BU Grads, Boston, and Beer
By Sawsan Kazak
First year gastronomy students met on the 8th of September, 2012 for the annual orientation of the program. After a brief in-class run through the program and its administrators, students and faculty were divided into three groups of about 10. We then set out to discover the great city of Boston through our ‘GPS Urban Adventures’. Armed with GPS gadgets and a vague list of random clues, the three teams headed off to discover Boston through the various scheduled waypoints.
It was fitting that the first stop on the challenge was Fenway Park as the Red Sox are a big part of the Bostonian culture. The second stop on the urban challenge was the co-op garden plot in the Fenway Victory Gardens that is run by BU Gastronomy students. Expecting to see rows of already planted tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs, I was pleasantly surprised to see the plot in quite a raw and organic state. The students participating, or thinking of doing so, have a real say in shaping the garden and its future; it’s not just going to be some light watering this season.
Between each meeting point, the students stopped and played games. Some games involved throwing balls at each other, others involved drawing on the ground with string and other featured strange playing cards with odd pictures. 
The aim of the games was to allow students to get to know each other better. Yes the games were a little silly, and it was hot and rainy at times, but the different teams were able to get to know each other’s pasts, present and futures, not to mention each other’s names.
The teams then split off into different directions in the city, only to meet again in front of a Clover’s food truck in downtown Boston. After a quick stop for some rosemary fries and another game, the teams were off again. Due to time constraints and students' energy levels dropping drastically, a few of the waypoints were skipped and students converged at Meadhall; a charming restaurant-bar with hundreds of local and imported beers on tap. The heat, hunger and long hours were worth the great beer selection and crispy pork rinds.
The orientation aimed to introduce us to each other; what I also realized was that different backgrounds, different passions, and different goals and dreams fuel foodies and food-enthusiasts in different ways. How people arrived at the program and the many things people intended to do with the gastronomy degree after they were done was endless. Also, talking to students that have already taken classes, I now have a clear plan of what classes I want to take in the future. All-in-all, a day is always going to be good when it is spent with other foodies.
Sawsan Kazak is a student in the Gastronomy program. She has a bachelors in psychology from Concordia University in Montreal and worked in Kuwait as a news reporter and editor.
Introducing Fall 2012 Graduate Assistants
Emily Contois will focus on research projects this semester. Emily was born in Australia and grew up in Big Sky Country in Billings, Montana. She spent a bit over a decade training in classical ballet before turning her attention to the study of food and culture. Emily studied Letters and Nutrition Science at the University of Oklahoma, writing her honors thesis on the rhetoric of the dieting industry. She then received her MPH in public health nutrition from UC Berkeley, where she also taught undergraduate nutrition courses, finding her true passion in teaching. Professionally, she’s been working in the field of employee wellness since 2008 and helped to launch Healthy Workforce at Kaiser Permanente in 2010.
Emily began the Gastronomy program in fall 2011 and will graduate in May 2013. Her research focuses on food and food-related phenomena in popular culture. She also explores the connections between food studies, nutrition, and public health. She has continued researching the dieting industry and presented the paper, “Keeping Americans Fat and Coming Back for More: A Rhetoric Analysis of Diet Literature” at the 2012 Association for the Study of Food and Society conference. Emily blogs about her research at emilycontois.com and tweets @EmilyContois. It would make her deliriously happy if you would follow her. After completing her MLA in Gastronomy, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in American Studies and aspires to be a professor.
In the few spare moments when she’s not working for Kaiser, studying, writing, or working on Ph.D. applications, Emily loves going to the movies with her husband, visiting all of the amazing museums in Boston, and reading for pleasure.
Lucia Austria is the fall 2012 editor for the Gastronomy blog. She is a native Jersey girl from Jersey City, New Jersey. She moved up to Boston to earn her BS in Business Administration at Boston College in Chestunut Hill, MA. There, she spent much time involved in Asian-American student groups learning about issues, culture, and of course, cuisine. She then attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Cambridge, MA. After cooking around Boston for a few years, Lucia found her way to Taza Chocolate located in Somerville, MA working as a Chocolate Maker. She is now the production team’s Senior Shift Leader where she is responsible for factory training and purchasing. She is also a member of the test kitchen and sensory panel teams at Taza. Needless to say, Lucia eats chocolate every day.
Lucia has been a part-time student in the Gastronomy program at BU since spring 2011. She has research interests in ethnic foodways in the United States, as well as skill acquisition in restaurant and food manufacturing industries. Lucia presented her paper entitled “Teaching Taste: A look into how culinary school students learn food” at the 2012 Association for the Study of Food and Society conference. She is also featured in the Somerville community cookbook, Nibble, showcasing her recipe for chocolate-filled beignets and coffee crème anglaise. After graduation, Lucia hopes to pursue further research on Filipino-American foodways.
Lucia enjoys biking, dancing, gardening, collecting old cookbooks and going through cooking phases. Her latest obsession is pickling. Jerky is next.
September Food Events
As we kick off the fall 2012 semester, add not only all your assignment due dates to your calendar, but also some of these great food events.
From lectures on sustainable agriculture, spoons, and American terroir to festivals celebrating food, wine, and of course fluff, there's something for everyone. And while the Julia Child Centenary Symposium is currently full, you can register for the wait list.
Events are continually added, so check the Events section of the blog often.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Join us as Katie Dolph, candidate for the MLA in Gastronomy, defends her thesis, entitled “Willamette Valley Wines: Sustainability, Terroir and Place Making.”
4 pm, Fuller Building, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Room 122
--AND--
What will the tomato of the future look like? The landscape of modern agriculture and our food system is constantly evolving. The Farm Bill, the organic food industry, and small-scale local farms all play a role in what ends up on our plate every day.
Rachel Black, Gastronomy Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator, will participate in a Sustainable Agriculture Panel along with Nathan Phillips, BU Associate Professor of Earth & Environment; Kate Stillman, Farm Proprietor at Stillman’s at the turkey Farm—Hardwick, MA; and Britt Lundgren, Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture for Stonyfield Farms. The panel will discuss the current state of agriculture and what the future may hold. Refreshments will be served.
To learn more about sustainability efforts at BU, visit bu.edu/sustainability.
6 pm, Sargent College, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
The Taste of WBGH: Food & Wine Festival will feature more than 100 wineries, local chefs, restaurants, and local artisanal foods, produce, and purveyors across three delightful days.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Warren Belasco, Visiting Professor of Gastronomy, will present a special lecture, titled, "Can Food Save Washington? Inventing Terroir for the Nation's Capital."
6 pm, SHA Auditorium, 928 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Siting Julia, a Julia Child Centenary Symposium is hosted by the The Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Distinguished speakers will focus on three "sites" that Julia Child inhabited, learned from, and influenced: Post–World War II Paris; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and National Television.
The event is currently at capacity, but you can register for the wait list.
9:15 am, Radcliffe Gymnasium, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
As part of the Pèpin Lecture Series in Food Studies and Gastronomy, Mary Beaudry, professor of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Gastronomy, and chair of BU’s Archaeology department will present There’s a Spoon for That! The Lives and Times of an Ubiquitous Utensil.
She will explore the myriad forms of—and uses for—spoons, from ancient times to the present, looking at the ways in which the qualities of “spooniness” take on cultural significance.
Please register here.
6 pm, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 117, Boston
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
The "What the Fluff?" Festival, dedicated to the delicious marshmallow spread, features events, performances, games, and more. The festival is free and open to the public. Note September 30 is the raindate.
3-7 pm, Union Square, Somerville
BU Gastronomy Program Welcomes 39 New Students
This semester, the Boston University Gastronomy Program is pleased to welcome 31 new candidates for the MLA in Gastronomy and eight Food Studies Certificate students.
With varied backgrounds, such as anthropology, psychology, chemistry, journalism, and the culinary arts, this cohort of students will contribute to the intellectual diversity of the program.
A number of students come from New England, while even more hail from states across the US, as well as abroad. We welcome them all to their new home in Boston — and to the Gastronomy program.
To learn more, read the new student profiles.
A Summer in the Field
by Rachel Black
Silvio reached up and pulled down a curled up leaf from one of his vines. He unfurled the leaf to reveal the larva of a leafroller (Platynota stultana). Pests like this, he explained, could do serious damage to a vineyard. He named off the various fungal diseases he regularly has to combat as the grape growing season progresses. Winegrowing was starting to seem more like chemical warfare than some bucolic agricultural activity. Walking through the steep vineyards of Donnas on a warm June day, I learned a great deal about vineyard management, changing traditions, and one man’s reality as he worked amongst the vines—all things that are difficult to learn from only reading books.
As an anthropologist, fieldwork is the cornerstone of my research. By talking to and working with people, I learn about local issues, customs, and beliefs. Last summer’s visit with Silvio was a first step in learning more about cooperative wine production in the towns of Donnas and Carema in Northern Italy.
Food News Round Up: On Obesity, Eating Rodents, & the Economy (Yes, in that order)
by Emily Contois
The past couple of weeks have provided fecund fodder for the food news enthusiast. Any fan of the CDC's year-by-year ever-increasing obesity map will be intrigued that the 2011 data was released recently, alongside other obesity news. The news also turned up studies of disgust, which you can explore firsthand in articles on cooking up rat and squirrel. And finally, the struggling economy continues to affect life in the U.S. and abroad, especially dining trends.
So, dig in to this edition of Food News Round Up...
Food and Obesity
Obesity remains a key issue both culturally and politically, especially with the release of the CDC's most recent obesity statistical analysis.
- New 2011 obesity statistics analysis finds 12 states exceeding 30% obesity
- Pondering Mississippi obesity: Southern diet or culture on the skids?
- Study links healthier weight in children with strict laws on school snacks
Food and Disgust
Disgust is an always interesting element of eating. Would you consider rat or squirrel?
- How and why to eat rat meat
- ‘Chicken of the trees:’ A history of eating squirrel
Food and the Economy
As the 'Great Recession' continues to be felt by citizens across the globe, the restaurant industry also tightens its belt.
- Dining survey shows New Zealand residents dine out despite economic struggles, but less
- Chefs in Spain must adapt to economic crisis or fail
- In struggling economy, shopping malls grow appetite for sit-down restaurants
- Even for gastrocrats, luxury foods aren't worth it
Delightful Leftovers
These tidbits of food news defy categorization this week, but should still satisfy.
- Studying India's changing food culture
- Artist and chef, Julia Ziegler-Haynes, photographs death row inmates' last meals
- Chef argues story-telling is key to making good food television
- Food waste prompts the most green guilt, survey finds
Emily is a gastronomy student and graduate assistant, editing the Gastronomy at BU blog, January-August, 2012. Check out her research in food studies, nutrition, and public health on her blog, emilycontois.com.
Celebrating Julia Child’s Centenary with her Assistant & BU Alumna, Stephanie Hersh
As food lovers across America celebrate today what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday, Boston University Gastronomy students, faculty, and alumni celebrate not only Julia, but also the academic program that is part of her legacy.
Established by Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, the Boston University Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy program is primed to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its founding—and what better way to learn about how it all began than to sit down with Stephanie Hersh, the first graduate of the program with a Major in Gastronomy, and Julia Child’s full-time personal assistant for nearly 16 years.
with Julia Child
While interested in food from an early age, Hersh recalls that pursuing a career in food was not always viewed with esteem, respect, and a degree of celebrity, but rather as invisible, manual labor. Regardless, after receiving her undergraduate degree, Hersh studied at the Culinary Institute of America, and happily began working in Boston-area hotel kitchens and as a private chef. While taking a course to augment her administrative skills, Hersh got word that Julia Child was looking for an assistant.
“I never in a million years would have pictured myself with Julia,” she says. “It was a dream job.” While working with Child, Hersh expressed her concern for yet another change in the restaurant industry. “It used to be that you could start in a restaurant as a pot washer and work your way up to become the executive chef,” says Hersh. “Eventually, that stopped being the case because chefs needed to know about nutrition and menu planning; to understand how to balance a meal and the connection between food and culture. They needed to be media savvy. The chef suddenly became someone who was important and thus needed more training.”
A strong advocate of education, always eager to learn new things herself, Child participated in meetings with Boston-area chefs and academics alike, collective efforts which eventually resulted in the creation of the Boston University Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy program. The program now graduates healthy cohorts of students on an annual basis, who pursue careers not only in restaurant kitchens, but also in academia, food and agricultural policy, and other areas of the food industry. Hersh gushed, “Julia would be so thrilled to know the program is still carrying on and doing so well.”
As the first graduate of the Master of Liberal Arts program with a Major in Gastronomy, Hersh describes her studies as a broadening experience. She says:
The food and culture link is key. Food is a great ‘socializer.’ It connects people in a non-threatening way. Think about when you’re on an airplane. Most people sit and put their heads down, trying to avoid eye contact or talking to anyone. But once the in-flight meal is served, strangers connect. The icebreaker is discussions about the food.
For her thesis, titled, “Children's Cookery Books: Windows into Social and Economic Change,” Hersh built upon her personal and professional interest in children’s cooking. She drew from resources in the Johnson and Wales University Culinary Arts Museum cookbook collection, exploring children’s cooking alongside historical, social, and economic trends.
Hersh still loves cooking with children. She currently lives in Christchurch, teaching adult education cooking courses and a twelve-week food technology course to New Zealand school children, 11 to 13 years of age. This food technology course is required across the country and serves as a pre-cursor to home economics courses, which are taken in high school. She teaches students how to use kitchen equipment, the basics of food processing, and creative, critical thinking skills.
Hersh advises all students, “Go with passion, absolute passion in the study of food. If you’re not, there’s no point in doing it. When you are happy, it becomes infectious.” She quips that while she has no idea what her future holds, “ Whatever I’ll be doing, I’ll be happily doing it—and I’m proud and delighted that the Gastronomy program is carrying on so well.”
Celebrating Julia Child's Centenary
The Boston University Metropolitan College Programs in Food, Wine & the Arts will celebrate Julia Child’s centenary over the course of two festive evenings – Tuesday, October 2 and Wednesday, November 7. Visit the program website for further details.
Emily is a gastronomy student and graduate assistant, editing the Gastronomy at BU blog, January-August, 2012. She is also the recipient of a Julia Child Award for Excellence in Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts and a Jacques Pépin award for Scholarship in Gastronomy and Food Studies. Check out her research in food studies, nutrition, and public health on her blog, emilycontois.com.
Minnesota Family Farm Promotes Local Food, One Turkey at a Time
by Katie Peterson
My family has been raising free-range turkeys in southeastern Minnesota for more than 70 years. Prior to the past few years, though, I doubt any of us planned to be involved in any kind of food movement. That changed when my brother returned to our family’s land and built an on-farm store, Ferndale Market, named after my grandparents Fern and Dale who started the farm. Opening the market was a big step in that it not only gave us direct access to consumers, but also allowed us to partner with and sell food from other local farmers and producers.
In the four years that Ferndale Market has been open, my family has become deeply engaged in advocating for local and sustainable food, and supporting the independent farmers and producers who provide it. As just one small part of a much larger effort, it has been exciting to witness consumers’ growing interest in where their food comes from.
Here are just a few of the positive things we see happening with local food right now:
Farm to School
Restaurants have increasingly focused on sourcing their food locally and now many schools are doing the same. The two largest school districts in Minnesota – Minneapolis and St. Paul – have even gotten on board. Some schools have also implemented education efforts to go along with their local sourcing. For example, my brother has served Ferndale Market turkey burgers and traded “Farmer John” baseball cards with elementary students. These types of activities provide opportunities to teach students important lessons about food, nutrition, and agriculture. (To learn more about Minnesota’s Food to School program, check out the The University of Minnesota Extension’s documentary on the subject.)
Farm to Institution
From Target to Best Buy, a number of Minnesota-based corporations are incorporating local food into their employee cafeteria menus. Ferndale Market provides turkey to many of these institutions, thanks in part to its partnership with Bon Appétit Management Company, a food service company committed to sustainable food. Many hospitals and healthcare organizations – perfect sites for nutrition education – also are exploring how they can improve the food they serve. In Minnesota, a committee made up of farmers and hospitals is looking at how they can better work together to provide food that’s healthy for patients and the environment.
Collaboration
Rather than viewing each other as competitors, many independent farmers, food producers, and retailers have banded together. Being in the minority, they know that helping each other succeed will help build a more sustainable food system and have found ways to champion one another. For example, Valley Natural Foods hosted a screening of Food Inc. followed by a panel discussion featuring a variety of people involved in the local food industry. As a more behind the scenes example, when making deliveries to restaurants, Ferndale Market has hauled product for Thousand Hills Cattle Company and Hidden Stream Farm, and they have done the same. Combining loads saves time and reduces carbon footprints, as well as streamlines the receiving process for chefs.
Education
From panel discussions to “Farmer John” baseball cards, education is the common theme. Independent farmers, producers, and retailers know that they can make a living only if they teach consumers why the food they raise, produce, and sell is different. As food corporations increasingly step up their marketing efforts focused on sustainability claims, it is more important than ever for independent farmers and producers to share their stories and boldly convey points of difference.
Over the past few years, a number of people have stopped into Ferndale Market to ask what my grandparents would think of the farm’s evolution. As humble Midwesterners, they likely would be embarrassed to have a store named after them. But as hardworking farmers, who built a life and raised a family on the farm, they would be proud to know it has remained environmentally and economically sustainable into its third generation. As consumers increasingly seek out food grown locally on family farms, we hope it will remain sustainable for many years to come.
Katie Peterson will graduate from the Gastronomy program in September 2012. She writes about food and diabetes on her blog, 1LittlePrick.
Special Fall 2012 BU Gastronomy Course: U.S. Food History with Warren Belasco
If you're still looking for a course to round out your fall schedule, a blended course to suit your lifestyle, or an opportunity to study with one of the world's most well known and respected food studies scholars, you'll find it all in U.S. Food History (ML 610 EL) taught by Dr. Warren Belasco, fall 2012.
The course will meet for two Saturdays in Boston and the rest of the time via online communication. Coursework will include a wide variety of readings, web and in-person discussions, written assignments, ethnographic observations, debates, and other experiential opportunities to explore some of the following questions:
- If we are what we eat (Brillat-Savarin) what are we if we eat American food?
- Why does “eating American” have such a negative connotation?
- Is there an American “cuisine,” and should we applaud or condemn it?
- Is American food getting better or worse?
- Was Grandma a better cook?
- Were John and Karen Hess correct in claiming that we’ve lost our sense of taste? Compared to whom and when?
- How did Americans come to enjoy the world’s cheapest and most abundant food supply, and what was lost along the way?
Interested students can register for the course using the BU Student Link.
Oh You Fancy Huh! BU Gastronomy Students Attend the 2012 Summer Fancy Food Show
by Natalie Shmulik
A few weeks ago I was sent an article entitled “Surviving a Food Festival Without Getting a Tummy Ache” by Eliza Barclay. Unfortunately, I read this article after returning from Washington D.C. to see the Fancy Food Show.
This year, thanks to show director, Heather Paul, seven lucky Gastronomy students attended the 2012 Summer Fancy Food Show. Entering the Goliath of all food events, we were intimidated, overwhelmed and most of all — hungry!
With thousands of exhibitors and two floors of irresistible delicacies ranging from Iranian caviar to Truffle Argon oil, it was easy to be lured into every colorful booth. Gastronomy students quickly dispersed into this sea of edibles. A portion of our group sped ahead to the “What’s New, What’s Hot” trends station, where futuristic packaging and unusual ingredients were featured in glass cabinets. Some skipped over to the limitless cheese tables on the second floor, and others — well, let’s just say the alcohol stations had a fair bit of company.
For me, it was all about the international products, along with a short but sentimental stop in the Canadian fare zone. I needed to try everything. Plates of Italian pastas, pastries from top bakeries in France, and every kind of chocolate imaginable made their way into my anxious hands. No, thank yous were rare words indeed…probably because my mouth was full. In fact, for a few special products, such as Callie’s phenomenal cheddar and chive biscuits, I came back for seconds. For the record, Barclay strongly discourages this behavior in her trade show survival guide.
Even after spending nearly eight hours eating our way through the show, we still had not reached the end point. Clearly, next year will have to be a two-day affair.
Top Trends
- Chia: in cereal, pudding and beverages
- Coconut water
- Greek Yogurt: as ice cream and on granola bars
- Popcorn: a rise in salty and sweet combinations, such as cheddar and caramel
- Energy Drinks: caffeinated water, carbonated beverages, and specialty drinks made from the Coca Leaf