 
|
|
| LECTURING TO a live audience and cooking with a group of students is a
delight. Foodies are such fun people. I enjoy every moment and love
getting to know you. Thank you to all who've come to my talks and classes. | | 
Francine with Audra McDonald, 3 time Tony-winner, singer and actress
|
|
Francine Segan, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini discuss Food In Film
for the Tribeca Film Festival, 2006 |
|
AUGUST, 2008
Chocolate!
Saturday, August 2
6:30 - 7:30 PM
Discover chocolate's exciting history. Start with its New World origins and journey through Europe, where it transformed from a grainy bitter brew into the treat we know and love today.
Learn how chocolate goes from bean to bar as you are guided through a tasting of various types of fine chocolates.
Mahaiwe Theater
Great Barrington, MA.
For tickets: 413-528-0100 or www.mahaiwe.org
OCTOBER, 2008
Italian Desserts: History & Tasting
Monday, October 6
7:00 - 8:30PM
Discover the sweet advantage Italy had over the rest of Europe in developing dessert as we trace the fascinating stories behind hundreds of delicious sweets like black rice, "virgin's breasts," and a dessert pudding called "Pope's soup."
The talk includes a tasting of dozens of Italy's finest cookies, cakes and desserts.
92nd St Y
New York City
For tickets: www.92Y.org or call 212-415-5500
Italian Chocolate: History & Tasting
Thursday, October 9
7:00- 9:00 PM
 Italy's chocolate history begins with Christopher Columbus, who "discovered" chocolate!
Hear the fascinating history of chocolate starting with its New World origins as we trace its journey and transformation in Europe from a grainy bitter brew to the delicious sweet we know today.
Learn about the wonderful role Casanova played in chocolate history; how it was consumed in 17th century high society; why Napoleon indirectly helped Italians invent the country's favorite and best selling candy; why Nutella was created after WW II, and much more….
Discover the important contributions Italy has made, and continues to make, to chocolate cuisine. For example, few realize that Italy, not Mexico, was the first country to cook with chocolate back in the 1700s. Learn about those early sweet and also savory dishes as well as modern-day Italian chocolate recipes.
Discover the amazingly complex chocolate-making process, from harvesting the cacao beans to how it becomes a chocolate bar. Hear about Italy's top chocolate makers like Amedei, Caffarel, Perugina, Pernigotti, Peyrano, Slitti, Venchi and more.
As part of this exciting talk, you will be treated to a tasting from Italy's leading chocolatiers who will share their signature treats, many of which are not available in the USA. In addition you'll taste Italian grappa and wines especially suited to savor with chocolate.
Westchester Italian Cultural Center
Tuckahoe, NY
For tickets: programs@wiccny.org or call 914 771 9119
Italian Columbus Day Celebration!
Francine chats with Lidia Bastianich and Donatella
Sunday, October 12
7:30 - 8:30 PM
A perfect Columbus Day Pre-celebration!
Fun-filled, fascinating foray into Italian food and wine with famed TV personalities and restaurateurs, Lidia Bastianich and Donatella Arpaia. Moderated by the Y's popular World of Tasting's lecturer, Francine Segan.
92nd St Y
New York City
For tickets: www.92Y.org or call 212-415-5500
Chocolate 101: History and Tasting
Wednesday, October 15
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Learn chocolate's history, starting with its New World origins. Trace its journey, and transformation, in Europe. Discover the roles Christopher Columbus, Cortes, Casanova and others played.
Hear about the first chocolate shop that opened in England in London in 1657 and discover how high society experienced chocolate back then.
Discover how chocolate goes from bean to bar as you are guided through a tasting of various types of fine chocolates.
Agecroft Museum
Richmond, Virginia
To register: www.agecrofthall.org/newsletter or call (804) 353-4241
Italy's Chocolates: History and Tasting
Thursday, October 16
7:00 - 9:00 PM
We have Italy to thank for chocolate!
Learn how Christopher Columbus "discovered" it; the wonderful role Casanova played in its history; how decadent 17th century European high society experienced chocolate…. and the important contributions Italy has made, and continues to make, to the chocolate industry.
You'll discover the amazingly complex chocolate-making process, from bean to bar and be treated to a tasting various Italian chocolates. In addition you'll taste wines especially suited to savor with chocolate.
Wines generously donated by Tosti, USA and Admiral Wine Imports. Chocolates donated by several fine Italian chocolate companies including Amedei, Caffarel and Pernigotti.
Smithsonian Museum
Washington, DC
To register: www.residentassociates.org or call 202-633-3030
Foods of Ancient Greece: Hands on Cooking Class
Saturday, October 18, 2008
10:30 AM -1:30 PM
In this lively and fun class you'll learn not only how to make the dishes that were the start of the Mediterranean diet but also about many of the fascinating myths and stories of the ancient Greeks.
The menu includes the most delicious hummus you have ever tasted, plus figs filled with cheese and pistachios, arugula and radicchio salad with ginger-date vinaigrette, seared swordfish with mint-caper pesto, lamb with pomegranate-glazed onions, and milk and honey dessert toasts.
Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, New York
To register: www.slc.edu/adultprograms or call 914-395-2693
Cooking with Beer!
Saturday, October 18
6:00 - 11:00 PM
Celebrate Oktoberfest with this lively hands-on cooking class.
Institute of Culinary Education (I.C.E.)
50 West 23rd Street, NYC
To register or for more information please call (800) 522-4610 or email: RecreationalDivision@iceculinary.com
CANDY!
Thursday, October 30
12 Noon - 1:00 PM
A perfect pre-Halloween celebration!
Discover the sweet history of candy and the amusing origins of such goodies as jelly beans, Necco wafers, Chuckles, Tootsie Rolls, Red Hots, wax lips, gum…and more.
Learn about the many Prohibition and Roaring '20s inspired candies
--like Charleston Chews-- and the amazing influence WWII had on our sweet's industry.
The talk traces the history of candy into the present with sneak previews into new flavors and candies of the future. Along the way you'll be treated to tastings of dozens and dozens of old favorites, and newly invented candy.
92YTribeca - Makor/Steinhardt Center
New York City
For tickets: www.92y.org or call 212.601.1000
NOVEMBER, 2008
Chocolate!
Thursday, November 6
7:30 - 9:00 PM
Discover chocolate's exciting history. Start with its New World origins and journey through Europe, where it transformed from a grainy bitter brew into the treat we know and love today.
Learn how chocolate goes from bean to bar as you are guided through a tasting of various types of fine chocolates.
The Adult Program at Great Neck Public Schools
Great Neck, NY
For tickets: 516-773-1713 or www.GreatNeckAdultEd.org
Italian Chocolate Pasta & Other Savories
Chocolate Show 2008
November 7-9
Interestingly, it was Italy, not Mexico, which was the first country to cook savory dishes with chocolate. As part of Chocolate Show 2008, enjoy a cooking demonstration and talk by the Chocolate Show's returning food historian, cookbook author and Italophile, Francine Segan.
Discover the fun history of Italian chocolate cooking in what promises to be an amusing and enlightening cooking demonstration of several classic savory---non-sweet--Italian chocolate dishes.
Don't miss this chance to savor a taste of Francine's fabulous chocolate pasta!
Chocolate Show
New York City
Free with entrance fee, but seating is limited.
Italy's Regional Cooking: Hands on Cooking Class
Saturday, November 8
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Each region of Italy has its specialty dishes. In this class, we'll explore five of Italy's most renowned culinary centers, including Tuscany and Emilia- Romagna. We'll prepare classic dishes from a few of Italy's best loved cities including Florence, Naples, Milan, Venice, and Palermo, Sicily. You'll learn to make mouthwatering risotto alla Milanese, Sicily's famed pasta alla Norma, made-from-scratch Neapolitan pizza, tortes and pies from Florence, and Italy's wonderful granite ice.
Along with the recipes, you'll also learn fun trivia about everyday life in Italy through a presentation of lively images of Italian art, culture, and food while you enjoy the dishes over a lunch that includes a wine tasting.
Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, New York
To register: www.slc.edu/adultprograms or call 914-395-2693
French Nibbles & Cocktails: Hands on Cooking Class
Saturday, November 8
6:00 - 11:00 PM
Create a trés chic array of French nibbles and cocktails. In addition to expanding your culinary repertoire with more than a dozen sophisticated, yet easy-to-prepare hors d'oeuvres and appetizers, you'll also learn to make three fabulous French cocktails: French 75, French Martini, and Parisian Punch.
Institute of Culinary Education (I.C.E.)
50 West 23rd Street, NYC
To register:(800) 522-4610 or email: RecreationalDivision@iceculinary.com
Dining with Shakespeare
Sunday, November 16
12 Noon - 1: 00 PM
Discover the fascinating festivities of Shakespeare's time in this hilarious presentation on the fanciful foods, intriguing table manners, and unusual dining customs of the Elizabethan era. Learn the incredible reasons the Elizabethans clinked glasses to make a toast and why, in fact, it was called a "toast." Learn why gentlemen and ladies refused to eat with forks and why "4 and 20 blackbirds" really were served in a pie!
Sprinkled throughout the lecture are samples of the bawdy jokes, puns, and riddles told between courses back then.
Old Barracks Museum
Trenton, NU
For more information: www.historicfoodways.org
History of America's Sweets
Tuesday, November 18
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Discover the amusing stories behind America's favorite pies, cakes, puddings, ice cream ,and candies.
Includes 19th century dessert tasting and recipe handout
Mt Vernon Hotel Museum
421 East 61 Street, New York City
For tickets: 212-838-6878 or www.mvhm.org
PIE!
Wednesday, November 19
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Pies, both sweet and savory, have a fascinating history.
Discover the story behind pie eating contests; three-foot high pasta pies served to royalty in Italy; pie recipes that won $25,000; why the expression "American as apple pie" is a huge mistake and much, much more! We'll trace pie's history back to the Middle Ages when they might have been shaped like fish, topped with a stuffed peacock, or filled with "four 'n twenty" live blackbirds.
Talk includes wonderful tastings such as mock apple pie, lemon meringue, banana cream, tarts, and also savory pies as well as recipe handouts so you can indulge your sweet tooth at home too.
92nd St Y
New York City
To register: www.92Y.org or call 212-415-5500
Taverns, Pubs & Food History of Lower Manhattan
Thursday, November 20
12 Noon - 1 PM
Lower Manhattan has always been a great place for terrific food, starting with the days when Native Americans hunted and caught fish there. Join noted food historian Francine Segan for a delightful romp back in time to trace the fascinating foods and eating places of lower Manhattan from out pre-Revolutionary days right into the present.
Discover why Daniel Webster called our colonial taverns "the headquarters of the Revolution" as you learn about NYC's terrific early watering holes like Fraunces Tavern the site of George Washington's famous troops farewell. Discover the amazing and varied foodie contributions of early immigrants and the wonderful modern gourmet surprises to be found in NYC's lower Manhattan.
92YTribeca - Makor/Steinhardt Center
New York City
To register: www.92y.org or call 212.601.1000
Dessert Wines and After Dinner Drinks
Thursday, November 20
7:00-8:30 PM
Forget about coffee, tea and cake! The chic way to end a meal is with a light, refreshing glass of icy cold dessert wine. Discover the wonderful world of after-dinner wines including late-harvest wines, fortified wines and ice-wines.
Learn the reason dessert wine makers have to wear mittens at harvest time and why it's great for grapes to get "noble rot"!
Sample a wide range of wines including Sauternes, ice wine, sherry, Moscato d'Asti, Vin Santo, and port and learn the perfect desserts to pair with each.
92nd St Y
New York City
To register: www.92y.org or call 212-415-5500
DECEMBER, 2008
Italian Nibbles and Cocktails: Hands on Cooking Class
Friday, December 5
6-:00 - 11:00 PM
Across Italy bars, clubs, and restaurants are concocting fantastic cocktails and serving innovative nibbles in stead of the traditional heavy dinner.
Learn to make innovative cocktails like Lo Spritz--a concoction with Aperole and the new Italian-style "tapas". Our menu includes: Warm Dates with Almonds and Proscuitto; Bel Paese with Chili Pepper Marmalade on Guava Slices; Updated Bruschetta; Insalata Russa on Endive; Sweet and Tangy Eggplant Caponata and Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Figs.
Institute of Culinary Education (I.C.E.)
50 West 23rd Street, NYC
To register or for more information please call (800) 522-4610 or email RecreationalDivision@iceculinary.com
Dessert Wines: Talk & Tasting
Tuesday, December 9
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Princeton Club
NYC
COOKIES!
Thursday, December 11
7:00- 8:30 PM
Mallomars, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, gingerbread men....cookies have been popular since ancient times when the Romans invented a two sided sweet a lot like an Oreo.
Learn about the origins of your favorite Chanukah and holiday cookies as you discover the fascinating history and origins of many famous cookies. Throughout the talk nibble your way through dozens and dozens from around the world including China, Japan, Israel, Italy, India, South America & beyond.
92nd St Y
New York City
To register: www.92Y.org or call 212-415-5500
Opera Lover's Hands-on Cooking Class
Saturday, December 13
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Learn how to make classic Italian dishes inspired by our favorite operas such as Penne alla Norma, a delicious tomato, basil and eggplant dish inspired in the late 1800s by Bellini's beloved opera Norma, as well as delectable side dishes and desserts inspired by Puccini, Verdi and other Italian composers. As you learn how to make a traditional Opera cocktail, you'll discover lots of fascinating opera trivia.
Wine served with the lunch you prepare! Each participant will also receive a signed copy of Segan's book, The Opera Lover's Cookbook.
Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, New York
To register: www.slc.edu/adultprograms or call 914-395-2693
FEBRUARY, 2009
Coffee: Tasting & History
Wednesday, February 4
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Discover coffee's exciting African origins and checkered history. Learn why coffee was eaten and not drunk in ancient Africa, why it was first drunk as a wine not a hot drink, and how the bean traveled from it's native Africa around the world to Java and beyond. We'll discuss how coffee is grown, roasted and even how it's traded on Wall Street.
See raw coffee beans and trace the roasting process through an exciting powerpoint presentation. Taste several types of coffee including Kenyan, Blue Mountain Jamaican, and Java and several roasting methods including light city roast and French-Italian roast.
Learn how to make a perfect cup of coffee and how to cook with coffee in this fast paced, fun event.
92nd St Y
New York City
To register: www.92Y.org or call 212-415-5500
New York Times Travel Show
Gourmet Lover's Tour of Italy
February 6-8
Details to come…..
Javits Center
New York City
Chocolate!
Wednesday, February 11
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Cornel Club
New York City
|
|
