Wednesday, February 01 9:19 am
Join food historian Francine Segan for a tour of aphrodisiacs through the ages. Photo courtesy of Francine Segan.
In honor of the approaching Valentine’s Day, the Museum will host food historian Francine Segan on Wednesday, February 8, for Aphrodisiacs: Myth or Reality?, featuring stories and tastings of foods considered to have seductive properties throughout time. Below, Segan unravels the histories behind a few food items thought to have a strong connection to passion.
Why were oysters, scallops, mussels, and other types of seafood hailed as aphrodisiacs?
Francine Segan: Aphrodisiacs were named for Aphrodite, the goddess of love. According to ancient Greek legend, Aphrodite was born from the sea and arrived onshore transported on either an oyster or scallop shell. So oysters and all sorts of shellfish were thought to be aphrodisiacs.
Why did wine come to be viewed as an aphrodisiac?
Segan: The ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped and held yearly festivals for the wine god Bacchus, also called Dionysus, who was born from an affair between the god Zeus and a mortal woman. Wine, for the ancients, was not just a nice drink to have with dinner, but thought to be absolutely essential to good health. At that time, water was often filled with dangerous germs, whereas wine was safe. More than just essential to good health, wine was believed to be essential to life, making it one of the first and most popular aphrodisiacs. Read more »
Tuesday, January 17 2:22 pm
Food blogger Sarah Lohman sheds light on dieting techniques that Americans of another era used to shed a few pounds. © Will Heath
This New Year’s, millions of Americans resolved to shed a few pounds throughout the coming year. Americans have always been attentive to their waistlines, but their “ideal” weight has changed over time. On January 24, food blogger Sarah Lohman will lead Tonics and Tinctures: Historic Remedies for Your Expanding Waistline, this month’s Adventures in the Global Kitchen event. As part of her talk, Loham will give an overview of how and why Americans historically lost weight, the psychology of body image, and the birth of food science and home economics. Lohman recently took us through a few of the dieting techniques and food items that she’ll discuss—and even encourage audience members to try—next week.
Diet Trend: Fletcherizing
Lohman: Fletcherizing is a technique in which you chew every bite of food until it disintegrates. Even soup and water had to be chewed before swallowing. This technique was named for its inventor, Horace Fletcher, who created the trick in response to Americans’ longstanding reputation for eating too quickly. If you read accounts of English travelers that came to the United States as early as the 1830s, one thing they remark on is how quickly Americans wolf down food. Fletcher’s point was to slow down, which we now know gives your stomach time to send your brain signals that it’s full. Fletcher’s followers chomped between 30 to 300 times for every morsel of food. We’ll be giving this technique a try at the event. Read more »
Wednesday, October 05 1:12 pm
Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster. © 2011, The Brooklyn Brewery
Beer and cheese have long been two of America’s favorite things. On October 19, Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Aaron Foster of Murray’s Cheese will lead the Museum’s Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Beer and Cheese, an exploration of how carefully crafted pairings can bring out the best in both, complete with tastings of multiple seasonal beers and cheese. Oliver, who recently edited The Oxford Companion to Beer, answered a few questions about the popular beverage.
What made you choose a career in beer?
My degree is in broadcasting and film, and I spent years working for HBO and making independent films. Beer started as a hobby and slowly took over my life. Like filmmaking, it’s a perfect blend of art and science when it’s done right.
You recently edited The Oxford Companion to Beer, which covers over 1,100 individual subjects ranging from the drink’s social history to techniques for making oak-aged beers. What was the most interesting thing you learned?
Among the most surprising was the race to develop the humble bottle cap. Before the modern crown cap, most bottles were closed with the old “pot-stopper” closure, which you still see today on a few brands such as Grolsch. In those days, though, these bottles often leaked. So between 1882 and 1890, the U.S. Patent Office received more than 300 patents for beer bottle closures. And the makers of the winning designs became quite rich. Aside from this, the book talks about the history of women in brewing, traditional brewing in Africa (often using techniques that go back to ancient Egypt), and the development first of the English alehouse and later the modern pub. Both refrigeration and pasteurization were invented for beer. Wherever you have human history and progress, you’ll find beer right in the center of the action. Read more »
Monday, May 09 2:18 pm
Entomologist Gene Kritsky will discuss beekeeping on May 11. Credit: © MSJ/D. Denney
Entomologist Gene Kritsky, author of The Quest for the Perfect Hive: A History of Innovation in Bee Culture, will join beekeepers Richard Blohm and Carl Flatow for a discussion about urban beekeeping at this month’s Adventures in the Global Kitchen on Wednesday, May 11. He recently answered some questions about apiculture.
What is the earliest historic record of beekeeping, and where did it originate?
The earliest historic record of beekeeping is from the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. This relief, which is in the Neues Museum in Berlin, shows the taking of honey from horizontal hives, extracting the honey from the wax, and sealing in jars.
The oldest known beehives date from 900 BCE and were found in the ancient city of Rehov in Israel.
What significant innovation vastly improved beekeeping?
The most important innovation in beekeeping was the incorporation of the “bee space” in hive design. The “bee space” is the space that is too far apart for bees to glue shut, but too narrow for them to bridge with comb. This design permitted the development of a hive with moveable frames, which led to significant increases in honey production per hive. Read more »
Wednesday, November 10 4:18 pm
For centuries, the Silk Road bridged culture and trade between Asia and the Mediterranean. In this episode of Adventures in the Global Kitchen, Persian cookbook author Najmieh Batmanglij takes a culinary tour of the ancient trading route.
Recorded at the American Museum of Natural History on May 19, 2010.
Podcast: Download | RSS | iTunes (24 mins, 29 MB)
