Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery

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The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery meets annually, currently at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, to discuss issues of concern to those, academics and non-academics alike, whose principal professional concern or interest is food, taken in its broadest sense. It is the oldest such body in the world, tracing its origins to seminars given in 1978-9 at St. Antony's College, Oxford, by the late Alan Davidson, at the instigation of Theodore Zeldin. Participants in the first seminar included Elizabeth David, Richard Olney, Jane Grigson and Paul Levy. The group was soon augmented by Claudia Roden, Nicholas Kurti, the publisher Jill Norman and Sri Owen, among others, and other regulars include the American writers Jeffrey Steingarten, Raymond Sokolov and Charles Perry, and the Australian Cherry Ripe. Many topics have had their first airing at the Oxford Symposium, including the expression "molecular gastronomy," and there have been meetings to discuss the migrations of foodstuffs, the history of cookbooks and the concept of authenticity.

The next meeting to be held, at St. Catherine's on 11-13 Sept. 2008, is the 27th, and the topic to be discussed is "Vegetables." The Oxford Symposium is now a registered charity in Britain, with a group of distinguished Trustees, and there is an American Friends of the Oxford Symposium. The Patrons of the Symposium are Jane Davidson and Theodore Zeldin, the chair of the Trustees, as of Sept. 2007, is Carolin Young, and the co-chairmen of the event are Claudia Roden and Paul Levy. The proceedings of the Symposium are published.