Food Historian Francine Segan to Lecture at Mahaiwe
"Francine feeds her readers well - stomach and soul. She has a way of making me want to sing for my supper" said Rachel Ray of Francine Segan, a food historian, author and our neighbor in the Berkshires.
The Mahaiwe Theater will present a series of lectures by Ms. Segan in July and August. The first on July 15th "Food Talk for Movie Lovers" is based on her book, Movie Menus. On July 29th she will lead us on "A Virtual Food Tour of the Berkshires”. On August 12th Sagan will feature her popular Shakespeare’s Kitchen - Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook. Each lecture includes recipes, trivia quizzes, prizes, and fascinating bits of information about a subject everyone loves: food.
What began as a hobby for Ms. Segan, quickly turned into a remarkably successful career as researcher, lecturer, and author of a series of best selling cookbooks, including Opera Lover’s Cookbook, The Philosopher’s Kitchen, Entertaining, From Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl, dolci - Italy's Sweets and the forthcoming title Pasta Modern, about the innovative Italian cuisine of today.
Francine Segan fell in love with the Berkshires during her years as a child psychologist in NYC, when she spent summers here. "I just loved it all…skiing in the winter, tennis in the summer, all the amazing cultural events,…the great restaurants, and artisanal food products and organic farmers. It's also a great place to raise kids." (She and husband Marc have two).
Inspired by the 'Berkshire Cottages' of Lenox and Stockbridge, she became fascinated by the lifestyle of the personalities of the "gilded age" who lived in them, including Edith Wharton, the Vanderbilts, Andrew Carnegie, et al. " What was it like for them," I wondered, " the dinners they gave, the entertainments they enjoyed, the hobbies they pursued?" (The food they ate.)
An article for the Berkshire Eagle on the elaborate Labor Day picnics of the early 1900's grew out of her passionate curiosity. She spent eighty hours researching this subject, also discovering the wonderful Berkshire libraries which contained valuable old histories and cookbooks.
Her first book developed after a chance meeting with a friend from Shakespeare & Co., who suggested she write about Shakespeare's Kitchen. After submitting an outline and proposal to Random House, she published this first book with its fascinating discoveries about Renaissance recipes of England, illustrated with fabulous color photographs by Tim Turner.
So started her new career. She has lectured at The Smithsonian Museum, The New York Times Travel Show, the 92nd Street Y and The Museum of Natural History in New York City, at The Virginia Fine Arts Museum, and The Newport Historical Association, Princeton University and many other venues, including appearances on The Today Show, the History and Discovery Channels the Food Network, and others. She has also received a James Beard Award.
Francine says that while TV is "fun ... hands down my absolute favorite is lecturing to a live audience."