Exploring Root Vegetables: Dug from the Dirt, Underdogs of the Vegetable World

Exploring Root Vegetables: Dug from the Dirt, Underdogs of the Vegetable World

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Beyond the locavore movement of shopping at farmers markets and joining community-supported agriculture organizations (CSAs), we are global eaters, excited to explore the tables of Thailand, China, Japan, Peru, India, Ethiopia, and more at ethnic restaurants. Adventuresome cooks buy cookbooks focused on a particular cuisine and hunt down ingredients in Asian or Latin American markets so they can make a hot pot, simmer a curry, or madly stir-fry. If you’re like most, you wander through the produce section of an ethnic market selecting ingredients you know—lemongrass, ginger, Thai chiles—all the while wondering, what the heck is this hairy potato-like tuber? Or what do I do with galangal?

Diane Morgan is an award-winning cookbook author, freelance food writer, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She is the author of seventeen cookbooks, including her newest book, Roots: The Definitive Compendium. She has been involved in the world of food for more than 30 years. She spent six years in Chicago as a caterer and chef for an executive dining room. Leaving behind Chicago’s blustery, frigid winters, Diane moved to the Pacific Northwest, settling in Portland, Oregon. Her focus shifted to teaching cooking classes and pursuing a career in food writing.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please email chicago.foodways.roundtable@gmail.com or call 847-432-8255, leaving your name, telephone number, and the number of people in your party.