The theme was the migration of foodstuffs and cookery techniques, including the most significant single such migration event in history, recently studied in Alfred W. Crosby's The Columbian Exchange (1972).

'Music, Food and Art' is held in Beijing, and groups of 8 to 10 students travel with him to stay in the hutongs where he grew up, visiting local markets and learning food preparation and cookery techniques, and the relationship of food to health, culture and music.

These were a popular utensil for many years but the resultant rubbery texture and "bun-shaped" eggs they produced saw their popularity fade as TV shows and books - especially those on traditional French cooking as exemplified by Julia Child and Elizabeth David - revived interest in basic domestic cookery techniques .

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