Sweets: Ken Albala

Sweets: Ken Albala
2008 conference CHC/file
Sweets: Ken Albala
2008 conference CHC/file

Sweets: Ken Albala

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The Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, building off the success of its inaugural event last fall, invited media, academics, members of the food and foodservice industry, students and food enthusiasts to come together for a day-long event, entitled: “Sweets: A Journey Through Midwestern Dessert Traditions,” a program about the history of sweets in the Midwest, including important dessert traditions that began in small towns and big cities here in the Midwest.    

Presenting the keynote lunch was Ken Albala, Professor of History at the University of the Pacific, to discuss Almond Cookery from Northern Europe to the Midwest or how an exotic import retained its status over time and tide. 

The roots of almond cookery in both savory and sweet recipes goes back at least 800 years in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Modern recipes are the direct descendants of this long tradition. This presentation examines in detail the extensive uses of almonds on both sides of the Atlantic from medieval to modern cuisine.

Ken Albala, Professor of History at the University of the Pacific, and author of many books including Eating Right in the Renaissance, Food in Early Modern Europe, Cooking in Europe: 1250-1650, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe and most recently Beans: A History. He is currently completing a textbook for the Culinary Institute of America entitled World Cuisines. He also edits several food series for Greenwood Press - Food Culture Around the World, Food Cultures in America, and Cooking Through History.

Recorded Saturday, April 05, 2008 at Kendall College.