Bar

What is your own island life experience? Come and share over a glass of wine or a beer, and introduce yourself to even more new faces. Your hosts will be…

Panel 1 — Adulteration

This panel examines adulteration from different perspectives: the ‘dilution’ of herbs and spices when processed into blends that lead to a cultural devaluation of the prime ingredient; regulatory efforts to…

Panel 2 — Pot-pourri

Move over, hash brownies. These papers launch from the current interest in cannabis cookery to investigate both the original counterculture cookery books from the 1960s and ‘70s and the culinary…

Panel 3 — Colonialism

These papers view herbs and spices in the colonial context from opposite ends of the telescope: how did annatto move around the world courtesy of French colonial activity versus what…

Panel 5 — Pharmacopoeia

Herbs and spices have long been seen as medicine: whether dealing with ways of combatting scurvy, a justification for consuming saffron with unleavened bread, or as healing cordials, these key…

Panel 6 — Interpreting Medieval Texts

Often frustratingly imprecise and obscure to the modern cook, medieval culinary texts nonetheless offer clues to the cuisines of centuries past: these papers explore mysterious ingredients in China as well…

Panel 7 — Structures of Cuisines

Why do certain local herbs and spices appear regularly in a cuisine, while other available seasonings are missing? Why do certain ‘flavour profiles’ emerge? These two papers approach these questions…

Panel 8 — Chilis on the World Table

Capsicums are nearly ubiquitous, appearing in many of the world’s cuisines, but capsicums signify different things depending on context. This panel explores their use as table condiments in Japan, Turkey,…

Panel 9 — Changing British Cuisine

No cuisine is static; these three papers trace changes in British cuisine, whether the early modern elevation of wild herbs, the desuetude of the savoury course, or the imperial messages…