












































A letter from the Editors: 
 

 
 
Dear Readers, 
 
Change is a theme that runs through the contributions to this issue of Digest. Articles focus on 

intersections of food, change and ethnicity, beginning with Diana Garvin’s discussion of the emergence 

of ideal kitchen design in the 1930s in Facist Italy. M. Ruth Dike and Mu Li both examine the challenges 

of maintaining one’s culinary traditions in a new country. Dike, who looks at Moroccans living in the 

Boston, and Li, who considers the Chinese community in St. John’s, Newfoundland, explore how 

members of diaspora communities make culinary adaptions in their new home. The articles raise 

complex questions concerning the relationship of authenticity to change. 
 
Research notes in this issue continue the theme. In his exploration of the popular television program, 

“Top Chef,” Ryan Eanes explores the transformation of traditional foods into trends. In this section, 

Noah Morritt examines an artifact—a baker’s hat—as a symbolically charged object of resistance in the 

face of changing commercialization in a coffee shop bakery. The section closes with Terra Barrett’s 

notes from an interview she conducted with her grandfather on changing foodways over the course of 

his lifetime. 
 
The issue comes to a close with the Amuse Bouche section that draws together several ads from Paul 

Smith’s collection of historical documents and ephemera, a 1910 promotional recipe booklet, “The 

American Table,” issued by Lawson Brothers grocers of Rockford, Illinois, and a contemporary food 

photo. Three reviews introduce readers to works on American dietary reform, foodways and film, and 

culinary tourism. 
 
We owe a debt of thanks to Noah Morritt for the very capable job he did as Assistant Editor for this 

issue. 
 
 

 
 
Michael Lange and Diane Tye, editors 
 


