Andrew Smith discusses Hamburger: A Global History on Tuesday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
Smith traces the origins of the hamburger from its days as a street food sold by American vendors to the inclusion on the menus of diners and restaurants to the opening of the first hamburger chain, White Castle – in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. Smith also illustrates his contention that the hamburger irrevocably changed American life as it prompted the rise of fast food over home-cooked meals.
Smith is a hamburger aficionado who teaches culinary history at the New School in New York. He is also the author of The Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food [4] and editor of The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink [5].
Copies of Hamburger: A Global History will be available for sale, and Smith will sign copies purchased during the event.
Admission is free. A 6 p.m. reception precedes the event. Click here [6] or call 816.701.3407 to RSVP.###
Two other programs at the Kansas City Public Library offer a fountain of fun food facts as the authors of Pancake: A Global History [7], and Citrus: A History [8] discuss their books on January 6 and 27, respectively.
The books are part of Reaktion Books’ new Edible series of chapbooks.
The programs complement the Hungry Planet exhibit [9] on display at the Central Library through January 18.
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