Summer 2002, Volume 2, Number 3 Cover Kalers Pond [snoopy] by Meredith Allen. Courtesy of Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York. This cover depicts a disembodied hand holding a Snoopy-faced melting frozen Popsicle. Although the actual cover did not exist on any of the websites I visited, similar images can be seen here: http://www.wburg.com/0201/articles/allen.html or http://www.meredithallen.com/gallery/12 From the Editor Hunger Artists by Darra Goldstein “Gogol’s celebration is tinged with disdain for the ways in which overindulgence of the senses can deprive the spirit…” Contributors – Mini-biographies. Borborygmus - Rumblings from the World of Food Letters to the Editor Irradiated Food by Mark Rose, Seattle, WA – Commenting on Winter 2002’s article by Robert L. Wolke, wishing there had been a counter-response from an anti-food irradiation specialist and offers some of his own. Wolke has a response. More Irradiated Food by Wenonah Hauter, Director, Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environmental Program, Washington, D.C. – Yet another lengthy tome which is again responded by Wolke. Eurochocolate in the Eternal City by June DiSchino An account of a chocolate festival organized by the Rome Tourist Board and The Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With a one-third, full-color photograph of chocolate eggs lining the stairway at Piazza di Spagna, Rome. Pretty astonishing picture of hundreds of dark and milk chocolate eggs… Also a one-half page, full-color photograph of ”Black Mamie” egg by RoccoBarocco. akwa by Fabio Parasecoli About a “dynamic international assemble of young Turks” who organize “ad hoc dinners/happenings in various European and American venues.” Interesting premise – a perusal of their website, http://www.akwa.org shows that nothing has transpired since 2001 (not even the correction of obviously misspelled words!). Department of Amplification: Tarhana by Nancy Harmon Jenkins Commenting on William Woys Weaver’s Winter 2002 discussion of trachanas, recalling her own experiences and includes a nice chart of variations from different locales (for example, eggs are added to the basic tarhana dough in Isparta, the Southern mountains.) Another Accolade A comment that the May 1 issue of Library Journal named Gastronomica one of the 10 best new magazines of 2001… Cartoon – by David Sipress A woman sitting behind a desk, holding a manuscript, says to another woman in front of the desk, “I love the way you weave together stories of your abused childhood with these delightful recipes for muffins and scones.” Orts and Scantlings Barbecue Mania by Mark Morton Etymological history of the word “barbecue” and how Canadians have a shortened season for barbecue which “leads to a seasonal disorder”. With a digression into the foods “most commonly cooked.” With a half-page, full-color photograph of a neon sign reading, Deluxe Bar-B-Q – Chicken & Ribs. Feast For The Eye Philip Guston’s “Poor Richard” by Debra Bricker Balken Interesting account of a series of foodstuff caricatures of Richard Nixon’s life With three, quarter-page, black-and-white illustrations, From Philip Guston’s “Poor Richard”, 1971. China ink on paper, 10½ x 14 7/8, “Nixon Cookie,” “Kissinger Pot Pie,” and “Spiro Sponge Cake.” Anniversary What I Learned from M.F.K. Fisher About Living After 9/11 by Krishnendu Ray Very well-written article how an Indian-native found solace in Fisher’s writings, post-9/11. Poem Episode with a Potato by Eric Ormsby “I was skinning a potato when it said: Please do not gouge my one remaining eye!” ~another thirty some-odd lines…~ The Natural World Behind the Bee’s Knees by Holley Bishop An account of keeping bees for honey and pollen, with a bit of history, science, and sociology thrown in. Also, two recipes: Honey Pollen Nut Cake and Honey Pollen Moisturizing Facial Mask. With a beautiful, full-page, full-color close up of bees on a tray of screened pollen, and a half-page, full-color photograph of John Pluta’s colorful bee yard. Fiction Antieros “Tununa Mercado” translated by Peter Kahn; Commentary – Gastronomy, Eroticism, and Transgression in Tununa Mercado’s “Antieros” by María Claudia André This is the first time a bit of fiction has appeared in the magazine. Investigations Insensible Perspiration and Oily Vegetable Humor: An Eighteenth-Century Controversy over Vegetarianism by Ken Albala I love this article – it shows that “quack diets are nothing new.” With a one-third page, black-and-white frontispiece, Santorio Santorio in his weighing chair. From Sanctorious Sanctorius, “Medicina statica: being the aphorisms of Sanctorius,” with introduction by John Quincy (London: W. Newton, 1718). and a full-page, black-and-white plate from Giovanni Alfonso Borelli’s “De motu animalium (Leyden: P. Vander Aa, etc., 1685) depicting a demonstration of leg joints. Gender on a Plate: The Calibration of Identity in American Macrobiotics by Karlyn Crowley A very extensive, historical overview of macrobiotic diets, from the 60s guru Timothy Leary to the progenitor, George Ohsawa (originally Yukizaka Sakurazawa, 1893-1966). With a half-page, black-and-white photograph of Michio Kushi and a quarter-page, full-color photograph of two women enjoying a meal at the Kushi Institute, Becket, MA. Archive Of Goose in Gascony: The Making of Confit in Centuries Past by Edward Schneider Extremely fascinating article (for me, at any rate) on the history of foie gras and confit with a translation of an anonymously written text 18th century text ”Détails des procédés usités en Gascogne pour engraisser et pour confire les oÿes, les canards, les dindes” (“Account of the procedures used in Gascony to fatten and preserve geese, ducks, turkeys”). This includes “How to Cook and Preserve Geese, etc., How to Cut Them Up and Salt Them, Rendering the Fat, How to Preserve the [Goose or Duck] Quarters, Filling the Crocks for Storage, Using the Crocks, Using the Fat and the Quarters, and Garbures, Soups, etc,” With two, one-quarter page, black-and-white photographs taken between 1938 and 1943 by Pierre Toulgouat in the town of St. Vincent de Paul in the les Landes region depicting feeding a goose.. Also, a one-quarter, full-color reproduction of Facsimilie of the first page of the manuscript. From Michel Guérard, “L’Art et la manière d’engraisser et de confire les öyes et les canards (Pau: Cairn Editions, 1999), p. 10. Libations Tokaji: Forever Amber by Miles Lambert-Gocs A bit of history and overview of this Hungarian sweet wine. With a half-page, black-and-white photograph of a woman with a bowl of grapes on her head from Harvest 1935 and a one-third page, black-and-white advertisement for Tokaji, circa 1970. The Global Market The Banana Project by Doug Fishbone A fascinating account of a performance artist’s interactive piece installed as part of the Interakcje festival in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland. With a full-page, full-color photograph of a huge pile of green and yellow bananas from the National Gallery, San Jose, Costa Rica, November 18, 2000, and two pages in full-color, one full-page and one half-page, of the Town square, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, May 10, 2001. Memoir Broth by Vicki Lindner A heady and personal account of making brood – or broth – from the author’s favorite cookbook, Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table. With a full-page, full-color photograph of Betty Tompkins’ “Foreplay, 1991.” Acrylic on 8” cast-iron pan. Working on the Food Chain The American Farmers Market by Lisa M. Hamilton “This is the type of market that Gourmet or Sunset magazine likes to photograph, where fresh-faced suburban moms collect bright greens and perfect eggplants in wicker baskets…” said author of the new crop of Farmer’s Markets springing up around the country. With a half-page, black-and-white photograph of a Mennonite selling vegetables. and a quarter-page, full-color reproduction of an outdoor meat market in Pickering Square, Bangor, Maine, ca. 1906. On The Home Front Broken Bread by Kathryn Hibbert A poetic remembrance of bread making within a family. With a stunning, up close, full-page, full-color photograph of a loaf, ripped in half, one half stacked atop the other. Chef’s Page Tony Tan’s Cooking Classes, Melbourne, Australia by Tony Tan Another chef discusses how a career in the kitchen came through early cooking with Mom. With a half-page (vertical), full-color photograph of a nineteenth-century enamel tiffin carrier. Language French for Foodies Margo Miller About French food slang with a list of twenty or so of the most famous. Illustrated by Charles Philipon with four pear-like Caricatures of King Louis-Philippe, 1831. Shopping East of Eden: Sin and Redemption at the Whole Foods Market by Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft Rather high-handed look at Whole Foods with five ‘sections’: Genesis: in which the world, the concept of sin, and cooperative gardening are created; Exodus: looking for a way to escape sin; Exodus II: learning to eat from the right tree; Leviticus: or the way to make any foodstuff whole; Numbers: activism, religion, and shopping are all the same; and Deuteronomy: the shape of things to come. I think putting the Whole Foods Corporation within a religious context is stretching it a bit. Review Essays Social Settings by Susan Williams Compares two books, The Ladies’ Etiquette Book: The Importance of Being Refined in the 1880s edited by David E. Schoonover, foreword by Kenneth Cmiel and The Art of the Table: A Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware by Suzanne Von Drachenfels. With a full-page, black-and-white frontispiece depicting five scenes of home life from John H. Young’s Our Deportment, or the Manners, Conduct, and Dress of the Most Refined Society (Detroit and St. Louis: F.B. Dickerson & Co., 1882). When Readables Become Edibles by Beatrice Fink Reviews Livres en bouche: Cinq siècles d’art culinaire français (XIVe-XVIIIe siècle), Exhibit, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal (21 November 2001 – 17 February 2002) Extremely positive overview and review of an exhibit in France. Wished I had been there… With a one-third page, black-and-white Seventeenth-century illustration of carving. From “Manuel de découpe à l’usage des voyageurs. De sectione mensaria XVII XVII. as well as some pages from an antiquarian book published in Dijon between 1689 and 1704. Also shown is a one-third page, full-color seventeenth-century collation served “en Ambigu” for the exhibition. The Bookshelf Books in review: Culture of the Fork: A Brief History of Food in Europe by Giovanni Rebora. Translated by Albert Sonnenfeld Medieval Arab Cookery: Essays and Translations by Maxime Rodinson, A.J. Arberry, and Charles Perry, with a foreword by Claudia Roden. Carolyn’s note – I love this book! Habeus Codfish: Reflections on Food and the Law by Barry M. Levenson A Time for Tea: Women, Labor, and Post/Colonial Politics of an Indian Plantation by Piya Chatterjee Starving on a Full Stomach: Hunger and the Triumph of Cultural Racism in Modern South Africa by Diana Wylie Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch and the Transformation of World Food Production by Vaclav Smil The Devil’s Larder by Jim Crace The Cheese Room: Discover, Eat and Cook the World’s Best Cheeses by Patricia Michelson Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk Bookends A few more smaller reviews: Chorizos in an Iron Skillet: Memories and Recipes from an American Basque Daughter by Mary Ancho Davis The Little Book of Coffee by Alain Stella The Little Book of Tea by Kitti Cha Sangmancee, Catherine Donzel, Stephane Melchior-Durand, and Alain Stella Lagniappe The Gourmand’s Lament by Caryl S. Avery Another poem – I’m no good at commenting on poetry… Carolyn’s editorial note on this issue – not enough recipes… I liked how there were a number of recipes in the previous issue but this one, although there are fabulous articles, are missing that nice touch!
