Final Project: Appliance Cookbooks Exhibit
One of our core classes, Survey of the History of Food, requires students to create a final project or paper for the end of the semester. But this fall, Professor Kyri Claflin took a different approach, encouraging students to design a food exhibit rather than a more traditional research paper. Hear from one of her students, Lucia Austria, below, and check out the food exhibit website that she created with Tiesha Lewis.
by Lucia Austria
On the first day of class, Kyri Claflin presented her grand idea for a final project to give her ML622 Survey of the History of Food class—design a food exhibit. It was a museological approach to the history of food that takes a theme and teaches a public audience about its significance, as well as why that knowledge is relevant today. Groups were to present their topic on the last night of class, and each student was responsible for writing their own research paper related to that topic. The class had the freedom to choose their own theme and groups.
Sounds interesting? Yes, it was certainly a welcome change from the normal 15-18 page research paper. Sounds easy? No, it definitely wasn’t. The class had a difficult time forming groups, because let’s face it, choosing just one topic in the wide scope of food history is pretty daunting. There are infinite themes, time periods, and foods to choose from, and I already had a hard enough time deciding what to bring for the class snack.
By the fourth class, I still had no idea what aspect of food history I wanted to research, and hardly any groups were formed. We had a guest speaker that night, the curator for the Schlesinger Library at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute, Marylène Altieri. She gave us an amazing presentation on the culinary collections available at Schlesinger, included the type of cookbooks one could find and use in their research.
I was inspired by Marylène ‘s presentation Being an aspiring antique cookbook collector 
myself, I decided to find other students interested in researching cookbooks. Together with Tiesha Lewis, who also has a personal interest in cookbooks, we narrowed down our topic to appliance cookbooks.
Despite their categorization as culinary ephemera, Tie and I felt that a lot could be discovered from such cultural debris. From preliminary research, we learned that due to the harnessing of electric power, there was a surge of appliances manufactured during the early half of the 20thcentury. We eventually focused our project on using appliance cookbooks published between the 1920s and 1960s and their influence on American housewives.
Tie and I pulled the content for our presentation from our individual research paper topics. 
She aimed to answer the question of whether appliance cookbooks were truly representative of daily cooking and consumption practices, as well as the social norms imposed by appliance manufacturers on women. Extending the use of culinary ephemera beyond serving mere nostalgia, I investigated the marketing and advertising practices of the appliance industry by using basic semiotic theory when researching appliance cookbooks. Together, we created our exhibit website, “Appliance Cookbooks: Transforming Women & Food." From our research at Schlesinger, we came up with four main themes that our exhibit that we felt would tell the story of women and kitchen appliances. Tie and I put together a video and created graphics that communicated a “museum feel.”
The project took a lot of time and visits to Schlesinger, but it was a great exercise at archival research and doing food history. We learned a lot about appliance cookbooks, and thanks to our exhibit website, you can too.
Local Uncorked Wine Dinner at Local 149
For our new student bloggers or anyone out there trying to get more readers (and honestly, aren't we all?), one of the best ways to stay connected is by checking out Boston Food Bloggers, a blog roll and communications hub of some of the best food-obsessed writers and bloggers in the city. Besides 
being a great way to get the word out about your food blog, as well as finding new blogs to obsess over, the author and organizer of the blog (Rachel Leah Blumenthal of Fork it Over, Boston!) does an incredible job planning different networking and social events for bloggers to meet up around Boston. Many of these events are free, and include a wide variety of locations and activities, like cruises, pub crawls, and tastings.
While many of our students run blogs and have attended past Boston Food Bloggers events, one of the most recent outings was a delightful wine dinner, held at Local 149 with wine pairings provided by local distributer Ruby Wines. Our own Emily Olson, a talented blogger and co-head of the Student Association for the Gastronomy program, was able to attend this event and offered to share her recent post with the program's blog readers. Check out Emily's personal food blog, What Emily Cooks, and read all about her experience with the Boston Food Bloggers. And don't forget to submit your own blog to this wonderful website!
Discovering A Memorable Feast
Following our look at Dan Remar's blog, The French Adventure, we'll continue to highlight student blogs that look at food at new and intriguing ways. Gastronomy student Kate Hamman has put together a fascinating blog that assembles food memories and stories, looking at how something as simple as a taste or smell can invoke strong emotions and nostalgia.
Check out her story below and explore the blog, A Memorable Feast - and please consider submitting a food memory of your very own to contribute to this exciting project.
by Kate Hamman
Open Classes for Spring 2012
Having trouble picking out your classes for next semester? We've got just the thing to help you out. There are a number of wonderful courses available for Spring 2012, and the following classes still have a few slots left. Several of these are special topics courses that will not be offered regularly. Check them out and register today to secure a slot!
Monday
ML 610 A1 The Big Fat Fat Controversy
Pepper
6-9pm, GCB 201
The word "fat" is charged with many meanings and associations. There is the biochemical entity called fat, the stuff that fills our adipose tissues. Fat, one of the macronutrients that constitute our food, is an ingredient in a myriad of dishes. Fat is associated with ill-health, particularly Type II diabetes. Fat gives shape to the human form, thus contributing to body image. Effort may be expended, via dieting and training, to eliminate bodily fat or reconfigure it as muscle. And fat represents different things in different cultures. This course will try to circle the girth of this amazingly rich subject.
Tuesday
ML 610 B1 Alcohol & Culture
Black
6-9pm, EOP 266
In Italy, France and Germany alcoholic beverages are considered an important part of the daily diet and commensality. In many African countries, alcohol has important ritual uses and is often used in rites of passage. In the United States, Americans have a fraught relationship with alcohol--from Prohibition to binge drinking. This course will explore the culture of alcohol in historic and contemporary contexts throughout the globe. The course material will focus on such topics as: locality and taste; gender and drinking; questions of morality; and the medicinal uses of alcohol.
ML 612 B1 Pots and Pans
Beaudry
6-9pm, STO 253
Exploration of the food cultures and technologies through material culture- pots, pans, and utensils. Course will range broadly across cultures, time, and space with emphasis on medieval and early modern times. Life histories of humble, overlooked, everyday objects associated with food preparation and consumption; kitchens from prehistory to the present; tradition and fashion in cooking & dining vessels; pots and cooking technology; pots as metaphors & symbols.
Wednesday
ML 722 C1 Food Activism
Counihan
6-9pm, CAS 325
In this class students will explore the work of anthropologists and other social scientists on food activism citizens' efforts to promote social and economic justice through food practices and challenge the global corporate agrifood system. The class will explore diverse individual and collective forms of food activism including veganism, gleaning, farmers' markets, organic farming, fair trade, CSAs, buying groups, school gardens, anti-GMO movements, Slow Food, Via Campesina, and others. It will address the questions: what is food activism, what are its goals, what is working and not working, and what are the results?
Blended
ML 610 EL Culinary Tourism
Long
Culinary tourism is "eating out of curiosity." This approach to food has had significant impacts on the development of cuisines, political history, and the relationships between groups of people. This class will explore culinary tourism from an interdisciplinary perspective as a human impulse, an historical force representing power structures, and a theme within tourism. It will ask what it means for individuals to eat the food of an "other," and whether or not such eating can lead to cultural understanding and ecological and economic sustainability. Students will also learn basic principles of tourism by completing a project developing a culinary tourism product (trail, vacation, tour, food item, restaurant).
Holiday Potluck
Take a deep breath - the fall 2011 semester is almost over.
I'm sure for some of you, this semester has just flown by - for others, it's been full of struggles 
that have seemed to drag on and on. I'm wrapping up my thesis project, and have managed to experienced both sensations throughout these past few months - and I'm sure I'm not the only one. But wherever you are in your final papers, exam preparation, or holiday baking, take a break and celebrate your successes this semester at our Holiday Potluck on December 16th. Join us from 6-9pm in the Demonstration Room, Fuller 117, for an evening of food, relaxation, and celebration.
How can you help? Contact Emily Olson and let her know what you'll be bringing - appetizer, entree, dessert, side dish, or whatever else strikes your fancy. And try to relax! You're almost finished.
On another note - if you're a current Gastronomy student, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and thinking blogging, editing, and being creative is the most fun you can have outside a kitchen, consider applying for the Communications Graduate Assistant position for Spring 2012. Check out the requirements and responsibilities in the PDF file below, and if you're interested in applying send your resume, CV, and cover letter to gastrmla@bu.edu by December 9th.
Notes from What’s Next?: Life After MLA Gastronomy
If you couldn't make it to our fantastic workshop several weeks ago, What's Next?: Life After MLA Gastronomy, you're in luck - we've got overviews and notes from each session, as well as links to several presentations to help you out. This workshop was designed to give students a bit of reassurance - there are a number of potential career paths available after graduation, and our alumni panel, career coach, and e-portfolio experts helped attendees learn more about how to market themselves, expand job searches, and even develop a stronger online presence.
The first section of our workshop featured three alumni members: Julia Grimaldi, Program Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Dairy Promotion Board, Peter Kelly, culinary instructor at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, and Kimberly Kuborn, Director of Graduate Operations at the Metropolitan College, Boston University. Each of them told their personal stories, which varied greatly both in terms of how they found the MLA Gastronomy program as well as where they've traveled since then, and also answered student questions regarding career choices, opportunities, and advice on how to get started with the job hunt. Some of the best advice we heard:
-Whenever possible, don't say no! Seek out and take as many opportunities as you can, because you never know when a volunteer position, one-day event, or contact could turn into your next career move.
-Stay open to new options. Consider all possibilities, combinations of your skills, and potential positions when searching for jobs - don't limit yourself to only a few possible careers. Check every job site you can find, and stay in touch with old employers, professors, fellow students, and contacts within the industry.
-Find a mentor. Chat with them about your options and your dreams, get them to look at your resume (and take a look at theirs!), and make as many connections as possible through them.
Our middle session was a presentation by career coach Matt Casey, going through resumes, CVs, and cover letters. We only had an hour, and Matt was incredibly patient with our group, answering questions and showing us a number of examples. One of the biggest things he stressed was that everything you've done is marketable - most people drastically underestimate what they've done, so take time to write down all of your experience and ideas before applying for jobs and going for interviews. Matt had a ton of great information, but here are the highlights:
-Identify key points for yourself: what do you want to do every day? What are you good at? What do you want to accomplish? What holes can you fill? What are your skills? And, perhaps most importantly, what does your perfect, regular day look like? How much control do you want over time and money? What kind of work/life balance do you want? Do you want to lead, manage, advise, or champion?
-Ignore the one-page resume model. This is a product of past generations - now we have more jobs, change careers more often, and submit resumes online, so they can be as long as they need to be.
-Redo your resume to tell your personal story. Doesn't need to be chronological - try organizing it by skill. Include the title you want at the top - only 20% of resumes include this, and it's a great way to catch a potential employer's eye. Make it creative and express your personal style - make it bold and memorable. Avoid photos.
-Build a network. Contact people in the industries you're interested in - have meetings and ask questions without an agenda, just to learn more about them and their job. Hold informational interviews to learn more about potential positions. Find networking events and hand out your business card. Volunteer. Listen - a lot. And stay in touch with the connections you make - you never know when they'll come in handy.
-Find someone you admire and read their resume, ask questions about their career history, and find a niche for yourself. Figure out how you can make yourself indispensable in your industry.
-Keep cover letters short. Be bold and persuasive, and use strong phrases - "I am," "I can," "I will," "I have."
Click here to download a copy of Matt's Powerpoint presentation: Resume Planning and Development - November 5, 2011 (v2)
The third and final session was with Colby Young, a digital portfolio scholar and research assistant. All Boston University students are able to create free, online e-portfolios through Digication, though there are plenty of other services available if you'd prefer to go through someone else. These portfolios are a snap to set up - in an hour, Colby set up most of a portfolio and talked us through creating our own. And best of all, these won't disappear after you graduate, so you can put the link on your business cards, resume, and LinkedIn page. Make it public or private, depending on its use. Include your education, experience, thesis projects, internships, awards, videos, photographs, and whatever else you want. This program keeps things very organized, and is easy to make even if you have no programming skills whatsoever.
-Use your BU Kerberos login and password to create a new account on Digication.
-Create different sections and module to organize the portfolio however you like - experiment with different looks. Include as much or as little information as you like to enhance your online presence.
Click here to download a detailed how-to PDF guide for setting up your e-portfolio: DigicationQuickstart.pdf
From all of us in the Gastronomy program, I'd love to give another big thank you to all of our participants! The workshop was fun and incredibly helpful, and the information we received was invaluable. Thanks to everyone who was able to come, and good luck with your end-of-semester papers and projects!
The Cookbook Project
As part of our Practicing Gastronomy series, join us this Wednesday, November 30th, from 4:45-5:45 pm in Fuller 109 for a lecture and discussion with Cookbook Project founders Alyssa and Adam. Get to know this amazing duo and learn about their passion for sustainability, food justice, and food education! Plus, find out how you can get involved.
From their website:
"The Cookbook Project (CBP) is an international tax-exempt non-profit organization that 
combines youth education with Food Justice and the Slow Food Movement’s goals of providing access to fresh healthy whole foods while helping to preserve local food cultures. The organization facilitates food-oriented experiential education workshops in conjunction with non-profit youth organizations worldwide. These workshops focus on using food culture as a vehicle for educating youth experientially about the connection between food, the environment, health and wellness. Topics explored include local food culture, food geography, sustainable consumption, hygiene, and cooking skills. In addition to hosting youth education workshops CBP also train leaders of all ages around the world to be able to lead Cookbook Project Workshops where they live, work, and travel through a variety of programs.
The Cookbook Project sees food as universal, and a common ground for uniting humanity. Join us and learn how to eat fresh, cook local, be healthy, save the planet, and most importantly — play with your food!"
In addition to this workshop, Alyssa and Adam will be hosting a Creole Caribbean cooking class at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education on December 4th from 3-6pm. All proceeds from the class will go to support an upcoming workshop in Haiti, and Alyssa's agreed to offer a discount to Gastronomy students ($50-75). For more information or to sign up, contact Alyssa and Adam through their website.
Introducing Barbara Rotger, Program Coordinator
The Gastronomy Program is thrilled to introduce our brand new Program Coordinator, alumna Barbara Rotger! If you haven't gotten a chance to meet this talented lady, check out her introduction below, and stop by her office to introduce yourself. Welcome, Barbara!
by Barbara Rotger
I grew up not far from here in Carlisle, and now live in Melrose with my husband, our two teenagers, a cat, and more goldfish than I can keep track of. I (try) to play the piano, do quite a bit of volunteer work for my children’s schools, and, of course, enjoy cooking at home. This year I gave up coaxing vegetables to grow under our giant oak trees, and decided that growing herbs is a more viable option.
I have always been interested in food – my family attributes this fascination to the fact 
that they were living in cramped quarters when I was born, so my crib had to be in the dining room. (I think I was first taken to Weight Watchers when I was seven…) As an older child, my grandmother came over and cooked with me one afternoon every week. I went to Brown University as an undergraduate, with the intent to major in chemistry and pursue a career in food science. This seemed to be the only viable career option that had “food” in its title. However, organic chemistry proved to be my downfall. (Perhaps my heart was never fully invested in a career dedicated to preventing the frozen pizza cheese from turning green, or perhaps I was simply pulling too many shifts tending bar at the Brown Faculty Club.) I ended up majoring in Russian Studies, and after graduation I went on to work at Harvard University, in the Ukrainian Research Institute. Despite the fact that I was working at the Ukrainian Research Institute during the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the birth of an independent Ukrainian state, my real excitement in being at Harvard was still all about the food. Some of the first academic food studies courses were offered during those years by the Radcliffe Seminars, and I was able to use my employee benefits to enroll. I had finally found my academic home.
Give Yourself a Break!
It's mid-November, and the end-of-semester crunch is upon us. Papers are piling up, you have more reading than you know what to do with, and that 20-page research paper deadline is looming in a few weeks. But don't let all of your school stress burn you out - sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself (and your studies!) is to give yourself a little time away from your work. A lot of great, food-centric things are happening this week around the city - take advantage of this gorgeous weather and give your brain a bit of rest. I promise, when you get back to work you'll find yourself refreshed and ready to take on those papers.
Plus, later this week we'll be launching a great contest, just for Gastronomy students. Our department needs t-shirts, and we'd love your help designing them. More information on this contest is on its way, but start thinking about what you'd like to submit and you may win a shirt of your own!
Check out some of the great events happening at BU and around Boston this week, including an outing with the Student Association on Wednesday night, and give yourself a break!
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Boston Magazine’s TASTE, at the Museum of Science. Sample dishes and drinks from some of the best chefs in Boston, all while enjoying the museum. 7-10:30pm, $95 general admission.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Student Association Night Out! Join us at Island Creek Oyster Bar on 500 Commonwealth Ave and enjoy some of the city’s best cocktails, appetizers, and (of course) fresh oysters. Meet around 8pm, but come any time you can, even if it’s after your classes. Contact Emily Olson with questions.
Cultivating Food Justice book discussion with co-editors Alison Alkon and Julian Agyemen. Learn and discuss about creating a fair, sustainable food system, looking at the issues and possible solutions through a number of different lenses. 6:30-8:30pm, Asian Community Development Corporation – Community Room at the Metropolitan, 38 Oak Street, Boston. Admission is free but please RSVP online.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Food and the City, Session 3: “Access: How is Food Distributed in the City?” Featuring a panel discussion with David R. Leslie, Phil Bannatyne, and Eileen O’Shea, this is the final session in this series, co-hosted by Metropolitan College’s graduate programs in Gastronomy and City Planning. 6-8:30 at the School of Hospitality Administration, 928 Commonwealth Ave, room 110.
Kopali on Fair Trade Chocolate, with Kopali Organics co-founder and CEO Zak Zaidman. Learn about creating a company with values, and participate in a discussion of the social and environmental implications of sustainable agriculture in developing countries. You’ll even get a delicious treat, just for coming! 5pm at MIT, 100 Main St. in Cambridge. Free admission.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19
Beer Summit Harvest Fest, with one session Friday evening and two on Saturday. Enjoy a craft beer tasting, featuring over 50 different local brewers and over 200 beers to try. Held in Park Plaza Castle on Columbus Avenue. $42.50 session fee, buy tickets online.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Boston Food Swap! Share your own creations and swap autumn and Thanksgiving goodies with other local food creators, cooks and crafters. Tickets are free, but pre-registering is required. 2-4pm at Space With a Soul, 281 Summer St, Boston.
Chefs Collaborative National Summit in New Orleans
by Rob Booz
You know what happens when you give a bunch of chefs purple, alcohol-drenched slushies? I do, and I’m not telling you a damn thing.
New Orleans might be one of the most laid back, welcoming, and fun places that I have ever been to. It’s a good thing too: for one thing, this environment provides a good draw for overworked food professionals. For another, it makes the heavy topics that we tackled there slightly less daunting.
I was in New Orleans from October 23rd-25th, joined by approximately 300 other culinary world
professionals and luminaries, for the Chefs Collaborative National Summit. I've worked for Chefs Collaborative since January, beginning as an intern and eventually working as their Farmer-Chef Network Coordinator. Over the course of the summit we had plenary talks from people like Dana Cowin, editor of Food and Wine, Ken Cook on the upcoming Farm Bill, and the now legendary Joel Salatin. We gave praise to those like Gary Nabhan and gulf oystermen Sal and Al Sunseri at a wonderful awards dinner. We had panel discussions with Barry Estabrook on farm labor issues, heard from chefs like Tenney Flynn about using gulf seafood and eating invasive species as a way to control their populations, and chatted with board chair and chef Michael Leviton and farmer Will Harris about sourcing and using grass-fed beef. Then there were the demos: pig butchering at Domenica, lamb butchering at Cochon, and charcuterie-making at Emeril’s Delmonico, because in order to be more sustainable, many restaurants have to look at how to process whole (or at least larger) cuts of animals.
Even after all of that name-dropping, my list of activities and names is by no means exhaustive. This was a veritable meeting of the minds from all facets of the culinary world on how we can move the industry and our country in a more sustainable, more responsible direction. The energy was palpable, the testimonials inspiring. I don’t think that a single person went home without a personal mandate to influence change in a positive way. When you're sitting with your peers among the splendor of the New Orleans Botanical Gardens, surrounded by trees covered in Spanish moss, sipping on Bloody Mary’s, being treated to a tasting menu from the city’s best chefs at the closing festivities, and farm worker Gerardo Reyes from the Coalition of Immokkalee Workers stands up to say that he feels like Cinderella at the ball but soon it’s time to go home, how could you possibly sit there and do nothing? Together as food workers, we can help make our communities the kind of places where people don’t have to be sick, overweight, underpaid, exploited, undernourished, and in constant peril.
If there is one thing to take away from New Orleans, it is that by working together towards a common goal, the industry can help to re-shape our world into a better place. And as Gastronomy students, we must remember: we are all part of this.
For more information on Chefs Collaborative and how you can get involved in building a more sustainable food system, check out their website and Facebook page.