About

Welcome! I am a historian committed to sharing revealing stories about everyday life in Argentina and the Río de la Plata region through a focus on food and domestic work. My work celebrates the deliciousness of South American food and recognizes the labor to produce it.  

My first two books focus on the fascinating story of Argentina’s most important culinary legend. Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina: Doña Petrona, Women, and Food (UNC Press, 2013) won the Gourmand and Chile-Río de la Plata LASA prize. Three years later I published a deeply revised version directed to an Argentine audience called La mesa está servida. Doña Petrona C. de Gandulfo y la domesticidad del Siglo XX (Edhasa, 2016). 

I have written numerous articles and shorter pieces about the ritual of the goodbye mate, the dynamics of food and race in Argentina, and the relationship between patronas and empleadas (mistresses and maids) on television and real life in twentieth-century Argentina.

You can usually find me at Lafayette College, where I am a Professor and Head of the History Department. Prior to my arrival at Lafayette in 2007, I earned my Ph.D. in History and Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan. For more on my teaching, service, and honors, please see my Lafayette page.