What's the most iconic fair food? Popcorn? Hot dogs? Deep-fried apple pie on a stick? Today, fair food and the fryer may be a match made in heaven, but where did the trend of eating adventurously at the fair start? Today, we're heading back to the original American fair: the Centennial Exposition of 1876. But don't get out the deep-fried twinkies just yet. Turns out, the biggest battle in 19th century American fair food was about fine dining! Despite the white tablecloth service visitors received in 1876, we'll learn how the Centennial Exposition saw the birth of some of America's most famous casual foods: the hamburger and soda. 
Written & Produced by Laura Carlson
Technical Direction by Mike Portt
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Behind the Deep Fat Fryer: America's Original Fair Food

The Feast presents delectable stories from the dining tables of history. Our stories immerse you in the sights, sounds, & tastes of a meal from the past. Make bread with medieval monks; share a martini with Churchill. Find out what wars were won & which kingdoms were lost, all for the sake of a good meal. Email suggestions for episodes to thefeast@thefeastpodcast.org

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Almost sixty years ago to the day, President John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline hosted the largest state dinner of the Kennedy Administration. Invited to the White House for a special "brains dinner" in April 1962 were 49 Nobel laureates, along with Pulitzer Prize winners, noted actors, and Poet Laureates. What happened the night Robert Frost dined with J. Robert Oppenheimer? How did James Baldwin get on with Mary Welsh Hemingway? On this episode, we speak with Joseph A. Esposito, author of "Dinner in Camelot: The Night America’s Greatest Scientists, Writers, and Scholars Partied at the Kennedy White House” to discuss the dinner and its impressive guest list.
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Dinner in Camelot

This week, the Feast is heading to Ohio to visit a brewery entirely dedicated to making beer like they did in the mid-19th century. Located in Dayton, Carillon Brewing Company is not your average craft brewery. Instead of wrestling with stainless steel tanks, you’re more likely to find these brewers chopping wood and discussing 19th century recipe books. We spoke with head brewer Kyle Spears and assistant brewer Dan Lauro to learn what it takes to brew beer like they did in 1855. Here’s a clue: the first thing you’ll need is a really big fire.
Written and produced by Laura Carlson
Photography and digital direction by Mike Portt
Special guests: Kyle Spears and Dan Lauro of Carillon Brewing Company 
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Brewing with Fire: Carillon Brewing Company

In an era of celebrity chefs, fast casual chains, and meal delivery services available at the touch of a button, it may be hard to imagine a state where people drive out of town to go to a pyramid-shaped restaurant to enjoy a nice brandy-based cocktail, a relish tray, fried fish, and prime rib. Where the host lets you linger at a bar for hours before even thinking of being seated for dinner. Where you might know everyone in the restaurant, including the owners. And you may be back in a few days to dine at the same place all over again. 
But this magical state does exist, my friends. It exists at the Wisconsin supper club.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Holly L. De Ruyter, writer, producer, and director of Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club, the definitive documentary the explores the rise and enduring tradition of this dining legacy of the midwest.
Written and produced by Laura Carlson
Photographer and Digital Director: Mike Portt
Special Guest: Holly L. De Ruyter
Find out more about The Feast at www.thefeastpodcast.org
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Serving Up Wisconsin's State Secret: The Supper Club

This week, we’re featuring another interview from our trip to the first-ever Beer Culture Summit, held in Chicago in October 2019. This time, we’re heading to the Chicago History Museum to learn about the forgotten women that helped shape America’s beer industry in the 19th century. We speak with Dr. Jennifer Jordan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who has spent the last few years researching and writing about the forgotten hop industry and specifically the women who were often at the forefront of hop harvesting in states like Wisconsin and California. We chatted about Dr. Jordan’s research, which has taken her from the archives to the back roads of rural Wisconsin in search of the evidence for this once powerful industry of the area. We also talk about her research into the life of Ella, one of the many hop harvesting Wisconsin women of history.

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Cover image via the Wisconsin Historical Society 
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The Lost Women of America's Hop Industry

This week, we're taking you to the heart of the Windy City itself, Chicago, to chat with the founder and executive director of the one of the only museum's dedicated entirely to the history and culture of beer: the Chicago Brewseum. At its helm is Liz Garibay, who has spearheaded the organization's programming and events for the last several years. In October 2019, the Brewseum hosted the first-ever Beer Culture Summit, dedicated to enhancing the cultural understanding of one of the world's oldest beverages. We chatted with Liz at a Chicago craft brewery, Metropolitan Brewing, about how she got into the beer history game, the origins of the Brewseum, and why history and beer go so well together.
Find out more about the other great breweries we mention in this episode:
3 Sheeps Brewing
Eris Brewery and Cider House
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Behind the Deep Fat Fryer: America's Original Fair Food

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