When most kids go on vacation, they come back with a T-shirt, a set of Mickey Mouse ears and a sunburn. Ellise West came home with a cookbook. These days, her taste in mementos hasn’t changed much, but she now has a terrific set of bookcases. The relationship between food and people continues to fascinate West, and she explores that connection in as many disciplines as possible.
When earning her Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy and experiencing varying cultures, West devoted a lot of time to comprehending the intricacies of food and alcoholic beverages. Wherever West traveled, lived or studied, she learns about the many ways a culture or a place can have a defining flavor.
She continues to learn the ways to convey complex problems demanded by the sensory analysis of fermented beverages to others. West believes that we all grow in our understanding of how comprehensive scientific flavor, general techniques and information fit together with cultural and individual perceptions required by viticulture and enology. While texts and discussion have their place, she finds that experience, the catalyst for her own knowledge, provides the greatest learning tool of all for the classroom.
When she is not teaching, West likes to read, ski and watch history documentaries while eating fantastic food expertly paired with a delicious beverage!
