A native of Louisiana, Elizabeth Pearce has had a life long love of food. As a Culinary Historian, she works closely with conventions and local meeting planners, presenting interactive demonstrations tracing the story of New Orleans through its cuisine. She has given dozens of presentations and classes on New Orleans’ culinary story to a variety of clients, including Shell, Home Depot, Nike and Coca-Cola.As a Research Fellow at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, she is currently developing a K-12 cultural gastronomic curriculum. As Senior Curator at the Museum from its inception in 2004 to its opening in 2008, she created all of its exhibits, most notably Restaurant Restorative, commissioned by the James Beard Awards, and Louisiana Eats.
She has been a consultant to several culinary festivals, including Otro Sabor in Medillian, Columbia. She lectures extensively on New Orleans and Southern cooking at venues around the country, including the College of Charleston, Savannah State University, and Newcomb College at Tulane University.
Prior to her tenure at the museum, she was a contributing columnist to the Times-Picayune Food Section and Emerils online food magazine. Her culinary writing has been featured in the journals Gastronomica, Put A Egg On It, and the collection, Room in the Bowl: The Story of Gumbo.
A graduate of Louisiana State University, the University of Siena, Italy and the University of New Orleans, she holds a Master’s in Education in Curriculum and Instruction.