Food for Thought: Book Discussion – Eight Flavors, Endangered Eating

NJCH is proud to support Piscataway Public Library’s “Food for Thought,” a series of events exploring the cultural and historical significance of food in our lives, through an Action Grant.

—

Join Library staff to discuss Sarah Lohman’s works, Eight Flavors and Endangered Eating. Feel free to read one book, or both books – finishing the book is not required to join the conversation! Sarah Lohman will be visiting Piscataway Public Library at the end of April, offering a workshop on recipe writing and a book talk and signing focused on her more recent book, Endangered Eating.

Eight Flavors: The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population that makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha.

In “a unique and surprising view of American history…richly researched, intriguing, and elegantly written” (The Atlantic), Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table.

Endangered Eating: In Endangered Eating, Lohman draws inspiration from the Ark of Taste, a list compiled by Slow Food International that catalogues important regional foods. Lohman travels the country learning about the distinct ingredients at risk of being lost. Readers follow Lohman to Hawaii, as she walks alongside farmers to learn the stories behind heirloom sugarcane. In the Navajo Nation, she assists in the traditional butchering of a Navajo Churro ram. Lohman heads to the Upper Midwest, to harvest wild rice; to the Pacific Northwest, to spend a day wild salmon reef net fishing; to the Gulf Coast, to devour gumbo made thick and green with filé powder; and to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, to taste America’s oldest peanut—long thought to be extinct.

Lohman learns from those who love these rare ingredients: shepherds, fishers, and farmers; scientists, historians, and activists. And she tries her hand at raising these crops and preparing these dishes. Each chapter includes two recipes, so readers can be a part of saving these ingredients by purchasing and preparing them.

The Food for Thought project was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

Registration through the library is required at https://piscataway.librarycalendar.com/events/list?keywords=food%20for%20thought.