Delicious History

I’ve been cooking a lot lately, and it is only out of laziness i have not documented my efforts.  Pho turned out great on my first try.  The same with banh mi.  I’ve experimented with jerk recently, making some fiery hot meatballs and a sweeter chicken version.  Some friends complained about the heat of the meatballs— I made them punitive in nature, which is how i sometimes like it.  I like them to burn on the way out, if you know what i mean.  I made the chicken for a dear friend’s birthday party, shredded into chunks, and people loved it.  That sauce was more runny, with a fruity hint of OJ, and plenty of allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon, all ground fresh.

On this website:

I’ve come to a grim decision: to take down all of the photos on this site and start over, at least as far as photos are concerned.  I’m really not that happy with Flickr as a showcase for this site’s photos.  It is too difficult to use of the purposes I envisioned.  So the photos will come down, and hopefully reappear over time in a more realistic and sustainable resolution.  Perhaps then i will be more interested in posting regularly again.  Besides, it will soon be time to make limoncello, and i wouldn’t want anyone to miss that one.

I looked over the final proofs thoroughly, and it looks good indeed.  University Press of Florida pulled it all together.  I only found 6 or 7 things for fixing—- which is rather miraculous considering the amounts of change to the text and layout.

I was looking forward to seeing the book go into the Florida History and Culture Series at the press.  It had special signifigance for me, as the series is edited by Gary R. Mormino and Raymond O. Arsenault, two professors who taught me so much in and out of the classroom.  Sadly, through some fluke at the press (but we won’t talk about that), it will not be able to be added to the series.  At this point, I’m grateful enough to have a book that does justice to its subject.

My speaking schedule is already beginning to fill ouyt for the fall, and I am abut to augment my now-classic (and still in demand!) lecture “Florida’s Delicious History” with new talks.

“Florida’s Delicious History” is a meditation on the “connective tissue” between food and Florida’s unusually rich history.  It is like my plate at the end of an excellent buffet: there’s a little bit of everything.  Most of all, I set out to show that food offers an opportunity to delve into (and relate to) serious history in a fun, engaging way.

I just created “In Search of Florida Cuisine” to reflect specifically on Florida’s food.  I attempt to answer the question “What is Florida food”, and look at immigrant cuisine, old time Southern food, and Floribbean flights of fancy.  It is testament to Florida’s multidimensional culture that it takes a full lecture to answer that question with any measure of effort.

For an interesing food and drink based talk on Pohibition, I will soon offer “Florida’s Noble Disaster: Prohibition and Repeal”, a look at righteous, God-fearing prohibitionists, shamless smugglers, the fall of fine dining, the rise of the criminal underworld, the land (and booze) boom, flappers and feminism, hard liquor at soft drink stands, a sudden enthusiasm for billiards, moonshining and NASCAR, all in the crazy place we call Florida.

I also look forward to offering “The Columbia Restaurant: A century of history, culture, and cuisine.”  That lecture tells the story of the Columbia Restaurant’s remarkable history, food, and family.  I tell the story in broad strokes while making time for stories from the book along the way.  If walls could talk, the Columbia’s would tell the most incredible stories.  This lecture (and the book!) is the next best thing.