Greek confectioner and independent scholar. With her sister, she co-owns and operates Flesor's Candy Kitchen in Tuscola, Illinois. https://www.flesorskitchen.com/index.html CulinaryHistorians.com Recorded on November 10, 2020 via Zoom.

Commercial Cordyceps Breeding Presented by William Padilla-Brown Over the past 2 years a select handful of individuals have been developing breeding techniques for commercial Cordyceps militaris strains. Follow each step from the forest to the lab and cultivate an understanding of the breeding process for this beloved fungi. WILLIAM PADILLA-BROWN Founder of MycoSymbiotics, William Padilla-Brown is a social entrepreneur, citizen scientist, mycologist, amateur 'phychologist', urban shaman, writer, you-tube vlogger, contributing editor for Fungi mag, researcher, poet, and father. William holds Permaculture Design Certificates acquired through Susquehanna Permaculture and NGOZI. William is leading the country in the field of Cordyceps cultivation. William regularly teaches at mushrooms clubs around the country, festivals, Agricultural conferences, and more. https://www.mycosymbiotics.net/ IllinoisMyco.org Recorded on November 9, 2020 via Zoom.

No Ketchup! Why Dennis Foley Ate 50 Hot Dogs in 50 Days Presented by Dennis Foley “The basic Chicago dog has its own ingredients,” said Dennis Foley about the “Magnificent Seven” of mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, pickle (or cucumber), sport peppers and celery salt that should top a dog with snap in a steamed bun. The Chicago-style Hot Dog is fit for kings and commoners alike. In Dennis Foley’s No Ketchup, you'll find Chicago's Top 50 hot dogs along with stories about the mom and pop entrepreneurs who slap the mustard on your wiener. No matter where you're at in the Chicago area, Foley will direct you to the nearest location for that tasty dog with plenty of snap. Get yours with everything or hold the relish. Whatever the case, stop in to one of these joints, grab a dog, and share a few words with the folks behind the counter as you knock down one of the greatest treats known to mankind. Dennis Foley holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College-Chicago and a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School. His first book, The Streets and San Man's Guide To Chicago Eats, won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Awards--1st Place for Humor. Happily married to Susan, Dennis is also the proud father of Matt, Pat, and Mike. The Foley clan resides in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood. Recorded on October 22, 2020 via Zoom. http://www.CulinaryHistorians.com

What a Waste! Here’s what the world is doing to recover, reduce and recycle food waste Presented by Andrew Smith Culinary Historians, Author, Editor Don’t hold your nose! We’re not going to trash-talk you. Instead we’re going to offer you some savory food for thought when Andy Smith, one of our nation’s most esteemed culinary historians lifts the lid on a vital issue: food waste. Join us as Andy shows us how saving food and preventing waste are crucial matters that have confronted humankind for millennia. During the twentieth century, lower food prices and societal changes encouraged food waste in well-to-do countries. During the latter part of the century, concern with food waste was raised by two major groups: environmentalists and anti-hunger advocates. Environmentalists were concerned with the impact of food waste issues in rapidly expanding landfills. They also identified it as a major contributor to global warming. Those concerned with food insecurity, malnutrition and hunger wanted to recover as much edible food as possible to help feed to the needy. When food prices skyrocketed in the early 2000s due to rapidly increasing food prices, bad weather, and the financial crisis known as the “Great Recession,” millions of people around the world were facing hunger and malnutrition. War was declared on food waste in many countries. Books, articles, films, conferences and television programs alerted businesses and consumers to issues associated with food waste. Governmental programs, organizations and businesses were launched to help recover, reduce, and recycle food waste. BIOGRAPHY: Andrew F. Smith has taught food studies courses at the New School University since 1996. He is currently teaching an undergraduate course online “Zero Food Waste.” Andrew is the editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, and is the author or editor of 33 books. His most recent works include the three-volume Food in America (2017), Fast Food: The Good, the Bad and the Hungry (2016), and Why Waste Food? (2020). He serves as the series editor for both the “Edible Series” and the “Food Controversies Series” at Reaktion Books in the United Kingdom. Recorded via Zoom on October 21, 2020 http://www.culinaryHistorians.org

Western Burn Morels Trent and Kristen Blizzard Morel mushrooms are famous for thriving in Western forests the year after a wild fire. Join us and learn how to locate and collect these edible fungi. Locating ideal burn morel terrain starts online with topographic and satellite maps. Other factors that affect your likelihood of hunting success include weather, forest type, elevation, aspect, season and terrain. We will also be sure to discuss the various Morchella species that thrive in the burn as well as proper etiquette and the Leave No Trace practices. Self proclaimed “modern foragers” Trent and Kristen Blizzard reside in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They have been trekking the forests of Colorado, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest for years mostly with wild, edible mushrooms in mind. At first a hobby, the hunt for mushrooms quickly became nothing short of an obsession for these two mycophiles, both of whom are certified Wild Mushroom Identification Experts in their home state of Colorado. They are the authors of the soon to be released, Wild Mushrooms: A Cookbook and Foraging Guide. Whether you are a seasoned forager or new to the wild and wonderful word of edible forest fungi, this book has something for you! You will find a wealth of tips and tricks for harvesting each mushroom, along with general cooking techniques and preservation methods. They endeavor to explore not only a selection of delicious cuisine and new methods of cooking these wild edibles, but the question of how to preserve and enjoy your harvests all year long. The book is also a celebration of people they have met over the years. Regardless of what mushroom they are after or where they are searching, Trent and Kristen often have their two crazy doodles (Benzie and Lulu) helping out. They also employ a wide range of technologies that bring a modern twist to an ancient practice. As modern foragers, they utilize digital mapping, social media, GPS, phone apps, and even satellite internet while on the road. You will find them blogging about their adventures at modernforager.com.

Detangling the Wood Wide Web: Assessing Functionality of Common Mycelial Networks Willow AbshireSims What lies beneath our feet when we walk through a forest? A massive web of mycelium runs underground, connecting trees by the roots in a network commonly referred to as the “Wood Wide Web”. But what do we know about this “Wood Wide Web”? Perhaps more importantly: what don’t we know, and where might future research take us in our understanding of these interactions? Bio: Willow AbshireSims is a Masters student at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2019 with a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Biology. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, foraging, and collecting rocks. Her favorite fungus is Marasmius oreades (Fairy Ring Mushrooms). Image: Attached image sourced from: http://www.envision-dtp.org/2017/investigating-the-transfer-of-carbon-between-trees-via-common-mycorrhizal-networks/ Recorded via Zoom on October 5, 2020 IllinoisMyco.org

An Invasion of Gastronomic Proportions: My Adventures with Chicago Animals, Human and Otherwise Presented by Mike Sula, Senior Writer, The Chicago Reader Mike’s favorite stories were about the people on the edges of the city’s food system; the oddballs, the uncelebrated, the immigrants cooking for their own—and especially the people willing to break the law to put food on the table. There was Shirley the Muffin Lady, making the rounds of the bars with baskets full of weed-spiked treats. There were the househusbands running an outlaw charcuterie operation out of a Skokie home kitchen. And then there was Chef Albert D’Angelo, the insufferable, arrogant jerk, who’d opened a secret restaurant out in the lake, two miles off Oak Street Beach. Going over the quarter century of pieces Mike’s written for The Reader: there have been lots of tales of human animals doing strange things with other species—and not just eating them. There was the dastardly catnapping orchestrated by a stay-at-home mom; the colony of cemetery-dwelling, hot dog-gorging racoons and their human enablers; the farmer who cloned his prizewinning dairy cow; and the obsessive fossil collectors scouring slag piles filled with 300-million-year-old invertebrates. An invasion of Louisiana crawfish in the surging Chicago River, and the neighbors that waded in after them for dinner. Not every story will be covered, so you may want to get the book! All proceeds benefit the fifty-year-old Chicago Reader. Mike Sula is a senior writer at The Chicago Reader. He’s the paper’s resident food writer and has been a contributor since 1995. He’s written about politics, crime, film, health care, and paleontology, and have profiled a rainbow of urban eccentrics. His work has been published in Harper’s, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, NPR’s The Salt, Plate, Eater, and more and his story about outlaw charcuterie appeared in Best Food Writing 2010. His story “Chicken of the Trees,” about eating city squirrels, won the James Beard Foundation’s 2013 M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Mike is also the senior editor for Kitchen Toke, the magazine of culinary cannabis. https://store.chicagoreader.com/product/best-of-mike-sula/ https://store.chicagoreader.com/product/reader-recipes/ Recorded via Zoom on September 24, 2020. www.CulinaryHistorians.com

Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table Presented by John Tufts Actor, Author If you ever wanted to see Shakespeare sizzle, now”s your chance. Join our “Zoominar” as actor/cook John Tufts dishes up an historically savory stew of Elizabethan and Tudor Culinary delights that the Bard himself whetted our appetites for in his iconic plays. A nationally acclaimed Shakespearean actor (you may have seen him perform at Chicago’s Shakespeare Theater), and a professional cook, John has written and photographed a book about his love of theater and food: “Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table.” Here’s how one reviewer sums it up: “As an actor, John has the uncanny ability to make Shakespeare’s verse feel both authentic, modern and profound. His indispensable cookbook is steeped in that same zest for language. But this is more than a cookbook: it’s a time-machine, spiriting us back 400 years to a world of seasonal rhythms and communal revelry. Plus, it’s ridiculously entertaining—far more fun than any guide this substantial has a right to be. Imagine Alton Brown, Kenneth Branagh, and David Sedaris stirred into pate a choux, and you’ll have John Tufts.” —Prof. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, contributing writer for The New York Times, The New Yorker John will take us on his time machine and help us taste our way through the past as he reveals how he researched and followed up on Shakespeare’s many food references, coming up with 150 recipes for the home cook. Recipes include pasties, salads, soups, meat, poultry, game and fish, pastries, sauces and drink. John will also put on his chef’s toque for us and demonstrate how to make “Chewets,” a mini meat pie, that he uses as his first recipe to introduce us to the food of Shakespeare. Biography: John Tufts is an actor and cook. He has cooked professionally in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Oregon. As an actor, John works on stage internationally, having played Romeo, Puck, Macbeth, Henry V and many other characters in 22 of Shakespeare’s 37 plays. For 12 years he was company member with the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has also worked in Chicago at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and The Goodman. Among his television work was his role on Fashions for Men on PBS Great Performances. For more information on John, and to order his book, go to his website: http://www.john-tufts.com/fatrascalsbook/fat-rascals-dining-at-shakespeares-table www.CulinaryHistorians.org

Illinois Mycological on iNaturalist Patrick Leacock, PhD Join us for a Zoom session with local mycologist Patrick Leacock. We will be looking through and discussing recent observations posted to the popular app and website: iNaturalist.org. Mushrooms, polypores, boletes, and chanterelles are some of the fungi being found this summer. The club project is here: Mycoflora of Chicago IMA member observations https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mycoflora-of-chicago-ima-member-observations We have 22 members participating so far. If you want to join us, you can create your account on iNaturalist and send your User Name to Patrick at mycoguide@gmail.com. For more information on using iNaturalist and the Mycoflora project see links here: http://www.mycoguide.com/mycoflora/ IllinoisMyco.org

A Path to Knowing All the Mushrooms of Illinois with Stephen Russell Stephen will discuss his efforts to create a statewide biodiversity survey of macrofungi from Indiana and how these efforts can be applied to neighbors in Illinois. Primary topics will include integrating citizen scientists, online forays, specimen collection, and how anyone in Illinois can get important specimens DNA sequenced for free. Stephen Russell is a mycologist from Indiana working on a biodiversity survey of all of the macrofungi (mushrooms) that occur in the state. He founded The Hoosier Mushroom Society in 2009 and is currently the President of the organization. His initial interest in mushrooms began with cultivation, which led to writing a book titled The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms (Storey Publishing, 2014). Stephen’s current project is a citizen science and DNA based exploration of local fungal biodiversity, which has now generated thousands of new DNA-sequenced collections of fungal fruitbodies from across the state. Stephen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in mycology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He also holds a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) and a Masters of Environmental Science (MS) from Indiana University and an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Communications from Purdue University. When not working with fungi, Stephen works as the CTO for a private equity firm. Visit Mycoflora's website at https://mycoflora.org/ Recorded via Zoom on August 3, 2020. IllinoisMyco.com

The Rule of Rum Presented by Cynthia Clampitt Food historian Cynthia Clampitt shares the reason rum arose where it did and when it did, as well as how pirates got involved and who really said “yo, ho, ho” (not the pirates), but also explains how rum was involved in uniting the 13 Colonies, why it was one of the issues that led to the American Revolution, how it also led to a revolt in its next home after the Caribbean: Australia, and how it affected culture and history around the world after that. Speaker Bio: Cynthia Clampitt is a writer, geographer, and food historian. She has written textbooks for every major educational publisher in the U.S., including the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and National Geographic Learning. She is the author of Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland and Pigs, Pork, and Heartland Hogs: Wild Boar to Baconfest, as well as of the award-winning travel narrative, Waltzing Australia—and it was in Australia that she first became aware of the international impact of the rum trade. Clampitt is a member of the Culinary Historians of Chicago, the Society of Women Geographers, the Society of Midland Authors, the Agricultural History Society, and the Association of Food Journalist. www.worldplate.com www.CulinaryHistorians.com Recorded on June 18, 2020 via Zoom.

Chicago's Live Poultry Shops, FoodCultura - University of Chicago, Fall, 2019 Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. There was a technical error in audio recording affecting its quality. It is posted to maintain the historical record of this event. The collaboration included Foodcultura: The Art and Anthropology of Cuisine, a team-taught course offered during the autumn of 2019 at the University of Chicago. The students, individually or in groups, proposed projects using approaches of anthropology and/or art and carried out extensive fieldwork using the city’s diverse alimentary and gustatory resources. Their final presentations took place during a marathon session in December at UChicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. On January 25 four students presented their work to Chicago Foodways Roundtable. Three presentations centered on the theme of sugar: Yoon-Jee Choi’s analysis of cakes from Roeser’s Bakery through the eyes of a Bauhaus historian; Alana Ferguson’s musings on cotton candy as an art form; and Eli Bec’s discussion of ofrendas prepared for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead altars) and her own personal ofrenda. Maisie Watson and Daniel Simantob explored the intersection of public and private dining experiences at Sinhá, a Brazilian home-restaurant in Chicago and in their own apartment. Part 2 of A Taste of FoodCultura, on February 15, will feature Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. Liz Rice will present her work comparing food choices in South Shore and Albany Park, two very different Chicago neighborhoods. Finally, although the student group responsible is unable to attend, we will show The Camera Eats First, a slide presentation commenting on today’s Instagram culture. Recorded at Bethany Retirement Community on February 15, 2020

Comparative Food Choices, FoodCultura - University of Chicago, Fall, 2019 Cleo Schoeplein and Liz Rice present their work comparing food choices in South Shore and Albany Park, two very different Chicago neighborhoods. There was a technical error in audio recording affecting its quality. It is posted to maintain the historical record of this event. The collaboration included Foodcultura: The Art and Anthropology of Cuisine, a team-taught course offered during the autumn of 2019 at the University of Chicago. The students, individually or in groups, proposed projects using approaches of anthropology and/or art and carried out extensive fieldwork using the city’s diverse alimentary and gustatory resources. Their final presentations took place during a marathon session in December at UChicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. On January 25 four students presented their work to Chicago Foodways Roundtable. Three presentations centered on the theme of sugar: Yoon-Jee Choi’s analysis of cakes from Roeser’s Bakery through the eyes of a Bauhaus historian; Alana Ferguson’s musings on cotton candy as an art form; and Eli Bec’s discussion of ofrendas prepared for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead altars) and her own personal ofrenda. Maisie Watson and Daniel Simantob explored the intersection of public and private dining experiences at Sinhá, a Brazilian home-restaurant in Chicago and in their own apartment. Part 2 of A Taste of FoodCultura, on February 15, will feature Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. Liz Rice will present her work comparing food choices in South Shore and Albany Park, two very different Chicago neighborhoods. Finally, although the student group responsible is unable to attend, we will show The Camera Eats First, a slide presentation commenting on today’s Instagram culture. Recorded at Bethany Retirement Community on February 15, 2020

16,000 years of Global Potato History Presented by Raghavan Iyer Author, Teacher Our speaker, Raghavan Iyer, is the author of “Smashed, Mashed, Boiled, and Baked–and Fried, Too!: A Celebration of Potatoes in 75 Irresistible Recipes.” And he’s going to have one heck of a spudworthy program for us. Here’s his tater-tot preview: “The fourth largest crop in the world, next to wheat, rice, and maize, this member of the nightshade family Solanaceae (which includes eggplant, peppers, and the tomato), with the botanical name Solanum tuberosum, is rooted in the Andean civilization that cultivated it around 10,000 CE. But it wasn’t until the Inca civilization (around 1500 CE) that the potato’s true agricultural impact was unleashed. Their intricate and sophisticated agricultural planning and tools, along with the ability of the potato to survive severe shifts in climate within short time periods, made this is a winsome partnership. Now it is an essential ingredient in billions of kitchens in over 100 countries across the globe No other crop in the world has had such an impact on every aspect of life, as we know it. It seems I’m being overly dramatic, but don’t just take my word for it. The history of the potato speaks for itself as you trace its social, economical, political, and societal implications in every nook and corner of the globe across all continents. I will be discussing the significance of this tuber through a timeline dating back 16,000 years and bringing it into the 21st century. I have culled information from various sources, crafting the story of the potato to experience the depth of its influences over the years.” Biography: Named by Epicurious.com as one of the top 100 influencers ever for home cooks in 2017 (alongside names like Julia Child and James Beard), Raghavan Iyer is the author of six critically acclaimed books, and has three James Beard Awards (one win and two finalists), one Emmy, and two IACP (formerly the Julia Child Awards) awards for cooking teacher of the year and a cookbook award. A past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Raghavan is a spokesperson for many international clients and is a consultant for innumerable restaurants across the country. He has been featured numerous times in the New York Times and is a frequent guest on Public Radio’s The Splendid Table. He leads culinary tours yearly to the Indian subcontinent. His website is www.raghavaniyer.com Recorded May 27, 2020 via Zoom https://culinaryhistorians.org/16000-years-of-global-potato-history/

Día de Muertos - Day of the Dead, FoodCultura, Fall, 2019 Eli Bec’s discussion of ofrendas prepared for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead altars) and her own personal ofrenda The collaboration included Foodcultura: The Art and Anthropology of Cuisine, a team-taught course offered during the autumn of 2019 at the University of Chicago. The students, individually or in groups, proposed projects using approaches of anthropology and/or art and carried out extensive fieldwork using the city’s diverse alimentary and gustatory resources. Their final presentations took place during a marathon session in December at UChicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. On January 25 four students presented their work to Chicago Foodways Roundtable. Three presentations centered on the theme of sugar: Yoon-Jee Choi’s analysis of cakes from Roeser’s Bakery through the eyes of a Bauhaus historian; Alana Ferguson’s musings on cotton candy as an art form; and Eli Bec’s discussion of ofrendas prepared for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead altars) and her own personal ofrenda. Maisie Watson and Daniel Simantob explored the intersection of public and private dining experiences at Sinhá, a Brazilian home-restaurant in Chicago and in their own apartment. Part 2 of A Taste of FoodCultura, on February 15, will feature Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. Liz Rice will present her work comparing food choices in South Shore and Albany Park, two very different Chicago neighborhoods. Finally, although the student group responsible is unable to attend, we will show The Camera Eats First, a slide presentation commenting on today’s Instagram culture. Recorded at Bethany Retirement Community on January 25, 2020 www.CulinaryHistorians.org