A History of the World in Ten Dinners

*Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have postponed this lecture with a new date coming soon*

Join food historian Victoria Flexner and Chef Jay Reifel, the duo behind Edible History for a conversation about their recently published book, A History of The World in Ten Dinners. 

Flexner and Reifel will dive into their research process - how they selected each time period focused on and how the recipes were sourced. They will also explore the major themes covered in their cookbook that spans 2,000 years of history from across the globe -- everything from international trade in the Medieval period, to the fall of empires, the rise of different monarchies and religions as well as the birth of the restaurant and the invention of French haute cuisine. 

Edible History was founded in 2014 with the goal of bringing people into the conversation of history, through a universally accessible medium: food. A pioneering supper club in the food history space, Edible History has hosted historically themed dinners in Ancient Rome, Tudor England, 10th Century Baghdad, along the Medieval Silk Road, in Louis XIV’s Versailles, in 19th Century New York City and countless other periods and places.

Victoria Flexner is a food historian and the founder of Edible History. She holds a degree in History from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and a Masters in Historical Studies from The New School in New York City. Flexner worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Public Library, and The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum prior to founding Edible History. In 2018  she held a residency at The Museum of Food and Drink hosting monthly dinners based on a wide range of historic periods, including a feminist dinner party based on Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party which received write ups in Vogue and The New Yorker. In 2021 Rizzoli Press acquired A History of The World in Ten Dinners, a sweeping historic cookbook, with history written by Flexner and period recipes adapted for the modern home cook by Edible History Executive Chef Jay Reifel. 

Jay Reifel is Edible History’s Executive Chef. He has a background in fine dining, classical pastry, and has a deep love of history, especially as it relates to food and culture. He has written everything from one-liners to questionable science fiction. In his culinary career, he has worked with food scientists, historians, and translators, eaten everything from pig's brains to live insects, learned from them all and thinks you should too.