Tag: cooking

Archival Kismet: A Manifesto

In a fit of spring-cleaning early last year, my mother sent me a series of boxes filled with various mementos from my childhood and other things she wanted to get out of her closets and into mine. Tucked inside one of the boxes was a photocopy of a family recipe. This recipe was for varenyky… Read more →

The Gender Politics of the “Sexy Chef” in Romance Literature

After finishing my master’s degree in Gastronomy in July 2013, I gave myself an academic reading palate cleanser.1 I devoured dozens of romance novels that summer before I began my PhD. Some were good: saucy and satisfying. Others were less good: dull and uninspired, though still relatively enjoyable, like the breadsticks at Olive Garden. One… Read more →

The Feminist Fork

Like so many people, I have a complicated relationship with food. I’ve eaten out of anger, sadness, or excitement.  At times, food connects me with people and places.  I’ve even gone so far as to have mistaken food for love. Other times, shame accompanies me while I eat and comments on what I ate, how… Read more →