Chicago's Live Poultry Shops, FoodCultura - University of Chicago, Fall, 2019

Culinary Historians of Chicago

Chicago's Live Poultry Shops, FoodCultura - University of Chicago, Fall, 2019 Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. There was a technical error in audio recording affecting its quality. It is posted to maintain the historical record of this event. The collaboration included Foodcultura: The Art and Anthropology of Cuisine, a team-taught course offered during the autumn of 2019 at the University of Chicago. The students, individually or in groups, proposed projects using approaches of anthropology and/or art and carried out extensive fieldwork using the city’s diverse alimentary and gustatory resources. Their final presentations took place during a marathon session in December at UChicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. On January 25 four students presented their work to Chicago Foodways Roundtable. Three presentations centered on the theme of sugar: Yoon-Jee Choi’s analysis of cakes from Roeser’s Bakery through the eyes of a Bauhaus historian; Alana Ferguson’s musings on cotton candy as an art form; and Eli Bec’s discussion of ofrendas prepared for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead altars) and her own personal ofrenda. Maisie Watson and Daniel Simantob explored the intersection of public and private dining experiences at Sinhá, a Brazilian home-restaurant in Chicago and in their own apartment. Part 2 of A Taste of FoodCultura, on February 15, will feature Paige Resnick exploring Chicago’s live poultry shops and the many issues associated with selecting and preparing one’s own chicken. Liz Rice will present her work comparing food choices in South Shore and Albany Park, two very different Chicago neighborhoods. Finally, although the student group responsible is unable to attend, we will show The Camera Eats First, a slide presentation commenting on today’s Instagram culture. Recorded at Bethany Retirement Community on February 15, 2020