Gastronomy Student Association
Whether this is your very first semester or you're finishing up your thesis, the Gastronomy program is all about maintaining a strong community. One of the best ways to get involved and stay connected is through the Gastronomy Student Association, a group of current students who help put together events and lectures for each semester. This group, coordinated by Emily Olson and Dan Remar, was started this past spring to give students more input into program events, lectures and social gatherings.
The Boston University Gastronomy program is experiencing an explosion of interest, and the growth in student enrollment has reached new highs. Because of this notable increase in students, we hope that this association will allow students to get to know each other, encourage networking, and build a solid community of alumni. We encourage the planning and participation of social and educational events and gatherings, and are planning some notable get togethers for this semester.
The first meeting for the 2011-2012 school year was held in late September, and meeting notes are available in PDF form below for your convenience. Anyone who is interested in contributing program ideas or suggestions, please contact Emily Olson (emilyolson80@gmail.com) or Dan Remar (danremar@gmail.com).
Gastronomy Student Association Minutes - 9.28.11
Greater Boston Slow Money Showcase
“Conventional” farms continue to contribute to extraordinary environmental, nutritional, and cultural degradation. The stock market inexplicably crashes and spikes on a daily basis, causing investor confidence to dwindle. While the future may seem bleak on paper, many across the U.S. and the world are beginning to take their food, and their finances, into their own hands. Slow Money, a non-profit formed in 2008 with the mission to “catalyze investment in local food systems” has taken a unique approach to shifting the status quo, working to simultaneously address the current financial and food crises.
Slow Money’s organizational model is similar to that of Slow Food. Both have a large national organization working to promote their big idea and to enhance their overall mission, while at the same time expanding the organization’s reach by incubating local chapters.
However, unlike Slow Food, which is more focused on the experiential and cultural aspects within regional food systems, Slow Money’s focus is on fostering intellectual, social, and financial capital. While Slow Food chapters host events to teach people about the importance and joys of good, clean, and fair food, Slow Money brings community members together with food systems experts, finance and law professionals, and small food entrepreneurs in order to catalyze investments into local and regional food systems, while also fostering a sense of commensality and cultural revitalization. Together, they are a powerful force in the good food movement.
One of the major vehicles Slow Money uses to succeed in its mission is hosting entrepreneur showcases, where small food enterprises in various stages from start-up to growth can briefly present their business plan, in hopes of soliciting investments and loans from attendees. Enterprises can range from small farms to cutting edge online supply chain management technology, from organic grain mills to organic food for kids. At the national level, Slow Money has held two such showcases at their annual gatherings, and from these events over $4.25 million has been invested, all going to support local businesses.
This past Thursday, the Greater Boston Slow Money (GBSM) chapter hosted its first local entrepreneur showcase, bringing together approximately 50 farmers, students, small business owners, and finance experts from around Massachusetts. It was, without a doubt, a major success. The event kicked off with a networking session catered by Basil Tree Catering, Taza Chocolates, and City Feed, all local small businesses that emphasize sustainability. After a warm welcome from volunteer GBSM leader Julia Shanks, the audience was treated to an informative and inspiring presentation by Linzee Weld of Slow Money Maine.
Late in 2010, Linzee and her peers formed the “No Small Potatoes” investment club, whichpools 
together one-time commitments from members of $5,000 or more in order to make small, low interest loans to local food enterprises who do not have access to traditional financing (bank loans, investments). Linzee discussed in detail the trial and error process that went into getting to where the club is now, having recently made loans to several small Maine farms and even Heiwa Tofu, a family-run artisan tofu business. The smiles that graced each audience member as Linzee talked about her successes and failures, and the questions that followed, made it clear that everyone in the room was there for the same reason: to participate in something tangible, to find out what they can do to make a difference, and most importantly to work together as a community to start fixing things, here and now.
The showcase that followed was equally inspiring and wholly invigorating. While all six of the business presentations made me wish I had capital to invest, some of the highlights included Encendia BioChar, a start-up that has created a complex soil amendment from organic waste matter, and Sky Vegetables, a proven urban agriculture business that builds and operates sustainable, year-round roof top farms. The businesses were each given just 5 minutes to present and 5 minutes for questions. The time flew by, but it was sufficient enough to hear exactly how these companies would make for a worthwhile personal investment; and more importantly, how each business is investing in the fertility of our soil, economy, and culture.
Greater Boston Slow Money Chapter: http://www.meetup.com/Greater-Boston-Slow-Money/
Presenting Companies at Showcase -
Dig It Local: http://www.diggitlocal.com/
Encendia BioChar: http://encendia.com/
Moho River Cacao: http://mohocacao.tumblr.com/
Sky Vegetables: http://www.skyvegetables.com/
Higher Ground Farm: https://www.facebook.com/highergroundfarm
City Feed and Supply: http://www.cityfeedandsupply.com/
Gastronomy Welcome Back Social
by Sarah Morrow
Walking into a room that contains mostly strangers can be pretty daunting. But in spite of the dark and dreary weather outside, walking into the Gastronomy Welcome Back Social last week was anything but intimidating. The past two weeks have been a rush of reading and finding (sometimes hidden!) classrooms. Taking a break from all of that was a welcome reprieve.
It was nice to see such a sizeable crowd turn out for the social. Most were students, though there were a few alums and professors in the group. Introductions, as well as wine, added to the air of congeniality.
If you weren’t able to make the event (and even if you did and need a refresher), a few key points were made during the social:
-Rachel is hosting a Milk and Cookies event on October 3rd from 5 to 6 pm. This is a great opportunity to get advice, ask questions, or voice any concerns you might have. And, of course, to eat cookies.
-The Student Association is a wonderful resource for all of us to get together and plan events so we can come together as a community more frequently. There’s currently a (free) Cooking and Science Lecture Series going on at Harvard that everyone is encouraged to attend, including an event this evening on Food Texture and Mouth Feel.
-Alumni Allison Carroll Duffy is going to be hosting a canning class on October 27th, from 6 to 9 pm. You do need to register ahead of time and the class is $50, but it includes all of the materials you’ll need. And, perhaps best of all, after the class you’ll never have to worry about your okra or beets going bad in your fridge again.
At the heart of all of this, though, was one common message: the Gastronomy department is a community. This is all pretty exciting, when you think about it. We get to learn about what we’re interested in with other like-minded people. Our teachers and our classmates are all incredible resources, and networking opportunities will be available to us well into the future. Our community gets to be whatever we want it to be.
After all, we’re all in this together.
The Story Behind “The French Adventure”
'stage' (apprenticeship) in France, which took place for three weeks in August in a tiny town called Maussane-Les-Alpilles, in Provence. I wanted to be able to share my experience with friends and family back home, while at the same time preserving it in a way that I could reflect and remember it vividly. I knew I was going to take a ton of photos, and I wanted to have a way to narrate them. I didn't create The French Adventure with the intention of continuously updating it; instead, I wanted it to be more like a chapter in a book or an article in a magazine.
The unpaid position in France was much more exciting, and an invaluable experience that I will never forget. I was put to work the day after I arrived, working in a restaurant that had only opened a few days before. More than just learning new recipes, techniques, and dishes, I learned what it takes to open a small restaurant, and the difficulties that accompany being a business owner and head chef. I was exposed to the little nuances of opening and running a new eating establishment, like building relationships with local suppliers, purchasing and operating cooking equipment, and finding decent employees.
But besides learning about the ins and outs of running a restaurant, I got to experience what it was like running a French restaurant in a French town. The attention to detail in the food, the preservation of tradition, and the commitment to using fresh ingredients was truly amazing. I believe there is no better way to understanding what gastronomy truly means without staging and working in a kitchen professionally.
A Manifesto for the Chefs of Tomorrow
by Alex Galimberti
Last Sunday was the final day of the 2011 edition of Mistura, the annual gastronomic festival that takes place in Lima, Peru. Since its first edition in 2008, Mistura has quickly become the most prominent gastronomic exhibition in Latin America. What started as a local showcase of regional Peruvian ingredients and cuisines soon became a platform for bringing together chefs, researchers and producers from not only Peru but all surrounding countries. The growing international interest in Peruvian gastronomy has recently brought chefs and researchers from all continents to gather in Lima during the week of the festival.
This year's calendar of events that took place from September 9th to the 18th included many different types of panels, demos, and tastings. As usual the promotion of Peru’s diverse culinary traditions and its unique native ingredients were key components of the festival’s calendar. The approach used by APEGA (The Peruvian Gastronomy Association) to promote the festival’s agenda is based on the push to get UNESCO to recognize Peruvian gastronomy as a world heritage asset.
The highlight of this year’s edition of Mistura was the annual gathering of the board of the Basque Culinary Center, the so called ‘G9’: group of chefs and food professionals that included Ferran Adriá, Dan Barber, René Redzepi, Alex Atala, Gaston Acurio, Yukkio Hattori, Massimo Bottura, and Michel Bras. Their meeting concluded in the release of an open letter to the chefs of tomorrow. The letter is a declaration of core values that should guide the work of a chef: values of respect towards nature and society and preservation of knowledge. It seems that in the past few years, this type of attitude has pretty much been a requisite for any chef to maintain a successful professional image. What some critics might say is that not every chef is doing this for the right reason. This very harsh critique by The Guardian’s food critic Jay Rayner points out that most of the top restaurants in the world are very unsustainable businesses, just by the sheer nature of luxury gastronomy and its frequent use of rare and exotic ingredients that have to be sourced half a world away from the urban centers where these restaurants are usually located. Not to mention that while most of these chefs are saving heirloom vegetable species and promoting awareness of forgotten culinary cultures, they do so by relying on the labor exploitation of huge brigades of highly trained cooks, who compete to see who can work longer without pay in the hopes of one day becoming the next breakthrough chef themselves.
So what the new generation of chefs, and also of students of gastronomy, need to do is not only to take the points of the G9 manifesto to heart, but also use a critical lens when admiring the work of the big chefs of today. We are all inspired by their talent and philosophies, but sometimes there is more to it than what you see on the surface. As a gastronomy student, what do you think about this? Will the chefs of tomorrow be able to embrace the ideals of environmental and social justice while trying to feed a growing demand for cutting edge innovative dishes? Can a restaurant owner truly put saving the environment at a higher priority than maintaining their businesses profitable? I personally think that by making these practices profitable, the new wave of socially and environmentally conscious chefs can prove that if you truly practice what you preach, it becomes easier to work as a role model for the rest of the restaurant community.
New Student Orientation
downtown, our orientation was turned into a food-themed scavenger hunt, highlighting the best bites around Boston. We were armed with a GPS, our poor senses of direction, a list of food-related clues, and shoes that wouldn’t live to see the end of the day. A mix of locals and new arrivals, the first few clues weren’t too difficult to understand. The first clue read like this: “Mick Jaggar thinks it tastes so good…” Although many of us didn’t seem like Stone fans we found our way to the Brown Sugar Café, a block or two away from our 808 Commonwealth Ave. starting point. The name of the café invokes the warm image of baked goods, maybe some gingerbread, and lists of sweetened coffee drinks. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, since Brown Sugar Café is actually a bustling Thai restaurant. Alas, there was no time to stop and we had to turn around and head to our second clue.
Our afternoon continued, packed with tasty introductions to local favorite eateries like Super 88 (another Asian establishment), Bacco’s Cheese and Wine Shop, the Haymarket Farmer’s Market, the age-old rivaling pastry shops in the North End (you know which ones I’m talking about), and a surprise stop to meet current gastronomy students who were working at the Bon Me Food Truck. After several glasses of spicy ginger lemonade and half of a Vietnamese sandwich, we continued on our way.- While at Bacco’s Cheese and Wine, the owner informed us that Shiraz originally came from Persia (now Iran).
- Supposedly, Modern Pastry is better than Mike’s Pastry.
- Professor Black is a pizza connoisseur.
- I will need to double my workout plan if we continue to eat like we did at orientation.
Practicing Gastronomy with Karen Solomon
by Whitney Johndro
Always keep trying. Only you and your soul will know the line between
persistence and annoyance, and I say never give up.
Words like these were among the many helpful hints given to the students of the Gastronomy program by well-known food writer Karen Solomon, who produced the cookbooks Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It. During the Practicing Gastronomy lecture series, Solomon shared the ins and outs of her trade. She was both honest and helpful in sharing the real truth about food writing, and explained the importance of both time and patience that is needed to develop and establish one’s position in the world of food writing. Among the many tips Solomon shared, she emphasized getting an agent as well as taking and being grateful for unpaid positions and the opportunities they may lead to in the future. Additionally, she recommended finding a few people you trust to use as a sounding board for your ideas.
Karen emphasized the importance of networking and community, explaining the idea that we should create the destiny and path we wish to fulfill by knowing as many people as we can 
within the discipline, and by attending and partaking in all events relevant to food. Through her bubbly recollection, she shared with us the nostalgia of her first experience with homemade salad dressing at her husband’s parent’s home twenty years ago that lead to the inspiration of her creating and crafting her own food items. Karen firmly believes in the art of producing one’s own foodstuffs, from complicated to simple recipes that take away from the ruling of big corporations. These creations include items ranging from marshmallows, fruit leathers, and cornflakes to sausages, mayonnaise, and miso.
While she described the trials and tribulations of a freelance writer with a love for food, it was
easy to see that passion and dedication are both equally important for success as a writer in the modern age. Her accomplishments are seen in her two books mentioned above, as well as her many articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Magazine that focus on artisan crafts, trends in the food world, and food politics. Karen Solomon’s talk was very inspirational for all aspiring food artists and writers in and out of the Gastronomy program.
The Cookie Girl – Daily Large-Scale Pastry Production at Boston University
by Sarah Sholes
1,000 bagels every day, 10,000 pieces of pastry for the work holiday party, and 30,000 commencement weekend cookies - just some of the figures Joe Frackleton keeps in mind. ‘Executive Pastry Chef, Boston University’ emboss his crisp, white chef coat as he takes a seat at a booth in the BU student union by the entrance of his industrial kitchen. Ice blue eyes pop from a clean shaven face, framed by a scrupulous haircut. Despite the Spring Break lull this week, Frackleton, 51, totes a late afternoon cup of coffee. Pastry, Frackleton explains, is for perfectionists. “There is a need to be more precise [than cooking]. The recipes have to be exact.”
So went the introduction to a profile I wrote for ML681, Food Writing for Print Media, with Sheryl Julian last spring. I left my interview with the pastry chef in awe of the volume of his responsibilities. Little did I realize this would be the first of many encounters. A few weeks later I was offered a chance to come into Frackleton’s kitchen and work with his team as they prepared for commencement. My job: to help make the cookies.
To meet the capacious demands of feeding a university as substantial as Boston University requires even more planning from the Everett native. His days at BU, late compared to most bakers, average a start at 7:00 AM. Daily items like muffins, bagels, cookies, scones and croissants for the bagel shops and on-campus Starbucks must be ready for distribution. Catering meetings review the week’s upcoming events, including anything from VIP dinners at BU President Robert Brown’s house for Trustee members to wedding receptions, often for alumni. The events calendar is quite full. Fall and spring are Frackleton’s busiest seasons, welcoming new students and hosting parent and alumni weekends, then sending off graduates with a warm farewell. As one of the city of Boston’s largest employers, BU has over 10,000 faculty and staff members in total, all of whom are invited to the annual holiday party Frackleton caters.
Now, over five months later, I still work in the BU bakery. My most recent challenge is 
to assist with the back to school rush. With 4,000 members of the class of 2015 moving onto campus, there has been serious demand for cookies in the first days of September. One batch of cookie dough weighs roughly 100 pounds, and I find myself cranking out cookies by the thousands every day, as we anticipate welcome back events. There are the reliable oatmeal raisin, spicy ginger, triple chocolate, and the always classic chocolate chip. Despite the craze, Frackleton maintains a sense of calm and always keeps his chef coat spotless. I, known only as ‘the cookie girl’ to many Aramark employees passing through the kitchen, continue to learn recipes, techniques and skills from Frackleton, but have yet to master the art of keeping my apron clean.
A great aspect of the Gastronomy program is also sometimes one of the most daunting to me. Unlike MBA students, for example, gastronomes have no distinct path to follow. But not trailing a path means that sometimes you can blaze your own. One interview for a class assignment turned into a job for me. I get to work with a great team of people who offer insight. They allow me to do my favorite thing - make cookies - which I do in abundance.
An Introduction to the New Graduate Assistants
Every semester, the Gastronomy program hires several new graduate assistants to help with various projects and tasks - working on the blog, taking on new research topics, organizing events, and anything else that needs to be taken care of. For this fall, assistants Alex Galimberti and Meg Jones Wall will be filling these roles, so you'll probably be seeing a lot of them in the next few months. If you haven't met these students yet, here's a quick introduction:
Alex Galimberti will be focusing on research aspects of the program, working with Rachel Black on her soon-to-be-published exploration of wine and culture as well as helping with program events, policies and organization tactics. An avid traveler with a particular interest in Latin American food cultures, Alex is hoping to work with gastronomic tourism development after completing the program. "One of my favorite things about researching Latin American cuisines is tasting unique ingredients, and also learning traditional pre-Hispanic recipes," Alex explains. Exploring exotic dishes such as chapulines and huitlacoche (fried crickets and wild fungus), as well as cuy (guinea pig), he's not afraid to try indigenous foods and distinctive cultural dishes that many Americans might shy away from. "My main goal is to keep going to different countries and learning more about their food." After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America, Alex began the Gastronomy program in 2010, taking a few courses at a time while he also works at Taranta Restaurant in the North End. Alex has been featured on this blog before, so for more information check out his student profile.
Meg Jones Wall will be working on communications projects, focusing primarily on the BU
Gastronomy blog as well as helping with new marketing materials for the program. Working to develop her photography and food styling skills, Meg will be completing her thesis this semester, comparing historic and modern food still life paintings to food photographs. "I love looking at food through different lenses, literally and figuratively. The way photographers can use light and color to show viewers new aspects of ingredients and dishes they take for granted has always fascinated me," Meg says. A full-time student in the program, Meg began in the fall of 2010, completing the culinary certificates over the summer. As well as working on the Gastronomy blog, Meg also writes for her own food and recipe blog, ginger-snapped.
Want to get involved? We're always looking for submissions, whether you're interested in writing a profile on a current student or alumni, exploring events or festivals in the community, or reporting on various events throughout the Gastronomy program. Recipes, profiles, and photographs are also welcome, as well as anything else you dream up. Feel free to email us anytime with suggestions, ideas or articles - we'd love to hear from you!
Hands-on Canning Class
Hands-on canning class, Oct. 27
Would you like to enjoy home or locally grown food year round? Join Gastronomy alumna Allison Carroll Duffy as she guides you through the fundamentals of canning. This hands-on class will cover the tools, techniques, and methods of safe home canning and boiling water bath canning. Participants will prepare one recipe for practice. This course is scheduled for Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 6-9 p.m. and will be held at 808 Commonwealth Avenue. The cost for this course is $50. This includes all materials and instruction. To register, please email gastrmla@bu.edu.