The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History held its annual Food History Weekend from Oct. 17 to 19, marking the ceremony’s 10th anniversary.
The event began back in 2015 to bring together a community of culinary professionals and experts to educate the public on food through cooking demonstrations and by talking about their own food experiences.
This year’s gala kicked off with a fundraising dinner for the museum’s food history research, programming, and exhibition. The dinner options were inspired by chef, author, food activist, and restaurant owner, Alice Waters, featuring farm-fresh seasonal dishes. Waters also happened to be the recipient of the Julia Child Award from the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts for this year’s event. Past recipients for this esteemed award, including Jacques Pépin, former personal chef to the late French president Charles De Gualle, were also in attendance that night.
The following day featured several discussions between food connoisseurs including Food Tank president and co-founder Danielle Nierenberg, food historian and Saveur contributing editor Jessica Carbone, and award-winning author and food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin. The conversations touched on topics ranging from the history of hibiscus tea to women in the food industry.
By Oct. 19, the ceremony wrapped things up with an “Objects Out of Storage” event, which allowed guests to observe objects and documents from Julia Child Award recipients. The event also included a cooking demonstration and speech by Grace Young, an award-winning author, expert in Chinese culinary traditions and Chinatown activist. While cooking up some chicken lo mein, Young talked about her advocacy work with Chinatowns across the country.
Following the ceremony, the museum offered two days free to the public to watch programs featuring Julia Child Award recipients over the years. You can view the museum’s complete schedule of its past weekend events here.
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