Laura Winter Falk releases updated edition of ‘Culinary History of the Finger Lakes’

A new book from a local author is inviting foodies, wine lovers and local history buffs to dive into “The Culinary History of the Finger Lakes” with local tour guide and professor Laura Winter Falk.

“What is exciting about this book is that it’s the second edition of a book I wrote 10 years ago,” Falk said. The previous edition lasted 10 years in terms of reprints, and Arcadia Press was interested in an update.

“Every chapter has been expanded just because my relationship with the region changed over the last 10 years,” Falk said. “I was very proud of my book in 2014 — it was the first book I had ever published — but as a book itself, I’m very proud of this one. It’s even more authentic than my first one. I feel like I’m writing it from the inside out.”

The book explores different eras of food and beverages in the Finger Lakes, starting with the Haudenosaunee — the first people of the Finger Lakes region — and ending with some of the most exciting culinary innovations happening in the area today.

“One can say that the Finger Lakes breathes a literal grassroots ethos from the generations on generations of people who have lived here,” the book says. “They have created an interconnected, multifaceted infrastructure that defines the region’s culinary culture…” 

Falk goes on to describe the many different types of infrastructure that make the region special: spiritual, innovative, supportive, academic, enterprise, communication and caring. “Together, these foundational systems form an interwoven, durable regional fabric reinforcing that our rich culinary culture is not a passing fad; this is who we are,” Falk writes. 

Falk moved to Ithaca to attend Cornell University as an undergraduate student. With her husband Alan Falk, Laura is the co-owner of Experience! The Finger Lakes. The company does sight-seeing tours, wine tours, boat tours and more.

Laura is a certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and teaches community wine courses at Lev Kitchen on The Commons in Ithaca. She is also a professor of wine marketing at Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3).

Laura found that her relationship with the Finger Lakes culinary world has deepened in the last 10 years, allowing her to tap into aspects of its history that she was not aware of before.

Angela Ferguson, a member of the Onondaga Nation who works to reintroduce her people to a pre-colonial diet, created the recipe for one of the chapters and invited Falk to see firsthand how it is prepared.

“[Ferguson] said, ‘Why don’t you come to my house, and we’ll make it together?’” Laura said. “Because that’s how they pass their histories down, is the oral tradition. I’m just so proud that the first chapter is coming from her.”

There is a chapter about prohibition that features a recipe on local speakeasies and a recipe that is authentic to the food they would have served.

Local photographer Robyn Wishna resumed her role from 2014 to help update the book with colorful new photos.

“I’m proud to have Robyn back and doing the photographs, and it’s stunning,” Laura said. “Her images just jump out of the book. Because it’s an Arcadia Press book, it’s filled with images.”

Every recipe is documented with Wishna’s photo of the food with Laura’s beverage pairing, and the stories of the past are brought to life by many historic photos.

For Laura, the book pays homage to the people and places of an area that she has devoted her life to promoting and sharing with tourists and locals alike.

Experience! The Finger Lakes gives natural history hikes and high-end tours of local wineries. It has been awarded a 10Best award for being one of the top 10 wine tour companies in the United States.

Laura’s experience teaching at TC3 for the last eight years has been “wonderful,” she said, especially since wine marketing is such a specific niche — students have generally found a passion they’re interested in pursuing if they enroll in her class. “When students want to get into wine, they know exactly what they want to do,” she said.

Laura is currently interested in her community wine classes, which she described as a “sheer joy” to teach. She came up with the concept after people started asking her if they could take her TC3 wine class, her answer to which was always, “You could, but it’s on a Thursday at one in the afternoon and it’s three hours long.”

“In the back of my mind, I always wanted to offer something more accessible to the community,” Laura said. These classes focus on one type of wine per course. Her most recent class on Semillon and Gruner Veltliner sold out, and as of publication there were two spots left in the March 20 offering about Nebbiolo. There are six more classes coming up throughout April and May; those who are interested can sign up at experiencefingerlakes.com/coltivare-community-wine-course/.

For Laura, sharing all of the culinary delights the Finger Lakes region has to offer has been a rewarding experience. To top it all off, her son, chocolatier and pastry chef Jackson Falk, is also a featured chef. “It was very sentimental,” Laura said, “to have him featured in the final chapter of the book.”

The book is available at local bookstores, amazon.com and arcadiapublishing.com.