Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery

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Harlan Walker speaking on "Eggs in Cookery", the 2006 theme.[1] Panellists, seated, left to right: Jane Levi, Paul Levy, Marina Warner, Claudia Roden.

The Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery is an annual weekend conference at which academics, food writers, cooks, and others with an interest in food and culture meet to discuss current issues in food studies and food history.

Overview

The Symposium has taken place every year since 1983, with the proceedings published in an annual volume about a year later. Since 2006 the annual venue has been St Catherine's College, Oxford.[1] The Oxford Symposium has been a Charitable Trust since January 2003. Influential in its field,[2] the Oxford Symposium is the oldest such annual meeting in the world,[3] though a series of scientific conferences on the anthropology and ethnology of food began in the 1970s.[4]

The publisher Jill Norman, a participant since 1979

The Oxford Symposium is a registered charity in Britain, with a group of distinguished Trustees, and there is a support group called Friends of the Oxford Symposium.

"Science and Cookery": the 1979 seminars

The origin of the Symposium is traced to a series of three historical seminars on science and cookery arranged in 1979 by the scholar and former diplomat Alan Davidson (who was Alistair Horne Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford for 1978/79) and sponsored by Theodore Zeldin, historian of France and a fellow of St Antony's.[5] Zeldin had asked Davidson: "Tell me ... how do you propose to make manifest to the other members of the college your presence here?" The seminars were the answer.[6] About twenty people attended on each occasion.[7] The title of the first seminar, on 4 May 1979, was that of Davidson's fellowship, "Food and Cookery: the Impact of Science in the Kitchen". Academic disciplines represented ranged from the history of medicine to mathematics and French literature; Nicholas Kurti, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Oxford, was among them, and some of the 21 participants were not academics at all. Elizabeth David was among them, though she was reported to be "ambivalent at best" about the value of this academic approach to food.[6] Also present were David's publisher Jill Norman, Anne Willan, Paul Levy and Richard Olney.

Friedrich Accum's Culinary Chemistry (1821), subject of the seminar on 11 May 1979.

The second seminar, a week later, focused on 19th century research on food chemistry, notably

Berthe Meijer and Titia Bodon.[8][9]

"Cookery Books": the 1980 symposium

The next event in the series was a one-day meeting at St Antony's College in May 1980, chaired by Davidson and Zeldin. Participants, numbering nearly seventy, included many from overseas. The topic, the history of cookery books, had been prefigured in a brief article by Davidson, published in the first issue of the food history journal,

Schenectady.[11] The proceedings were not published in volume form, but one paper appeared in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 5 and three more in no. 6.[12][13]

Ray Sokolov (foreground) at a plenary session

"National and Regional Styles of Cookery": the 1981 symposium

The first full symposium, announced in October 1980,

Russian food. There was a session in which symposiasts attempted, but failed, to devise a test for distinguishing bogus from authentic regional styles of cookery,[16] a question that was to be taken up again in the 2005 symposium, Authenticity in the Kitchen.[17] The 1981 proceedings were published in volume form, the first occasion on which this was done.[18]

surstromming (Swedish fermented herring) during the 2010 symposium, Cured, Fermented and Smoked Foods
.

Annual symposia of the 1980s

The 1983 symposium, described by one participant as "solemn but light-hearted",[19] had the catch-title Food In Motion. The theme was the migration of foodstuffs and cookery techniques, including the most significant single such migration event in history, recently studied in Alfred W. Crosby's The Columbian Exchange (1972). Other major topics included the historical significance of the potato in Ireland, discussed by the social historian Jillian Strang and the food writer Joyce Toomre. There was a discussion by Raymond Sokolov and others of the origins of nouvelle cuisine (in and around 1972) and cuisine minceur, the approach championed by Michel Guérard. Sokolov allocated the principal role in these innovations to Paul Bocuse, Fernand Point, Guérard's book La Cuisine gourmande and the work of the Troisgros brothers; he pointed out the close relationship between Japanese culinary tradition and nouvelle cuisine.[20] At this 1983 symposium it was agreed that the event should repeat annually.

There is no published volume of proceedings corresponding to the 1984 symposium, which took as its theme "the ideal cookery book and recipe". Many contributions consisted of recipes "with comments upon their composition and their culinary possibilities", a form unsuited to reprinting in the usual volume format; some of the others were published elsewhere.

gravad lax and chocolate-covered garlic.[23] The keynote talk was "Science and the Study of Food" by Harold McGee, whose On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen had been published in 1984. Anthropologists Gerald and Valerie Mars offered a classification of food scholars and enthusiasts on the grid/group scales developed by Mary Douglas. Their title was "Classifying Cuisines: Epicures, Isolates, Messmates and Cultists".[24]

By this time the Oxford Symposium claimed imitators elsewhere in the world: there had been four recent conferences under the aegis of the American Institute of Wine & Food, while other series of symposia were under way in Australia, Turkey and New England (the latter hosted by the Culinary Historians of Boston).[25]

Barbara Santich at a Symposium session

Since 1986 the proceedings have been unvaryingly published in an annual volume (see "List of published symposia" below).

Sophie D. Coe, who spoke on "The Maya Chocolate Pot and Its Descendants". Others who addressed the symposium for the first time included Michael Abdalla, a scholar of the modern Assyrians of the Near East (and an Assyrian himself), the anthropologist Jeremy MacClancy, the medievalist Terence Scully and the Greek food writer Rena Salaman.[30] At the 1989 symposium, which took the theme of Staple Foods and was for the first time organized by Harlan Walker, plenary sessions were addressed by the archaeologist Keith Botsford, the food historian Andrew Dalby and the nutritionist Erica F. Wheeler, who asked: "Do Processed Societies Have Staple Foods?"[31]

Barbara Wheaton (left), Caroline Conran and Sami Zubaida
at a recent Symposium

Symposia of the 1990s

From 1990 onwards conferences were held in September of each year. The theme for 1990 was Fasts and Feasts,

rosewater (Helen Saberi), chocolate (Sophie Coe and Alice Wooledge Salmon), mastic (Rena Salaman and Nevin Halici) and annatto (Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz). Margaret Visser spoke on moretum, likening it to "ancient Roman pesto", while Loret Lee discussed flavour water or lu sui, a flavouring prominent in Chinese cuisine.[36] Look and Feel was the subject of the 1993 symposium.[37]

Charles Perry, food writer on the Los Angeles Times and scholar of Arabic food history[38]

The 1994 theme was Going Today: Gone Tomorrow? Endangered Foods and Dishes.

Taj Hotels on "The Non-Emergence of the Regional Foods of India", the Punjabification of Indian food and the universality of tandoori chicken. The Australian food journalist Cherry Ripe had proposed the theme and gave the keynote address. Titled "Dying of Starvation in the Supermarket", her talk surveyed the problem of diminishing bio-diversity in domesticated animals and plants. As participants noted, "the continued existence of many breeds ... depends on their being eaten by man"; therefore "it could be (and was) argued that vegetarianism is immoral".[40]

The 1995 symposium, on the theme of Cooks and Other People, was the last to feature a Saturday do-it-yourself lunch to which symposiasts brought unusual foods from all over the world: organizers concluded this was "no longer possible with the present rules of hygiene". This lunch ended with two spectacular dessert, instant ice cream (

Montezuma's Revenge".[43]

Fish: Food from the Waters was the title of the 1997 symposium, and the papers fulfilled the promise not just of the catchword but also of the subtitle. Two American academics, both prolific food history authors, made early appearances:

Nicholas Wroe in the Guardian: "51 papers on the theme of Milk: Its Uses, Products and Substitutes, embracing history, health, chemistry and sociology will be delivered to an audience of 200 historians, scientists and writers as well as domestic and commercial cooks[6] Ove Fosså explored the true age of Norwegian gamalost cheese, and Carolin Young revisited Marie Antoinette's dairy (la Laiterie de la Reine) at Rambouillet. The title of the published symposium volume was Milk: Beyond the Dairy.[46]

Richard Hosking (centre left, in white shirt) among symposiasts

Symposia 2000-2005

"Next year it's Food and Memory," wrote Nicholas Wroe in the article just cited. "Book early and don't forget your

UAE" and Sami Zubaida also focused on the Islamic world with "Drink in the Structure of the Meal: Middle Eastern patterns". A joint paper by Chris Grocock and Sally Grainger looked at a Roman poetic lunch, "Moretum: a peasant lunch revisited".[48] Fat was the subject for 2002. The title of the joint paper by Gerald and Valerie Mars, anthropologist and historian respectively, was "Fat in the Victorian Kitchen: a medium for cooking, control, deviance and crime." Regina Sexton spoke on butter in the diet of monks and penitents in medieval Ireland. Diana Farr Louis and Linda Makris both chose topics related to fat and fasting in Greece. The published volume, under the title The Fat of the Land, would be the last edited by Harlan Walker.[49][50]

The theme for 2003 was Nurture. This was the last symposium attended by Alan Davidson, who had founded the series of symposia in 1979. He had just been awarded the Erasmus Prize, and this was celebrated at a Sunday lunch in his honour. The published volume was edited for the first time by Richard Hosking,[51] an academic who worked in Japan for many years, a specialist in Japanese food, and a regular symposiast. Until 2003 the symposia had continued to be hosted at St Antony's College. In 2004 they moved to Oxford Brookes University. The theme of the first symposium in this new location was Wild Food.[52] Authenticity in the Kitchen was the subject for 2005.[53][54]

The current chair of The Oxford Symposium is Elisabeth Luard. The President is Claudia Roden. The Director is Ursula Heinzelmann. The Patron is Theodore Zeldin.[55]

Paul Levy and Elisabeth Luard chairing a plenary session at the 2012 Symposium

Symposia at St Catherine's College 2006-2020

Since 2006 the venue for the Oxford Food Symposium has been St Catherine's College.

  • 2006 : Eggs in Cookery (Richard Hosking, ed.) Prospect Books, 2007.
    ISBN 978-1-903018-54-5 Text on Google Books[56]
  • 2007 :
    ISBN 978-1-903018-59-0 Text on Google Books[57][58][59][60]
  • 2008 :
    ISBN 978-1903018668[61][62][63]
  • 2009 :
    ISBN 978-1903018798[64][65][66][67][68]
  • 2010 :
    ISBN 978-1903018859[69][70][71][72][73][74][75]
  • 2011 :
    ISBN 978-1903018897[76][77][78][79][80]
  • 2012 :
    ISBN 978-1-903018-99-6[81][82][83][84][85][86]
  • 2013 :
    ISBN 978-1-909248-40-3[87]
  • 2014 :
    ISBN 978-1-909248-44-1[88][89][90][91][92][93][94]
  • 2015: Food and Communication [95][96]
  • 2016: Offal: Rejected and Reclaimed Foods [97]
  • 2017: Food and Landscape [98]
  • 2018: Seeds
  • 2019: Food and Power
  • 2020: Herbs and Spices

Frequent speakers not already mentioned include the American writer Jeffrey Steingarten. Many topics have had their first airing at the Oxford Symposium, including the expression "molecular gastronomy."

Prospect Books
1993–2014

List of published symposia

References

  1. ^ a b Petits Propos Culinaires no. 80 (2006) pp. 7-8.
  2. ^ P. D. Smith in The Guardian (12 August 2011)
  3. ^ 2003 Proceedings at amazon.com
  4. ^ [Alan Davidson], "Other Meetings and Conferences" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 9 (October 1981) pp. 53-55
  5. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (London, 1986) p. 31
  6. ^
    Nicholas Wroe, "Milking it with the creme de la creme" in The Guardian
    (4 September 1999)
  7. ^ a b c "An Oxford Symposium" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 6 (October 1980) p. 8
  8. ^ "History of the Oxford Symposium Archived 26 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine"
  9. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (London, 1986) pp. 30-32, 37
  10. ^ Alan Davidson, "Possible Future Bibliographies of Cookery Books" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 1 (1979) pp. 68-69
  11. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (London, 1986) pp. 30-32
  12. ^ Lynette Hunter, "Cookery Books: a cabinet of rare devices and conceits" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 5 (May 1980) pp. 19-34
  13. ^ Claudia Roden, "Early Arab Cooking and Cookery Manuscripts"; Uta Schumacher-Voelker, "German Cookery Books, 1485-1800"; David Adlard, "The Role of Cookery Books in a Professional Kitchen", in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 6 (October 1980)
  14. ^ Alan Davidson, "Oxford Symposium 1981" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 9 (October 1981) p. 52
  15. ^ See also Maria Johnson, "The Eneolithic Bread Oven and Loaf of Bread" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 9 (October 1981) pp. 49-51
  16. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (London, 1986) pp. 32-34
  17. ISBN 1903018471
  18. ISBN 0907325076
  19. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (1986) p. 34
  20. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (1986) pp. 35-36
  21. ISBN 0 907325 33 5
    ) p. v
  22. ISBN 0 907325 33 5
    ) pp. 2-72
  23. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (1986) pp. 36-40
  24. ISBN 0 907325 33 5
    ) pp. 73-187
  25. ^ Paul Levy, Out To Lunch (1986) p. 37
  26. ^ Russell Harris, "Index to the Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 1981-1998: Introduction"
  27. ISBN 090732536X
  28. ISBN 0907325394
    )
  29. ^ "Oxford Symposium 1988" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 27 (October 1987) p. 54
  30. ISBN 0907325394
    )
  31. ISBN 0907325440
    ) pp. 1-26
  32. ^ "Oxford Symposium 1990" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 33 (November 1989) p. 58
  33. ISBN 0907325467
  34. ^ Paul Levy in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 48 (November 1994) p. 9
  35. ISBN 0907325475
  36. ISBN 0907325505
  37. ISBN 0907325564
  38. ^ Charles Perry's work on the LA Times
  39. ^ "Oxford Symposium 1994" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 45 (November 1993) p. 60
  40. ^ Paul Levy, "Foodie Confab" in Wall Street Journal (September 1994); reprinted as "The Oxford Symposium 1994" in Petits Propos Culinaires no. 48 (November 1994) pp. 7-9
  41. ^ Cooks & Other People (Totnes, 1996) p. 7
  42. ISBN 0907325726
  43. ISBN 0907325793
  44. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., Fish: Food from the Waters. Prospect Books, 1998
  45. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., Food in the Arts. Prospect Books, 1999
  46. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., Milk: Beyond the Dairy. Prospect Books, 2000
  47. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., Food and the Memory. Prospect Books, 2001
  48. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., The Meal. Prospect Books, 2002
  49. ^ Harlan Walker, ed., The Fat of the Land. Footwork, 2003
  50. ^ Review by Ruth Fairchild in British Food Journal vol. 107 no. 3 (2005) p. 187
  51. ^ Richard Hosking, "Introduction" in Nurture. Footwork, 2004
  52. ^ Richard Hosking, ed., Wild Food Prospect Books, 2006
  53. Nicholas Wroe, "A handsome feast" in The Guardian
    (10 September 2005)
  54. ^ Richard Hosking, ed., Authenticity in the Kitchen Prospect Books, 2006
  55. ^ "The Trust | Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery". Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  56. ^ Carolin Young, "Eggs Archived 18 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine" at Almanach des Gourmands
  57. Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire, "Food and Morality: To Eat or Not to Eat?
    " in Hotel and Catering Review vol. 40 no. 11 pp. 44-45
  58. ^ Paul Levy, "Can foie gras be produced ethically??" in The Guardian: Word of Mouth (28 June 2007)
  59. ^ Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, "Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery I", "II"
  60. ^ Conference reports by Rhona McAdam (September 2007)
  61. The Financial Times
     (17 January 2009) [Site requires registration]
  62. ^ Paul Levy, "Cherwell scholarship" in The Guardian: Word of Mouth (11 February 2008)
  63. ^ Prospect Books
  64. ^ Aglaia Kremezi, "Oxford's Intellectual Feast" in The Atlantic (17 September 2009)
  65. Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire, "The Language of Food: A Review of the 2009 Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery
    " in Journal of Culinary Science and Technology vol. 7 no. 2-3 (2009) pp. 211-217
  66. ^ Kathryn McGowan, "Reflections on Food and Language: The Oxford Symposium, 2009" in Comestibles (9 November 2009)
  67. ^ "Prospect Books". Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  68. ^ "2009: Food and Language" at the Symposium website
  69. ^ Review by P. D. Smith in The Guardian (12 August 2011)
  70. ^ Review in Reference & Research Book News (1 October 2011) [paysite]
  71. ^ Deirdre McQuillan, "Food on plate puts Ireland on map at Oxford symposium" in The Irish Times (12 July 2010) [paysite]
  72. ^ Raymond Blanc, "Young Chef Scholarship at the Oxford Symposium" at caterersearch.com: "Raymond Blanc: Le Blog"
  73. ^ Kathryn McGowan, "Highlights from Oxford 2010: part 1" and "part 2" in Comestibles (July–August 2010)
  74. ^ Peter Smith, "How a Ship Full of Fish Helped Recreate an Ancient Fish Sauce" in Food & Think at smithsonian.com (1 March 2012)
  75. ^ "2010: Cured, Fermented and Smoked Food" at the Symposium website
  76. ^ Sharon Hudgins, "Oxford Symposium celebrates its 30th anniversary" at Sally's Place (sallybernstein.com)
  77. ^ Aglaia Kremezi, "Celebrating in Oxford Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine" (2011)
  78. ^ Georgia Levy, "Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery" in Jamie Magazine (15 July 2011)
  79. ^ Silvana de Soissons, "Lunch with Elisabeth Luard" in The Foodie Bugle (15 July 2011)
  80. ^ "2011: Celebrations" at the Symposium website
  81. ^ Meryle Evans , "Wrapped and Stuffed at Oxford" at Food Arts
  82. ^ Diana Goodman, "Scholars Debate The Art Of Wrapping Food"
  83. ^ Jody Eddy, "Oxford Symposium Takes On All Things Wrapped And Stuffed: Bog butter, mummy eating and more in England"
  84. ^ Fuchsia Dunlop, "Dumpling Fun"
  85. ^ University of Adelaide News Updates: 2012
  86. ^ "2012: Wrapped & Stuffed" at the Symposium website
  87. ^ Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, "A Review of the 2013 Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery" in Journal of Culinary Science and Technology vol. 12 (2014) pp. 191-195 pdf
  88. ^ "Jane Grigson Trust Lecture"
  89. ^ "Oxford Food Symposium" at Darina's Saturday Letter
  90. Oxford Times
     (24 July 2014)
  91. ^ Darina Allen, "Recipe: Allegra’s Orange Blossom, cashew and semolina cake" in Irish Examiner (27 July 2014)
  92. ^ Len Fisher, "Report on the Oxford Symposium 2014: Food and Markets" at the Symposium website
  93. ^ Tessa Tricks, "OFS: Cabinet of curiosities" at Sustainable Food Trust
  94. ^ "This is what we ate for lunch and dinner at The Oxford Symposium on Food Cookery this year" at the Symposium website
  95. ^ "2015 - Food & Communication | Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery". Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  96. ISBN 9781909248496
    .
  97. ^ "2016 Offal: Rejected and Reclaimed Food | Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery". Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  98. ^ "2017 - Food & Landscape | Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery". Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  99. ^ Table of contents
  100. ^ "Prospect Books". Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  101. ISBN 9781909248496
    .
  102. ISBN 9781909248557
    .
  103. ISBN 9781909248557
    .
  104. ISBN 9781909248656
    .

Further reading

External links

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