The Unexpected History Of American Food

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Your answer depends on what you define as “weird”, right? Here at CMCH, our latest exhibit, That’s Weird, probes the very idea of weirdness. On Saturday, April 14, we’re going to focus that lens on food. How do fashions and trends affect the way Americans eat, turning yesterday’s “yum” into tomorrow’s “yuck” – or vice versa?

This program features a talk by culinary historian Sarah Lohman, who will help us examine how we determine what’s ordinary and what’s odd when it comes to food. She will focus on two particular flavors that have gone through ups and downs in American food trends: garlic (once dismissed by American cookbook author Amelia Simmons as “better adapted to the uses of medicine than cookery”) and the much-maligned MSG.

Ms. Lohman will also be available to sign copies of her book, Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. The book will be available for purchase at the event.

This event will be American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted.

Admission is $10 for CMCH members and $15 for non-members, and includes admission to our galleries. Reservations requested at rsvp@chs.org or 860-236-5621 x238.

About the Speaker:
Dubbed a “historic gastronomist,” Sarah Lohman works with culinary history as a way to make a personal connection with the past. She chronicles her explorations in culinary history on her blog, FourPoundsFlour.com, and her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the NY Post, The Atlantic and NPR. She appeared in The Cooking Channel’s Food: Fact or Fiction.