Courses
A selection of my recent culinary history class offerings are listed below. To register for an upcoming course, click the events button above.
Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate: A History of Caffeinated Drinks in the Western World
The ubiquity of coffee, tea, and chocolate obscures their past histories as exotic and luxurious beverages that were often the focus of political turmoil, geographical exploration, religious debate, and medical observation. Focusing on primary sources, we will discuss topics as diverse as the purported medicinal properties of chocolate, the shipping and taxation of tea, and questions of immoral behavior in early modern London coffeehouses. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
Considering Culture: Music and Food in Interwar America
This seminar, conducted as a musical performance, cooking demonstration, lecture, and discussion, offers a new way to consider American culture between the two World Wars. The instructors, a professional pianist and a culinary historian, will weave together musical and culinary examples of technology, popular and high culture, and foreign influences to speak more broadly about American culture. This seminar is co-taught with Elizabeth Newkirk. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
The Culture of Food in Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Food was central to everyday life in medieval and Renaissance Europe. In this seminar, we will explore how the culture of food was connected to social status, economics, religion, law, art, literature, and so much more. Focusing on primary sources, we will discuss topics as diverse as theological debates about chocolate, pepper trees guarded by mythical serpents, and cries of Parisian street vendors in a thirteenth-century motet. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
Eat My Words: Cookbooks in Early Modern England
Food and books have long been an enticing pairing. In this seminar, we will explore their convergence in early modern England. Focusing on print and manuscript primary sources, we will delve into the cookery genre through discussions of book production, the household, authorship and readership, ingredients and kitchen technologies, and the meal. Students will be encouraged to prepare historic dishes and transcribe manuscript recipes. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Feast: Extravagant Dining in Medieval and Renaissance Europe
The medieval and Renaissance feast was a grand showcase of wealth and power, designed to stimulate all the senses and improve or confirm one’s social standing. In this seminar we will explore several historic feasts, including the Feast of the Pheasant, meetings of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and royal weddings. Focusing on historic accounts, we will delve into a world of spectacular sugar sculptures, fire-breathing boars’ heads, and extravagant musical and theatrical performances. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Food in Late Medieval English Literature
Food was an important feature of everyday life in the Middle Ages and appeared regularly in late medieval English literature. Writers used cultural conventions surrounding food and dining to illuminate ideas about power, class, gender, spirituality, and much more. In this seminar, we will read and discuss excerpts from some of the most celebrated works in the medieval English literary canon, examining how and why the authors of these texts turned to depictions of food and dining. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Food in World History
Students in this course explore the roles of food and drink in world history from the Neolithic period to the present. Topics include worldwide agricultural revolutions; the introduction of new foods in global trading networks; food as a site of cultural exchange and interaction; how industrialization and wars transformed food production and consumption; the history of public dining; religious uses of food; and modern movements to reform food production and consumption. Previously offered at The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH).
Foods of the Columbian Exchange
Can you imagine Kansas without wheat, Italy without tomatoes, or India without chili peppers? These foods, so central to modern regional culinary identities, were adopted as a result of the Columbian Exchange—the transfer of plants, animals, populations, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds following Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas. Through observation of archival materials and and the examination of recipes, we will learn in this one-day seminar how modern tastes have been influenced by the Columbian Exchange. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
A History of Cookbooks
In this seminar, we will explore the exciting history of cookbooks in Europe from 1300 to 1900. Focusing on primary sources, we will discuss many aspects of the cookbook including the creation of the physical object; authors, readers, and cooks; ingredients and kitchen technologies; and the meal. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
A History of French Royal Food and Feasting
Have you ever wondered about the origins of French cuisine? This seminar will trace the flavors and traditions of French cooking to the royal courts of medieval and Renaissance France. These courts embraced the art of dining, producing celebrity chefs and cookbooks, exquisite entremets, and eventually national dishes and customs. In particular, we will explore the development of courtly dining through accounts of several historic feasts, delving into a world of edible sculptures, fountains of wine, and extravagant performances. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes
In this seminar, conducted as a cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste medieval and early modern English recipes from manuscript and print sources. We will explore the background, methods, and meanings behind a few historic preparations and learn about premodern food culture through reading and making recipes. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: Autumn Feasts
In this seminar, conducted as a cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste early modern English recipes from manuscript and print sources. We will explore the background, methods, and meanings behind a few historic preparations for dishes with ingredients harvested or served each autumn and learn about premodern food culture through reading and interpreting recipes. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: Early Modern Sweets
In this seminar, conducted as a cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste dishes made using early modern English recipes from manuscript and print sources. We will explore the background, methods, and meanings behind a few historic preparations for sweets and learn about premodern food culture through reading and interpreting recipes. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: Foods of the Age of Exploration and Western Colonialism
In this cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste early modern European recipes influenced by the Age of Exploration and empire-building of Western colonialism. We will explore this period of culinary exchange and discovery and learn about premodern food culture through reading and interpreting recipes from a variety of European culinary sources. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: Foods of the Columbian Exchange
In this class, conducted as a cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste early modern European recipes influenced by the Columbian Exchange. This transfer of plants, animals, populations, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds following Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas led to many modern regional culinary identities and dishes. We will explore this exchange of foods and the adoption of culinary identities through reading and interpreting recipes from a variety of European culinary sources. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: The Medieval Spice Trade
In this class, which will be conducted as a cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste medieval European recipes from manuscript sources. We will explore the medieval spice trade and learn about premodern food culture through reading and interpreting recipes featuring an array of historical spices. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
Making and Tasting Historical Recipes: Savoring the Summer
In this cooking demonstration and workshop, we will study, prepare, and taste early modern English recipes from manuscript and print sources. We will explore the background, methods, and meanings behind a few historic preparations for dishes inspired by summertime produce and learn about premodern food culture through reading and interpreting recipes. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL).
Plague Waters, Chocolate Cures, and Sickdishes: Food and Health in Medieval and Renaissance Recipes
People have long turned to food to maintain health and cure ailments. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, professional and household practitioners prescribed food and medicines recorded in printed and manuscript recipes to preserve and manage health during times of plague and illness. In this seminar, we will examine the historical relationship between health, food, and recipes, considering professional medical theories, household health practices, medical and culinary recipes, and more. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
Sugar in Early Modern Europe
Sugar was one of the most precious and luxurious commodities in premodern Europe. In this seminar, we will explore the sugar industry in Europe and its colonies, including farming and processing, culinary uses, trade networks, and the widespread use of slave labor in sugar colonies. The seminar will include a presentation of Newberry materials so participants can observe the impact of sugar through early modern texts, images, and maps. Previously offered at the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) and the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL).
Image Credits
Philippe Sylvestre Dufour, Traitez nouveaux & curieux du café, du thé et du chocolate: ouvrage également necessaire aux medecins, & à tous ceux qui aiment leur santé (1688), Foods of the Columbian Exchange, Digital Collections for the Classroom, Newberry Library.
Heures à l’usage de Rome (1487), The Medieval Spice Trade, Digital Collections for the Classroom, Newberry Library.
Dorothy Stone, Receipt Book of Dorothy Stone [manuscript], ca. 1725, p. 1, LUNA, Folger Shakespeare Library.
Jean of Wavrin, Recueil des croniques d’Engleterre, Volume III, British Library MS Royal 14 E IV, c. 1470-1480, fol. 265v.
San Marino, Huntington Library, EL 26 C 09. www.digital-scriptorium.org.
Marco Polo, Livre des merveilles, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, français 2810, fol. 84r.
Theodor de Bry, India occidentalis (1590), Foods of the Columbian Exchange, Digital Collections for the Classroom, Newberry Library.
Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper, 4th ed. (1775).
Jean Wauquelin, Livre des Conquestes et faits d'Alexandre, Musée de Petit Palais Ms LDUT456, c. 1467, fol. 86r.
Nicolas de Bonnefons, The French Gardiner (1672), photo by Sarah Kernan of copy held by Newberry Library.
Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Elder, Fruit still life with celery, peaches, oranges and grape in a china bowl, 1666.
Jan van Haelbeeck, “Enigmes Joyeuses pour les Bons Esprits, Plate 3,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, No. 2016.360.3, ca. 1615.
Ptolemy, Geographia vniversalis, vetus et nova (1540), Newberry Library, VAULT Baskes folio G1005 1540.
Thomas Hariot, A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia (1590), Newberry Library, Ayer 150.5 .V7 H2 1590 1888.
Nicolas de Bonnefons, The French Gardiner (1672), photo by Sarah Kernan of copy held by Newberry Library.
Fresco, Castello Challant, Issogne (Valle d'Aosta), 1489-1502.
German School, Still Life of a Bowl of Strawberries, Standing Cup, a Bottle of Rose Water, a Sugarloaf and a Box of Sugar, c. 1680.