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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, plea…
Salmon croquettes meet 1800s New Orleans rice fritters, and your dinner plans suddenly need footnotes.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A polished Chicago dining history shaped by restaurant ambition, personal memory, and chef-driven rooms.
Chicago dining comes through as a story of ambition, memory, and the people who kept testing what a restaurant could be. Michael Gebert's The Chicago Way: An Oral History of Dining anchors the discussion, which moves from the casual charge of R.J.
Oakford's pecan trees open a grounded conversation about foodways, memory, and patient growth.
Oakford's pecan trees give this episode its quiet center, turning a familiar yard into a record of local foodways and family memory. Linda Elks brings together research, childhood memories from just outside Oakford, and practical knowledge shaped by her work with Illinois…
A mother and son connect Indian recipes, regional memory, and an American kitchen.
Heartland Masala brings a clear sense of place to this Culinary Historians of Chicago conversation, following traditional and diasporic Indian recipes as they move from regional memory into an American kitchen. Dr.
A warm conversation about Lebanese pastries, family memory, regional identity, and cultural exchange.
Lebanese baking becomes a way to read family memory and cultural exchange in this conversation with Maureen Abood, author of Rosewater and Orange Blossoms.
Mahari's menu becomes a map of memory across Chicago, New Orleans, Colombia, and the African diaspora.
Mahari gives this episode a warm, specific frame for thinking about how African diaspora traditions find new shape on a Chicago menu. Rahim Mohamed, a third-generation chef born in Chicago and raised in Baton Rouge, talks through dishes that seem to hold several homes at once,…
Follow the food and you find the politics.
Food history with the footnotes read aloud.
Where Asia's favourite foods came from, one at a time.
The episode introduces a book on Chicago's dining history through oral histories, with the host and guest discussing their contributions.
Chicago Foodways Roundtable's episode centers on Linda Elks's Oakford pecans and Catherine Lambrack's Dickinson squash update.
A talk on the historical and cultural context of traditional and diasporic Indian recipes, featuring a mother-son duo and their cookbook.
Scott Warner opens the Culinary Historians of Chicago's 32nd year by introducing Maureen Abood, the author of Rosewater and Orange Blossoms and Lebanese Baking.
Rahim Mohamed and Magic Johnson describe Mahari, the Hyde Park restaurant at 1504 East 52nd in the former La Petite Folie space, as an African Caribbean, Creole, and Afro-Latina fusion project.
Adrian Miller and Deborah Chang present Cooking to a President's Taste, a White House Historical Association book on 37 Asian-heritage chefs, to the Culinary Historians of Chicago.
Four Mineral Point collaborators behind the book The Wisconsin Whey describe profiling 12 Driftless-region cheesemakers, a project that began when Joe Burns of Bronco Cheese ran a tasting at the Book Kitchen.
The host of a Culinary Historians of Chicago dinner explains Chinese table manners live, such as not separating couples at the table and never leaving chopsticks upright in a rice bowl because it signals an offering to ancestors.
The episode introduces a guest with a background in culinary history and recipe writing, discussing her career and contributions to food journalism.
An archivist discusses an outdoor exhibit on flora, fauna, and foodways in Highland Park, based on a conference presentation.
A culinary historian introduces a guest chef and author who will discuss her book on truffles and Appalachian culinary traditions.
Catherine Lambrecht introduces a Chinese American Museum exhibit on Chinese cuisine in America, sharing a story about Kevin Pang's father starting a YouTube channel to preserve family recipes.