ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Described as the “Merlin of American regional cookery,” William Woys Weaver is an internationally known food historian and the author of seventeen books. He is a rare four-time winner of the prestigious IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Awards, with his most recent gold medal going to Culinary Ephemera, a beautifully illustrated survey of old food advertising materials. Weaver’s most recent cookbook, Dutch Treats: Heirloom Recipes from Farmhouse Kitchens, was published by St. Lynn’s Press of Pittsburgh in September 2016. Weaver received his PhD in food ethnography from University College, Dublin (Ireland)—the first degree of its kind to be awarded by that university. He is also the founder and director of the Keystone Center for the Study of Regional Foods, a 501(c)(3) non-profit promoting Pennsylvania’s regional foods and foodways. He maintains the Roughwood Seed Collection of heirloom food plants at the historic Lamb Tavern in Devon, Pennsylvania. Called “the Waldon Pond of heirloom seeds,” the Roughwood Seed Collection provides rare limited edition seeds online at www.RareSeeds.com and from the Hudson Valley Seed Library in Accord, NY. Dr. Weaver is presently working on a two-volume study of the medieval foods of Cyprus. Photo by Rob Cardillo.