We’re kicking off 2017 with a talk from our president, Charles Perry!
Join us on 1/14 for “Middle Eastern Cuisine is 500 Years Old” at the Central Library in DTLA!

Hummus, falafel, tabbouleh; baklava, shish kebab, stuffed grape leaves. They form such a harmonious culinary dialect that you might think them eternal. In fact, as medieval cookbooks show, an entirely different cuisine prevailed in the Middle East from the 8th to the 15th centuries, one based on complex curry-like stews, which was totally swamped by the new style that arose in Istanbul within the last five centuries. The characters in The Arabian Nights would scarcely recognize a thing today.

About the speaker:
Charles Perry majored in Middle East studies at Princeton and the University of California, Berkeley. Pursuing a journalistic career, he served as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times food section. He has written widely about Middle Eastern food and translated several medieval Arabic cookbooks and is the president and co-founder of the Culinary Historians of Southern California.

A themed reception will follow the talk at approximately 11:30am.

Free and open to the public.