Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. September 2014 Volume XIX, Number 1 Save these 2014-15 CHoW Meeting Dates: Burmese Cusine: On the Road to Flavor September 14 Speaker: John Tinpe October 12 Sunday, September 14 November 9 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. December 14 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center, January 11, 2015 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814 February 8, 2015 NOTE: This is the March 8, 2015 here’s nothing like last CHoW Line until it. A true cross- September. April 12, 2015 May 3, 2015 Troads cuisine, the food of Burma (Myan- Have a nice summer! John Tinpe is the longtime owner mar), though influenced of Burma Restaurant in China- by the culinary flavors of Renew Your town. His maternal ancestors China, India, Laos, and Membership in belonged to the Yang Dynasty, Thailand, is unique. including one whose title was lord Burmese cuisine is CHoW NOW prince in Kokang province. His most famous for its un- for 2014-15! father was a top diplomat, serving usual fermented green as deputy permanent represen- tea leaf salad (lahpet), The membership year tative to the United Nations. A rice vermicelli and fish runs from September 1 graduate of Bucknell University, soup (mohinga, the “na- to August 31. Annual John has been a resident of Wash- tional dish”); fritters, dues are $25 for ington since 1991. For leisure he curries, noodles, vege- individuals, households, enjoys Dragon Boat racing. He tables, and meat dishes; also worked at the John F. Ken- and semolina, sago, and coconut milk sweets. The or organizations. Dues nedy Center for the Performing dishes are remarkable for their unusual flavors. include e-mail delivery of Arts as supernumerary in various the newsletter CHoW Line. opera and ballet performances. Burma Restaurant co-owner John Tinpe, a gifted speaker, will explain what makes the food specifi- Dues are $35 for members Since January 2013, John has been cally Burmese and will introduce us to the history who also wish to receive a the Advisory Neighborhood Com- and background of the cuisine: its complexities mailed, paper copy of the missioner of the Single Member and influences; its typical ingredients, seasonings, newsletter. District 2C01. Prior to that, he and condiments; its dining customs; its regional served as Commissioner on Asian differences; the role of food in Burmese medicine; Other Benefits: and Pacific Islander Affairs from and the Buddhist traditions associated with the • Priority registration for 1999 to 2013, chairing it from 2001 cooking. field trips to 2007. He has been Director of the Chinatown Cultural Center, • GoogleGroups notices President of Chi-Am Lions Club, • Membership roster Board member of AQUA, and Board member of Miss DC/Amer- ica Pageant. He is the recipient of Green the APIA Heritage Award, Allied Tea Leaf Building Community Award and Salad Kennedy King Award. (laphet) Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. (CHoW/DC) www.chowdc.org founded in 1996, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to the study of the history of foodstuffs, cuisines, and culi- nary customs, both historical and contemporary, from all parts of the world. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. What Happened at the Sunday, May 4, CHoW Meeting? President Katy Hayes called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m., welcoming 35 attendees, including numerous guests. CHoW Programs 2014-2015 ANNOUNCEMENTS September 14 John Tinpe, “Burmese Cuisine: On the 1.Board Elections. Only one Board seat is open Road to Flavor” for the CHoW 2014-2015 year since most Board members are both eligible and willing to serve another term. Clara October 12 Michael Krondl, “The All-American Donut: Raju was unanimously elected as Membership Secretary. How an Obscure English Specialty Conquered North Thanks very much to Quentin Looney for serving in this America.” capacity for the past three years. November 9 Leni Sorensen, “Cooking The Virginia 2. May Field Trip to Peirce Mill. A tour of Peirce House-Wife: Mary Randolph and the Black Cooks in her Mill with lunch afterwards at Hillwood is scheduled for Kitchens.” Friday, May 16 (later changed to Thursday, May 22). See December 14 Catherine Dann Roeber, “Food Fights page 3 for a report and photos of the tour. and School Lunch: Dining and ‘Edible’ Education in 3. October Field Trip to Orchid Cellar Winery. America.” There will also be a field trip to Orchid Cellar Winery on January 11, 2015 Ai Hisano, “The Color of New Tastes: Saturday, October 18, 2014, starting at noon. Processed Foods in the Early-Twentieth-Century United States.” WHATZIT: Members brought four “Whatzits” to the May meeting. Willis Van Deventer brought a syllabub foamer February 8, 2015 Nadia Berenstein, “Artificial and Claudia Kousoulas brought an orange peeler. Quentin Strawberry, Imitation Cheese: A History of Synthetic Looney brought a double-ended peanut butter and jelly Flavors in the U.S.” spreader. Another CHoW member brought a small dish March 8, 2015 Nancy J. Siegel, “From Liberty Tea to with a central bump of unknown purpose. Freedom Fries: America’s Political Appetite.” April 12, 2015 Cooperative Supper, Alexandria House PROGRAM: President Katy Hayes introduced the May speaker, Joy Fraser, Ph.D. for her talk, “Addressing the May 3, 2015 Cynthia D. Bertelsen, “Cookbooks as Haggis: Culture and Contestation in the Making of Scot- Intellectual History, or, Why Cookbooks are Useful land’s National Dish.” Dr. Fraser is an Assistant Professor Outside of Your Kitchen, Too.” of English at George Mason University, specializing in folk narrative, foodways, folk custom and drama, and the folk Bruce Reynolds Named as culture of tourism. During her talk on haggis, Dr. Fraser talked about two conflicting views of this symbolic food. Interim Vice President. The first is what she calls the “honest poverty” approach; Thank you to for that haggis is a humble and thrifty food, a resourceful use Sheilah Kaufman serving as Vice President last year. of ingredients, shared by all. The second view of haggis She was unable to serve a second calls it into question as a Scottish symbol, claiming that term, and fortunately, haggis was a foreign invention and imposed on Scottish Bruce Reyn- has agreed to step in as Interim national culture in the Romantic period. During her talk olds Vice President. Frazier pointed out that the second view obscures the dy- namics of foodways and neglects the importance of recog- Professionally, Bruce is an attorney nizing where dishes land and resonate. (licensed to practice in Virginia and DC) formerly and a principal in the Washington National Office of Deloitte Tax DOOR PRIZES: Members attending the monthly meetings LLP, and now Managing Editor of International Tax for a can enter for a door prize. Thank you to Claudia Kousoulas legal publisher. for donating the cookbooks given as door prizes. He has over 30 years of experience as a tax lawyer, 23 of them exclusively devoted to the practice of inter- REFRESHMENTS: Thank you to Anne Whitaker for pro- national tax. He has both a J.D. and an LLM in tax from viding beverages and supplies for the meeting, and to our Georgetown University Law Center; has been an adjunct members who brought the following refreshments: professor of taxation in that University’s School of Business Amy Riolo: Italian Citrus and Apple Cake Administration, and has done post-graduate international ElizabettaCastleman: Edamame Snacks legal work at Oxford University. Claudia Kousoulas: Abernethy Biscuits His undergraduate degree is in American history, Clara Raju: Coconut Cupcakes from Yale University. Bruce’s interest in culinary history Amy Snyder: Cookies started with an interest in social history, combined with the fact that he likes to cook, and a realization that food history The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m. Thank you to the is a significant branch of social history generally. He man- members who volunteered to reset the meeting room. ages to further both interests, in what’s left of the day after work, by collecting antiquarian English and American cook Respectfully submitted, books. Bruce served as CHoW Treasurer for three years Beverly Firme, Recording Secretary with thanks to Claudia and successfully obtained an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit status Kousoulas for providing the meeting notes for CHoW. 2 CHoW Line The Election Day CHoW Field Trip Pie to Peirce Mill By CiCi Williamson CiCi is CHoW’s Immediate Past President and a food and travel writer. ormerly the hub of one of the largest estates in Wash- eight that operated along Rock Creek, is one of the few ington that sprawled from Tilden Street north to the remaining symbols of Washington’s agrarian past. It is an Maryland-D.C. border, Peirce Mill is now a National early example of renewable energy and American tech- F nological achievement. Built in the 1820s by Isaac Peirce, Park Service property in Rock Creek Park. Resulting from 17 years of fundraising and reconstruction by Friends of a first cousin to the Peirces Peirce Mill (formed in 1997) and Rock Creek Park the mill who created what became the has been restored to operating condition, and visitors can famous Longwood Gardens now see Park Service Ranger and miller Jeanne Minor in Kennett Square, Penn., the grind corn into meal. mill was constructed with CHoW and “Friends” member Quentin stones quarried from nearby Looney arranged a lecture and tour for Broad Branch. The complex CHoW on Thursday, May 22. “Friends” also included a carriage barn, Board Member Sheila Ploger directed us distillery, saw mill, spring into what was the carriage barn (1810), house, nursery, and residence. used as an art gallery in the 20th century Next we walked down and now as a small museum, gift shop, the hill to see the waterwheel and lecture room.