Items for a Southeast Asian meal in the middle of a New England winter are relatively easy to source in our global world. this is possible because of research pioneered in botanic gardens, often overlooked immigrant entrepreneurs, and consumers who equate consuming ethnic food with cultural cosmopolitanism. Professor Alex Orquiza, a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in American Studies at Wellesley College, shows how many of the plants from the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens connect to our everyday lives, with individual histories that include both old and new cultural exchanges. The Wednesday, December 4 talk, beginning at 1 pm at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens Visitors Center, includes a cooking demonstration. Professor Orquiza is completing his first book, A Pacific Palate: Food, Culture, and American Imperialism in the Philippines, 1898-1935.  WCBG members free, nonmembers $10. Sign up by calling 781-283-3094, or visit www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends.
