Course description

This 5-week course, which integrates and expands the material explored in the course Innovators of American Cuisine, is dedicated to culinary giants Craig Claiborne, MKF Fisher, Clementine Paddleford, Judith Jones, and Michael Batterberry. As we examine their life and work, we will explore aspects of the food world ranging from restaurant criticism to food writing, looking in particular at cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers.

Each unit focuses on one of the five protagonists of American food writing and draws on panel discussions and interviews with food writers, researchers, and practitioners who knew or worked with them. We hope this course will encourage you to deepen your exploration of food.

As we noted in Innovators of American Cuisine, we do not aim to create a canon by identifying a set of founding fathers and mothers, but rather to draw attention to the cultural and social dynamics that have led to the present flourishing and popularity of food writing in America. We invite you to look beyond current trends and celebrities to reflect on the contributions of important protagonists the history of U.S. food writing.

We do not intend to set U.S. as a model. Through the close examination of the American experience and the contributions of innovators to its culinary literature and journalism, we want to help you acquire critical tools that you can adapt and use to explore your own food culture, wherever you are. This is an open and burgeoning field with much to observe and learn.

Course Learning Objectives

By completing the four units of this course, you will:

• Achieve a better understanding of food writing and publishing as a field of cultural and social production.
• Explore recent developments in the way Americans write, think, and discuss food and cuisine, examining various contributing cultural and social factors.
• Identify and evaluate the influence of innovators in the field.
• Acquire critical tools for the analysis of food writing and publishing in the U.S.
• Get ideas for your own writing and publishing

Where to begin and what to do first.

Before starting exploring the course material, please go to the course information page to learn more about how to use this course.

Every week, you will find links and directions on the front page to navigate each unit’s material and proceed successfully through the course.

if you have not taken the course Innovators of American Cuisine, you can still get access to all its content by signing up for Innovators of American Cuisine.

Structure of the course

Get Started

Week 1

Craig Claiborne: The Restaurant Critic

Week 2

MFK Fisher: Food Writing as Literature

Week 3

Clementine Paddleford: The First Food Journalist

Week 4

Judith Jones: The Art and Business of Food Publishing

Week 5

Michael Batterberry: The Food Magazine Industry