Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2008

Information’s just out on this year’s Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. It’s been going for almost two decades now and is perhaps my favorite food event. Of course, it’s changed over the years but some things have remained the same: a great mix of terrifyingly knowledgeable people, a global outlook, a welcoming atmosphere, a continuum from the exotic to the delicious in the foods served, a chance to enjoy Oxford, and, heaven be praised, a light touch that makes networking and careerism seem a little gauche.

The organizers make sure they do not become a moribund in-group. Paul Levy, trained as a philosopher and morphed into a leading food writer in the UK, and Claudia Roden, who years ago introduced the world to the wonders of Middle Eastern cooking, have taken over as eminences from Alan Davidson. The actual organization now falls to the energetic and talented Carolin Young. This year the subject will be vegetables.

In line with that, Camellia Panjabi, business women, entrepreneur and author of one of the finest Indian cookbooks, will organize the Saturday night dinner. Anissa Helou, charming and outstanding exponent of the foods of her native Syria and Lebanon, and Caroline Conran, whose cookbooks and journalism have shaped the contemporary British food, will offer a picnic for those who arrive in time on Friday.

Now they are offering a generous travel grant for a participant under 30. And you don’t have to attend to submit an essay for the Sophie Coe Prize which, apart from the prestige, also offers a generous sum.

I can’t go this year but I certainly wish I could. Perhaps you can.

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