Save the Date: April 30, 2012

Title: Savory Weeds
Time: 6:30-9 pm
Location: Roger Smith Hotel, 501 Lexington at 47th St., New York

Description: Long before humans began to cultivate their own crops, they hunted and foraged for food. Eventually they found that they could produce larger quantities of grains and vegetables through farming, but the plants that made their meals more interesting still grew wild in the rocky places that were generally unsuitable for agriculture. We call those plants "herbs." Some are still collected in the wild, and some we carefully nurture, carrying their seeds with us to new places -- the travels of herbs mirror our own migrations, some as welcome guests, some as stealthy stow-aways. The herbs we brought along changed the diets of people in the new places, and the herbs we discovered at the our destinations changed the way we ate.

About the speaker: Gary Allen is Food History Editor at LeitesCulinaria.com, teaches food writing and various food & culture courses at Empire State College, and has been Vice President, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster for the Association for the Study of Food and Society. His previous books include: The Resource Guide for Food Writers; The Herbalist in the Kitchen; The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries; Human Cuisine (the last two co-edited with historian Ken Albala); and has contributed to numerous culinary encyclopedias. He's currently working on Sausage: A Global History, another title in Reaktion Press's Edible Series. His website (On the Table) and blog (Just Served) can found here. Moderated by Andrew F. Smith.

Cost: $50, which includes a copy of Herbs: A Global History , a four course tasting menu inspired by the book and a beverage

Register for the event here.