New Food Book by Umbra Visiting Professor
What do e-grocers, fried Snickers bars at state fairs, and food assembly kitchens have to do with each other?
A new book, Culinary Capital, helps us “understand how and why certain foods and food-related practices connote, and by extension, confer status and power on those who know about and enjoy them.” The co-author, Professor Peter Naccarato does not have a short list of accomplishments: PhD in British Literature, Professor of English and Chair of Humanities Division at Marymount Manhattan College, and co-editor (with Kathleen LeBesco, also co-author of this volume) of Edible Ideologies.
And add to that his time as a visiting professor at the Umbra Institute. Last summer, Naccarato taught “Mangiamo: Food in Italian and Italian-American Literature and Film” to eight Marymount Manhattan students in Perugia’s idyllic setting. The course included discussions of food in books ranging from giant Italo Calvino to Frances Mayes, as well as a field trip to hunt truffles.
Naccarato and LeBesco’s book was published by food publishing powerhouse Berg and will be available Oct. 1. Food Studies Program coordinator Zachary Nowak has already ordered two copies for the Umbra Institute’s library of food studies books. See a description here of Culinary Capital.
Congratulations to Professor Naccarato!