Note: Meetings are usually held on the second Sunday of each month, September through May, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Currently we are meeting via Zoom, but in-person meetings are held at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, Maryland, and occasionally at other venues. The meetings are open to anyone. However, certain meetings may require a fee.
Speaker: Kim Prothro Williams Washington, D.C. (Members will receive a link and passcode.) TALK DESCRIPTION Lost Farms and Estates of Washington, D.C. will highlight the transformation of the rural landscape and history of the District of Columbia from before its establishment as the nation’s capital in the late 18th century until the last farm… Read More »Lost Farms and Estates of Washington, D.C.
Speaker: Helen Zoe Veit, Michigan State University SPEAKER’S BIO Helen Zoe Veit is a historian of American food specializing in the 19th and 20th centuries. An associate professor of history at Michigan State University, she is the author of the forthcoming book, Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History and Why It… Read More »How American Children Became the Pickiest Eaters in History
Don Lindgren BIO Don Lindgren is an antiquarian bookseller focused on printed and manuscript cookery. His bookselling business, Rabelais Inc., acquires, researches, and sells rare books, manuscripts, ephemera, and other materials related to culinary history. Clients for books and for services such as appraisals and collection development include private collectors, food professionals, and research institutions… Read More »The American Community Cookbook: Eccentric and Yet Powerful
LIZ WILLIAMS’ BIO Liz Williams founded the Southern Food & Beverage Museum (SoFAB) and its Research Center. SoFAB is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Liz has authored six books about food and culture, especially New Orleans food culture. She has taught Food Studies and New York University and Dillard University. Her podcast, “Tip of… Read More »How the Food of Southern Louisiana Became as Different and as Interesting as Italian Food. Is there a true Southern Louisiana Cuisine?
Speaker: Mark Kurlansky, New York Sunday, May 4, 2025 (Note: Date changed to first Sunday because the second Sunday is Mothers Day.) 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Zoom Meeting) (Members will receive a link and passcode.) SPEAKER BIO: Mark Kurlansky was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He has written 40 books and has been translated into 35… Read More »A History of Cheesecake
Please Join the Culinary Historians of Washington at our annual in-person luncheon at the Hulu Hotpot and Skewer House Located at: 1488 Rockville Pike A, Rockville, MD 20852 Date: June 8th Time: 12:00 noon Price: $50 for members $60 for non-members: Update: Reservations are complete This luncheon is an “all you can eat” adventure with… Read More »CHoW-DC Annual In-Person Luncheon 2025 at the Hulu Hotpot and Skewer House
Speaker: Christopher Beckman Sausalito, California SPEAKER BIO Christopher Beckman was born in San Francisco and holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Archaeology, with a research focus on the intersection of material culture and subsistence patterns – how the small, often overlooked details (like the humble anchovy) have shaped civilizations more than we realize. His fieldwork… Read More »Twist of the Tail: How the Humble Anchovy Flavored Western Cuisine
The Authors Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald are co-authors of three books on New England and American food history—America's Founding Food (University of North Carolina Press, 2004; pbk. 2015), Northern Hospitality (University of Massachusetts Press, 2011), and United Tastes (University of Massachusetts Press, 2017). Their collaboration, which also includes scholarly articles, extensive public speaking, and… Read More »The Lives and Cookbooks of Three Nineteenth-Century Women
SPEAKER BIO: KC Hysmith, PhD, is a Texas-born, North Carolina-based writer, food scholar, and recipe developer whose work focuses on the intersection of gender, food, and technologies. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University. Her work has appeared… Read More »Protest Baking: The Role of Cakes, Pies, and Other Baked Goods in American Political History
SPEAKER: Nicola Twilley SPEAKER BIO Nicola Twilley is author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, winner of the 2025 James Beard Award for Literary Writing, the 2025 California Book Awards Nonfiction Gold Medal, the 2025 Nach Waxman Prize, and the 2025 Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal for Journalism and Investigative… Read More »Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves
Speaker: Susan Benjamin Harpers Ferry, West Virgnia (Members will receive a link and passcode.) SPEAKER BIO Susan Benjamin, a former academic, researches the cultural history of sugars, sweets, and other fun foods from pre-history to the late 20th century. She is owner of True Treats, recognized as one of the world’s only research-based historic candy… Read More »Fun Foods: The Unknown, Unexpected, and Long Forgotten
Speaker: Rick Rogers West Orange, New Jersey RICK RODGERS BIOGRAPHY For over three decades, Rick Rodgers has been one of the most versatile names in the food business. Through his work as a teacher, food writer, cookbook author and editor, and media guest chef, his infectious love of good food reaches countless cooks every day.… Read More »Kaffeehaus: How Vienna Changed Global Baking