262. Geraldine DeRuiter with Scott Heimendinger: Feminism and Food

Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Do you ever think of what you eat as being political? Back in 2017, celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an apology letter for the sexual misconduct allegations made against him and infamously included a recipe—for pizza dough cinnamon rolls. Shortly after Batali’s recipe, went viral, Popular blogger Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe and then she wrote about it. Her subsequent essay, which documented each step of her cinnamon roll preparation but also tackled topics like misogyny in the food world, was read millions of times, lauded by industry luminaries such as Martha Stewart, and landed DeRuiter in the middle of an unanticipated media firestorm. Who knew dessert could be so controversial?

If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury is DeRuiter’s new essay collection. The James Beard Award–winning blogger behind The Everywhereist addresses an array of topics, from being “hangry” to receiving death threats to meal-planning for the apocalypse. If You Can’t Take the Heat aims to connect the broader culture to the culinary.

This event may interest those curious about how patriarchy, pop culture, and plated dishes intersect, or who are just seeking some levity.

Geraldine DeRuiter is the James Beard Award-winning blogger behind The Everywhereist and the author of All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, Marie Claire, and Refinery 29. She lives in Seattle with her husband, Rand, and the two of them are developing a culinary-themed video game.

Scott Heimendinger is an inventor, culinary technologist, and the founder of Seattle Ultrasonics, as well as a former JBFA judge and a member of the Sous Vide Hall of Fame.

Buy the Book If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury

The Elliott Bay Book Company