Locally, the debate over Smith's book became so acrimonious (shades of today's attack on "woke" academies) that several state legislators in 1915 introduced an amendment to a University Appropriations Bill abolishing Smith's department.

It is into this sensuous food era that Laurie Woolever takes us with her memoir. An aspiring food writer, she takes a job co-authoring a cookbook with celebrity chef/bad boy Mario Batali.