Launched at the Institute of Historical Research in summer 2017, the Food History Seminar provides an inclusive setting in which food historians, academics, and experts working in related fields can come together to discuss their research.

The 2022 Autumn Term begins next week and I am delighted to be giving the first talk, titled “A Cuisine of its Own: Culinary Colonialism in Canada.”

What is Canadian cuisine and how does it differ from Indigenous fare? Early settlers in the lands now known as Canada were initially dependent on Indigenous foodways, only then to replace them with European flora and fauna, the likes of wheat, cows, and pigs. But later, when the country chiselled out an identity of its own—one distinct from Britain—, Canadian visual imagery drew from and reimagined Indigenous motifs. Then, on the occasion of Canada’s centennial, as celebrated by Montreal’s Expo 67, La Toundra—the host country’s official restaurant—claimed Indigenous ingredients as Canadian. Providing an overview of this entangled history, this talk will draw from my book project Culinary Claims: Indigenous Restaurant Politics in Canada.

Please join me on Zoom Thursday 6 October at 5:30 pm (BST). More details are available here. The talk is free for all to attend, but advanced booking is required.