November Events: Dia de los Muertos, a Gingerbread Competition, and Dinner with the Pilgrims
We are halfway through the semester and New England has made the official switch to Fall. With leaves on the ground, a scarf around your neck, and the scent of cinnamon on the air, its clear to see that the holiday season is almost here. So take a break from the books, check out one of these delicious food-themed events, and get in the holiday spirit.
Please note that many of the following events require tickets or reservations.
Taza Chocolate Dia de los Muertos
When: Saturday, Nov. 2 from 1:00 to 6:00 PM
Where: Taza Chocolate Factory, 561 Windsor St., Somerville, MA 02143
What: A traditional Mexican celebration Massachusetts-style. Costumes, Mariachi music, delicious food and creative holiday-themed activities with the Somerville Arts Council.
27th Annual Boston Christmas Festival
When: Friday, Nov. 8, from 12:00 - 7:00 PM; Saturday, Nov. 9, from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM; and Sunday, Nov. 10, from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, MA 02210
What: A huge convention of holiday decor, crafts, and gifts. Get ready for the Christmas season with specialty foods and a gingerbread competition with top chefs and celebrity guest judges.
4th Annual Local Craft Brewfest
When: Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 6:00 - 9:30 PM
Where: John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, MA 02210
What: Local Craft Brewfest is a celebration of local craft brews and is a major fundraiser for the free Annual Boston Local Food Festival.
Thanksgiving Dinner at Plimoth Plantation
When: Various dates during the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.
Where: Plimoth Plantation, 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360
What: Several events including America's Thanksgiving Dinner, A Thanksgiving Day Buffet, and a 1627 Harvest Dinner with the Pilgrims.
Harvard Science and Cooking Lecture Series
When: Dates vary, but all talks begin at 7:00 PM unless otherwise noted.
Where: Harvard Science Center (One Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Hall C & overflow Hall E)
What: A lecture series combining the expertise of food specialists, world-renowned chefs, and Harvard researchers. Lectures vary from week to week and are open to the public.
Monday, Nov. 4, 2013
"The Science of Sweets"
Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery
Monday, Nov. 11, 2013
"Catalytic Conversion: Enzymes in the Kitchen"
Wylie Dufresne, wd~50
Ted Russin, The Culinary Institute of America
Monday, Nov. 18, 2013
"Fermentation: When Rotten Goes Right"
David Chang, momofuku
Monday, Nov. 25, 2013
Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft CTO; co-founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures; and author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking
Be sure to share any food events you find by commenting below or on the BU Gastronomy Facebook page. Show us what you eat this month by following us on Instagram and using the hashtag #bugastronomy.
Fall Lecture Series: What’s Not to Like About Modern Processed Food? – A Historical Perspective
design by KC Hysmith
Guest Post: The Food Loft Redefines Culinary Entrepreneurship
Throughout the year, the BU Gastronomy blog will feature occasional posts from special guest writers including current students, recent alumni, professors, and more. The following Guest Post and photographs are brought to you by Gastronomy student Claudia Catalano.
What is a food entrepreneur? Those in tune with the local food movement might imagine a food truck venture, a banker-turned-baker, or perhaps an artisan working out of a culinary incubator like Jamaica Plain’s Crop Circle Kitchen. But at the Food Loft, Boston’s latest co-working space for startups, food entrepreneurship has grown to encompass more than you think.
Founded by the publishers at Harvard Common Press, the Food Loft is a shared working space aimed at attracting passionate entrepreneurs in the food and food/tech industries. Gastronomy students Samantha Shane and Claudia Catalano were guests at the official opening party held at the South End location last month. Assistant Professor Rachel Black and Barbara Rotger of the Gastronomy program were also in attendance.
The eclectic Albany Street space hosts a growing number of food-centered businesses with technology and social media at their core. Current tenants include Culture Magazine, Nosh On It, and Bakepedia. Despite their robust online presence, each of the food innovators seemed at home amongst the Oriental rugs, walls of books, and antique sculpture collections that adorn the office. Unlike the standard culinary incubator model, the space is not a shared kitchen, but rather a collaborative working environment where industry innovators can network, share ideas and discuss what’s next for food, business, and technology.
Guests at the launch party came from all over the Northeast to nibble sophisticated hors d’oeuvres and mingle with fellow cookbook publishers, food artisans, social media gurus and bloggers. Amid the 75 attendees was Jane Kelly of Eat Your Books – a personalized cookbook search engine where users can create their own virtual bookshelf. Kelly’s business idea is an example of food entrepreneurship that moves beyond food production to develop technology services for people who love to cook.
Other attendees included Boston-based food writer and speaker Jacqueline Church, Janet Morgenstern of Jute Marketing – a firm specializing in sustainable and natural brands, and Jill Danielle Fisher, social media editor at America’s Test Kitchen. Traditional culinary entrepreneurs such as Bonnie Shershow of Bonnie’s Jams also joined the food-tech startups at the event. Shershow began making small-batch jams at Formaggio Kitchen over ten years ago and now sells her products nationwide.
It is clear from the variety of business ideas represented at the Food Loft that there is a new breed of culinary entrepreneurs joining the food renaissance. While small-batch artisans, innovative chefs, and food trucks continue to tempt our palate, technologically savvy innovators are dreaming up new ways to enrich our relationship to food while carving out viable niches for themselves in today's food industry.
Are you a current student or a recent alum with a food-filled story to share? Pitch your idea to gastronomyatbu@gmail.com and get published on the BU Gastronomy blog!
Fall Lecture Series: Don’t Police My Plate – Race, Gender, and the Politics of Eating the “Right Foods”
design by KC Hysmith
Guest Post: The Controversy of the Chipotle Scarecrow Ad
Throughout the year, the BU Gastronomy blog will feature occasional posts from special guest writers including current students, recent alumni, professors, and more. The following Guest Post is brought to you by Gastronomy student Brad Jones.
When I first watched Chipotle’s new Scarecrow advertisement, the one currently going viral across the internet, I was ready to condemn it from the mountain tops. To summarize briefly, the advert follows an unnamed protagonist scarecrow through his workplace, the industrial giant Crow Foods. It is the scarecrow’s job to patch up the façade of the processing plant, ensuring that the unknowing patrons who are purchasing prepackaged 100% beefish meals and chicken-shaped nuggets at the end of the omnipresent (dis)assembly lines remain enthralled by its glossy veneer. It’s a good thing they do as inside the factory chickens are pumped full of chemical hormones ballooning to twice their size while in the next silo over a herd of forlorn cows are attached to pumping machines that resemble and probably function like an iron lung, ensuring just the bare minimum of what one might call life.
Dejected and dismayed, our protagonist commutes to his rural home, where he tends a small garden, the sight of which gives him an epiphany. He proceeds to harvest his bounty, drive into the city, and prepare it fresh for happy if inquisitive patrons amidst the looming walls of the industrial complex. Beneath a banner that reads “Cultivate a Better World,” he’s finally able to shake the omnipresent crow that has perched on his shoulder throughout. It’s seems a final act of defiance.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScSE&w=420&h=315]
I watched the short film over and over again. I angrily picked apart the storyline, the symbolism, the music. I was going to go on a long diatribe about the marketing efforts of big business to influence our buying decisions, in this case all the more insidious because they are subliminal (except for the conspicuous red chile pepper that started a revolution that is). I was going to attack the fact that the company had for many years an unholy alliance with McDonalds making a fortune for McD’s to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars (the two have since parted ways). I was going to comment on the irony of using a haunting version of “Pure Imagination” to silhouette the action, not because it juxtaposes utopian allusions of Willy Wonka’s candyland with the dystopic images of factory food processing and fallow fields, but because that scene from the chocolate factory has always struck me as more indicative of gluttony, consumerism, and excess than the fantastic land of medieval cockaigne.
The list goes on. I was going to lambaste the company for intentionally rousing controversy and, whether bad or good, advertently splashing the Chipotle name across the internet (even as I was aware of my own complicity). I was going to note that while scarecrows are an apotropaic symbol of farm protection, their association with brainlessness may not be the image Chipotle wishes to convey. I was going to shake my head that such a touching story did little more than prelude the release of the company’s new juvenile “The Scarecrow” cellphone ap. I was going to all but throw a fit.
But before I did so I went to their website to gather ammunition and to see if Chipotle’s practices in any way resemble what they preach. I researched the history of the company, analyzed the way they prepare their food, and scrutinized their ingredients closely. All this was surprisingly easy to do and I was forced to admit I was pleased to find such a large measure of transparency. And then I realized that they do have some things to boast about: they do lead the world in buying (and selling) hormone and antibiotic-free beef, pork, and chicken; they do buy quite a few products locally; they do prepare things fresh on site; they do provide a relatively well-rounded meal nutritionally; they do employ real-live sentient human beings.
And then I started thinking, and realized if nothing else we must agree the advertisement has got us all doing a little more thinking. The popularity of the ad (amassing over 5 millions views in less than a week) and the abundance of articles written for or against it shows that we’re talking about our food again and that we’re doing it in a critical way. Are we in large numbers finally breaking free from our industrial sopor? Are we, like our protagonist scarecrow friend, refusing to be complicit in the shame of agro-industrial food production? Are we accepting the call to arms and proactively cultivating a better world? Are ads like this (and their 2009 Back to the Start version) encouraging us to do so? I’ll hesitantly admit that I think the answer is a resounding yes.
So while the advertisement still doesn’t sit entirely right with me, I realize it may very well be an agent for good. And while I’m not likely to eat any more fast food (pardon, fast casual) I realize that at least Chipotle is the lesser of evils and at most it has the power to be a significant arbiter of change. So go get em’ scarecrow… one (million) “all natural” pork tacos at a time.
Are you a current student or a recent alum with a food-filled story to share? Pitch your idea to gastronomyatbu@gmail.com and get published on the BU Gastronomy blog!
Fall Lecture Series Recap: Sensing Microbial Diversity of the World’s Artisan Cheeses
Throughout the year, the BU Gastronomy blog will feature occasional posts from special guest writers including current students, recent alumni, professors, and more. The following Guest Post is brought to you by Gastronomy student Lauren Kouffman with photographs provided by fellow Gastronomy student Chris Maggiolo.
Boston University’s Gastronomy Program presented a lecture on Thursday September 26th, entitled, “Fall Lecture Series: Sensing Microbial Diversity of the World’s Artisan Cheeses,” in conjunction with MET ML701 (Food and The Senses), a core Gastronomy course which focuses on the physical and sensory aspects of experiencing foodways. Benjamin Wolfe, a Postdoctoral Researcher from Harvard University, presented his research to a mix of Gastronomy-matriculating students and members of the public, and later invited everyone to partake in the sensory experience themselves, with tastes of three very distinct cheeses.
via Benjamin Wolfe
Dr. Wolfe specializes in studying microbes: tiny organic particles that grow, and eventually group together into what is known as a colony, in the process of breaking down food matter. Essentially, Dr. Wolfe described, microbes are the force behind rot- but this is not always a bad thing. His current research has led him to an in-depth exploration of the microbial factors that influence the expression of various texture, smell, and taste traits of some of the most well-known artisanal cheeses, each one developed through years of precise microbial manipulation and traditional methodology.
via Chris Maggiolo
Interestingly, Wolfe and his Harvard research team have recently been at the helm of a new movement to identify and propagate uniquely North American microcultures in artisanal cheesemaking, rather than relying on imported European-native cultures or American-manufactured reproductions of the more traditional strains. The project itself might even be compared to larger national initiatives to re-popularize certain Heritage breeds of crops and livestock, based on an altruistic approach that simultaneously is concerned with preserving unique regional flavors (that is, the basis of terroir itself), and restoring diversity to the American culinary landscape. A new laboratory at Jasper Hill Farms, a Vermont dairy farm and artisanal cheese producer, has even been subsidized by the United States government for the continuation of Dr. Wolfe’s research. Evidently, the identification and taxonomy of uniquely-American microbial terroir is worth the trouble.
via Benjamin Wolfe
While identifying the individual cultures that already exist on any one style of cheese is a logical, if time-consuming, macro-approach, Dr. Wolfe explained he often takes a reverse-engineering approach to his work, attempting instead to isolate and identify each specific culture by tinkering with the conditions (quantities and varieties of salt, for example, or even the type of grass that is fed to the animals producing the milk) that might cause any particular strain to thrive.
via Chris Maggiolo
At the end of his intriguing talk, Dr. Wolfe opened the floor for questions. While he touched upon the subject briefly I was particularly interested in learning more about the influence of the DuPont-owned industrial reproduction of European-native cultures, and whether or not Dr. Wolfe’s team anticipates being at odds with the economic or political motivations of a huge corporation like DuPont. Is there the potential for a Monsanto-esque backlash in the future? Dr. Wolfe explained that since he is not actually modifying genetic material, and there’s no possible way to copyright the microbes he is studying since they appear naturally in the world, there is little threat of resistance from DuPont at this time. Still, the idea that a larger corporation might take umbrage at independent and public research isn’t out of the realm of possibility, and I am certainly interested to see how long the government will continue to subsidize this project, worthy as it may be.
via Chris Maggiolo
Dr. Wolfe’s work is equally fascinating for members of the science community, food-activists, or the average cheese-lover, and his engaging talk certainly left me hungry for more. For more information on Dr. Wolfe’s work with Jasper Hill Farms, along with his other incredible research projects, visit his website at www.benjaminewolfe.com/.
Benjamin Wolfe will be teaching a class in the Microbiology of Food during the Spring 2014 Semester. This class will meet on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 PM.
Are you a current student or a recent alum with a food-filled story to share? Pitch your idea to gastronomyatbu@gmail.com and get published on the BU Gastronomy blog!
October Events: Local Food Fests, Book Chats, and a Cranberry Harvest
Plan to get your school work done by Friday afternoons, because we've rounded up enough events to fill every weekend this month! From local food fests — featuring things like garlic, cranberries, and vegetarian foods — to gastronomic themed educational events, this October sure is a busy one. Some of the events listed below take place on the same weekend (hopefully it wont be too difficult to choose) and a couple extend beyond the Greater Boston Area (but are definitely worth the road trip). Calendars at the ready!
Please note that many of the following events require tickets or reservations.
When: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013 from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Along the Rose Kennedy Greenway
What: Boston Local Food Festival is a free outdoor festival that showcases farmers, local restaurants, food trucks, specialty food producers, fisher folks, and organizations focusing on healthy food and fitness from New England. The festival also features lively chef & DIY demos, a seafood throwdown competition, diverse music and performances, family fun zone and more.
Author Chat for A Taste of Molecules: In Search of the Secrets of Flavor
When: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2:00 PM
Where: Harvard Coop Bookstore, Cambridge
What: Talk and tasting with Diane Fresquez, author of A Taste of Molecules: In Search of the Secrets of Flavor. Petites Madeleines will be provided by some students from the BU Gastronomy Program. One copy of the book will be given away to the person who can tell us their most interesting food memory story, or their most interesting cooking tip or trick (and the science behind it). Read the first chapter www.tasteofmolecules.com
...and a second talk...
When: Wednesday, Oct. 9, 5:30-8:00 PM
Where: Hawthorne Bar at Hotel Commonwealth, Boston
What: Informal chat with Diane Fresquez, author of A Taste of Molecules: In Search of the Secrets of Flavor. Find out how the pH scale relates to beer; what it's like to dine in a dark restaurant; and why women are usually better than men at perceiving so-called boar taint. A special cocktail from the book featuring "dancing molecules" will be on the bar menu, so come for a taste and stay for the conversation.
Food for Thought: Eating for a Sustainable Planet and Personal Health Event
When: Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Sony Wonder Lab Theater, 550 Madison Avenue, NY, NY
What: An evening of networking, brainstorming, and intimate discussion led by three food and sustainability experts from Yale. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Yale Sustainable Food Project and Just Food.
Change on the Menu: The Business of Good Food Webinar
When: Thursday, Oct. 10, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Online!
What: Join Chef Barton Seaver of the Harvard School of Public Health, Executive Chef Cliff Pleau of Seasons 52, and Arlin Wasserman, Principal and Founder of Changing Tastes, as they share Menus of Change™, a groundbreaking initiative developed by The Culinary Institute of America in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health. Together, the CIA and Harvard are working to create a long-term, practical vision for the integration of optimal nutrition and public health, environmental stewardship and restoration, and social responsibility concerns within the food service sector and beyond.
When: Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, 3:00 - 6:30 PM
Where: Moakley U.S. Courthouse located on the Boston waterfront.
What: Affiliated with the Boston Local Food Festival, the Brewfest showcases more than 50 local craft brewers and food producers with an aim to highlight and promote local breweries, distilleries, cideries and other artisan craft beverages throughout New England.
Massachusetts Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration
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When: Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013
Where: A Cranberry Bog, Wareham, Massachusetts
What: This event includes fall crafts, outdoor activities, food vendors, live music, paddleboat rides, and, best of all, a cranberry harvest!
The Garlic and Harvest Festival
When: Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Bethlehem Fairgrounds, Bethlehem, Connecticut
What: This festival showcases garlic cooking demonstrations, live bands, garlic growing lectures, and plenty of garlic-themed food vendors. Fresh fall produce, including locally grown garlic, is available along with several garlic infused products like sausage, sandwiches, and even ice cream!
When: Oct. 4 - 14, 2013, with events throughout the day and into the evening
Where: Topsfield Fairgrounds, Topsfield, MA 01983
What: One of the oldest fairs in the nation, Topsfield Fair showcases agricultural and historical exhibits, live music, a midway full of good food and fun rides, as well as various contests including the All New England Pumpkin Weigh-Off!
When: Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, events throughout both days.
Where: Wellfleet, Cape Cod, MA (see event site for individual event locations)
What: This two-day street party celebrates the town’s famous oysters, clams and shellfishing traditions and brings together locals and visitors alike for a weekend full of hometown flavor and big time fun. Various events are ongoing in separate locations and include beachcombing and bird walks, cooking demonstrations, tasting seminars, book talks, an Oyster Shuck-Off competition and oyster grant tours.
Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
When: Saturday, Oct. 26, 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM and Sunday, Oct. 27, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Where: Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts
What: A two day festival featuring national speakers, guest chefs, and local producers. Learn about vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, new foods and products on the market, and taste plenty of veg-friendly samples. Best Part: Free admission!
Harvard Science and Cooking Lecture Series
When: Dates vary, but all talks begin at 7:00 PM unless otherwise noted.
Where: Harvard Science Center (One Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Hall C & overflow Hall E)
What: A lecture series combining the expertise of food specialists, world-renowned chefs, and Harvard researchers. Lectures vary from week to week and are open to the public.
Monday, Oct. 7, 2013
"Playing with Taste through Browning"
Carme Ruscadella, Sant Pau, Sant Pau de Tòquio
Monday, Oct. 14, 2013
"Viscosity & Polymers"
Carles Tejedor, Via Veneto
Monday, Oct. 21, 2013
"Elasticity"
Enric Rovira, Master Chocolatier
Ruben Alvarez, Master Chocolatier
Monday, Oct. 28, 2013
"Emulsions: Concepts of Stabilizing Oil & Water"
Nandu Jubany, Can Jubany
Be sure to share any food events you find by commenting below or on the BU Gastronomy Facebook page. Show us what you eat this month by following us on Instagram and using the hashtag #bugastronomy.
Gastronomy Orientation 2013: A New Student’s Perspective
Throughout the year the BU Gastronomy blog will feature occasional posts from special guest writers including current students, recent alumni, professors, and more. The following Guest Post is brought to you by Gastronomy student Abby Clement who is in her first semester with the Gastronomy Program. This year's BU Gastronomy Orientation included our first ever Instagram Scavenger Hunt throughout the historic Boston area. The pictures below are sourced from various students and Gastronomy faculty who participated in food themed scavenger hunt.
Being in a new place is quite overwhelming. And if that new place is a city? Forgetaboutit! Not only is the amount of people a bit shocking…but the options!! So many restaurants, stores, bars, communities…the list goes on. Not only is there so much exploring to be done, but there are so many people to meet. Lucky for us, we already know where to find those with the same passions and dedication…our fellow Gatromites! But when, between reading and work (or lets be honest just reading and reading), is there time to explore an exciting new city and meet fascinating people? Fortunately for us newbies, Rachel Black and Barbra Rotger provided us with an answer- Orientation. By putting together a great day, they enabled us to learn about our fellow students and bond on the streets on Boston.
After a brief introduction to the program itself and program expectations, we split up into groups to be lead on a whirlwind adventure through different sections of the city. From Red Socks paraphernalia to someone eating noodles, we hunted and scavenged for the subjects and objects on our predetermined list of ‘things’. We gallivanted about, taking pictures with unsuspecting Bostonians and wondering where on EARTH we were going to find a sandwich made with donuts. Slowly we became less awkward, less of an outsider. Milling about La Verdad Taqueria at the end of the day, with margaritas in hand and our sights locked on the guac, we weren’t ‘others’ anymore. We had braved different sections of the city and interacted with, our now fellow, Bostonians. The awkward and unsure haze was gone. Conversation was easy, and common threads were being found. That’s the thing about cities. Yes they’re big and intimidating, but they’re full of people just like us. People to explore with, discuss passions with, and just plain have fun with. And once those common threads are found, the city doesn’t seem quite so overwhelming after all.
Thank you so much to Barbara, Rachel and all of the group leaders for putting on such a wonderful day and enabling us to meet our new classmates and explore the city!
See all the Instagrams from the BU Gastronomy Scavenger Hunt at Statigram.
Are you a current student or a recent alum with a food-filled story to share? Pitch your idea to gastronomyatbu@gmail.com and get published on the BU Gastronomy blog!
Fall Lecture Series: Sensing Microbial Diversity of the World’s Artisan Cheeses
designed by KC Hysmith
Guest Post: A Photo Essay on Chai in Kolkata, India
Throughout the year the BU Gastronomy blog will feature occasional posts from special guest writers including current students, recent alumni, professors, and more. The following Guest Post and photographs are brought to you by Gastronomy student Abby Clement who is in her first semester with the Gastronomy Program. This summer she took a month to travel throughout India; what follows is a snapshot of her experience in Kolkata.
Kolkata held an auspicious place in my mind. Known for its destitute and those who strove to save them, I was wary about what the city would hold and how I would react. The night we arrived, our young hosts took us out for chai. Ten minutes and three death defying driving maneuvers later, we were parked on a side street, sitting on the trunk of the car. Initially the night did not seem too hot, but after a few moments I found my shirt had become sticky- clinging to me as if magnetized and the air had suddenly gotten thick. A squat man carrying a tray trotted up to us and spoke a few sharp words in Hindi, one of which was chai. We ordered one for each of us, and he disappeared into a storefront thirty yards up the road.
Normally, tea would not be my drink of choice on a humid sticky night. This was not any tea. This was milky, earthy, spicy and sweet; the gritty texture of the clay pot adding to its character. The hot tea and the humid air worked together like a double melody--not competing with each other or making their similarities to strong to bear...more like two best friends singing the same song on the radio. Same words, same tune, but infinitely better than singing by yourself. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the moment. Maybe it was the fact that you smash the clay pot on the ground when you're done. Who knows. But sitting on that trunk on a typical Kolkata Sunday night, I couldn't stop smiling.
Are you a current student or a recent alum with a food-filled story to share? Pitch your idea to gastronomyatbu@gmail.com and get published on the BU Gastronomy blog!