A History of Sriracha
Taught by Sarah Lohman
Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed book Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. She focuses on the history of American food as a way to access stories of women, immigrants, and people of color, and to address issues of racism, sexism, and xenophobia. Her work has been featured inTheWall Street Journal andThe New York Times, as well as onAll Things Considered; and she has presented across the country, from the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC to The Culinary Historians of Southern California. She is also 1/2 of the Masters of Social Gastronomy, a monthly food science and history talk at Caveat NYC, with Brainery co-founder Jonathan Soma.
Sriracha is a cultural mashup that typifies American cuisine: based on a Thai sauce, it was created by a Vietnamese immigrant of Chinese descent, and is made outside of LA with California-grown ingredients. In 20 years, it’s crossed over from a condiment for Pho to a mainstream American ingredient.
Historic Gatronomist Sarah Lohman has traveled to Sriracha’s California birthplace to see the factory and interview David Tran, the hot sauce’s genius creator. She’ll share with you the fascinating history of Sriracha as well exclusive interviews, primary source research, and a special peek into its artisinal production process. All your burning hot sauce questions will be answered as we explore how Sriracha has become more American than apple pie.
We'll also demo how to make a Thai omelet!
