writing, ideas, food, utopia
I'm excited to say that the co-authored book that my Birkbeck colleagues and I have been working on has now been published. Thank you, University of California Press, for shepherding us through the process and producing such a handsome volume. Thank you, too, to my wonderful colleagues: Alex Colas, Jason Edwards, and Sami Zubaida. They… Continue reading Food, Politics, & Society: Social Theory and the Modern Food System – out now!
I'm very excited to have been asked to give a talk and run a workshop at the forthcoming Just Festival Westminster, taking place in London from 10th - 21st June 2015. First, details of the workshop: 14th June, 15:30 - 18:30 COOKING AND EATING THE PAST This workshop is a combination of a short illustrated… Continue reading Historic cooking class in London
Last week the world commemorated fifty years since the first space walk. Today we should be rejoicing in the less known - but for space food enthusiasts far more significant - 50th anniversary of the very first Earth food-as-we-know-it to appear in the United States' space programme: a corned beef sandwich. On 23rd March 1965… Continue reading Space food anniversaries: the first sandwich in space
Thomas More’s reputation for asceticism is clearly reflected in the BBC’s new adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. In episode 2 Stephen Gardiner mutters over a dull and sparse-looking dinner at More’s house that there is absolutely no danger of the household Fool’s excitable behaviour resulting from too rich a diet; shortly afterwards, on the… Continue reading Dining with Thomas More
When you read any of Charles Fourier's utopian tracts you can't help noticing what an important part sugar plays in his idea of the perfect world. He constantly refers delicious cakes, jams and sweets, and does it with such relish that it feels obvious that his future world, Harmony, was the perfect place for… Continue reading Rediscovering the Mirliton – Charles Fourier’s favourite tart
Besides all the obvious challenges of making a haggis (not least obtaining all the ingredients) it is surprisingly difficult to settle on a recipe. Although the basics are so well known as to seem unchangeable - oatmeal, sheep offal, pepper-based spicing - the briefest look at historical sources reveals subtle and not-so subtle variations in… Continue reading Haggis
Jane Levi 