The Joy of Food
Six Delicious Dishes that Shaped the Modern World
The Speakers Annex (November-December 2025)
Take a delightful journey through the history of six mouthwatering foods that have become staples of the modern table. We’ll learn about bagels and lox and its lip-smacking journey into the heart (and stomachs) of the Jewish diaspora. We’ll examine the role of ice cream in bringing the concept of luxury from the royal courts of Europe to your neighborhood ice cream parlour. We’ll explore the lessons that pizza, curry and the Canadian butter tart can teach us about immigration, globalization and national identity.
Pizza: How Italian Food Conquered the World
From award-winning Neapolitan pizzerias to your neighbourhood Pizza Hut franchise, pizza may be the most recognized Italian food in the world.
To kick off our series, we’ll dig deep into the story of pizza and its connections to the Columbian exchange, Italian emigration, and the rise of fast food. We’ll also explore pizza as a modern culinary chameleon, with beloved global styles ranging from Sicily to Greece to California.
Ice Cream: How a Cool Treat Democratized Dessert
The perennial treat of summer, ice cream may seem like a marvel of modern refrigeration. But as you enjoy your Rocky Road, consider how everyone from Alexander the Great to Catherine de Medici indulged in frozen treats such as sherbets, sorbets, and even icy beverages.
This week, we’ll explore the surprisingly long history of ice cream, and how frosty desserts were the ultimate status symbol until the invention of modern refrigeration.
Curry: How a Complex Dish Combatted Colonialism
Curry may be among the most difficult to define terms in cooking: applicable to tree leaves, spice blends, sauces, and, of course, complex dishes. This week, we dive deep into the term’s colonial origins in South Asia and its spread to global cuisines, conjuring discussions of immigration, globalization, and cultural appropriation.
We’ll explore the history of curry’s impressively wide range in style and form: from its roots in early Indian cuisine to Britain’s chicken tikka masala, Japan’s katsu curry, and even Germany’s currywurst.
Bagels & Lox:
How Smoked Salmon & Schmear
Defined the Jewish Diaspora
Whether you’re a devotee of Montreal bagels, or insist that only New York style will do, bagels and lox are a culinary calling card of the Jewish diaspora. This week, we dig into the thousand-year history of how this iconic dish came to be, stretching from Poland to Turkey to the Lower East Side.
We’ll explore the mélange of cuisines that provided the components of this beloved dish: from the Mediterranean hills that gave us capers, to the Scandinavian tradition of smoked fish, to the British influence that created cream cheese. We’ll also dig into the bagel’s ties to the Jewish immigrant experience in North America, with stories of bagel unions, bagel millionaires, and yes, even the controversial gluten-free bagel.
Ramen:
How Instant Noodles Saved a Nation (and Rewired the World’s Taste Buds)
This week, we take a dive into the history of this slurpable soup: from the ancient noodle traditions of East Asia to the budget-friendly cup-o-noodles beloved by university students all over the world.
Learn how instant noodles connect to American expansionism in Japan following the Second World War and the growth of ready-made meals in the 20th century. We’ll also explore the other side of the ramen coin: with diners forking over big dollars for big artisanal bowls of broth.
Culinary Canadiana:
How Food Built Canada’s Identity
For our final week, we take a deep dive at some Canadian culinary icons, from poutine to the butter tart. We’ll also put a Canadian culinary lens on the foods we’ve been looking at over the course of the series. From the Montreal bagel to Toronto’s sushi pizza, we’ll explore how Canada has put its own unique culinary stamp on these foods.
We’ll explore the historical roots of these Canadian dishes as well as how they have changed over time to reflect Canada’s unique blend of cultures and communities. Discover how tourtière, Nanaimo bars, and peameal bacon became indelibly linked with Canadian identity, and where the future of Canadian food is headed.