Taste of Art: The Vanilla Orchid - Virtual

Join Maite Gomez-Rejón of ArtBites for an engaging conversation inspired by the Huntington Conservatory’s vanilla orchid.
Classes

This class will trace the history of vanilla, from its Mesoamerican origins to the billion-dollar East African industry and its place as our beloved spice. The class will include an informal cooking demo.

Following a brief discussion, the instructor will demonstrate how to make:

  • Vanilla Old-Fashioned
  • Chicken Envainillada

Key Details

  • This event will be held online via Zoom.
  • The Zoom link will be included in your payment confirmation email.
  • The recipes demonstrated will be sent in an additional email two days before the class.
  • A recording of the class will be available to attendees and those unable to attend the live session until Jan. 30, 2025.

For questions about this event, email Joy Yamahata or call 626-405-3457.

A vanilla plant with yellow petals and a red flower.

About the Instructor

Maite Gomez-Rejón has been exploring the nexus of art and culinary history for over a decade, through lectures, cooking classes, and tastings presented at museums and cultural centers across the country. She has worked in the education departments of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the J. Paul Getty Museum; has taught art history at the college level; and worked as a private chef and caterer. A native of South Texas, Gomez-Rejón earned a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a grand diplôme from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. She worked in restaurant kitchens in France and Mexico before combining her two passions of art and food in 2007 when she founded ArtBites.