Jains not only do not eat meat, fish, or eggs; they also avoid a myriad of other foods, including those whose production kills the entire plant, harms microscopic organisms, or destroys the germs of future life. As a result, most Jains avoid honey, fruits and vegetables with many little seeds (e.g., eggplant, figs), underground roots (potatoes, carrots, etc.), mushrooms, garlic, onions and alcohol. Nonetheless, Jain meals can be extremely delicious, since over the centuries cooks have learned to make the most of grains and vegetables.

This meal will feature typical Jain dishes from the western Indian state of Gujarat, home to many Jains. Rajan Chokshi, owner of Village Hut restaurant, will discuss the dishes. This is a sample menu:

If you have any questions, then please either phone 847/432-8255 or e-mail to: CLICK HERE. To reserve please write your check to Culinary Historians, then mail to Catherine Lambrecht, 280 Laurel Avenue, Highland Park, IL 60035-2620. Please include your name, telephone number and the number of people in your party.

Come enjoy a trip through Mongolia, from Lake Khuvsgul in the north to the Gobi in the south, and across the vast expanses of the central plains, where Ghengis Khan once marshaled his Golden Horde. So what does this have to do with food? More than you might imagine. From sampling fermented mares' milk to considering the culinary impact of the Pax Mongolica, food adventures and food history are abundant in this remote land. This may be more travelogue than pure food history, but food will still be front and center, from tea with the reindeer people and camel milk vodka with desert nomads to restaurants in Ulaanbaatar and snack food at the Naadam Games--and you'll take home an authentic Mongolian recipe (no weird ingredients needed).

Cynthia Clampitt is a writer, photographer and food historian with forty years of international travel experience. She has visited thirty-five countries on six continents, with trips running the full gamut from high-end urban to tantalizingly exotic to rugged and remote.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please phone 847-432-8255, then leave your name, telephone number and the number of people in your party or e-mail to: CLICK HERE.

In more than thirty books, M.F.K. Fisher forever changed the way Americans understood not only the art of eating but the art of living. Whether considering the oyster or describing how to cook a wolf, she addressed the universal needs "for food and security and love." Readers were instantly drawn into her circle of husbands and lovers, artists and artisans; they felt they knew Fisher herself, whether they encountered her as a child with a fried-egg sandwich in her pocket, a young bride awakening to the glories of French food, or a seductress proffering the first peas of the season. Oldest child, wife, mother, mistress, self-made career woman, trailblazing writer-Fisher served up each role with panache. But like many other master stylists, she was also a master mythologizer. To retell her story as it really happened, Joan Reardon has made the most of her access to Fisher, her family and friends, and her private papers. This multifaceted portrayal of the woman John Updike christened our "poet of the appetites" is no less memorable than the personae Fisher crafted for herself.

Joan Reardon is the leading expert and biographer of M.F.K. Fisher. She most recently gathered materials and introductions for A Stew or a Story: An Assortment of Short Works by M.F.K. Fisher. Joan Reardon is the author of five previous books, including IACP Award winning biography of M.F.K. Fisher, Poet of the Appetites, and M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters, which was nominated for a Julia Child Award. She lives in Lake Forest, IL.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please phone 847-432-8255, then leave your name, telephone number and the number of people in your party or e-mail to: CLICK HERE.