cookbooks.
This weekend was chock o'block full of mind altering talks. First a panel, held during the Santa Barbara Book & Author's Festival, discussing the future of newspapers. Followed by a talk given by Naomi Klein on her new book The Shock Doctrine and later a discussion with friends over coffee and dessert about the lecture.
Then, there was the Annual Planned Parenthood Booksale and it's myriad of donated selections...including cookbooks. So, what's all the fuss and a diary about cookbooks? I'll try to explain below the fold.
If you've read my diaries before, you know I tend toward the "Treehugging" varietal and I enjoy nibbling on food issues. But while cruising the cookbook aisles at the booksale this weekend, I was certainly depressed over the state of affairs. I felt I needed to dive into some good food, or prospects of good food to make me feel better.
And I'm not alone.
Worldwide when people are depressed or needing nurishing of the soul, they turn to food. Comfort food, or what they consider comfort food anyway. Not all countries have "mac n'cheese", but they all have a national or regional version of same.
Cruising through the titles and viewing the images on the covers or inside the books, spiral bounds or brochures, the images of various decades and food fancies flashed by. Fondue. Aspics. Beef Wellington. Even the ingredients left an imprint of the decade I was visually visiting. Monosodium Glutamate. Lard. Fat. Oleo. Some of the ingredients gave "flavor" to what region they came from. There's no missing where a cookbook containing recipes calling for "alligator", "turtle" or "okra" are generally coming from.
But as I progressed from box to box filled to the brim with cookbooks, flipping through the pages of book after book, I was reminded that these books were once someone else's. Another human being had done the same as I was doing....glancing through and looking at the possibilities. Thinking which recipes would entice one friend or another. The humanness of it all was all too apparent when there were certain handwritten notations on some of the recipes. Generally in pencil, lightly scripted out. Delicious! No good. Double the sugar. Dad's favorite. Dreadful.
And we're not the only society relishing the traditions and history of our recipes. Worldwide people browse through cookbooks, collect recipes and share them with others or pass them down through the family generations. Even the Iraqis. Even the Iranians. Food is the international language. Cooks, chefs and ingredients are true diplomatic force. Wouldn't it be great to have chefs from all over the globe meet and work out our differences and problems over a well cooked meal and a glass of liquor, wine or beer? Dessert detante, if you will.
Instead of rattling sabers, wouldn't it be delightful to share a Santuku to chop up veggies for a communal meal?
One book that I picked up at the booksale this weekend that really got me thinking about the horror of war and the destruction of culinary traditions was "The Cookbook of the United Nations", a little spiral bound book from 1964 claiming 250 authentic dishes from around the world. "112 countries' most delicious recipes - professionally tested by home economists." (Remember THAT profession? Home Economy?) Recipes from Afghanistan (Ashaks "Leek Ravioli"), Burma (Pa-Zun Hin "Prawn Curry"), Chile (Sopaipillas Chilenitas "Squash Fritters"), Cuba (Coco Quemado "Toasted Coconut Dessert"), Iran (Morg Polo "Chicken with Golden Rice"), Iraq (Kubba Shaigum "Turnip Soup with Meat Balls"), Lebanon (Tabbouli "Wheat Salad"), Sudan (Shorba "Peanut Butter Soup"), Syrian Arab Republic (Sheik el Mah'ski "Stuffed Zucchini")...etc.
World peace through "whirled peas"....wouldn't it be nice?
Another cookbook that got me thinking..."Talk about Good II - Le Livre de Cuisine des Acadiens" Published by the Junior League of Lafayette, LA. What a disaster the Gulf Area, especially Louisiana, still is. Imagine all the family food history contained in personal cookbooks...all gone. Only the faint memories of the taste and those who shared in the goodness of the recipes. The images in this cookbook are haunting. Paintings from George Rodrigue before "Blue Dog." My favorite illustration is on the back cover. A little boy hanging onto a dark figured tree with spanish moss hanging down. His bright yellow T-Shirt emblazoned with red lettering "Kiss Me I'm Cajun" and an image of a crawfish contrasts with the darkness of the background. The little boy is also clutching a fishing pole and a lone fish. Rodrigue's note on the illustration states: "This is a portrait of my son, Andre Rodrigue, after his first fishing trip. Andre' in his t-shirt typifies the contemporary Cajun. But at four years of age, he does not yet know that the whole world does not have boudin, crawfish, gumbo and Mardi Gras parades." The world may not have those delicious ingredients of Cajun life, but the world understands a fish on the line. Most all the world has a recipe for cooking that fish. (One in this cookbook..."Trout with Sauce de Mer"
Another book that got the thought taste buds wandering was "Celebracion - Recipes & Traditions Celebrating Latino Family Life" published by the National council of La Raza. People may not identify with the various celebrations, "El Bautizo" (Christening) or La Quincenera (The 15th Birthday) or realize that Latin culture is not just Mexico; it envelopes Venezuela, Belize, Colombia, etc. but we can probably handle the idea of "Corvina con Acelgas Y Frijoles Blancos" (Roased Sea Bass with Swiss Chard and White Beans.)
One closer to home is "Centenary Favorites" published by Centenary United Methodist Church in J-Town Los Angeles (although this issue from 1986 says it's "future" site is in Little Tokyo. This cookbook is seen as the "Joy of Cooking" for many Japanese/Americans.)
The Centenary Favorites cookbook has been a popular favorite for over 20 years. A legacy of the women’s groups of the church, the delicious recipes celebrate the Japanese cultural traditions of the church’s ethnic beginnings and the multi-cultural world in which we live.
The section on Japanese New Year’s dishes quickly became one of the most popular sections, not only providing simple recipes, but also explaining the history and the meaning of its traditions.
Imagine having one hour to pack all your belongings into one suitcase and being bussed to places unknown, leaving everything else behind. Not many cookbooks were able to make that trip to Manzanar and other internment camps. Recipes handed down from grandmothers and other family members were memorized and later written down when history allowed the time and ability for them to do so.
As the message,in the front pages, from the Pastor, Hidemi Ito, states:
"This book provides not only good tasty Japanese dishes but also Japanese tradition and its culture as you cook these dishes. No matter how closely you follow the instructions, you may not be able to perfect the dish unless you add your loving care for those whom you prepare dishes.
Please enjoy the meal and the culture."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all, worldwide, add loving care for those who share this universal appetite for food...this universal appetite for life...and enjoy the various dishes and cultures that we all bring to the table.
Namaste.