“To eat a little is to live splendidly.” — Sumerian proverb

Hi, I’m Andrew Coletti. I started this website as a food history blog back in 2017, but I’ve updated it to reflect my most recent work, including writing, videos, and events.

Why “Pass the Flamingo”?

Because the Ancient Romans ate flamingos! Writing in the third century BC, Martial, my favorite Roman poet, even describes flamingos being raised as livestock in southern Italy (although, because it’s Martial, it’s hard to tell if he’s being serious).

Back when I was first exploring Roman food, the first recipe I made for the blog was a whole roast “flamingo” (actually a duck) from the Roman cookbook Apicius. You can find that post and the rest of my old blog archived here. The site header was made by Kathryn DeFeo, an amazing artist who I actually went to high school with!

Why food history?

For me, cooking and eating are a form of experiential learning that builds empathy, curiosity, and perspective. Just as essential and inescapable as food itself is the context from which it comes; the how and why of what ends up on our plates. When we cook, we get a glimpse into someone else’s life: whether it’s a family member, a stranger on the other side of the world, or maybe even someone who lived hundreds of years ago.

Who am I?

I have a pantry of ingredients organized by geographic region and a months-old paocai jar that I’ve developed an emotional attachment to. I’m passionate about food and the places where it intersects with history, culture, science, and nature. Basically, I just love learning cool stuff about food and sharing it with others.

Both sides of my family are Italian and my Dad was born in Rome; I like to believe this means that one of my ancestors ate a flamingo at some point. I grew up in Connecticut, earned a Bachelor’s in Classics and a Master’s in Museum Education, and lived in NYC before moving to Boston in 2025. In 2015, while working at education nonprofits, I started giving presentations about food history (with samples) at the Brooklyn Brainery and other venues. A couple of years later, I interned for culinary historian Sarah Lohman, who helped me start the blog.

From there, I expanded into making social media videos about food under the same name, and then food writing, while still teaching classes and organizing events. In 2023, I started an Editorial Fellowship at Gastro Obscura. Since the end of that fellowship in 2025, my writing has appeared in Popular Science, Wine Enthusiast, and other publications. I occasionally write fiction, such as my fantasy novella The Knife’s Daughter, published in 2018.

My other interests include: vintage shopping, traveling, music, anime, video games, small pets, and dinosaurs.