Events: Edible Tour of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Sarah Lohman

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I’m doing a super fun tour of the Tropical Pavilion on Saturday, December 5th! We’ll explore the flavors used in holiday cooking and baking-like vanilla, black pepper, and chocolate-as well as coffee and kola. We’ll use sight, smell, and taste to experience these ingredients in their natural form and learn all about their history and usage. It’s a good time, and the true origins of these tropical plants will amaze you. Best part–admission to the BBG is included in the price of the tour. So you can spend the rest of your day in the warmth of the greenhouses, or touring the grounds!

$18, Get Tickets here! Tours at 10:30, 12:30 or 2:30

Events in May: Garlic and Booze!

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Sarah Lohman

The History of Garlic: A Special Dinner at the Farm on Adderley
Tuesday, May 12th, 7:30 PM
$60 / person (+ beverages, tax & gratuity)
To sign-up, send an e-mail to [email protected]

Americans are fanatical about garlic. Not just as food, but as an alternative-medicine cure-all. Our contemporary love of garlic is an irony considering that through much of garlic’s history its taste was considered repulsive. Not simply repulsive, but un-American. “Real” Americans a century ago, viewed Italian immigrants’ love of garlic as a manifestation of their resistance to American culture. This beloved bulb was condemned and marginalized.

Join us for a five-course dinner hosted by historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman. We will eat garlic-focussed foods from our kitchen and dive into how garlic became a flavor so desirable that it managed to transcend xenophobia and became the most widely used flavor in American cooking. Space is limited. Reservations required.

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Distilling Brooklyn
Thursday, May 14th
Doors open 6:30pm. Event begins at 7pm.
@ The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY
$12 General Admission / $8 for BHS and G-W Members

Three of Brooklyn’s top distilleries share their personal distilling histories and look at the vibrant (and sometimes violent) history of distilling in Brooklyn. Moderated by historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman, tastings will be offered from the esteemed participants, Kings County Distillery, New York Distilling Co., Van Brunt Stillhouse, and Brooklyn Gin.

Buy tickets here!

Presented in partnership with Brooklyn Brainery.

Masters of Social Gastronomy

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Sarah Lohman

By Leendertz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Wednesday, March 25th
FREE FREE FREE, 21+ RSVP
Doors at 7:30pm, talks start at 8pm
Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus

Each month, the Masters of Social Gastronomy (Sarah of Four Pounds Flour and the Brainery’s Soma) take on the history and science behind some of your favorite edibles. Up this month: the world’s strangest (and most expensive) edibles.

One man’s delicacy is another man’s nightmare! Uncover the oddball background of the world’s priciest coffee, and what a jungle cat has to do with your mild roast. If mammals sound passé, you might try bird’s nest soup, a Chinese delicacy that’s anything but a cluster of twigs.

Mankind has always loved strong scents and powerful flavors, but sometimes goes to questionable lengths to obtain them. Flavoring from a deer’s butt, anyone? Or the almost-mythical ambergris, a mass of squid beaks and fecal matter from inside a whale’s intestines, considered one of the most valuable substances by the ounce on the planet? Hear harrowing tales of aromatic animal extracts, in high demand as dessert flavorings from the medieval era through the 19th century.

RSVP here!

Masters of Social Gastronomy: Romance and Revenge, January 28

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Sarah Lohman

Masters of Social Gastronomy: The History of Aphrodisiacs and Poisons

Wednesday, January 28th.
FREE FREE FREE, 21+ RSVP
Doors at 7:30pm, talks start at 8pm
Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus

The Masters of Social Gastronomy take on curious food topics and break down the history, science, and stories behind them. This month, we’re getting reading for Valentine’s Day!

Every culture has a long history of aphrodisiacs – love-inducing and libido-promoting foods, ranging from the commonplace to the esoteric. Is chocolate the rightful king of Valentines Day, or could we do better with a tiger’s unmentionables? Let’s trace the history of these foxy foods and see what science has to say about their amorous assertions.

First comes loves, then comes marriage, then comes a little bit of rat poison in their coffee cup. When love goes wrong, out comes the Victorian obsession with female poisoners: delicate and seductive, these ladies made headlines in the age of yellow journalism for offing their lovers with poisoned food. Come hear their stories and…hey, does this taste like almonds to you? RSVP HERE.

Fall Events: Rationing, Candy History & Funeral Foods!

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Sarah Lohman

I’ve got an event in Long Island this Sunday and a Halloween food double header at the Brooklyn Brainery at the end of October!

Sorry, No Sugar Today
Sunday, September 28th, 2pm
The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A Stony Brook, NY 11790
Free with museum admission.

Have you ever wondered what rationing during WWII was really like? Promoted as the ultimate patriotic duty for those on the home front, it also represented one of the real drudgeries of the War. Food historian Sarah Lohman explores the challenges that Americans faced throughout WWII as a result of wartime rationing and recreates some favorite wartime recipes to demonstrate necessary ingredient substitutions. She’ll use real ration books from the time, as well as period newspaper articles to explore the ins and outs of the ration system and explain the reasoning behind it. You’ll get to try two types of cakes, a decadent recipe that would have used several months of ration books, and another, frugal recipe that made many substitutions and used few ration points. You can decide which one is best at this fun, hands-on talk.

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Candy: From Early History to Halloween
Wednesday, October 29th, 6:30-8pm
Brooklyn Brainery, 190 Underhill Ave. Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$16 Tickets Available Here!

Isn’t it weird that one day a year it’s appropriate to threaten people into giving you candy? Where did the Halloween tradition come from? And actually, how did we come up with candy in the first place?

In this class, we’ll cover a brief world history of candy, from the botanic roots of sugarcane, to the first processed confections from the Middle East, to the magical candy medicines of medieval Europe. Then, we’ll sort out the origins of Halloween, along with modern myths like the “razor blade in the apple.”

And, what would a talk on candy be without lots and lots of CANDY: historic candy samples will abound to help you learn.

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Food of the Dead: A Culinary History of Funeral Food
Wednesday, October 29th, 8:30-10:00pm
Brooklyn Brainery, 190 Underhill Ave. Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$16 Tickets Available Here!

At the end of an early American funeral, participants were often given a cookie: spiced with caraway, and stamped with a special design, they were often kept for years as a memento of the departed.

Although mourning traditions have changed over time, and vary from place to place, what they often have in common is food and drink. From the home parlour to the funeral parlor; from Irish wakes to sitting Shiva, consumption offers comfort in a time of grief.

In this talk we’ll look at the culinary traditions surrounding funerals throughout American history, and we’ll taste beer from Midas’s tomb, funeral cakes, and Mormon funeral potatoes

Events: Masters of Social Gastronomy, The Soda of a Nation

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Sarah Lohman

Masters of Social Gastronomy: Caffeine, Cocaine, and the Soda of a Nation
Tuesday, August 26
FREE FREE FREE, 21+ RSVP
Doors at 7:30pm, talks start at 8pm
Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus

Each month, our Masters of Social Gastronomy lectures bring you the history and science behind your favorite foods. Up this month: soda

We’ll dissect Coca-Cola’s namesakes, exploring the now-illicit ‘Coca’ and the Africa-sourced ‘Cola’. I’ll have samples of Kola nuts, Celery flavored soda, and I’ll tell you what happened when I tried coca for myself.

But don’t forget the runners-up – second-tier drinks, represent! Learn the strange journey of sarsaparilla, and how the drink of choice for archetypal Western cowboys found a second life halfway across the world. Discover the government plot to steal root beer away from Americans, and the corporate conspiracies that swirl around the failure of New Coke.

And this month, we have a special guest, Elizabeth Kiem, co-author of The Brooklyn Farmacy’s new book The Soda Fountain. She’ll be spinning a special yarn about Brooklyn soda history, as well as raffling off a copy of the book!

Extra bonus fun: This American Life released a podcast some years ago all about Coca Cola’s secret formula. It’s super fun and you should listen to it (below)!

Event: A Walking Tour of Little Tokyo!

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Sarah Lohman

Fried octopus balls! Photo by Alpha.

Umami: A Yummy Walking Tour of Little Tokyo
East Village; Meet at Astor Place, New York
Saturday, June 14th 12pm or 2:30pm
$30, Buy tickets here!
This price of this tour includes four tastings!

Learn to eat in the neighborhood where New York and Tokyo meet.

In the past decade, the East Village has transformed from a post-punk wasteland to an east-coast outpost of Japanese culture. From noodles to squid, bubble tea to curry, we’ll explore all the internationally influenced food Little Tokyo has to offer.

Which fast food chains have their only American outposts in Little Tokyo? What’s the difference between traditional and modern Japanese desserts? What are the three primary flavors of Japanese street food? The answers to these questions and more as you learn to eat in the neighborhood where New York and Tokyo meet.

This price of this tour includes four tastings! We meet in front of the Cube at Astor Place and the tour is 90 minutes long. Tickets!

Events: Masters of Social Gastronomy Present Food of the High Seas!

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Sarah Lohman

Learn the secrets of cruise ship food!

Tuesday, May 20th – Doors at 7:30pm, talks start at 8pm

FREE FREE FREE, 21+ RSVP please
Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus

Every month, Masters of Social Gastronomy Sarah and Soma take on the history and science behind some of your favorite foods. This month, MSG takes to the high seas to explore the culinary world of drunken sailors, seventeenth-century pirates, and the modern-day cruise ships that rule the waves.

We’ll be trumpeting the salty secrets of maritime alcohol: the legendary rum rations of the Royal Navy, the invention of the gin and tonic, and how you come down with a case of scurvy.

And when it comes to food, how did we get from surviving on dried beef and hard tack to the elaborate all-you-can eat buffets of today? From Booze Cruises to the Love Boat, the Midnight Buffet to viral food poisoning, we’ll learn about the magnificent accomplishments of feeding a 3,000 passenger ocean liner–as well as the horrors that can be found in a kitchen at sea.

RSVP HERE!

Masters of Social Gastronomy: The Mysteries of ICE CREAM

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Sarah Lohman

We couldn’t wait for summer, so we’re bringing summer to us!

Tuesday, April 29
FREE FREE FREE, 21+ RSVP
Doors at 7:30pm, talks start at 8pm
Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus

Every month, our MSG lectures take on the history and science behind some of your favorite foods. Up this month: ICE CREAM.

Hear the tale of vanilla ice cream, a commonplace flavor with a rare and exotic past. We’ll take a hard look at the science that makes ice cream tick and see if we can harness the DIY spirit to craft up astronaut ice cream in your very own kitchen.

The wide range of curious flavors will be on full display, with 19th-century artichoke-and-tomato ice cream and other adventuresome (and masochistic) creations.