Welcome
The first post of a new blog is a terrifying thing. Help me get over the terror by reading *very* quickly so I can move to post two.
Food history is one of my passions. I’m the sort of person who looks at a spice and remembers the Renaissance trade routes or who copies down recipes so that I can trace how they pass through different places and times and what changes they undergo.
This blog will have all that and maybe a bit more. When I come across a cool anecdote, I’ll share it. I’ll give you recipes every Friday (some tested, some not) and on Saturday another recipe, from my secret family archive. OK, so it won’t be a secret family archive after a little while. This will cease to matter. After a mere few weeks, you will want to know more about Anglo-Australian Jewish recipes from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Either you will want to know more or my mind-control technique will have to be junked.
My reason for posting family recipes isn’t to annoy my family (alas). I’m hoping that readers will start hunting through *their* family archives and send me their recipes to blog - and Saturday will become the day when we share our family heritages. Until readers send recipes, though, you’re stuck with Jewish Christmas pudding, inedible scones and other obscure delights from the Polack family.
Sunday I thought would a good day for exploring the web. Every Sunday I will find a URL or two with fun stuff about food history. Or maybe introduce a favourite book. There are places worth visiting and people worth meeting.
The rest of the week you’re stuck with me. Unadulterated. Probably evil.
The good news is that I am an historian. Really and truly. PhD and all. I teach food history in Australia from time to time. I’m a Medievalist and the culinary side is more of a serious hobby, but I will occasionally bring my odd knowledge of very dead languages and surprisingly undead cultural practises to bear on food history stuffs I come across.
The other thing you need to know is that I’ve just been seconded into planning a Regency Gothic Banquet for a science fiction convention. I foresee lots of blogging on the subjects of Regency food, Gothic food and how on earth we talk a modern hotel into creating a Jane Austen meets Anne Radcliffe menu. This time next year I promise to blog the whole menu, and will save all the pithiest food comments for your delectation.
This year I did a Medieval feast. Just in case you were wondering.
October 13th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Great post - I was looking around for ideas for my own welcome post ;).
October 13th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
nice post. I love food posts
October 13th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Ok. I can see that I will be a regular visitor here. I love period food.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Welcome all of you.
Lisa - I just snuck a look at your welcome post and it is not only gorgeous, it makes me really relieved I don’t have toddlers.
Sharyn and Elisa - this is why I like blogging. We get to talk about things we love with people who are equally interested. I rather suspect I’ll be keeping an eye on your blog, too, Elisa :).