Rachel Laudan

I acquired a passion for good food growing up on an English farm. I was determined to master the fascinating stuff, the tough stuff, so I chose sciences, first math, physics and chemistry, then a degree in geology. I was bowled over by the ways science had transformed the world so, following Ph.D. from the University of London, I taught and wrote about the history and philosophy of science and technology. I published several books and lots of articles while I made my way around the American academic circuit and enjoyed the luxury of visiting appointments around the world.

At the University of Hawaii, I found a way to bring together my passions for gastronomy, history and philosophy and to understand the globalization I had lived. I discovered the most amazing food culture I had thus far encountered, one that had me open-mouthed. The notes I made were finally pulled together in 1996 in The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage, a book that explored how three diasporas had combined to create Local Food, the grass-roots fusion cuisine of Hawaii. I was thrilled when it won the Julia Child/Jane Grigson Prize.

About then, my husband and I decided to abandon academia and try new freelance careers. We moved to Mexico. Since then, I have published in journals such as Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, Gastronomica, and Saveur. I’ve spoken to all kinds of interesting groups. In 2005 I was Scholar-in-Residence at the Dallas meetings of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Should you want more details, like everyone who has passed through academia I have compiled my doings into that curious, obsessive art form known as my Curriculum Vitae.