Aesthetic Gastronomy class has taste of front page coverage

This is taken from the NSA website:

The following story appeared in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Monday, September 5.

If eating is a symphony, with each course as a movement, a professor at New Saint Andrews College has begun his opus.

Joshua Appel introduced 15 students to a harmonious world in NSA’s newest elective, Aesthetic Gastronomy. Through an intersection of sociology, philosophy, theology and history, his class examines the role of food in Western tradition and culture.

In recent lectures, Appel shared historical stories of Roman feasts where guests suffocated on roses and gladiators replaced centerpieces. He also taught students about the exotic origins of spices such as the hand-pollinated orchids of South America that produce vanilla beans. Last week, French chef and pastor Francis Foucachon guided the students through the acts of “decouvrir” — or discovering. He described the study of gastronomy as “removing the veil from what God created for us,” yet the only “bible” Foucachon brought to class was an English-language cookbook titled, “The Concise Larousse Gastronomique.”


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