Johanna Mendelson Forman

Adjunct Professor in International Affairs

https://www.conflictcuisine.com/about/johanna-mendelson-forman

Biography

Johanna Mendelson Forman is an Adjunct Professor at American University’s School of International Service and a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center where she leads the Food Security Program Through her wide-ranging career in international affairs, Johanna Mendelson Forman has built a reputation for addressing longstanding issues with new perspectives and innovative ideas. Her frontline experience as a policy maker on conflict and stabilization efforts drove her interest in connecting the role of food in conflict, resulting in the creation of Conflict Cuisine®: An Introduction to War and Peace Around the Dinner Table, an interdisciplinary course she teaches at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. In establishing this link between food and conflict, Johanna developed a new interdisciplinary platform examining why food is central to survival and resilience in conflict zones. Today her research focuses on the study of gastrodiplomacy and the emergence of social gastronomy, the use of food as a means of social impact and investment to communities at risk. She is one of the leading voices in the global Social Gastronomy Network, a movement that is helping a new generation of chefs and food activists address a wide range of issues including climate change, food waste, and ending global hunger. In 2017 she helped launch the Livelihoods In Food Entrepreneurship Project (LIFE), a consortium of organizations under the Center for Private and International Enterprise. This program, supported by the State Department, has supported Syrian refugees and Turks who are using food entrepreneurship as a tool for social integration. She recently co-edited a cookbook The Cuisines of Life: Recipes and Stories of the New Food Entrepreneurs in Turkey, published in December 2019. It features recipes by refugee food entrepreneurs and essays about the way food creates community. She holds a J.D. from Washington College of Law at American University, a Ph.D. in Latin American history from Washington University, St. Louis, and a Master’s of International Affairs, with a certificate of Latin America studies from Columbia University in New York. Mendelson Forman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a member of Les Dames d ’Escoffier.

The New York Times Cook Book

Craig Claiborne

This cookbook is one of two books I used when I was first married and in graduate school when I was learning to cook. Claiborne provided good instructions. The recipes had an international flair, yet were not too complex for a beginner.

The Elegant But Easy Cookbook

Marion Burros and Lois Levine

When I first moved to Washington, D.C. in 1971 a co-worker decided to help me improve my cooking skills. She bought me this great little paperback which remains an important go-to for specific recipes. The fruit torte is one of the easiest and tastiest cakes for all seasons. While other recipes may be dated, I remain devoted to this little book and keep it on my kitchen bookshelf.

The Silver Palate Cookbook

Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

How can anyone not like the Silver Palate Cookbook? I remember their retail store in New York City. Their famous Chicken Marbella recipe became the standard for those interested in the new flavors of modern American cuisine. Even Ottolenghi has adapted this recipe using dates and credits these two women for inventing a classic on American tables.

Jerusalem

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

This beautiful cookbook contains some of the tastiest recipes reflecting the borderless nature of cuisine in the Middle East. Of all of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, this volume has a depth of wisdom, a plethora of good and easy recipes, and a deep sense of place. It is my go-to for such dishes as chicken with clementines!

King Solomon’s Table

Joan Nathan

A recent addition to my kitchen library, this cookbook is more than a series of recipes, but a global exploration of how diasporas spread their cuisines and adopt them to the new location. Recipes are clear, and some of the cakes and cookies, but especially the Ethiopian challah are worth the price of the book.

The Georgian Feast

Darra Goldstein

Georgian food was once considered the only edible cuisine available during the dark days of the Soviet Union. Goldstein, a food scholar and former editor of Gastronomica, has written a cookbook about one of the most interesting cuisines that take you way beyond katchapuri that is often associated with Georgian cuisine. The anniversary edition updates the text and adds some new recipes.

Soup for Syria

Barbara Abdeni Massaad

This cookbook was created at the height of the Syrian conflict when thousands of people fled the country in one of the most devastating civil wars. The book contains an assortment of recipes from chefs around the world. Proceeds from the sale went to charities supporting the Syrian refugees.

My Mexico City Kitchen

Gabriela Cámara

I first cut my teeth on the food south of the border as a high school student in Mexico City. Gabriela Camara, a successful chef and restauranteur, has created a very enjoyable and most important, an accessible book to the excellent foods of the city – nothing fancy, but just delicious. Her Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe is one of the best and easiest to prepare.

Bread is Gold

Massimo Bottura

In 2015 during the Milan Food Expo, Boturra wanted a way to use the food waste from the Expo to help feed the homeless of that city. With the collaboration of a local Catholic parish, and with the blessing of the Pope, Boturra opened the first Refettorio. He invited some of the greatest chefs in the world to come and cook in the church’s refettorio kitchen to repurpose food waste and create what I consider to be the beginning of the social gastronomy movement. The book is a testament to how food has become a means of connecting and also a way to create social integration. Today there are Refettorio dining rooms in London, Paris and Rio de Janeiro with another planned for New York City.

Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States

Chris Fair

The kitchen is the new venue of foreign policy, and this cookbook takes that to heart. In a very clever book of recipes that follow what was in 2003 called the Axis of Evil by the George Bush administration, Fair takes on the cuisines of countries that were named to be part of this cabal – from Cuba, to Iran, she also adds her own take on bad actors that have fascinating cuisines. A true “conflict cuisine” cookbook.

Follow Johanna Mendelson Forman

What's playing in Johanna's kitchen?

I don’t use a playlist, but I really enjoy listening to groups like Los Panchos, a Mexican romantic singing trio that captivated so much of the region, but also did classics like “Besame mucho.” I also enjoy classical music to cook by – Mozart, Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, Dvorak. Endless choices. And as the mother of a rock star, the lead guitarist of Priests, I have learned to love the sound of post-rock’n’roll DIY Punk.