Thursday, April 27
6:30 reception, 7:00 Dinner
Cost: $95 (includes reception, dinner, tax/gratuity, and a copy of Cooking with the Muse )

Join Williams alumnus, and professor of comparative literature at Columbia, Stephen Massimilla ’86, along with his co-author, professional chef and graduate culinary nutrition instructor Myra Kornfeld for an entertaining presentation and discussion that will feed the body, mind and soul.

Participating Club members will learn all about what poets and writers—from Homer to Rumi to Chaucer to Shakespeare to Milton to Pablo Neruda to Emily Dickinson to Mark Twain to Wendell Berry to Derek Walcott to Elizabeth Alexander—can teach you about eating well and wisely and getting plenty of satisfaction. The co-authors’ presentation will take place during and after a Muse-inspired meal from Princeton Club Chef, Michael Bourquin.

These are some of the kinds of things that the co-authors will address over the course of dinner and afterwards:

• -What the great founding 19th-century gastronomist Brillat-Savarin really meant when he said, “Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are.”

• -Learn what great literary authors can teach us about how to cook and enjoy artichokes, Brussels sprouts, celery root, rhubarb and other ingredients that often “get no respect.”

• -Why the Cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey is such a wonderful artisanal feta cheese maker, and why what today are sometimes demeaned as “fatty foods” were so highly prized by the ancients.

• -Mark Twain reveals the secrets to making the most of watermelon, preparing the best corn, and making the absolute best fish dish you have ever tasted

• -The great ancient Sufi poet Rumi explains how self-realization and personal growth depend on what you do in the kitchen.

The Williams Club and the Princeton Club are pleased to co-sponsor this event.