Culinary HIstory of the Future, Part I

ATLANTA - January 20, 2009. The only composter of its kind on the East Coast is housed at Emory University's Food and Catering Service.  Senior Director Patty Ziegenhorn-Erbach and her staff hosted a Culinary Historians of Atlanta event today to show us how the machine works. Twenty-five of us showed up on this wickedly cold evening to watch lumps of food scraps, coated with enzymes, rotate in a stainless steel hopper. The enzymes break the food scraps down into water and a small amount of organic material. The water falls to the bottom of the hopper, from which it is pumped through a series of filters, and bathed briefly in the glow of a ultra-violet light to kill nasty organisms that might be in residence. The clean (but not potable) water is then flushed down the sanitary sewer and to Atlanta's water plant for further scrubbing.  The eventual plan is to use the water on campus, for watering the beautiful campus landscaping. and cutting down on the university's dependence on the water system. 

Sitting next to the filtering system is a large container of used cooking oil, which is used by "Cliff", the on-campus shuttle system.  The shuttle busses drive up to the dock, pump the oil directly into their fuel tanks and return to their duties with no time wasted going to a gas station. 

We also discussed our plans for 2009. In March, we plan to visit the Soul Food Museum in downtown Atlanta. Stay tuned for more information. In May, we'll discuss the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan.  Michael Pollan is an influential food writer who will be in Atlanta in March, 2009 for at least two speaking engagements. If you are interested in seeing him in person, you can attend the annual conference of Georgia Organics. Here is the link to their website   http://www.georgiaorganics.org/conference

We also discussed starting a true membership program, with annual dues of $25 per  person, or $20 for seniors and students. Roger Dickerson has agreed to serve as Treasurer. We also discussed holding a fund raiser either in addition to or instead of membership dues. 

Food of Roman Orgies

On a beautiful autumn Saturday last November, we gathered to celebrate the foods of Roman orgies. We met in the pavilion at Woodlands, in Decatur, Georgia. While we feasted on the foods of Ancient Rome, using recipes provided by Christy Seelye-King, we discussed the history that we were eating,  Roger Dickerson read us a long, explicit passage from  Satyricon, reporting on one such event. Deb Duchon gave the culinary biography of Apicius, and Marko Robinson reported on the history of ale and beer.  

Some of the foods that we enjoyed include: olives, grapes, mead, ale, wine, ham, figs, dates, herbed cheese, honey, bread, and broccoli.  This was a family event, and the children in attendance seemed to enjoy having a day in the woods as much as the food. 

Field Trip - 9/14/08

Field Trip 

Join us for the Chow Down at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, September 14, 2008. Here's the link for more information http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/template.cfm?cid=830

Private Pizzeria in Buckhead

"This is really something!"  A number of people pulled me aside to say those words at our third meeting, held August 12, 2008 at Jeff Varasano's private pizzeria. 

Jeff 's personal, informal research into the technology of pizza making over the past 200 years shows how studying culinary history can result in becoming a better cook today. His pizzas have a thin, crispy, slightly charred crust and an addictive flavor. "I can't stop eating these!" was another comment I heard over and over.  

In 1999, Jeff Varasano, a native of New York City, moved to Atlanta. He expected to find the kind of great pizza that he could get on every street corner in Brooklyn, but he was disappointed. His experience was not unusual. Most every Northerner who moves to Atlanta is appalled by Southern pizza.  The average person complains and then adjusts, but Jeff is anything but average.  He went on a quest to understand pizza in order to duplicate it in his home kitchen.  He visited great pizza parlors all over New York City and Naples, Italy (where pizza was invented) to study their techniques -- and their equipment. He found that the old-style pizzerias in both places were simply housed in bakeries - using the same ovens that the baker had used. Most of the great old places had coal-fired ovens. Some were wood-fired, and more modern ovens are powered by electricity or natural gas. The electric ovens are incapable of the highest temperatures needed for the perfect thin crust, necessitating the development of thick, bready crusts.  Jeff figured out how to make a thin dough (hint: it must be wet) and how to rig up his home oven to cook on the self-cleaning cycle, at about 800 degrees F.  I could go on, but Jeff says it best in his website - 

http://slice.seriouseats.com/jvpizza/

The same evening, we also discussed the classic book, Food in History, by Reay Tannahill.  Most of our members really liked it. It's a lively read, as Tannahill was actually a novelist by trade and this non-fiction book shows off her ability to tell a good tale.  

We also agreed to have a swap table at every meeting - a place to share extra books, kitchen implements, etc. And we'll have a "for sale" table, too.  

Millie Coleman offered up the culinary biography of Epicurus, whose name is the basis of our term "epicure". Epicurus was a Greek philosopher born in 341 BC. He taught that knowledge is gained through the senses and that happiness is based on tranquility and peace of mind -- and how can one have peace of mind without being well fed?  Epicurus was a teacher who was generous, kind, and a good friend to his students. He included women equally with men in his classes, leading to rumors by outsiders that the coed classes were not just interested in philosophy, and the naughty reputation that epicureans face to this day. 

Thank you, Jeff, for hosting this wonderful event. Best wishes for a brilliant career as a restaurateur.