June 6, 2005 Steven Raichlen To Lecture On Barbecue History on June 24

Press Contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639
Public Contact: Alison Kelly (202) 707-091

Barbecue expert Steven Raichlen will give a lecture on “Barbecue: A History of the World’s Oldest Culinary Art” at the Library of Congress at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 24, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

Sponsored by the Science, Technology & Business Division, the event is free and open to the public; no tickets are needed. Three of Raichlen’s best-selling books, “The Barbecue! Bible,” “BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America,” and “How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques” will be available for purchase. A book signing will follow the lecture.

Early in his career, Raichlen researched culinary history at the Library. He said, “It would be a great honor for me to speak at the Library of Congress. I got my start in this business a long time ago with the help of one of your rare book librarians, Mr. Beck, who managed the Katherine Bitting collection.” Leonard N. Beck was curator of the Katherine Golden Bitting and Elizabeth Robins Pennell collections of European and American culinary books, publications and manuscripts from the 15th to the 20th centuries in the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Raichlen is the author of 26 cookbooks and the host of “Barbecue University,” a television show on PBS, now in its third year. The show is taped on location at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where he teaches barbecue and grilling classes in a program of the same title, “Barbecue University.”

His books have won five James Beard Awards and three International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards. Oprah Winfrey has called Raichlen the “Gladiator of Grilling,” and Howard Stern has hailed him as the “Michael Jordan of Barbecue.”

Raichlen received training at both the Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris. He holds a degree in French literature from Reed College. He lives with his wife, Barbara, in Coconut Grove, Fla.

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PR 05-137
2005-06-07
ISSN 0731-3527