Events: History of hot sauce, banh mi, sustainable seafood and a French chef

Longtime Los Angeles Times food writer and historian Charles Perry will deliver a lecture to the Culinary Historians of Southern California on the history of hot sauce on Oct. 11. His story winds back through tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to the 17th-century English infatuation with Asian condiments such as mango pickle and soy sauce. Their thrifty attempts to counterfeit the foreign products led to the first bottled sauces. From there, Tabasco and Sriracha were inevitable. A reception with themed refreshments will follow the talk. Free. 10:30 a.m. Downtown Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, (323) 663-5407.

Food writer Andrea Nguyen, author of the recent “Banh Mi Handbook,� will give a free workshop on the Vietnamese sandwiches Saturday from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. at Surfas in Culver City, and will take part in a special Banh Mi Day at Grand Central Market on Oct. 10. Besides a free tasting and book-signing, there will be special banh mi sandwiches sold by a wide assortment of GCM vendors. Surfas, 8777 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-4770. Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 624-2378.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro will be hosting a Sustainable Seafood Expo on Oct. 12, featuring tastings from local restaurants and cooking demonstrations by celebrated Hawaiian chef Sam Choy, Terranea resort chef Bernard Ibarra and Doma chef Dustin Trani. The event will be held at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles and tickets are $20 or $10 for aquarium members. Crafted, 122 E. 22nd St., San Pedro, (310) 548-7562, ext. 211.

Eric Frechon, the chef at the three-star Hotel Bristol in Paris, will be preparing a series of special dinners at Melisse restaurant in Santa Monica on Oct. 22-24. The seven-course menu is $195 per person, before beverage, tax and gratuity, and includes items such as “crunchy flavors of pizza;� yuzu langoustine; “Ratta� potatoes mousseline smoked with haddock; leeks from “Ile-de-France;� line-caught black bass in a crust of bread with almonds; “New Zealand� spinach and olive oil flavored with curry and piquillo pepper; and wild duck glazed and smoked with juniper wood, red cabbage stewed with vinegar and black figs. Melisse, 1104 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 395-0881.

Are you a food geek? Follow me on Twitter @russ_parsons1