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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
"Ethnicity and American Restaurants"
Speaker: Krishnendu Ray

How immigrants become restaurateurs and how Americans have responded to ethnic cuisines over the years.

America's dining landscape is spangled with ethnic restaurants -- Chinese, Indian, and Mexican for starters. But how is it that immigrants become restaurateurs? What are their motivations in designing their restaurants? Are they driven by economic need, innate habits, or conjectures about demand? And how has the popularity of various ethnic cuisines waxed and waned over the years? Join Krishnendu Ray for a lively and entertaining exploration of the history, habits, and hopes of immigrant restaurateurs, drawing on his research of documents dating back to 1850 and on his own interviews with dozens of current restaurant owners in New York City.

Krishnendu Ray was born in Siliguri, West Bengal, and raised in various parts of India before attending Delhi University. He came to the United States 20 years ago as a graduate student in sociology at SUNY Binghamton, but his career took an unexpected turn as he found himself fascinated with food as a token of exile and belonging in an age of global migrations. That led to a Ph.D. in sociology and his first book, "The Migrant's Table: Meals and Memories in Bengali-American Households" (2004). After teaching for several years at the Culinary Institute of America, he joined the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at NYU.

Ethnic restaurant favorites will be served!

Location: NYU Department of Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health
Steinhardt School
35 West 4th Street, 10th fl.
New York, NY 10012

Time: 6:30 pm Check-In and Reception | 7:00 pm Lecture

Fee: $40 Non-Members and Guests | $25 CHNY Members |$22 CHNY Student & Senior Members

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SAVE THE DATE(S):

CHNY programming is now on summer hiatus. Join now to receive notice of our first 2009-10 program in September.


PAST EVENTS:

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
"TV Dinners: A History of Television Cooking Shows"
Speaker: Kathleen Collins
Location: Astor Center

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"When Aging Is Good: The History and Art of Great Beef"
Speaker: Betty Fussell
Location: DeBragga and Spitler

Thursday, March 12, 2009
"The Taste of Sweet"
Speaker: Joanne Chen
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
"Pork Bellies: The Secret Financial Life of Your Food"
Speaker: Kara Newman
Location: Jimmy's No. 43

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"America's Kitchens"
Speaker: Nancy Carlisle
Location: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

Tuesday, December 9, 2008
"The Raw Milk Wars"
Speaker: Anne Mendelson
Location: National Arts Club

Monday, November 17, 2008
"The Tomato Queen of San Joaquin"
Speaker: Ken Albala
Location: Horticultural Society of New York

Monday, October 20, 2008
CHNY in conjunction with Astor Center present:
"Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee"
Speaker: Bee Wilson
Location: Astor Center

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
"A Celebration of Our Members II" and Annual Meeting
The members giving presentations included:
Jesse Browner, "The Uncertain Hour" (his novel about ancient Rome; Bloomsbury, 2007);
Marion Nestle, "Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine" (University of California Press, September 2008);
Jacqueline Newman, "Cooking from China's Fujian Province" (Hippocrene Books, August 2008);
Lara Rabinovich, "Pastrami and the City: Romanian Jewish Immigrants in Early 20th Century New York";
Francine Segan, "Opera Lover's Cookbook" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2006); and
Pat Willard, "America Eats: On the Road with the WPA" (Bloomsbury, July 2008).
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

Thursday, June 5, 2008
"George Washington Carver:  Botanist, Teacher, Inventor, and—Cookbook Writer?"
Speaker: Elizabeth M. Simms, Winner of the 2006 CHNY Scholar's Grant
Location: International Wine Center

Monday, May 5, 2008
"Dates in Medieval Baghdad: Sweet Eats to Heady Drinks"
(presented in association with the National Arts Club’s Culinary Arts Committee)
Speaker: Nawal Nasrallah
Location: National Arts Club

Thursday, April 17, 2008
"Lisbon and Spices: Transforming the World's Culinary Horizons"
Speaker: Michael Krondl
Location: Astor Center

Thursday, March 13, 2008
"The History of Chop Suey in America"
Speaker: Andrew Coe
Location: Grand Harmony Restaurant

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
"The Olympia Oyster"
Speaker: Jon Rowley
Location: Moore Brothers Wines

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
"Refined Cuisine or Just Plain Cooking? Moralists in the Kitchen"
Speaker: Rachel Laudan
Location: Astor Center

Monday, December 17, 2007
"The Spectacular Failure of Prohibition in New York City"
Speaker: Michael Lerner
Location: International Wine Center

Monday, November 26, 2007
"Molecular Gastronomy and the Role of Science in the Kitchen: The Past, Present, and Future of 'Scientific Cooking"
A conversation with Hervé This and Mitchell Davis
Location: Astor Center

Wednesday, October 16, 2007
"Bones of Retention: Exploring the Prehistory of the Human Diet"
Speaker: Andrew Sillen
Location: Greenwich House Music School

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
"A Celebration of Our Members"
The members giving presentations included:
Rynn Berry, “The History of Vegetarian Restaurants”;
Carolina Capehart, "Fireside Feasts: Early 1800s Culinary Adventures”;
Bunny Crumpacker, The Sex Life of Food (St. Martin’s Press, 2006);
Zilkia Janer, Latino American Food Culture (Greenwood Press, forthcoming);
Cathy Kaufman, Cooking in Ancient Civilizations (Greenwood Press, 2006);
Elizabeth Knight, Tea in the City: New York (Benjamin Press, 2006);
Alexandra Leaf; Ammini Ramachandran, Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconut (iUniverse, 2007); and
Francine Segan, The Opera Lover’s Cookbook (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2006).
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

Monday, June 4, 2007
"Appalachian Food"
Speaker: Mark F. Sohn, Ph.D.
Location: Moore Brothers Wines

Wednesday, May 9, 2007
"A Cultural History of Artisan Cheesemaking in America"
Speaker: Paul S. Kindstedt, Ph.D., Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, University of Vermont
Location: Artisanal Premium Cheese Center

Saturday, April 21, 2007
"America Eats" Symposium
Culinary Historians of New York is thrilled to present an all-day symposium investigating American foodways during the Depression and World War II, inspired by the Works Project Administration’s unfinished “America Eats” project.  The mission of the project—abandoned at the outset of World War II—was to document local and regional foodways through extensive field research and interviews of participants at food events from church suppers and clambakes to barbecues and holiday meals.  The luscious diversity of community meals, especially in rural enclaves, is served up in these typewritten documents that were relegated to scattered and forgotten archives when the project was abandoned that are only now being plumbed by scholars to help understand American food of the 1930s and ‘40s.  Many of the documents have yet to be located, and the final session of the symposium will attempt to create an action plan for ferreting out still-hidden remnants of the America Eats project to preserve primary source materials for current and future food scholars.

NOTE: To get in touch with CHNY about "America Eats" ongoing research or resources, please contact us.

"America Eats" Symposium Schedule of Events and Speakers:
9:30-10:15  Registration and coffee
10:15-10:30  Opening remarks
10:30-12:30  Panel discussion and Q & A by Elizabeth Alsop, Pat Willard, Charles Camp, and Anne Mendelson, all food scholars who have worked extensively with primary source "America Eats" documents
12:30-1:30  Buffet lunch of foods featured in the "America Eats" archives
1:30-1:45  Presentation of CHNY Amelia Award to internationally-recognized food scholar Barbara Ketcham Wheaton
1:45-3:30  Panel discussion and Q&A by Amy Bentley, Annie Hauck-Lawson, Joanne Lamb Hayes, all scholars on American food of the Depression and WWII, moderated by Cara De Silva
3:30-4:00  Group discussion for finding and preserving hidden "America Eats" materials
Location: Institute of Culinary Education

March 5, 2007
"In Pursuit of Tea"
Speaker: Sebastian Beckwith, Owner (Visit the In Pursuit of Tea website)
Location: National Arts Club

February 7, 2007
"Chocolate Past and Present: A Cultural History"
Speaker: Alexandra Leaf
Location: Institute of Culinary Education

January 9, 2007
"Absinthe, A Dark Tale"
Speaker: Dr. David Weir
Location: International Wine Center

December 12, 2006
"Gingerbread Houses - Crumbs of History: A Little Trivia and a Little Technique"
Speaker: Joanne Lamb Hayes
Location: Chelsea Market, Main Floor Exhibition Room

November 16, 2006
Thanksgiving Program - "A Tale of Two Books: Giving Thanks for Colonial Food History"
Speaker: Sandra Oliver, Editor of Food History News
Location: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

October 26, 2006
"Guilty Pleasures: The History of Fast Food"
Speaker: Andrew F. Smith
Location: NYU Department of Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health

September 27, 2006
"A Brief History of Apicius in Italy"
Speakers: Sally Grainger, Christopher Grocock, Ken Albala
Location: French Culinary Institute, Culinary Amphitheater

September 19, 2006
Fall Cocktail Reception and Annual Meeting
Special Presentation: "The History of the Cocktail" by Allen Katz
Location: Fashion Institute of Technology, Faculty Dining Hall

June 7, 2006
"Dining with Don Quixote"
Speaker: Janet Mendel
Location: Instituto Cervantes of New York

May 10, 2006
"History of the American Whiskey Rebellion"
Speaker: William Hogeland (click here for more information on the book)
Location: Greenwich House Music School

April 26, 2006
SPECIAL BOOK EVENT - "Washoku: Recipes from a Japanese Kitchen"
Speaker: Elizabeth Andoh
Location: Institute of Culinary Education

April 3, 2006
"Spices and the Medieval Culinary Aesthetic"
Speaker: Paul Freedman, medieval social historian and Chairman of the History Department at Yale University
Location: National Arts Club

March 13, 2006
"Fish on Friday: How Fish Eating Changed History"
Speaker: Brian Fagan
Location: South Street Seaport Museum, Melville Gallery

February 23, 2006
"The Dark Side of Rum"
Speakers: Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller
Location: New York University, Steinhardt School of Education

January 31, 2006
"Gastronomy and Gluttony in Early Modern China"
Speaker: Joanna Waley-Cohen
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

December 5, 2005
"Dining With The Gods: A Lecture, Viewing and Tasting of the Culinary Culture of Ancient Greece"
Speaker: Andrew Dalby
Location: Sotheby's Institute of Art

November 17, 2005
Panel Discussion - "The History and Impact of Restaurant Reviews on the New York Dining Scene"
Moderator:
Mitchell Davis, James Beard Foundation
Panelists:
Michael Batterberry, editor-in-chief/publisher Food Arts
Bob Lape, restaurant reviewer
William Grimes, former New York Times restaurant reviewer
Gael Greene, food writer-at-large, New York magazine
Location: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

October 27, 2005
"Some Like it Hot: A History of the World's Hottest Cuisines"
Speaker: Clifford Wright
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

September 13, 2005
"A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America"
Speaker: James E. McWilliams
Location: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

June 9, 2005
"The History and Pre-History of Pigs"
Speaker: Peter Kaminsky, author of Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine (click here for more information on the book)
Location: French Culinary Institute, Culinary Amphitheater

April 21, 2005
"Fresh from the Past: Recipes and Revelations from Moll Flanders' Kitchen: Writing Culinary History with 18th Century Cookbooks"
Speaker: Sandra Sherman
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

April 5, 2005
"Candy Bars and the Birth of the American Spirit"
Speaker: Steve Almond, Author of CandyFreak (click here for more information on the book)
Location: Dylan's Candy Bar

March 9, 2005
"Foods of New York"
Speaker: Arthur Schwartz
Location: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

March 31, 2005
"Apicius: New 21st Century Translation"
Speakers: Sally Grainger & Dr. Chris Grocock
Location: New York Academy of Medicine

February 17, 2005
"The Good Soup Comes from the Good Earth... West African Food Culture"
Speaker: Fran Osseo-Asare
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

January 18, 2005
"The Wine & Food of 17th Century Jewish Mystics: How to Feast like an Ancient Kabbalist"
Speaker: Alan Brill
Location: Jewish Community Center in Manhattan

December 14, 2004
HOLIDAY PARTY - "Punch: A Brief History of the Monarch of Mixed Drinks"
Speaker: Mixology Historian Dave Wondrich
Location: National Arts Club

November 9, 2004
"A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women Told Through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances"
Speaker: Author Laura Schenone (click here for more information on the book)
Location: Park Avenue United Methodist Church

October 19, 2004
PUBLICATION CELEBRATION for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food & Drink in America
  (click here for more information on the book)
2:45 pm - 6:00 pm Symposium
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Reception
Location: Institute of Culinary Education

October 13, 2004
"Something from the Oven"
Speaker: Author Laura Shapiro on how the food industry of the 1940's and 50's tried to revolutionize the kitchen and how women fought back, based on her book, Something From The Oven
Location: Goldman Associates Luxury Showroom

Monday, September 20, 2004
"New Hampshire: A Study in Agricultural and Culinary Innovation"
Speaker: Helen Brody
Location: The Culinary Loft

Wednesday, June 9, 2004
"Cooking for Kings: A Restauration Comedy"
Starring: Ian Kelly, actor and author of Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême, the First Celebrity Chef
Location: Vintage Wine Cellar

Tuesday, May 11, 2004
"New York City's Greenmarkets: A History and Inside View"
Moderator:
Richard Ruben, cooking instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education and author of The Farmer’s Market Cookbook.
Panelists:
Barry Benepe, founder of Greenmarket in New York City
Amy Nicholson, third generation family farmer, Red Jacket Orchards in Geneva, NY
Dan Barber, chef/owner of Blue Hill Restaurant, NYC
Location: Earth Pledge Foundation, The Carriage House

Monday, April 26, 2004
"Ekiben: A Culinary Train Tour of Japan"
Speaker: Elizabeth Andoh
Location: Horticultural Society of New York



EVENTS