Food in California during the Rancho period had little variety, but after the annexation by the United States things changed quickly. Immigrants with different tastes and skills arrived, and the arrival of railroads and steamships brought imported and luxury items as well as the first convenience foods. This talk covers what they ate and how they cooked it during a period of extraordinary changes. 

Richard Foss has been writing professionally since 1986, and has contributed to over fifty different publications, including the Encyclopedia of World Food Cultures and Oxford Companion to Sweets. Richard has taught culinary history in extension programs, done lecture tours in the US, Australia, and New Zealand, been a culinary consultant for museums, and is on the board of the Culinary Historians of Southern California. His book on the history of rum was published in 2012. Food in the Air and Space was released in December 2014. He is the Executive Director of Collage: A Place for Art and Culture, a nonprofit arts center located in San Pedro, California.