Introduction

Welcome to the first volume of the Class Cookbook in Indiana Foodways, a experiential course offered by the Department of Geography at Indiana University. I first developed this course to celebrate Indiana University’s bicentennial. I wished to explore connections between embodied ways of learning in an academic institution and Indiana’s food narratives. In ways that have now become clearer, it was also a way to pay homage to the place that I have called home over the last 30+ years.

The course content is based on Indiana’s long and complex history. The scope is geographical and the scale is regional and local, peppered with global connections. The course examines change and continuity among Indianans’ multiple histories and movements. It documents people and places through the lens of food and culinary practices. From the contributions of the region’s Native American inhabitants, to the Upland Southerners and the waves of settlers, migrants, and immigrants, the course contests long-held narratives about who present-day Hoosiers are and the type of cuisine(s) they claim.

But what are Indiana’s foodways? And how can they be explained through the stories of people who live, visit, and study here? In multiple discussions and cooking labs, students explored geographical concepts such as place, mobility, justice, cultural continuity, and change. For their main assignment, they explored family geographies to understand their connections to this state through their own recipes and stories. They studied how written and oral recipes are negotiated and performed through “authentic,” and “traditional” narratives. In the process, they dug deeper into their family and community histories, researched how family and collective food histories are constructed, and critically examined the connections that can be found among places and people. In the lab, amidst the chaos of cooking, talking, and laughing, they reproduced the dishes with care, pride, and introspection to share with all of us. 

The chapters in this book document my students’ individual and family geographies anchored on cherished recipes which imbue meaning to who they are and where they came from.

Bon Appetit!