American Restaurants, American Cuisine and American Society

“American Restaurants, American Cuisine and American Society” will be the topic of Yale Professor of History Paul Freedman, whose book Food: The History of Taste received a prize from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and was nominated for a James Beard award. He will talk at Mitchell College on Wednesday, November 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the Weller Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Paul Freedman is Chester D. Tripp Professor of History at Yale University and was chair of the History Department from 2004 to 2007 and in the academic year 2010-2011. He specializes in the history of cuisine along with medieval social history, the history of Spain, comparative studies of the peasantry, and trade in luxury products. He is currently completing his next book, Ten Restaurants that Changed America, which will be the basis of his talk at Mitchell.

In 2007 Freedman edited Food: The History of Taste, a book about cuisine from prehistoric hunter-gatherers until the present-day trends. This received a prize from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and was nominated for a James Beard award. It has been translated into nine languages.

In 2008 Yale University Press published Freedman’s book Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination which considers why spices were so popular in the Middle Ages so as to become major items of trade and the stimulus for exploration of Asia and the New World. It has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Greek.

He also specializes in medieval social history, the history of Spain, comparative studies of the peasantry, and trade in luxury products. He has written on Spain, the church, peasants and most recently on food and luxury products in the Middle Ages. His current research is on the Catalan church in the high Middle Ages, in particular the establishment of Augustinian canons and their relations to monasteries and bishops.

For more information about the event, call 860.701.5155 or email speakers@mitchell.edu.

About the Speakers’ Series

The Mitchell College Speakers’ Series opens the doors of the college to its local New London family and the Connecticut community and invites them to engage with acclaimed speakers from all walks of life. Join us throughout the 2015-16 academic year as we discover and celebrate the lives of our guests, learn from them, and explore the world through their stories. For more information, call 860.701.5155 or visit mitchell.edu/speakers.