Much ado about masalas—a deep dive into Indian Cuisine

Come join us as a maven of masala, Nandita Godbole, explores India’s complex and delicious regional cuisines through its culinary backbone – its masalas (which, by the way, are a vast number of spice mixtures ground into a paste or powder for use in Indian cooking).

Nandita will be dishing out a buffet of savory information on the micro cuisines of India, giving us a healthy serving of geopolitical histories that have shaped regional food identities. And she’ll liberally season her talk with her own culinary anecdotes.

Nandita is drawing her story from her newly published, seventh cookbook, Masaleydaar: Classic Spice Indian Blends. She says it’s her “love letter” to the micro cuisines of India, The book explores nearly 50 spice blends and offers more than 100 recipes.

Our own Culinary Historians member, Colleen Sen, an internationally renowned Indian authority herself, wrote the forward to the book. She calls it “a brilliant culmination of a lifetime of research, practice, thinking and talking about Indian food, an encyclopedia of information about spices and Indian food in general that can serve as a valuable reference work.”

Nandita Godbole: instagram: @currycravings

My Website: www.currycravingskitchen.com

Instagram (food): 

www.Instagram.com/currycravings

Instagram (ceramics): 

www.Instagram.com/Mrttika_bynandita


Digital book is available on 
Kindle:
https://bit.ly/3EhhwJw
GooglePlay/Android: https://bit.ly/3Pk039W
iBooks: https://bit.ly/45tPh6p


Print books can be purchased directly from my website: www.currycravingskitchen.com/inventory



I have uploaded the presentation itself into Google Drive, it is here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tbjdZy-HQEvon7vWYV4G6JKAtCNbCkSP/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109443269166842455632&rtpof=true&sd=true

Recorded via Zoom on August 30, 2023

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Much ado about masalas—a deep dive into Indian Cuisine

Madison's Magical Market
Presented by Terese Allen,
Culinary Historian and writer

Come join us as one of Wisconsin’s most celebrated culinary historians and food writers, Terese Allen, takes us on a delicious journey into our nation’s largest produce-only farmers’ market, The Dane County Farmers’ Market.


Held in Madison’s vast Capitol Square, this more than half-century old market has helped area agriculture flourish, and dramatically changed the character of food culture in the region. Terese will share all this and introduce us to the colorful farmers.

Terese has also captured the full flavor off the market in her just-released (and 14th book), The Dane County Farmers’ Market Cookbook, Local Foods, Global Flavors. The book offers 125 recipes. For a sampling, click link on this page.

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BIOGRAPHY: Terese Allen has been called Wisconsin’s “premier food writer” and “the keeper of its culinary heritage.” She has written scores of books and articles about the pleasures and benefits of regional foods, sustainable cooking and culinary folklore. She is author of The Dane County Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Local Foods, Global Flavors, a tribute to one of the nation’s largest and most renowned farmers markets. Among her other titles are: the prize-winning The Flavor of Wisconsin, an extensive history of food and cooking in the Badger State, with more than 450 recipes, The Flavor of Wisconsin for Kids, Wisconsin Local Foods Journal, Fresh Market Wisconsin, Wisconsin Hometown Flavor and The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook.

Terese has been a food columnist for Edible Madison, Edible Door, Wisconsin Trails magazine, and Isthmus newspaper, among other publications, and is a co-founder and long-time leader of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW). She served for a decade as food editor for Organic Valley Family of Farms, and for fifteen years was a key leader of REAP Food Group, a cutting edge organization that fosters a sustainable food system in southern Wisconsin. She lives in Madison and on Washington Island.

Recorded via Zoom on Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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Madison's Magical Market

Identification of Mushrooms: More than the sum of their parts
Presented by Patrick Leacock, PhD

This presentation covers visible mushroom features found with caps, gills, stems, and veils. These features are used to key out and identify wild mushrooms. We can combine these features to learn the "stature types" of gilled mushrooms, such as amanita, pluteus, tricholoma, mycena, etc.

Patrick is a mycologist documenting the mushrooms of the Upper Midwest with collections going to the Field Museum of Natural History. He teaches botany and mycology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He assists on forays as a scientific advisor for the IMA. He started his mushroom activities with the Minnesota Mycological Society before moving to Chicago. Patrick is also active with the Wisconsin Mycological Society.

Recorded at the Niles History Center, Illinois via Zoom on October 2, 2023

IllinoisMyco.org

Illinois Mycological Association

Identification of Mushrooms: More than the sum of their parts

What’s behind Italy’s ingredients?
Presented by Viola Buitoni

Come join us as Viola Buitoni (yes, she’s a member of that illustrious pasta-manufacturing family) shares the history and geography of Italy’s most iconic ingredients, and gives tips on how we can incorporate their vibrant flavors and techniques into our kitchens. (Think balsamic vinegar, flakes of parmigiano reggiano, fresh ricotta and creamy grains of risotto.) As a native Roman raised in the Umbrian countryside, Viola grew up savoring these artisanal foods.

Viola will also give us a preview of her just-released debut cookbook Italy by Ingredient: Artisanal Foods, Modern Recipes

Viola is now a San Francisco-based cooking instructor and food writer. In 2020, the President of the Italian Republic honored her with the title Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia for her work furthering the culture and business of Italian food.

Recorded via Zoom on October 4, 2023

www.CulinaryHistorians.org

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What’s behind Italy’s ingredients?

National Ask An Archivist Day: Nancy Webster, Archivist

Celebrate ‘Ask An Archivist Day’ – Ask anything about archives and history, especially Highland Park history with Nancy Webster, Archivist.

#AskAnArchivist Day

Ask me anything, Highland Park, Illinois and beyond.

If you are already on our email list, you will receive a link, otherwise please contact us. Questions may be posed live or before the meeting via email: archives@highlandparkhistory.org or telephone: 847.432.7090.

Frequently asked questions about the history of Highland Park:
Is Roger Williams Street named after the piano player?
I was trying to find this house number, but it does not seem to exist. Is the home still there?
Where do I go to find out about my family who served at Fort Sheridan?
What do archivists do?
What is the coolest item in your collection?
Who invented the telephone?
Where is the oldest standing house of worship?
How can I use the archives?
How do I find ...?

Recorded via Zoom on October 5, 2023

www.HighlandParkHistory.com

Highland Park Historical Society

National Ask An Archivist Day: Nancy Webster, Archivist

Feeding the Art Deco Spirit
Presented by Teri Edelstein, PhD

Cover image: Café, bars, restaurants, Cover Félix Jobbé-Duval Café, bars, restaurants, Cover Félix Jobbé-Duval Paris: Librairie de la Construction moderne, 1930

A central aspect of the culture and lifestyle of the 1920s and 30s was the creation and consumption of food. You could exist in an Art Deco world where everything from the soup to the nuts was inflected with this style. As a pervasive mode, Deco shaped a total environment and food and drink were an integral part of this. The lecture will focus upon some of the more striking results of this encounter.

Dr. Teri J. Edelstein, curator and museum consultant is principal of Teri J. Edelstein, Museum Strategies. She served as Deputy Director of The Art Institute of Chicago and before that as director of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art and the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. She has taught at Yale University, Mount Holyoke College, and The University of Chicago. Her numerous publications include many articles and exhibition catalogues as well as the book Art for All: British Posters for Transport. She contributed a major essay to Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America. Most recently, she curated Everyone’s Art Gallery: Posters of the London Underground for the Art Institute of Chicago and contributed an essay to the book E. McKnight Kauffer: The Artist in Advertising.

Recorded via Zoom on Monday, October 16, 2023

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Chicago Foodways Roundtable

Feeding the Art Deco Spirit

The Delmonico Way
Max Tucci

From Scott Warner, President, Culinary Historians of Chicago

I just couldn’t pass it up. When I attended the International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference in New York this past September, one limited-seating event had me signing up immediately: an historic dinner in the board room at Delmonico’s, hosted by third generation partner and global brand officer, Max Tucci.

Max regaled us with the luscious history of what is widely recognized as America’s first fine dining restaurant, that began in 1827 in Manhattan as a small cafe and pastry shop. It was  opened by Italian-Swiss immigrants, the brothers Giovanni and Pietro Delmonico. Ten years later, in 1837, they moved nearby to what is still Delmonico’s present location at 56 Beaver Street — in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district. The rich, powerful  and famous frequented the eatery.

Fast forward 100 years, to 1926, and Italian immigrant Oscar Tucci (Max’s grandfather) buys Delmonico’s, opens a speakeasy in the basement, continues attracting celebrities and world leaders (i.e.,Elvis, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Nixon)  and institutes many of the professional restaurant standards in use today, known as the Delmonico Way. During the height of the Tucci era, Delmonico’s, with its many rooms was considered the largest restaurant in the world. (63,000 sq. ft.) One of the lush private dining rooms included an en suite bedroom — if only the walls could talk!

Delmonico’s is also credited with being the first U.S. restaurant to use white tablecloths, and the creator of Delmonico steak, Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, Lobster Newberg and the Wedge Salad.

So do join us as Max Tucci takes us on his personal tour of his beloved Delmonico’s. Max has also captured his family’s legacy in his book, The Delmonico Way. Sublime Entertaining and Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! (Rizzoli).

Recorded via Zoom on November 9, 2023

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The Delmonico Way

A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2,000 Years, 100 Recipes
Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel

In 2014, food historians Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel cooked up a NYC supper club called Edible History, a pairing of fine dining and intellectual stimulation. Now they’ve spun their experience into a recently published book, A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2,000 Years, 100 Recipes (Rizzoli).

Come join us as the authors share highlights from their work and give us a world of culinary traditions and unfamiliar ingredients through dishes that make up 10 historical dinners: think Tudor England’s Cockatrice — a chicken sewn into a pig, then roasted; or Glazed Whore’s Farts (meringues) from Versailles. And they point out how we, too, can reenact these dishes at home.

Bios: Victoria Flexner is a food historian and founder of Edible History, a NYC-based historical supper club. Jay Reifel, Edible History’s executive chef, studied at the French Culinary Institute. He has competed on Chopped, and Beat Bobby Flay.

Recorded via Zoom on December 11, 2023

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A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2,000 Years, 100 Recipes

Ignite The Conversation: A Exploration Into Chicago-style BBQ

Dominique Leach (Lexington Betty Smokehouse) – Brian Jupiter (Frontier/Ina Mae Tavern)- Daniel Hammond (Smoky Soul BBQ)- Ron Conner (U Want Dat Smoke BBQ)

Media Speakers: Journalist Monica Eng of AXIOS Chicago and co-author of Made in Chicago: Stories Behind 30 Great Hometown Bites & James Beard Award-winning food writer/video producer Mike Gebert of Fooditor

Moderator: Catherine Lambrecht, Culinary Historians of Chicago

We’ve all heard of the classic BBQ styles from regions like Kansas City, Memphis or Texas-style. But what about Chicago-style BBQ?

From Rib tips to Hot Links to Mild Sauce and more, Chicago Chef and Pitmaster Dominique Leach of the Black-Women-Queer-Owned and award-winning restaurant Lexington Betty’s Smokehouse, plus the 2023 winner and the current reigning “MASTER OF ‘CUE” of the Food Network’s Hit Show BBQ Brawl , is making it her mission to further define this unique style and put it on the map in 2024. And she’s calling on a few more experts to help!

On Sunday, February 25th, join us for Ignite the Conversation, an educational panel and BBQ tasting with BBQ legends from throughout Chicago and top local journalists to lead a discussion on the origins of Chicago-style BBQ, its variations, and its future. To moderate the discussion, she has tapped Catherine Lambrecht of the Culinary Historians of Chicago with proceeds of this event to be made to their American Midwest Scholarship fund which provides financial support for the study of Midwestern foods and food-related institutions.

Recorded live at Lexington Betty Smokehouse on February 25, 2024

www.CulinaryHistorians.org

Culinary Historians of Chicago, guest moderator

Ignite The Conversation: A Exploration Into Chicago-style BBQ

From Bean to Bar – Exploring the Complex World of Chocolate
Presented by Adam Centamore

Chocolate is one of the world’s most beloved foods, and it’s no surprise why. Few treats can rival the sweet, rich flavors of a well-made bar of chocolate. When it comes to the history, creation and production of cacao, however, most people are far less familiar with those details. It’s time to see what makes this global favorite tick! Spend an evening learning all about chocolate with educator and writer (and chocolate fiend) Adam Centamore. He’ll share chocolate’s origins and history, how different styles of chocolate are made, and what makes it so special. He’ll also touch on why chocolate has been such a controversial food on the global stage, and how the industry is responding. Get to know one of the world’s most favorite foods – chocolate!

BIOGRAPHY: Adam Centamore is a culinary educator and writer with thousands of events and seminars to his name, including hundreds on the topic of chocolate alone. From casual tasting seminars to more formal academic presentations, Adam has been sharing his knowledge and love of chocolate with students for more than 15 years. He is also a writer and journalist with chocolate-themed stories written for Chocolate Professor, Edible Magazine, and other print and online publications.

Recorded on February 28, 2024 via Zoom

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From Bean to Bar – Exploring the Complex World of Chocolate

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.

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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

Gordon Sinclair, Live!

Culinary Historians of Chicago studies the history of food and drink in human cultures. Why we procure, prepare and serve the food we do has cultural, sociological, geographical, financial and political influences. We encourage participation from all walks of life: from academics to home cooks, chefs to grill masters, farmers to heirloom gardeners, food scientists to students. Our programs, and those of our sister organization Chicago Foodways Roundtable, are supported by research, fieldwork and scholarship, though geared to an informed popular audience. We welcome everyone to gather at our table to share food, drink and their life’s culinary experiences.

If you would like to contact us, please e-mail us at CulinaryHistorians@gmail.com

Gordon Sinclair, Live!

CulinaryHistory

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