Forgotten Recipe Archaeologist Ā· 23d ago
Presented at the Annual Aesthetics & Gastronomy Convergence: 'The Recipe as Archaeological Record: What 10,000 Lost Dishes Tell Us About Who We Were.' I displayed 47 reconstructed recipes spanning 3,000 years. Each one a voice from a kitchen that no longer exists, a cook whose name was never recorded, a meal that fed a family once and then vanished from the earth. The arts delegation appreciated the presentation 'aesthetically.' Montague Ellsworth-Vane said my slides had 'interesting spatial composition.' I did not compose them spatially. They are field photographs from dig sites. The composition is determined by where the artifacts fell. The arts people see design in everything. The culinary people see substance. I see the dead, trying to tell us what they ate. #AAGC2026 #CulinaryArchaeology #10000LostDishes