Cheesesteak History From Philadelphia and Beyond

A Geno's Cheesteak from Philadelphia

Chrissie Reilly 

Philadelphia Foodways with Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Philadelphia

Steak Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=steak

Boston University Food and the City Conference: http://www.bu.edu/history/news-events/conferences/food-and-the-city-conference/

The Croton-on-Hudson Edition of Who Makes the Best Pizza Debate

Interview with Phil Cawley who reflects on working at Capriccio starting when he was in 4th grade! Related Links  Below

Capriccio Pizza Reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/capriccio-pizza-croton-on-hudson

Capriccio Pizza: http://capriccioii.com/index.htm

Goomba’s Pizza: http://www.foodasalens.com/2009/09/westchester-deli-culture-part-ii-wedges.html

Mrs. Vasta Homemade Pizza: http://www.foodasalens.com/2011/01/whats-stopping-you-from-learning-to.html

Let’s Talk Small Town New York Pizza: http://www.foodasalens.com/2009/09/lets-talk-small-town-new-york-pizza.html

Memorial Day Through the Lens of Food

Macaroni Salad, this many other barbecue related recipes below (photo from http://foodmuses.wordpress.com/)

As far back as I can remember, on summer holidays my mother would organize these“get togethers,” barbecues, and holiday picnics at our home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. We had plenty of good U. S. and African food. Our family provided the chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs to cook on the monstrous brick grill my dad made in the yard. The picnics often included as many as thirty or more people who came and went from noon until flyer fly dark set in. Good food, music, and people kept people coming back to these 1970s gatherings. My mother loved to cook and she loved to listen to the music of Maria Makeba and Hugh Masekela among others. She also loved being around her family and people from the “mother land,” as she would say. Mom belonged to an organization called Friends of Africa (FOA) that exposed me at an early age to the Anti-apartheid movement. As a result of holiday picnics  included family and extended family; many of them Africans who came to attend U. S. colleges and universities. On 55 Batten Road, in Croton, African and African Americans mixed and mingled over barbecued chicken, macaroni salad (recipe below), corn bread, rice pudding, peach cobbler and pecan pie (recipe below). The conversations ranged from food and cooking explanations and comparisons, to U. S. and African politics. These multiethnic barbecues, the music, and conversations with people from Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, and Sierra Leon are among my most cherished food memories of my youth. Please share your family barbecue memories with me on the comment section below and check out the recipes and related links.


My Barbecue Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=barbecue

Fred’s Macaroni Salad Recipe:

2 cans tuna fish

1 box elbow macaroni

½ to 1 cup each of diced celery, green and red peppers, carrots, and onions.

½ to 1 cup sweet pickle relish.

1 cup mayonnaise (I use soy or canola based mayonnaise)

2 diced hard boiled eggs are optional

Add salt, pepper, fresh parsley, and other favorite seasonings.

Another Macaroni Salad Recipe: http://foodmuses.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/cool-and-creamy-macaroni-salad/

Hudson Valley Foodways and recipes: http://frederickdouglassopie.blogspot.com/search?q=the+hudson+valley

The Music of Maria Makeba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP6CdNVzjC8&feature=related 


The Music of Hugh Masekela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKCk8o5xzaM&feature=related 


Anti-apartheid Movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rD6LxhZuuc.

Feeding the Revolution in Oakland, California

Barbecued vegetables and tofu

I've been in San Francisco the last couple of days attending this year’s annual Latin American Studies Association Meeting (LASA) where I chaired a panel on Food and Latin American Politics. While here I made it over to the special collections library at Stanford University to use the Hughey P. Newton Papers. By the way, I came across  correspondence between Newton and officials in Cuba but I am a foodie and stayed in that lane. For example, I found some great sources on food related business ideas that the Panthers had been exploring as well as their grocery bag full of food giveaway as part of a voter registration drive. The sources at the archive made me think about my ongoing series feeding the revolution which looks at the role of food in social movement and uprisings. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Black Panthers first launched organizing against police brutality and community empowerment efforts in poor African American neighborhoods in Oakland, California. From there the Panther’s black power revolution spread across the country. Originally from Texas, Panther Bobby Seale is a barbecue genius who used his skills to raise money for the Panthers. Seale’s cook book tells you how to make sauces, baste marinades, side dishes, and barbecue recipes for meats and vegetables. 

Barbeque’n with Bobby Seale: http://www.bobbyqueseale.com/

Barbecued-vegetable-recipes: http://www.thatsmyhome.com/bbqpit/barbecued-vegetable-recipes.htm

Feeding the Revolution Series:   http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Feeding+the+Revolution

Rhubarb History On Three Continents

My Strawberry Rhubarb creations, recipes below

Its that time of the year when people plant Rhubarb which represents the earliest fruit of one's kitchen garden. I make allot of strawberry Rhubarb pie and pastries in the early part of the summer. The origins of Rhubarb date back to China in 2700 BC when the Chinese cultivated Rhubarb for medicinal use. The Italian botanist Prosper Alpinus introduced the more popular edible species to Europe in 1608. People did not recognize it as a food plant and cultivate it as such until 1750 in Germany. Europeans introduced rhubarb first to the New England region in the 1820s where it became a popular ingredient for pastry and pie fillings. Sometime in the nineteenth century it made its way south and became very popular among southerners. I remember that my grandma Lucy Opie, originally from Virginia made a great strawberry Rhubarb pie. Like her, I don’t measure ingredients when creating so I provided some recipes below. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe: http://www.thatsnotwhattherecipesays.com/2010/03/strawbery-rhubarb-pie.html

Rhubarb Pie Recipe: http://frederickdouglassopie.blogspot.com/2009/08/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-on-my-mind-and.html

Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe: http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/piesandcobblers/r/strawrhubcobbler.htm

My Pie Stories and Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=pie

The Life of Pie on the BBC Food Podcast: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/foodprog/foodprog_20120521-1600a.mp3

My Pie Stories and Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=pie

The Life of Pie on the BBC Food Podcast: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/foodprog/foodprog_20120521-1600a.mp3

Knowing Your Family Medical History and Diabetes Part 2

Related Links Below

Diabetes Related Stories and Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=diabetes

Grandma Duers with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Luesta

Childhood Diabetes:

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/30/151683942/as-diabetes-rises-in-kids-so-do-treatment-challenges

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/21/153030283/a-dire-sign-of-the-obesity-epidemic-teen-diabetes-soaring-study-finds

Historic Rise in Diabetes: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/cdc-1-in-3-americans-could-have-diabetes-by-2050.html

Diabetes, An International Concern: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/09/heart-disease-diabetes-to-take-center-stage-at-un.html

Knowing Your Family Medical History and Diabetes

Image from  http://gwinnettmedical.blogspot.com/  related  links below

related links below

More than a Haircut, Barbershops Engaged in Screening for Diabetes: http://www.npr.org/local/stories/KQED/152766049

Diabetes Related Stories and Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=diabetes

George Priestly and Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=George+Priestly

Relationship between Obesity and Diabetes:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june12/obesity_05-08.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/10/22/130750449/diabetes-rates-to-soar-unless-americans-get-weight-under-control

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/05/15/peds.2011-1082.abstract

Historic Rise in Diabetes: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/cdc-1-in-3-americans-could-have-diabetes-by-2050.html

Fish Fries & Sides Dishes in 1940s 1950s Arkansas

Chow-chow, this and other recipes below

related links below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

Potato Salad Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=potato+salad

Chow Chow Stories With Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/12/christmas-foodway-series-southern.html

Watermelon Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=watermelon

It’s Time To Play and Plant: Lacrosse, Tomatoes, Beans, and Corn

Related links and recipes below

Review of the Lacrosse Movie Crooked Arrows: [Watch 8 min] http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-of-first-feature-film-about.html

Current Farmer’s Almanac: http://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/gardening/

Gardening Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Gardening

Tomato Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=tomato+series

Bean Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=beans

Corn Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=corn+series

Fish Fries As A Collective Community Food Preparation Event Part

Community Brunswick Stew Making Event location unknown

Related Links Below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

The West African Origins of The Southern Fish Fry: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/07/west-african-origins-of-southern-fish.html

Elizabeth Henry of New Orleans, Queen of the Fish Fry: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/03/culinary-look-at-women-in-history-cast.html

Tartar Sauce Story and Recipe: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/05/fried-fish-with-tartar-sauce-is-wining.html

Obesity in North America an Historical Look

Photo from the new HBO's Special The Weight of the Nation, link below     

Related links below

HBO Special, The Weight of the Nation Program Website: http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/films

Interactive Map on Obesity in North America: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/20120507-obesity/

History of the U. S. Obesity Problem: [Watch 25 min 24 sec] http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/05/201251072829602369.html

Government Regulations, The Food Industry, and Obesity What’s the Link? http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/09/can-food-industry-governments-work-together-to-fight-obesity.html

The Obesity and Life Expectancy Question: [Watch or Listen 15 min 8 sec] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june12/obesity_05-08.html

Michelle Obama’s Anti-obesity campaign: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/02/second-anniversary-of-lets-move.html

New HBO Documentary on Obesity in North America: [Listen 31 min 6 sec] http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152667325/pounding-away-at-americas-obesity-epidemic

Obesity and Blacks and Latinos: [Listen 12 min 36 sec] http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152673036/is-there-a-better-way-to-talk-about-obesity

Booker T. Washington Through the Lens of Food

Booker T. Washington (Library of Congress Collection)

Related links below

Deborah Davis, Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner: [Listen 16 min 54 sec] http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152684575/teddy-roosevelts-shocking-dinner-with-washington

Marcus Garvey: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Marcus+Garvey+


Photos from the Book Washington Papers: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=LOT%2013164&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co!=coll&sg=true&st=gallery


My Booker T. Washington Stories with Related Recipes:

http://www.foodasalens.com/2011/08/let-me-help-you-learn-about-black.html

http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/03/easter-series-food-and-african-and_09.html

http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/04/molasses-and-louisiana-purchase.html

Fish Fries and Music in 1940s 1950s Arkansas

1940 Fish fry Louisville, Kentucky (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

related links below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

Elizabeth Henry of New Orleans, Queen of the Fish Fry: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/03/culinary-look-at-women-in-history-cast.html

Tartar Sauce Story and Recipe: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/05/fried-fish-with-tartar-sauce-is-wining.html

Harmonica Great Little Walter: [Listen 8 min 7 sec] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106643020

A Good Cook Can Even Make Road Kill Look and Taste Good!

Related Links Below

More Cousin Katie Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Cousin+Katie

Will Allen and Growing Power

Related Links Below

Gardening Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Gardening

Will Allen Key Note Speech and Slide Show at Duke University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0EMlaOGzmo

Interviews with MacArthur Genesis Award Winner Will Allen: [Listen]: http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/SOT22912BC.mp3/view?searchterm=Will%20Allen

Will Allen on Splendid Table: [Listen]  http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/120505/

Growing Power: http://www.growingpower.org/

Will Allen, The Good Food Revolution:  http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/store/?1592407102

Fish Fries and Politics in 1940-1950s Arkansas

Related Links Below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

Series Stumping And Eating And Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Electoral+Politics+and+Food

Elizabeth Henry of New Orleans, Queen of the Fish Fry: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/03/culinary-look-at-women-in-history-cast.html

Tartar Sauce Story and Recipe: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/05/fried-fish-with-tartar-sauce-is-wining.html

The West African Origins of The Southern Fish Fry: http://www.foodasalens.com/2010/07/west-african-origins-of-southern-fish.html

The African Heritage Pyramid Diet

African Heritage Diet Pyramid  (image from From Oldways), Related Links and recipes below

The following is a TV interview I did related to the release of the new African Heritage Diet Pyramid. The segment  focused on the importance and the benefits of eating what one's ancestors ate. 


CityLine Segment 2: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/30569377/detail.html [Watch 7 min 11 sec] 


African Heritage and Health: http://oldwayspt.org/programs/african-heritage-health


African Heritage Diet Pyramid: http://oldwayspt.org/sites/default/files/images/African_pyramid_flyer.jpg

Adam Clayton Powell on Eating Fish, Fishing and the Hudson River in the 1920s

Related Links Below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

The Best of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Food Stories With Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Adam+Clayton+Powell

Pinkster Celebration and Afro Dutch Foodways

Gingerbread muffin, recipe below

Starting a series today on the Afro Dutch Pinkster celebration. Pinkster is a Pentecost holiday celebrated seven weeks after Easter when the Holy Spirit began his ministry on earth as described in the first chapter of the book of Acts. First celebrated for several days in 1620, it represented a Holiday that Dutch settlers introduced to the Hudson Valley, Northern New Jersey and Western Long Island where they had the greatest concentration. Dutch settlers brought enslaved African to these regions from Africa and the Caribbean and introduced them to this Christian holiday which included parades and festivals. Overtime northern blacks co-opted Pinkster transforming it for their own needs such as a break from the harsh realities of slave labor and using it as an opportunity to both socialize and earn money from the sale of beer, gingerbread, and pies which Dutch, African, Native Americans enjoyed during the festival. Here is a gingerbread recipe from the Hudson Valley that seems most appropriate for this piece of culinary history.


Gingerbread recipe: http://www.all-creatures.org/mhvs/recipes-gingerbread.

Related Link: http://www.hudsonvalley.org/pinkster/index.html

Fishing and Gardening in 1845 Talbot County, Maryland

Related Links Below

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

Slavery and Food in the Americas: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Slavery

Maryland Foodways and Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Maryland+Foodways

Fishing, Planting, and Eating in 1820 Charleston, South Carolina

Related Links Below

Adam Hodgson’s 19^th Century Travel and Account and Food: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Adam+Hodgson

South Carolina Foodways and Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=South+Carolina

Fish Series with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=For+Those+Who+Love+To+Fish+and+Eat+Fish+Part+

It's Time to Play and Plant: http://www.foodasalens.com/2012/04/its-time-to-play-and-plant-lacrosse.html

United Fruit and Wal-Mart in Latin America Part 2

Related Links Below

Wal-Mart Series: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Wal-Mart

Is Bribery Business as Usual South of the Border? [Listen 6 min 30 sec] http://www.npr.org/2012/04/26/151444470/is-bribery-business-as-usual-south-of-border

Are Bribes The Norm In Mexico's Business Culture? [Listen 3 min 59 sec] http://www.npr.org/2012/04/25/151339996/are-bribes-the-norm-in-mexicos-business-culture

Wal-Mart North America’s Largest Grocery Store: [Watch 4 min 4 sec] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/the-great-grocery-smackdown/7904/

Wal-Mart vs. Whole Foods: [Listen 30 min 4 sec] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125176104&ps=rs


First Lady Michelle Obama Partners with Wal-Mart To Promote Healthy Eating: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/133087158/Michelle-Obama-Partners-With-Walmart-For-Healthy-Eating

Wal-Mart Teams Up with Food Banks: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137319064/a-squashs-journey-from-the-shelf-to-the-hungry