James R. Pennell is a professor of sociology at the University of Indianapolis. He is also a lifelong musician and singer-songwriter who regularly performs in Central Indiana. He recently answered some questions […]
Category: food
Release Party: From Gluttony to Enlightenment, by Viktoria von Hoffmann
Scorned since antiquity as low and animal, the sense of taste is celebrated today as an ally of joy, a source of adventure, and an arena for pursuing sophistication. The […]
Backlist Bop: Soy meets world
The World of Soy, edited by Christine M. Du Bois, Chee-Beng Tan, and Sidney Mintz It’s the happy season when we feast on all the high-calorie favorites we feel too […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: National Cookbook Month Is the Tastiest Month
As Halloween weekend nears, the nation’s culinary eye will turn to candy, bat’s wings, and other holiday foods. Before that happens, however, UIP wants to offer a more respectful tribute […]
In search of good cornbread
Tonight Cynthia Clampitt continues her barnstorming book tour of the Midwest with a reading a book signing in Winfield, Illinois. (Seven p.m. at the Public Library.) To celebrate, the blog […]
Sweet potatoes for a sweet year
Today marks Rosh Hashanah of the year 5777 and if you want to be Jewish for a day, you should eat. Because you look tired. Your cheeks look sunken. Are […]
Release Party: Table Talk
Etiquette books insist that we never discuss politics during a meal. In Table Talk: Building Democracy One Meal at a Time, Janet A. Flammang offers a polite rebuttal, presenting vivid […]
Throwbacklist Thursday
The month of June brings countless pleasures to the Midwest. Few exceed the overwhelming presence of fresh produce at semi-affordable prices. At last, we can put aside the beyond-tired apples […]
200 Years of Illinois: The most dangerous root
Horseradish sparks opinions as strong as its taste. Most people, truth to tell, want nothing to do with the root in its fiery, ground-up form. Their relationship to horseradish rests mainly on […]
Release Party: Taste of the Nation
During the Depression, the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) dispatched scribes to sample the fare at group eating events like church dinners, political barbecues, and clambakes. Its America Eats project sought […]
Q&A with Taste of the Nation author Camille Bégin
Camille Bégin is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. She answered some questions about her book Taste of […]
Bumper crop
What does America need? You probably have a long list. It might even include “a good five-cent cigar.” What does America NOT need? More corn. We’re swimming in corn. South America is […]