In just a week’s time the University of Toronto will be hosting EMROC! Rebecca Laroche will be in town, bringing the study of recipes, women’s writing, and paleography to the U of T. Please add these events to your calendar, and consider coming to one or both of them if you are in the area, and transcribing remotely Friday if you are not.

Thursday, March 1, 2pm: Research Talk (UTSG, Jackman Humanities Building (170 St. George St., Toronto), room 616) — Prof. Laroche will give a talk entitled “‘Infinite Variety’: Case Studies in Early Modern Recipes Research.” This talk will think about the methodologies and payoffs of working with early modern recipes books, and highlight some fascinating findings that have emerged out of the EMROC’s project to transcribe large numbers of recipe manuscripts.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A, and then an informal coffee hour with graduates, who will have an opportunity to share their own work and ask questions.

Friday, March 2, 10am-4pm: EMROC Transcribathon (UTM, MiST Theatre (in the CCT building — #1800 on this map: https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/sites/files/default/public/shared/studentaffairs/images/CampusMap_final.jpg )) — All day out at UTM Professor Laroche will lead one of EMROC’s annual transcribathons, where we gather together as a group to transcribe pages from early modern manuscript recipe books. Drop by for an hour, or work with us the whole day! Please bring your own laptop if possible.

The recipe book we will be transcribing is written in seventeenth century hand, which is fairly easy to read; we will have people on hand willing and able to give crash courses in paleography, and to help you learn the ropes of the transcribing program Dromio. No previous experience assumed or necessary! Though if you want to prep you might see any of the three handouts (a list of transcription conventions; a list of Dromio commands; and an “alphabet” documenting letter forms used in the manuscript we will be transcribing). Feel free to stop by for as much or as little of the event as you want. Coffee and food will be provided all day during our transcribing.

We will be transcribing pages from a manuscript owned and compiled by Margaret Turner, Folger MS Wa112, which includes both recipes for the kitchen and “cures for man and beast” (https://tinyurl.com/yde6p4ts)! If you would like to participate in the transcribathon from afar, go to this site http://transcribe.folger.edu/, select EMROC, and click on “TurnerWa112”. We’ll be working 10am-4pmEST.

Please email the local organizer Prof. Liza Blake at liza.blake@utoronto.ca if you’re planning on attending the coffee hour on Thursday, so she can order coffee accordingly. She is also happy to answer any questions over email before the event.