Culinary
History
Enthusiasts
Wisconsin
Past Speakers
April 2, 2008: The Science and Lore of Cider. Deirdre Birmingham and John Biondi of rural Hollandale spoke about traditional, Pre-Prohibition cider--America’s first beverage. Traditional, fermented (some call it hard) cider is a refreshing beverage that is making its reemergence in the States. If you’ve traveled to the UK, northern France, northern Spain, South Africa, or Down Under, you may have enjoyed real cider. If you could travel back in time to share a drink with President John Adams, you would likely be drinking cider.
Deirdre and John are establishing cider apple orchards on their farm for the purpose of making a variety of fine-crafted ciders. They hope to break ground on their cidery in 2008.
Deirdre and John brought a variety of ciders to taste from the U.S., England, and France, including ciders made in Wisconsin and Michigan. They discussed the history of cider in the U.S., what Johnny Appleseed was really all about, and how well-crafted ciders are made.
May 7, 2008: "In a Pickle." Jerry Apps, author of the recently published “In a Pickle,” was CHEW’s May speaker. Set almost 50 years ago, “In a Pickle” explores the still continuing concern of small farms being eliminated by factory farms and the impact this brings to rural life. Jerry Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, managed a pickle factory in the 1950s. He is Professor Emeritus at UW-Madison and an award-winning author of more than 25 books, many of them on rural history and country life. Mr. Apps is a former publications editor for UW-Extension, an acquisitions editor for the McGraw-Hill Book Company, and editor of a national professional journal. He received the 2007 Major Achievement Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Go to http://www.jerryapps.com/in_a_pickle_reviews.shtml to read reviews of “In a Pickle” and learn more about him by visiting www.jerryapps.com.
March 5, 2008: Title: "Gemeutlicheit at the Crossroads: Fairly True Tales of the Good and Not So Good on One of Madison's Most Notorious City Blocks, and the Beer Hall That Changed Everything." Bob Worm, owner/operator of Essen Haus German Restaurant and Germania Properties, and Madison writer Marge Pitts discussed the checkered history of Madison's Block 115, the 500 block of East Wilson Street.
Located in the heart of the First Settlement District, this block was one of the very first to be developed in Madison. With train depots on either end, the block soon became a crossroads in the young city. The short block once contained three hotels, a butcher shop and dry goods emporium, and numerous saloons and eating establishments of varying degrees of respectability. Block 115's fortunes waxed and waned over the years. By the early 1980's the area was rife with prostitution, crime, chronic alcholism and failed businesses. That's when Bob Worm, then the chef at the former White Horse restaurant, saw his opportunity. He acquired the old Germania Hotel, built in the center of the block soon after the Civil War. There he created the Essen Haus Restaurant and Trinken Halle, which has been a successful business since 1983. Over time, Bob acquired many more properties on the block, where in cooperation with the First Settlement District Neighborhood Association, he helped spearhead real urban renewal, including an attractive condominium development, rebirth of a classic hotel, and successful remediation of the most unsavory aspects of the old block.
In celebration of 25 years at this location, Bob Worm commissioned Marge Pitts to create a little book, “Gemeutlicheit at the Crossroads,” to tell the story not only of the Essen Haus, but of the historical block that is its home. The book accompanies a special one-liter stein created for the occasion.
Marge Pitts is a Madison writer who graduated from the University of Wisconsin many years ago with a degree in Creative Writing, which led directly to a career waiting tables at several venerable, locally owned Madison restaurants. She worked for Bob at the Essen Haus from 1987-1996.
November 7, 2007. German Milwaukee: Its History Its Recipes. Trudy Knass Paradis, author of German Milwaukee: Its History Its Recipes, spoke about the influence of German immigrants on the history of Milwaukee and its political, cultural and culinary development.
Ms Knass Paradis’ book, through history and photograph, recipe and anecdote, recounted the story of the Germans in Milwaukee and the profound influence these immigrants and their descendants had upon this dynamic city and further, on the State of Wisconsin. Author Trudy Knauss Paradis, with the assistance of E.J. Brumder, beautifully set forth this extraordinary history, from the early German-speaking arrivals in the 1830s, to the creation of the vibrant “German Athens on Lake Michigan,” to the suppression of German identity during the two World Wars, to today’s renaissance of German ancestral pride.
Not only did the German immigrants significantly contribute to the commercial, cultural, religious, educational and social foundations of Wisconsin, they also brought schnitzel and sauerkraut to the Lake Michigan coast. Thus, this book highlights the culinary contributions by turning an inviting light onto four of Milwaukee’s award-winning German restaurants, with each providing recipes of their excellent and authentic fare. These restaurants include Mader’s, The Bavarian Inn, Weissgerber’s and Karl Ratzsch’s. As an added bonus, 24 German-American Milwaukeeans have opened their kitchens to share their private family recipes, often passed from Oma to Mutter to Tochter or Sohn.
Ms Knauss Paradis is former Director-in-Charge of Cultural Exhibition for German Fest Milwaukee and a child of German-born immigrants.
Oct 3, 2007. A Recipe for Success: The Story of Lizzie Kander and the Settlement Cookbook.
Bob Kann's book, A Recipe for Success: Lizzie Kander and Her Cookbook, celebrates the life of Milwaukee's early 20th century culinary wonder. Lizzie Kander's cookbook assisted numerous young Jewish immigrant girls to learn American-style cooking-and the proceeds helped build Milwaukee's first settlement house and later the Jewish Community Center. Bob shared stories about Lizzie, her cookbook, and life in Milwaukee in the late 19th and early 20th century. Participants were encouraged to bring their own Settlement Cookbooks and to share their own stories sparked by the presentation.
Bob Kann is a storyteller, juggler and magician as well as an author and a professor of education. He performs throughout the United States in schools, libraries, at festivals, performing arts centers and wherever else children and families assemble. He also teaches classes and holds workshops on humor, motivation, creativity and storytelling for educators, social service agencies and businesses.
Sept. 5, 2007. "Cooking with Indian Spices" by Neeta Saluja. When used creatively and selectively, these spices help to create fragrant, tasty and well-balanced dishes. Saluja helped to demystify the exotic aromas and complex flavors of Indian cuisine while discussing the various techniques to best use these spices, the essence of Indian cooking.
Born and raised in India, Neeta Saluja has lived in Madison with her family for the past 20 years. She has traveled extensively throughout India and internationally, teaching Indian cooking for more than 20 years in the United States, Australia, and Japan. She is the author of the recently released Six Spices: A Simple Concept of Indian Cooking (Jones Books, 2007).
Aug 1, 2007: John Broihahn, Wisconsin State Archaeologist gave the talk "Gardening and Dining in Ancient Wisconsin." A quiet revolution was nurtured in eastern North America for thousands of years. Around 2000 years ago American Indians were cultivating pepo squash (Cucurbita pepo), marshelder (Iva annua variety macrocarpa), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum), goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri subspecies Jonesianum), and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). Giant ragweed, may grass (Phalaris caroliniana), and Little barley (Hordeum pusillum), were also carefully nurtured. This complex of plants has come to be known as the Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC). In Wisconsin wild rice was part of this complex beginning 1900 years ago. Corn and tobacco were introduced into this complex mix of starchy and oily seeds. Indian women worked carefully over many centuries to adapt corn to the local climate and as they did it became more important. Beans were added to this melody 800 years ago, but their use varied widely from region to region. By 600 years ago, marshelder, erect knotweed, goosefoot, giant ragweed, may grass, and little barley were no longer grown. Near these foods for the body they also grew foods for the soul, and medicinal plants were also collected from the nearby prairies and forests.
June 6, 2007: "Recipes are much more than just ingredients strung together," says Sarah Marx Feldner. "They're about the culture they come from and the lives of the people that prepare them." To learn about the regional home cooking and culture of Japan, Feldner ate her way around the country for five years. She traveled from northern Hokkaido to the southern tip of Kyushu, befriending grandmothers, chefs, fishermen, mothers, and artists going about their daily lives in small mountain villages, seaside towns, and bustling cities. On June 6 Feldner shared recipes and stories in an intimate portrait that connected the food of Japan to the people themselves.
Feldner is currently the pastry chef at Lombardino's in Madison. Prior to that, she was Associate Editor for Cuisine at Home magazine, attended culinary schools in New York, France, and Japan, and apprenticed with Penzeys Spices. She has a master's degree in library and information science with an emphasis on culinary collections and food research.
May 2, 2007. Wisconsin Church Suppers and Small-Town Cafes by Terese Allen.
For a feast of homemade ethnic specialties--plus large helpings of camaradie and local history--there's nothing like downtown cafes and annual church dinners. If you think of Wisconsin as just a "meat and potatoes" state, think again: the state's ethnic and agricultural diversity is revealed in such events as the St. James Pork Hocks and Sauerkraut Feed and St. Hagop's Armenian Madagh, and in such diner dishes as beer cheese soup, chicken mole enchiladas and cream pies. Allen shared stories from church suppers and from her newly published Cafe Wisconsin Cookbook, and explores the meals and meaning behind these beloved repositories of Dairyland culture.
Terese Allen is food editor for Organic Valley, columnist for Isthmus newspaper, and author of several books about local, seasonal cooking and Wisconsin's culinary traditions. Allen chairs the REAP Food Group of southern Wisconsin and is past-president of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin. She currently is writing an expanded second edition of Harva Hachten's The Flavor of Wisconsin, a history of food and cooking in the state.
April 4, 2007.
"Four Seasons of Foraging in Wisconsin." John Motoviloff spoke about what can be harvested from Wisconsin woods, fields, and waters throughout the year. John Motoviloff is an outdoor writer and naturalist. He spends at least 100 day afield each year fishing, hunting, and foraging--and as much time in the kitchen cooking up the bounty. He is the author of a book of nature essay called Driftless Stories, a cookbook called Wisconsin Wildfoods, and the 600-page Fly Fisher's Guide to Wisconsin and Iowa. He splits his time between home in Madison, Wisconsin and a cabin on the banks of the Kickapoo River.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007.
The Huitlacoche Project: A Tale of Smut and Gold Lydia Zepeda, professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke about the Huitlacoche Project, a collaboration between the University and Troy Gardens on Madison's north side.
Huitlacoche or corn smut, a fungus that grows in kernels of corn and distends them causing a large dark growth, has been eaten as a delicacy in Mexico for hundreds of years, but it only recently has gained acceptance in the United States. The project attempts to promote this specialty crop, to introduce Madison's Hispanic community to the Troy Community Farm and to forge linkages with local Hispanic businesses. This is a tale, over 500 years in the making, of how a university-community farm collaborative research project turned corn smut into gold.
February 7, 2006. History of Madison’s Restaurants and Bars by Ann Waidelich. Waidelich is a CHEW member and past-President of Historic Madison Inc. She gave a talk on the history of Madison's restaurants and bars based on and illustrated with some of her historic Madison postcards.
December 6, 2006. "Would You Believe There Really Is More Than One Fruitcake?" by Art Bartsch. The story and lore of fruitcake is embedded in our history. It is traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome. Ancient Egyptians revered fruitcake so much that it was put in tombs of Pharaohs to represent the sacred food of the afterlife. Roman soldiers used fruitcake as the first "energy bar" to provide energy in the battlefield during the Roman conquest. In more recent times, fruitcake has become associated with Christmas, Easter, weddings, funerals and other very important celebrations.
OR. is there any other product associated with the holidays that is so ridiculed and disrespected? Is there only one fruitcake with no purpose other than to be passed to someone else as a gift that is never eaten, but rather is continually given to others as "the gift that keeps on giving"? I wonder - what do I do with this thing? What are the "top 10" alternate uses of fruitcake? What is fruitcake made of and is there a scientific explanation as to why fruitcake lasts so long? What is the significance of fruitcake in the Revolutionary War?
These are some typical factoids and questions asked of Arthur Bartsch, the Fruitcake Expert on Ilovefruitcake.com, a website founded as a result of a grass roots effort at The Swiss Colony, a direct mail order company, that offers an amazing selection of holiday food gifts made from original recipes. Ilovefruitcake.com is an exciting website that promotes the maligned fruitcake. We are serious about fruitcake - it's fun, colorful, part of our holiday tradition, and truly a delicious dessert.
Arthur Bartsch is currently Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) for The Swiss Colony, headquartered in Monroe WI. Art grew up in Chicago where he received his Bachelors Degree in Chemistry and Mathematics, followed by an MS Degree in Food Technology.
Before coming to Swiss Colony in 1978, Art worked for Quaker Oats for 4 ? years in their research center. While at Swiss Colony, Art has been responsible for food operations, QA, wholesale sales, merchandising, purchasing, resource planning and research and development. Art has been involved in development of literally thousands of food product introductions over the last 35 years. He is published, has received awards for research excellence, has a major food patent, has numerous appearances on the Food Network, Travel Channel and History Channel, and is on the American Institute of Baking (AIB) Educational Advisory Board.
November 1, 2006. Giovanna Micelli-Jeffries from the Department of French and Italian, UW-Madison, is the translator of Keeping House: A Novel In Recipes (Suny Series, Women Writers in Translation)" by Clara Sereni. She will discuss this book which is an Italian contemporary classic, a trailblazer (first published in 1987) in what would become a very fertile and popular encounter of literature and food.It is an autobiographical novel of coming of age in an Italian -Jewish family, highly politicized and intellectual, where food, and the love for it, works as as a compass for gaining understanding of the world and seeking one's a identity. There are 105 recipes distributed in this novel, chapters are named after courses (8), classical Italian dishes alternate with the author's contemporary adjustments and taste, with her love for preserving. They are all parts of an identity that manifest itself in the author's work and friendships, in her mosaic-style life where eggplants, cloves, beans, meatball, and crostini can become ingredients of creativity.
October 4, 2006. Our speaker was Marc Kleijwegt, Assistant Professor Departments of History and Classics at the UW-Madison. He will speak about food patterns in the the Imperial Period (First and Second Century AD).
September 6, 2006. Five-hundred Years of Food Media. New technology has enhanced our relationship to food for centuries, from the printing press that put cookbooks into the hands of middle-class readers to an entire television channel devoted solely to culinary issues. And now podcasting is allowing gastronomes to experience their favorite food talk where and when they want to.
At the September meeting of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW), Anne Bramley took through 500 years of new media that have changed our relationship to food, uncovering many of the paradoxes that arise when a very basic need enters the high-tech world. She offered a peek at some of the first English cookbooks and demonstrate how to find and listen to food podcasts.
In January of 2005, Anne Bramley turned her academic research on Renaissance English food into one of the first food podcasts, Eat Feed (www.eatfeed.com). As creator and host, she now works with a team of food enthusiasts to continue to use the new medium to connect listeners with topics that are often overlooked by mainstream media.
August 2, 2006. Evolution of diners: Then and now. Before the dominance of national fast food chains in the 1950s, the diner was a popular type of inexpensive restaurant for many Americans. There has been a revival of interest in diners and new versions have been created which are adapted to the lifestyles and tastes of today.
At the August meeting of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW), Monty Schiro described the classic diner of the past and provided examples of what makes a diner unique. Schiro discussed how customers have changed and how this has influenced development of three current-day area diners: Monty's Blue Plate Diner in Madison, the Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton and Market Street Diner in Sun Prairie, all part of Food Fight Incorporated.
Monty Schiro has worked in the restaurant industry for almost 40 years and currently is President of Food Fight Inc. which owns and operates ten restaurants in the Madison area.
July 2006: No speaker. Member potluck picnic.
June 7, 2006: Title: " Wisconsin's Wurst is America's Best." Sausage is one of the world's oldest prepared foods. Sausage aids in meat preservation, it adds much variety to the flavors and tastes of meat products and it allows the adding of value to meat cuts and by-products which are inherently of lower eating quality, to name but a few of sausage's contributions. There are many, many types of sausage consumed around the world, usually tied to the culture, resources and climate of different areas.
This program featured discussions (and answers to questions) about a wide range of sausage-related topics, such as history, ingredients and categories of products. It will allow the tasting of some traditional and unique products. There was a demonstration on making sausage.
There was a tour of the University of Wisconsin Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory, which includes a pilot plant for meat processing and sausage making.
Presenters will include Dennis Buege, recently retired Extension Meat Specialist of UW-Madison, and Dave Peterson, retired UW Professor of Theater and a long time small scale-sausage producer and connoisseur of fine sausage.May 3, 2006: "The Bee Charmer," Mary Celley, described the life of a full time beekeeper with more than 100 hives. The honey industry in Wisconsin includes thousands of hobby beekeepers and approximately 50 commercial operations. The history of beekeeping in Wisconsin was discussed. Today, Wisconsin beekeepers rely on importing bees from out-of state. We earned about re-settlement of the imported bees and the structure of a beehive. The beneficial aspects of honeybees and their products were discussed. The products of beekeeping include honey and other bee by-products. We sampled types and flavors of honey including locust honey, clover honey and creamed honey and we saw samples of other bee by-products made with wax from the hives.
April 5, 2006. "A History of the Fauerbach Brewery and Other Important Area Beer Businesses" wa presented by Peter Fauerbach. How is food important to the brewing industry? How do we use beer in food? How do we accompany food with beers? How did breweries survive prohibition? Peter Fauerbach helped us explore these topics and more.
March 1, 2006. " Wisconsin's Cheese and Cheesemakers: Rich Heritage and Deep Roots" by Laurie Greenberg. What are the origins of Wisconsin's cheese heritage that so firmly rooted cheese in our history, landscapes, and current lives? We explored Wisconsin's cheese heritage and cheeses of today. Greenberg illustrated her talk with a tasting of some Wisconsin artisanal cheeses, stories and photos, drawing on her work with artisanal and specialty cheesemakers in Wisconsin.
February 1, 2006. " Traveling to Eat: A Report from the Field. " CHEW members Jean and Joel DeVore, Judy Allen and Joan Peterson, as well as Joan's daughter, Susan Chwae, recounted their culinary adventures this past October while on a food tour of northern India led by Joan Peterson. Tour participants explored the culinary heritage of this vast region of India by visiting open air food markets, watching demonstrations of chefs preparing traditional and nouvelle dishes, eating home-cooked meals with families and dining in a variety of eateries ranging from outdoor countryside settings to world-class kitchens. The speakers showed images of their culinary activities and had samples of Indian food to savor.
January 4, 2006: "Cook, Cook, Cook, Cook: Wisconsin's Farm Foodways": Folklorist Janet Gilmore's slide-illustrated presentation of patterns of family food production in farm family life draws from interviews with farming people in northwestern Wisconsin, conducted for Eau Claire's Chippewa Valley Museum's new "Rural Life" exhibit-- Her. The program reviewed perceptions of and changes in standard meal fare during the twentieth century, illustrates how cooking, meals, and food preservation have fit into annual and daily rounds of farming and community life, and illuminates the central role that women play. As managers who draw upon the bounty of farm and neighborhood, women on the farm are known to enlist all available labor to create legendary meals throughout the year to keep the farm enterprise and surrounding community thriving.
November 2, 2005: Turkeys: America's Unique Poultry. Christine Heinrichs, publicity director and executive board member of the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA), gave a short overview of the her groups efforts to preserve rare breeds of poultry, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys. In keeping with the upcoming Thanksgiving season, she spoke about turkey breeds, breeding, cultural history and preservation of heritage birds.
Currently working on an article about heritage turkeys for the November issue of Early American Life magazine, Christine is uniquely qualified to provide insight into the bird Benjamin Franklin felt should be used to symbolize the United States of America.
For more information on SPPA, visit their website at: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/SPPA/SPPA.html
October 5, 2005: Ann Waidelich, CHEW member and for many years President of Historic Madison Inc., spoke about the history of Madison's Atwood Avenue neighborhood, focusing on the bars, restaurants, grocery stores and other food related businesses and their buildings that have come and gone over the years.
The Spot Lunch Diner, 1952
September 7, 2005: Gail Ambrosius, the chocolatier(her business is also named Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier) spoke CHEW members. The evening included a short presentation on the history of chocolate and a blind tasting of chocolate from around the world. Gail explained the concept of terroir and how it relates to chocolate and how cocoa beans are grown, processed and distributed. The tasting helped attendees compare chocolate from different countries and learn how to discern differences in flavor. Besides the chocolate tasting, each attendee was treated to one of Gail's incredible chocolate truffles.
Wednesday, August 3, 2005. Our speaker this month was Huma Siddiqui, author of Jasmine in Her Hair. Huma Siddiqui wrote her book as a tribute to her mother. The book seeks to help preserve the family rituals, food and customs of her native Pakistan for future generations. A resident of the United States since1995, Huma began teaching cooking classes after many requests from friends and family and now teaches Pakistani home cooking at numerous venues in the Madison area. In addition, she is founder and owner of White Jasmine, a web-based mail order company that sells gourmet spices, teas, scarves and accessories and has produced a Pakistani cooking series, Curry and Coriander, shown on local cable access television and soon available on DVD.
Wednesday, July 6, 2005. Shirley E. Cherkasky spoke on "The Mediterranean's Colorful Contributions to American Confectionery."
Many foods important in contemporary American confectionery originated in the Mediterranean area: wheat from the Fertile Crescent; almonds, walnuts,and pistachios; raisins, currants, dates, and figs; and gum tragacanth (for cake decorations). Other important foods were acquired from Asia by Arab traders and introduced into Mediterranean ports very early: sugar, various spices, oranges, and lemons. The practice of using colorants on foods is thought to have begun in China, to have been introduced into the elaborate Arab cuisine by Silk Road traders, and later carried to England and France by Crusaders returning from their campaigns in Arab-dominated Mediterranean areas. By the sixteenth century, lavish use of colorants was established in English and French court banquetting customs and, by the seventeenth century, also had been adopted by the affluent, including European settlers who brought this custom to America. Since then, great improvements in refining wheat, sugar, and other ingredients, and the development of more satisfactory colorants have considerably eased the tasks of American home cooks and professional confectioners.
Shirley E. Cherkasky is a culinary historian and founder of the Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. She is a founding member of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin, and also a member of the Culinary Historians of Boston, the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and the International Commission on Ethnological Food Research. For many years she was coordinator of public programs at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, and since retirement has been engaged in research on food history and compiling an international directory of food and beverage museums and collections.
May 4, 2005. Roberto Rodriguez, a graduate researcher at the University of Wisconsin, spoke about his use of ancient maps and the distribution of crop plants to track the origins and migration routes of native people in the Americas. Rodriguez, along with his co-researcher Patrisia Gonzales, has studied the spread of crop plant, especially corn, to track the movement of indigenous peoples. They have also produced a short film, "Teo Centli: Sacred Maiz - Story of the Continent," on how corn/maiz/centil unites the continent.
April 6, 2005. "Buildings with Taste: Restaurant Architecture in Wisconsin." From Stage coach stops to fast food restaurants, Architectural Historian Jim Draeger explored the architecture of eating. This slide-illustrated lecture looked at lunchwagons, family restaurants, fast food restaurants and supper clubs showing examples from throughout Wisconsin. Jim Draeger is an Architectural Historian and the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
March 2, 2005. "Cafe Wisconsin:A Guide to Wisconsin's Down-Home Cafes." Our speaker this month was Joanne Raetz Stuttgen, a folklorist who grew up in Minnesota and lived for five years in Wisconsin. She discussed the second edition of her book, Cafe Wisconsin: A Guide to Wisconsin?s Down-Home Cafes.
The 2nd editon of Cafe Wisconsin was published in 2004 by the University of Wisconsin Press. To update the book, Joanne traveled more than 12,000 mile in six months, revisiting old business districts and main streets in search of the ultimate cafe, the perfect slice of homemade pie, and the meaning of life in Wisconsin's down-home cafes. More than just a guide to cafes like the Chatterbox & the Coffee Cup around the state, the book explores the role cafes play in the community, how they have changed over time and how they function as heritage centers, business associations, living newspapers and promote small town life and tourism.
Joanne told us about her adventures traveling the state in search of real mashed potatoes, melt-in-your-mouth hot beef, from-scratch baked goods and colorful coffee klatches. She is currently at work on the Cafe Wisconsin Cookbook (with Terese Allen), so we may just have a taste of cafe cuisine to go with her presentation!
February 2, 2005: The Best in Wisconsin Beer, Brewing and Brewpubs
Our speaker was Robin Shepard, associate professor of life sciences communication at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, who is the author of Wisconsin's Best Breweries and Brewpubs and The Best Brew Pubs and Breweries of Illinois, both published by the UW-Press. The volumes, each subtitled "Searching for the Perfect Pint," are guides to finding the best beers in each state. Robin told us about some of his favorite beers, the origin and development of various beer styles, and the history and evolution of area breweries, especially, brewpubs. We also learned about pairing beer with food, including 3 or 4 beers from area microbreweries or brewpubs to sample during his talk!
November 3, 2004: Dr. Joe Regenstein, Professor of Food Science at Cornell University and Visiting Professor of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the head of the Cornell Kosher Food Initiative and a technical advisor to the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, the largest Muslim certification agency in North America. Dr. Regenstein has been a columnist for Kashrus Magazine for many years, and writes and speaks extensively on kosher, halal, ethnic foods, and animal welfare issues. He provided us with an introduction to the origins, meaning and differences between kosher and halal foods, touching on the subjects of religious slaughter, food certification and general ethnic food marketing. Dr. Regenstein's talk was supported by a grant from the Evjue Foundation of Wisconsin.
October 6, 2004: Dr. Traci Kelly, CHEW member, spoke about church cookbooks and the different ways in which these texts reflect local history, social history, and community norms. By looking at examples (please, bring your own, if you wish!), we observed some interesting conclusions and observations about the roles that these collected recipe books play in documenting our local histories. Traci Kelly wrote her dissertation on culinary literature (entitled "Burned Sugar Pie: Women's Cultures and the Literature of Food") and is currently teaching at the UW-Madison in the College of Engineering. She has chapters in Kitchen Culture in America and Cooking Lessons, both edited by Sherrie Inness.
September 1, 2004: Home Cheese Making! Steve Shapson, an experienced home cheese maker, showed us how to make our own delicious brie, camembert and blue cheese. He discussed various types of milk, the steps in the cheese making process and the supplies and equipment needed, including sources. An illustrated overview and introduction was followed by a combination of hands on and demonstration - from the raw milk through putting the cheese into molds and aging it. What could be more Wisconsin?!
August 4, 2004: CHEW member Shannon Jackson Arnold is author of the forthcoming, Everybody Loves Ice Cream. Part social history, part recipe guide, part guide to great ice cream parlors (listing over 500) and lavishly illustrated, the book is due out in May of 2004 from Emmis Books. Shannon gave an overview of the history of ice cream and show how changing tastes have affected the style of ice cream and the ingredients added. We'll also made ice cream the old fashioned way, in a hand cranked freezer, to share at the end of her talk! This was a perfect subject for an August evening. We learned about the history of ice cream, had a taste, and celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ice cream cone.
July 7, 2004: Laurie Greenberg presented "Culinary Traditions of the Yucatec Mayans." Greenberg is an independent researcher with a doctorate in Cultural Geography who has studied the traditional agriculture and home gardens of the Yucatec Mayans on and off for 20 years. She told us how the native people, now a minority in their own land, have retained a huge variety of traditional crops based on a desire to maintain their indigenous cuisine. She also spoke about the pit roasting method used to make the classic Cochinita Pibil (pork) and Pollo Pibil (chicken).
June 2, 2004: Sandra Sherman, visiting professor of English at the UW-Madison on leave from the University of Arkansas, gave us some insight into the culinary history, cookbooks and foodways of 18th century Britain. Her forthcoming book, Fresh from the Past: Recipes and Revelations from Moll Flanders' Kitchen, combines essays on various aspects of British food culture of the 1700s with period recipes and updated versions of those recipes for todays home cook. Drawing on the research for her book, she provided an idea of how drastically food ingredients and preparation have changed and she spoke about some of the challenges of interpreting 300 year old recipes.
May 5, 2004: The Wisconsin Dairy Barn: The Factory in the Country. Geoffrey Gyrisco, an independent historian and historic preservationist with a PhD in American Civilization from George Washington University, presented the extraordinary story of the evolution of agriculture in Wisconsin over the last two centuries, focusing on the dairy barn. Barn roofs are often gambrel-shaped andsilos are round. They are not only symbols of Wisconsin's dairy landscape, but are important pieces of technology that have contributed to the success of dairy farming in the state.
This program was supported by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Wisconsin and individual donors.
April 7, 2004: Joan Peterson, author of the EAT SMART series of culinary guidebooks, discussed the latest and seventh in the series--Eat Smart in India: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure--which was published by Ginkgo Press (Madison) in February 2004. The book was co-authored by fellow Madisonian, Indu Menon, who was born in India. The talk highlighted the remarkable history of the foodways of the vast subcontinent of India, especially the ancient urban civilization called the Harappan civilization.
The book contains recipes contributed by Indian food professionals, and a sampler of dishes made from these recipes will be served. Copies of Eat Smart in India will be available for purchase and signing.
Joan is a world-wide traveler who hails from just around the corner--Milwaukee. She received her doctorate in cytology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was a biochemist there for many years. Joan will have on display replicas of cooking pots and pottery containers from Harappa, kindly loaned for the talk by the Field Director of the Harappa Archeological Research Project, Professor Kenoyer, UW Anthropology Department Chair
March 3, 2004: Yvonne Schofer, editor of A Literary Feast: Recipes and Writings by American Authors from History, spoke to CHEW. The book, published in 2003 by Jones Books of Madison, pairs 19th century recipes with excerpts from women's literature of the period. Schofer, born in France and educated there until she came to the U.S. on a student Fulbright, has been a humanities bibliographer at the Memorial Library at the UW-Madison since 1980. Her interest in 19th century women's literature uncovered a surprising number of references to food and cooking and led, along with the research of many others, to the pairing of recipes and literature in A Literary Feast. The Memorial Library's Special Collections Department is home to the William B. Cairns Collection of American Women Writers (1650-1920), from which these excerpts are drawn. She told us about the Cairns collection, how the book was compiled and the quotes and recipes paired, and gave ussome thoughts on why references to meals and food preparation increased in women's literature during the 19th century, especially after 1850.
February 4, 2004: Ann Waidelich, CHEW member, explored the history of the tea rooms of Madison. Her talk, entitled "Social History of Tea Rooms of Madison," highlighted the years between 1920 and the 1950s. The nite's talk was also enhanced with scones and tea from Marsha Flannery's Legacy House Imports.
January 7, 2004: CHEW member Janet Gilmore took on the history and folklore of Wisconsin's Friday night fish fry phenomenon. She went "behind the scenes" at several places with deep roots in the tradition, particularly Merrique's of Green Bay.
December 3: Private holiday event for members of CHEW.
November 5: Jeff Hagen spoke to us about "Burgers and Fish Fries of the Upper Midwest," taking us on a tour of the region's best Friday night fish fry restaurants and burger joints. He has written two books about the Wisconsin's fish fry culture, Fry Me to the Moon and Codfather II and is working on a book about burgers. Hagen also writes and illustrates cover stories and travel features for many publications, including the Chicago Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. His paintings and drawings have appeard in juried art shows in the U.S. and Europe. He makes appearances as a guest author on Wisconsin Public Radio.
October 1, 2003:
CHEW SPECIAL EVENT: The Madison Area Interest Group of the Wisconsin Mycological Society and the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin presented a Fall Mushroom Dinner & Talk at Morels Restaurant. Following dinner was a talk entitled "Collecting from the Wild: History, Lore and Cautionary Tales" by mycologist Hal Burdsall of Fungal & Decay Diagnostics in Black Earth.
- Menu:
First Course: Ravioli of Chanterelle Mushrooms, Double Smoked Bacon,
Shallot and Cream.
Second Course: Baked Wild Forest Mushroom Broth, Porcini Croutons, with a Provolone Crust.
Third Course: Marinated Cremini with Fresh Herbs, over Butter Lettuce.
Fourth Course: Portobello in Puff Pastry, Saffron Steeped Creamer
Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts and Shitake Mushroom Casserole, Shaved Garlic, Shallot and Madeira Wine Broth.
Fifth Course: Carmelized Apple and Shitake Tart with Brie Cheese and Cider Glaze.
September 3, 2003
Paul Stitt, owner of Manitowoc's Natural Ovens Bakery discussed "Bread and Western Civilization" at the meeting of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW). Stitt traced the evolution of foods from those that earlyhumans ate as they moved out of caves in Turkey from a diet of predominately meat to grains, vegetables and fruit. The role whole grains have played in the development of Western civilization and their evolution from the center of the plate to being a side issue will be discussed. Stitt will also talk about how attitudes toward food have changed from medicine to energy to entertainment, and now back to medicine, in Western society.
Paul Stitt is a biochemist and baker, and is chairman of the board of Natural Ovens of Manitowoc. He has written numerous books and papers on nutrition, including Why George Should Eat Broccoli and The Real Cause of Heart Disease is Not Cholesterol, and is considered an expert on the health benefits of flax seeds. Winner of many business and service awards, he has appeared on CBS's "48 Hours," the "Phil Donahue Show" and other programs, and has been featured in numerous newspaper articles.
August 6, 2003
The importance of shopping locally and eating seasonally was demonstrated by Monique Janet Hooker in her talk to us, which is entitled "Our Connection to the Land." Hooker talked about the links between growers and cooks, the land and our food, and food sources and fine dining. She draws on her experiences growing up in Brittany, France, and her years as a chef, cooking instructor, television cooking show host, and restaurateur in this country.
She believes cooks "can learn to make changes that will impact the health not only of ourselves but the community and the land around us." This is recurrent theme throughout her book, Cooking with the Seasons, A Year in My Kitchen. Hooker currently operates Monique's Culinary Experiences in her hilltop log home in the Mississippi bluff region of Wisconsin. There she provides visitors to her bed-and-breakfast tours of local farms and classic cooking instruction.
July 2, 2003
Historian and material culture authority Emily Pfotenhauer talked about "Norwegians in the American Midwest: Foodways, Identities and Ethnicities" to the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW).
Pfotenhauer explored the multiple meanings of "Norwegian food" and describe the varying ways in which Americans of Norwegian descent choose to use food to express their heritage. The presentation also included a demonstration of making krumkake, a traditional Norwegian wafer cookie.
Nineteenth century Norwegian immigrants to the Upper Midwest retained their food traditions as a way to express their Norwegianness in a new land. This is still seen today in the Lutheran church suppers, Syttende Mai celebrations, and even mail-order lefse companies found throughout Wisconsin. But do eating lefse and lutefisk really make someone Norwegian? How "Norwegian" are these foods, anyway?
Pfotenhauer, whose senior honors thesis examined food as an expression of ethnic and cultural identity, currently works at the Wisconsin Historical Museum.
June 4, 2003:
The challenges faced by low-income people was the focus of a presentation entitled "Putting Food on the Table in Dane County" by Patti Daubs and Pat Ludeman . Daubs and Ludeman, co-founders of the Hunger Prevention Council of Dane County, reported on the findings of the food pantry survey (2001) and discussed its implications. The survey, conducted over five years, was done in collaboration with the UW-Madison Nutritional Sciences Dept.
Patti Daubs is president and co-founder of the Hunger Prevention Council of Dane County, a non-profit organization made up of anti-hunger advocates and service providers who address food security issues through research, education and advocacy. She authored "From Our Pantry to Your Pantry," a cookbook-let that features foodstuffs commonly available from area food pantries. Daubs has served on the board of directors of Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern WI, the Community Action Coalition for South Central WI, and coordinator of two food pantries in the Dane County Food Pantry Network.
Pat Ludeman is a Family Living Educator with UW Cooperative Extension in Dane County with a programming emphasis in Food and Nutrition and Family Financial Management. During her career she has coordinated the Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP) in both Dane and Rock Counties. She is a co-founder and vice-president of the Hunger Prevention Council of Dane County (HPC).
May 7, 2003:
"The New Wisconsin Cheese" was the subject of the presentation by Gail Shea to members of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) on May 7, 7:15 p.m. at Madison Area Technical College.
Shea described the growth in the production of artisanal cheeses, the handcrafted specialty cheeses produced by regional cheese makers in Wisconsin. The world-class quality of these cheeses and the economics of the artisanal cheese making will make a sizeable impact on the future of Wisconsin cheese. Gail Shea, a member of CHEW, is known to many for her 30-year career in public service, which culminated with her retirement in 2000 as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Shea took classes with Madame Kuony in Fond du Lac and is an avid cook in her own right.
April 2, 2003:
Antje Petty provided historic insight into the lives of U.S. immigrants through her study of their recipes when she spoke on April 2, 2003. Petty is Assistant Director of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies at the UW-Madison, which is part of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Culture. Her talk will draw from the newly released English translation of one of the most popular cookbooks used by German immigrants in Wisconsin, a nineteenth-century cookbook called Pickled Herring and Pumpkin Pie by Henriette Davidis. Petty holds an MA in Germanics from the University of Washington in Seattle. She taught at Purdue University before moving to Wisconsin. At the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, Petty works to connect the Institute with the educational community through talks, lectures and professional development workshops for teacher.
March 5, 2003:
Bob Wollersheim, co-founder and co-owner of the Wollersheim Wineries in Prairie du Sac and Cedarburg discussed "Wisconsin Wine History from pre-Wisconsin to the Present." A video describing the Wollersheim Winery's history demonstrated the Wollersheim's ongoing search for terroir. ("Terroir" is a term used to describe a group of lands from a certain region, belonging to a specific vineyard, and sharing the same type of soil and weather conditions, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.) Wollersheim holds BS and MS degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the UW-Madison and is a member of the Society of Wine Educators (1985-present). Bob and his wife JoAnn founded the Wollersheim Winery in June 1972 out of their passions for wine, growing things, preserving a historical spot, and living in the country. Two of their three children work in the winery.
January 8, 2003:
Alamelu Vaivaran, a health information management supervisor in Glendale, Wisconsin, will present a talk entitled "A Culinary Tour of South India: the Evolution of the Spice Trade and the Use of Spices in South Indian Cooking" at the January 8th meeting of CHEW. Her historical overview of spices-from the caravan trade to the struggle for control of the Spice Islands-will lead into a discussion of the Indian spice kitchen used in South Indian cooking today, a spice box "show-and-tell, and a demonstration of the cooking of tuna masala and chickpea soondal. Vaivaran, born and raised in South India, has co-authored The Art of South Indian Cooking and Healthy South Indian Cooking.
December 4, 2002:
A history of plant breeding titled "First the Seed: The History of Plant Improvement from the Columbian Exchange to GMOs" was presented by Jack Kloppenburg, Associate Professor of Rural Sociology at UW-Madison. Development of seed has been a critical to culinary history and an enduring feature of human development. Prof. Kloppenburg is well known for his analysis of the emergent social impacts of biotechnology and for his work on the global controversy over access to and control over genetic resources.
Kloppenburg is author of First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology, 1492-2000 (Cambridge University Press) and is editor of Seeds and Sovereignty: Use and Control of Plant Genetic Resources (Duke University Press). He is currently analyzing the prospects for "sustainable agriculture" in the US. His most recent work is marked by a concern for the negative aspects of "globalization" and the need to build an alternative to the corporate-dominated global food system.
November 6, 2002:
Susan Nitske and Jane Voichek spoke to the group. Voichick is editor of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and is the winner of the 1995 Diet, Health and Environment Extension Award. She is President-elect of the Society for Nutrition Education and has served as manager of the Wisconsin Hunger Project Prevention Grant Program for the State of Wisconsin.
Nitzke is the science communicator for the Institute of Food Technologies and serves on the board if directors of Food Technologies and serves on the board of directors of the Society for Nutrition Education. Both are widely published in professional journals.
Their talk focused on the history, trends, development and politics behind the dietary guidelines that have been issued to Americans by federal agencies. From the first sitings of the Basic Four Food Groups (where all servings included the language "or more"…as in "get 3 servings or more) to the Hassle-Free guides of the 1970s to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans (which includes the pyramid), the venture has been fraught with debate and confusion. Now, the USDA and agencies such as Health and Human Services update the Dietary Guidelines every five years. Now, instead of seeing "or more" language, we see an emphasis of moderation in food intake, with servings being a guideline.
(Aside: And the question was asked how ketchup/catsup became a vegetable for school lunches. Susan explained that a computer program had been established to count grams of vegetables and other foods in order to assist food planners for school lunch systems. It would count the vegetables on pizza, for example. An amusing outcome of the program was that it counted the grams of tomato in ketchup, and thus, the folklore/mythology began. )
October 2, 2002:
"Heroes, Hoagies, and Subs: Regional Variation in American Food Names" was presented to CHEW by Joan Houston Hall. She is the Chief Editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE).
September 4, 2002:
We we fortunate enough to hear Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden speak about the cuisine at home and in restaurants in the Perigord region of France. Professors of English at the UW-Madison, Draine and Hinden will talk about their culinary experiences living in the village of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, which led to their forthcoming book, A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France. They have also written an English translation of The Walnut Cookbook, originally authored by Jean-Luc Toussaint, their summer neighbor in the village.
June 5, 2002:
Mary Carpenter described the History of the Dane County Farmers' Market to the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW). Carpenter has participated in the evolution of the DCFM from a fledgling operation into the largest farmers'market in the nation. Her presentation, based on 20 years of insight as a vendor and market manager from 1989 to 2001, traced the emergence of trends at the market organic foods, heirloom products, new processing techniques, and the restaurant connection.
May 1, 2002:
"Grass-fed Beef: The Other Red Meat" was the topic Matthew and Diane Sharp will discuss a new type of farming that yields safer, healthier meats is emerging in
this era characterized by factory-style meat production. The Sharps discussed the history of grass-fed and grain-fed beef and compare the nutritional and culinary characteristics of the meats produced by the two methods. The presentation provided an opportunity to taste
grocery-store "feedlot" beef and to compare it with meat from the their own "free-roaming," grass-fed animals. The Sharps are registered nurses and beef farmers who own and operate Highland Hearth Farm in Reedsburg.
March 6, 2002:
Catherine Tripalin Murray celebrated Madison's Italian culinary heritage with CHEW members. Murray titled her presentation "Mangia, mangia!" It is a phrase that often precedes celebratory dinners and invites diners to "Eat, eat and enjoy!" Her talk focused on food for Italian and Sicilian celebrations including such traditions as the feast of St. Joseph. Catherine Tripalin Murray has written several books about Italian cooking. The most familiar to Madisonians is "A Taste of Memories from the Old 'Bush," a compendium of memories and recipes preserving the Italian culinary history of the Greenbush, a 10-block triangular neighborhood bounded by Park and Regent Streets and W. Washington Avenue. Murray also writes a food column for the Wisconsin State Journal called "Cook's Exchange."
February 6, 2002: Edward Plunkett with a Culinary History Overview.
December 5, 2001:
"The History of Corn," presented by Hugh Iltis, a UW professor emeritus of botany and curator/director of the UW Herbarium. He has been one of the major contributors to the study of corn evolution over the past several decades. "Corn arose in Mexico from a wild grass of no value whatsoever, it seems, in terms of food, " says Iltis. "Could it be that corn was first domesticated as a vegetable?" His talk centered on these and other questions about corn.
November 17, 2001:
Sophie Shashkevich was our guest speaker. She continued her discussion of Serbian foods and customs. Punky (again!) made wonderful desserts for us to enjoy.
October 2001:
Sophie Shashkevich was our guest speaker. She spoke a length of Serbian holiday festival and family foods and customs. Punky made wonderful desserts to accompany the lecture.