DIGEST: Gastronomica

[Carolyn Tillie]

But the final photograph at the end of the journal was priceless!

(Caveat - I have not had an opportunity to read it cover-to-cover, but cherry picking my way through, I'm a bit in srhcb's court on 'eh - whatever...").

[srhcb]

But the final photograph at the end of the journal was priceless!

Speaking of "priceless photographs", I have always envied yours!

SB

[Jennifer Iannolo]

I envy that one, too!

Hmm...perhaps I was on a Julia "high" when I read it. I just can't get enough of her sassy fabulousness.

[srhcb]

I envy that one, too!

Hmm...perhaps I was on a Julia "high" when I read it.  I just can't get enough of her sassy fabulousness. 

←

"sassy" is another good word for what I felt missing in the Gastro special edition.

I love Sara Moulton, and certainly don't mean to pick on her here, but only use her as illustrative of my point,

I know how much Julia meant to her, in both a personal and professional capacity. I had really looked forward to reading her contribution, maybe second only to Jacques Pepin's. Maybe it was poorly edited for length, (although I have no idea how Sara finds time for additional writing of any length with all her responsibilities!), but it seemed to lack intensity.

I will admit that in the "picture is worth a thousand words" department, photos of the young Sara next to Julia really do convey a feeling that would be hard to put into words.

SB

[srhcb]

How come so mnay people read this thread, but nobody ever posts?

SB

[Carolyn Tillie]

How come so mnay people read this thread, but nobody ever posts?

SB 

←

Oh, could be 'cuz I'm so behind in the digesting endeavors... Life as a full-time writer has taken its toll! I was able to work on those digests when I was a mere secretary with little more to fill my day. Srhcb, you seem a likely candidate to take over - interested? I've got what was to be my next installment about 2/3rds done which I could forward to you, if interested!

[srhcb]

How come so mnay people read this thread, but nobody ever posts?

SB 

←

Oh, could be 'cuz I'm so behind in the digesting endeavors... Life as a full-time writer has taken its toll! I was able to work on those digests when I was a mere secretary with little more to fill my day. Srhcb, you seem a likely candidate to take over - interested? I've got what was to be my next installment about 2/3rds done which I could forward to you, if interested!

←

Be that the case, I'm willing to take a stab at it, stipulating that the digest will not be as well written, and may often come precariously close to slipping off-topic.

SB

[srhcb]

Carolyn has emailed me her nearly completed review of the Summer 04 issue of Gastronomica, which I will complete and post asap.

Coincidentally, I received my Fall 05 Gastro the same day.

While I promise to continue catching up on the chronicaling of past issues which Carolyn so bravely began, I was wondering if I might not generate a little more discussion on this board by concurrently jumping ahead to review the latest issue?

What does anyone else think?

SB (big shot eG "Specialist")

[TopoTail]

Fall 2002, Volume 2, Number 4

Cover

”Tomato Eater” by Gail Skoff.

I guess they liked Ms. Skoff’s presentation in the Spring, 2002 issue. Here are my notes from that presentation: Ms. Skoff is known for her food photography for Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Cooking and Paul Bertolli’s Cooking by Hand cookbooks. This photograph is a close-up of mustached man, eating a tomato with gusto. There was apparently some controversy over the picture as the man’s fingers are very dirty.

From the Editor

Cook’s Block by Darra Goldstein

“…now the world is our oyster, and there’s no red tide stemming it.”

Comments on how, as an editor, she has too much to choose from in designing these journals.

Contributors – Mini-biographies.

Borborygmus - Rumblings from the World of Food

Letters to the Editor

Mangled Menus by François de Mélogue, an uneducated chef in Damascus, Virginia – Generally ecstatic about the magazine with numerous compliments plus a stab at Arthur Schwartz’s article from Spring, 2001. Schwartz provides a response.

The Bloomsday Diet by Robert Palmer, Dana Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus, Trinity College – A response to Elizabeth Petrosian’s Winter 2002 piece where Petrosian is corrected on a number of James Joyce’s Ulysses food references.

Yak Cheese by Janet Fouts

An account of how Jonathan and Nina Stein White, New Jersey cheesemakers, went to Tibet to assist in the development of a Tibetan product suitable for Western consumption and sale.

With a one-third, black-and-white photograph of a Yak grazing in eastern Tibet.

Scratch ‘n Sniff by Jim Stark

Odd account a DJ duo named “German Cassis” and “Serena ‘Swiss Miss’ Jost.” Based in Brooklyn, NY, the duo mixes beats while baking sweets. From their website, www.djscratchandsniff.com: “Original sounds and homemade samples are cut with grooves featuring music created by the duo and their own pool of musicians and composers. The dj's simultaneously bake chocolate chip cookies, seducing the senses with sweet smells and ambient sound--the perfect mix on an audible and edible level.”

Whatever.

Gastronomic Encounters

An announcement of some awards given via the Spring, 2002 contest.

Conference

An announcement of a The Nineteenth-Century Studies Association 23rd annual conference, the theme of which was “Feasts and Famine.”

Query: Tomatoes

Author Lawrence Davis-Hollander requests historical and recent recipes from readers for a Tomato cookbook in the works.

Orts and Scantlings

No Cakes for High Muckamucks by Mark Morton

An account of a Native American named Tisquantum, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, and how many native American words became integrated into American vernacular.

With a half-page, full-color photograph of a fish’s head, eyes glazed over.

Feast For The Eye

Mikhail Larionov’s “Still Life with Crayfish by Sonya Bekkerman

Larionov is a Russian Cubist painter, circa 1900 to 1930. This article is an interesting account of the artist’s life as well as the art itself in its historical context.

With half-page, full-color reproduction of said painting, 1907.

Poem

Recipe for S&M Marmalade by Judith Pacht

“Blood orange

should be eaten

naked,

blushing,

cupped

in the palm.”

…and another twenty- or thirty-some lines…

Memoir

Remembering Daddy by Miriam Sauls

Mildly sappy account of a childhood through the Father’s sharing and love of food.

With a full-page, black-and-white photograph of Cousin Sam and brother Chuck after a successful hunt for our game dinner ~picture depicts a dinner, hung by its hind quarters, from a tree, with two gun-wielding men on either side of said venison. Also, a quarter-page, black-and-white photograph of Daddy in his “Kiss the Chef” Christmas toque.

Origins

Cheesecakes, Junkets, and Syllabubs by Carol Wilson

Very fascinating, well-annotated history of three dairy-based desserts, with some Bronze Age and Roman references. Includes five recipes: Tart de Bry, Tart de Bry (modern recipe), Junket, Syllabub, ca. 1800, and Syllabub (modern recipe).

With a quarter-page reproduction of a spouted glass vessel for syllabub, made by George Ravenscroft around 1677. From Peter Brears, “Food and Cooking in 17th Century Britain: History and Recipes” (London: English Heritage, 1985).

Archive

Specialized Cookbooks from “Mad Magazine” by Dick De Bartolo and George Woodbridge

A two-page spread of six different cookbook covers: The Little Kids’ Cookbook, Cooking for One, The Dieter’s Cookbook, Cooking for the Filthy Rich, The Teen-Age Cookbook, and The Serviceman’s Cookbook. Very humorous.

Visionaries

”The Only Place to Eat in Berkeley”: Hank Rubin and the Pot Luck by Barry Glassner

The Pot Luck was a restaurant in Berkeley that was open from the 1960s into the 1970s. This is an account of the owner, the complications involved with opening the restaurant, its traditions, menu, and influence on the world of wine. (Rubin became wine editor for Bon Appetit magazine in 1969. A rather inspiration story.

With a full page, black-and-white photograph of Hank Rubin and a quarter-page, black-and-white painting of the Pot Luck restaurant by Lou Macouillard from Ford Times, May, 1971.

Investigations

From Cave to Café: Artists Gatherings by Robert Chirico

Interesting story of where artists throughout history tend to gather – and why and how food became an integral part of their gatherings. Very well researched and cohesive.

With a full-page, black-and-white photograph of A Back Table at the Five Spot, New York City. Interesting that Gastronomica doesn’t reference the date of this picture. A surf of the web produced this link about the picture (which was shot in 1957): http://jacketmagazine.com/06/hoover.html

Also, a half-page, black-and-white reproduction of Johan Tobias Sergel’s Youths Playing “Klyfva Wigg”, 1791; a quarter-page, black-and-white reproduction of Jan Steen’s Meeting of the Rhectoricians (again, not dated, but researched to reveal Steen as a Dutch Baroque painter, c. 1625 to 1679); and finally, a full-page, full-color reprint of Philip de Konnick’s Bacchanalia, 1654. Stunning.

Just Like Home: “Home Cooking” and the Domestication of the American Restaurant by Samantha Barbas

How, starting around World War I, the role of cooking in middle-class homes changed with an account how, in 1924, the National Restaurant Association presented an exhibition on the art of “commercializing home cooking.” Heavily annotated research.

With a full-page, full-color reproduction of the February, 1927 cover of The American Restaurant: The Magazine for Eating Places; a half-page, black-and-white reproduction of an advertisement for ”None Such Mince Pies” from The American Restaurant, November, 1925, p. 63; and a one-third page, black-and-white reproduction of ”Grey Manor, Dayton, Ohio” from The American Restaurant, March, 1926, p. 45.

Past Pleasures

”Deviled Ham Untouched by Human Hands”: Food-Related Vintage Stereoviews by Jeanne Schinto

“A stereoview consists of two small square photographs (usually three by three inches), mounted side by side…[they] are meant to be viewed through a stereoscope, which causes the brain to fuse the two flat photographs into a three-dimensional one.” This is pretty fascinating article by virtue of the fact that I never knew there was a such a history about them AND that there were so many diverse images related to food.

Four different stereoviews were reproduced: 1; black-and-white, one-third of one page, of Flora Muybridge, pregnant, with a bough of pears n.d., 2; sepia-toned, two-thirds over two pages, depicting a man, hefting a large knife over a large egg, out of which is emerging a live chicken’s head (not a chick!), with the caption, ”Great Scott! I don’t remember ordering chicken for breakfast!” Keystone View Company, 1907, 3; black-and-white, one-third of one page, State Dinner for Prince Henry, East Room of the White House. Stereoview from The Imperial Series, H.C. White Company, 1902, and 4; black-and-white, one-third of one page, Liberty Bell of Apples at the World’s Fair, 1893.

Working on the Food Chain

Big Cheese, Small Business by Beth Dooley

In depth article about artisinal cheese makers, Mary and Dave Falk of LoveTree Farmstead Cheese in the Trade Lake area of northern Wisconsin.

At The Movies

Bent Hamer’s “Psalms from the Kitchen by Jim Stark

From IMDB.com: ”Salmer fra kjøkkenet” is a very enjoyable feel good-film. It is based on true events that took place in the 50's, when Swedish scientists measured the movements of housewives to make more rational kitchens (It's true!). Although director Bent Hamer twitches (of course) the truth a bit, the film takes a basis in these experiments. Encouraged by their marvelous discoveries, the Swedish scientists decide to expand their experiments to include elderly single Norwegian men. Because the film was in post-production during the release of the journal, The Gastronomica article is an English translation of an excerpt of the shooting script.

With a full-page, full-color photograph of Isak (Joachim Clameyer) at his kitchen table – the gentleman is looking away from the camera but is holding a knife above a table-full of partially butchered meats. Also, a half-page diagram of a housewife’s travels between various places in the kitchen during a four-week period.

Poem

Aunty’s Eggplant by Cynthia Imperatore

Note from author: I asked my ninety-year-old aunt for the eggplant recipe she had taught my father, her younger brother, now long dead. As she recounted the process, fixed in her mind through years of repetition, I remembered my father’s own elaborate preparation and recorded her words, which appear in italics. As follows, the first few lines:

Eggplant was an all-day affair in my house growing up

Medium sized, firm. Deep purple.

an affair of the heart and of the palate, a ritual.

Feel for the lighter ones – less seeds.

Another two-dozen or so lines continue…

With a full-page, black-and-white photograph of several eggplants lovingly displayed in a decorative, porcelain bowl.

Photographs

Mentawai Album by Charles Lindsay

Charles Lindsay is a photographer but his account of consuming monkey head soup is nothing compared to the full-color photographs.

A full-page depiction of Monkey head soup, a page-and-a-half photograph of Tumbu holding a fruit bat (ultimately consumed as well), a full-page of Bai Lau Lau and Tingi, a mother and child and a half-page shot of a pot full of grubs taken from a sagu trunk, to be cooked in bamboo. All pictures taken in 1989.

Libations

Liquid History by Noah Rothbaum

Amazing account of Salvatore Calabrese, who is trying to track down historical bottles of cognac, such as those that were bottled when Thomas Jefferson was President.

With a one-third page, full-color photograph of Salvatore Calabrese at The Library Bar, The Lanesborough Hotel, London.

WWFood

France: Dining with the Doom Generation by Lucie Perineau

A somewhat depressing account of vegetarians in France.

With a full-page, full-color photograph of three people dining with the caption, Eating on the Edge of the Night, Nimes, France, 2002

Chef’s Page

Beyond the Berlin Wall by Marcel Biró, with Shannon Kring Biró

Heartfelt account of apprentice chefs working in East Germany. “I have lived in two different worlds, one of deprivation and oppression, the other of abundance and choice. In moving from the former to the latter, I have come to fully comprehend the value of freedom.”

Notes on Vintage Volumes

The Mince Pie That Launched the Declaration of Independence and Other Recipes in Rhyme by Jan Longone

Charming, whimsical accounting and reprinting of five rhymed recipes, from 1864 to 1927: Oyster Cocktail, Stewed Duck and Peas, Corn Bread and Boston Brown Bread, Old Virginia Mince Pie, and Cheese Radish. The first four lines of the Oyster Cocktail, for example are:

If the right amount you take,

This will just seven cocktails make.

In each glass three raw oysters toss,

And stand aside till you make your sauce.

With a half-page, black-and-white reproduction of Recipe for Cheese Relish from “A Book of Practical Recipes.” Compiled and Published by the Ladies of the South Side Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, PA., March, 1907. plus Cover of “A Poetical Cook-Book.” Philadelphia: Caxton Press of C. Sherman, Son & Co., 1864..

Review Essays

Salt by Dana Polan

A compare and contrast of two books: Salt: a World History by Mark Kurlansky and Salt: Grain of Life by Pierre Laszlo, translated by Mary Beth Mader.

With two facing, two-thirds page, black-and-white engravings from Georgius Agricola, “De re metalica,” Book XII. Basil: in Officina Frobeniana, 1561, pp. 450-451.

Chocolate: From Bean to Bar by Ellen M. Schnepel

A compare and contrast of three books: The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes by Maricel E. Presilla, Chocolate: The Nature of Indulgence by Ruth Lopez, and Crafting the Culture and History of French Chocolate by Susan J. Terrio.

With a half-page, full-color photograph of Venezuelan cacao workers. From Maricel E. Presilla, “The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes” (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2001), p. 33)

The Bookshelf

Books in Review include:

Hangering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration by Hasia Diner

Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote by Janet Theophano

Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle

In the Shadows of State and Capital: The United Fruit Company, Popular Struggle, and Agrarian Restructuring in Ecuador, 1900-1995 by Steve Striffler

Eating Right in the Renaissance by Ken Albala

French Food: On the Table, On the Page, and In French Culture edited by Lawrence R. Schehr and Allen S. Weiss

Remembrance of Repasts: An Anthropology of Food and Memory by David E. Sutton

The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference by Elizabeth Schneider

Cakewalk: Adventures in Sugar with Margaret Braun by Margaret Braun

Bookends

A few more shorter reviews:

The English Table: Trifle by Helen Saberi and Alan Davidson

Teapots Transformed: Exploration of an Object by Leslie Ferrin

A Veritable Scoff: Sources on Foodways and Nutrition in Newfoundland and Labradour by Maura Hanrahan and Marg Ewtushik

Lagniappe

Nero Blanc’s Recipe for the Perfect Yule Log by Nero Blanc

Another crossword puzzle.

←

[TopoTail]

Hi Carolyn--

Just discovered eGullet and, among many other intriguing threads, your running tally of Gastronomica articles. So, of course, the first thing I do is look for my article, only to find it's MIA.

Fall 2002 issue Borborygmus item right between "Scratch 'n Sniff" and "Gastronomic Encounters."

The article is called "The Tamping Wars" and deals with the alt.coffee news group.

--Richard Reynolds

Borborygmus - Rumblings from the World of Food

Scratch ‘n Sniff by Jim Stark

Odd account a DJ duo named “German Cassis” and “Serena ‘Swiss Miss’ Jost.” Based in Brooklyn, NY, the duo mixes beats while baking sweets. From their website, www.djscratchandsniff.com: “Original sounds and homemade samples are cut with grooves featuring music created by the duo and their own pool of musicians and composers. The dj's simultaneously bake chocolate chip cookies, seducing the senses with sweet smells and ambient sound--the perfect mix on an audible and edible level.”

Whatever.

Tamping Wars goes here

Gastronomic Encounters

An announcement of some awards given via the Spring, 2002 contest.

[srhcb]

Hi Carolyn--

Just discovered eGullet and, among many other intriguing threads,  your running tally of Gastronomica articles. So, of course, the first thing I do is look for my article, only to find it's MIA. 

Fall 2002 issue Borborygmus item right between "Scratch 'n Sniff" and "Gastronomic Encounters."

The article is called "The Tamping Wars" and deals with the alt.coffee news group.

--Richard Reynolds

- Rumblings from the World of Food

Scratch ‘n Sniff by Jim Stark

Odd account a DJ duo named “German Cassis” and “Serena ‘Swiss Miss’ Jost.” Based in Brooklyn, NY, the duo mixes beats while baking sweets. From their website, www.djscratchandsniff.com: “Original sounds and homemade samples are cut with grooves featuring music created by the duo and their own pool of musicians and composers. The dj's simultaneously bake chocolate chip cookies, seducing the senses with sweet smells and ambient sound--the perfect mix on an audible and edible level.”

Whatever.

Tamping Wars goes here

Gastronomic Encounters

An announcement of some awards given via the Spring, 2002 contest.

←

Richard,

I'm working from memory here, (and a somewhat faulty one at that ), but I believe Carolyn incorporated the Borborygmus items into her review in the more recent issues.

Having recently inherited the job, I can appreciate the fact that she may have inadvertently "shorted" a few pieces. I'll try and be at least as thorough as Carloyn was in my forthcoming reports.

Speaking of which, I beg the pardon of regular readers of this Thread, (1.200 views in the past 12 weeks), for being tardy in providing the next, (my first), installment. By way of explanation rahter than excuse, (although your sympathy will be greatly appreciated), I've been rather busy with the following:

GF's daughter has relocated to our house, along with toodler and dog, bringing the total human and canine populations to four of each.

I'm working out arrangements to move my parents into an assisted living facility after over forty years in their current home.

I'm trying to sell a restaurant owned by a friend who owes me a lot of money.

Plus, I'm trying to get a new clothing product I've developed to market by this summer.

I haven't even had time to read my newest Gastro yet let alone review the past issues!

SB (impressed that so many eG members are also Gastro contributors!)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Back issues of Gastronomica are available for sale -- for the first time -- for $5.00.

Order Here.

[harlanturk]

Look for my "Back of the House" series on pp. 79-83 in the current Winter 2006 issue of GASTRONOMICA.

If it doesn't show up yet, then you can find it through HARLANTURK blog.

Thank you all for your interest and support.

[srhcb]

Gastronomica Magazine

Fall 2005 • Volume 5 Number 4

Cover

Un pan mas | Juan Hidalgo

A photo of a small round loaf of bread caught in an old-fashioned wooden rat trap. The wood base has a cartoon rodent logo with the tail attached to the ending of the word "Jaguar" written in script.

The trap lacks a trigger mechanism, which would render it useless in reality, but I suppose that's what makes this art?

from the editor | Dara Goldstein

A short report from the editor, Ms Goldstein, on her trip to Berlin to chair a panel on "Food Trends as a Marker of National Identity in Post-Soviet Europe" at the Seventh World Congress of the International Council for Central European Studies.

borborygmus

Rumblings from the World of Food

A Letter to the Editor concerning an article in a previous issue concerning the Hogarth etching Gin Street and it's companion piece Beer Street, a short piece on Disney corp's decision to yield to pressure to remove sharks fin soup from it's menu, a report on a puveyor of "slow fast food" in Oregon, and a report from the Berry Health Benefits Symposium on the impact of berry consumption on various aspects of chronic disease and aging.

orts and scantlings

Boning Up on Language | Mark Morton

Musings upon the use of food words in everyday language, including examples such as "butter up", "top banana", "goose" and, of course, "where's the beef". Amusing, and perhaps suggestive of many similarly themed eGullet threads?

feast for the eye

download this article

Fruits and Vegetables as Sexual Metaphor in Late Renaissance Rome | John Varriano

Personally, I'm a bit weary of all the food/sex-porn metaphors. Some of the examples provided here, in both description and graphic representation, are indeed quite "graphic".

poem

fatted | Peter O'Leary

Poetry analysis isn't my forte, but I liked the line, "A candle's smoking point describes each animals uses: oils, fuels. (no, it doesn't rhyme with anything, or have meter either)

memoir

Envy's Sweet Origin | Karen Pepper

Sort of a regular magazine feature. Authors describe the early awakenings of their interest in food as something more than mere sustenance. In this instance Ms Pepper also brings reading and writing about food and cooking into play.

in memoriam

Fulton Street Fish Market | Maria Finn Dominguez

A little inside information about the operation of New York's famous marketplace and some of it's colorful characters, with several good color photos.

seasons

Small Round Things | Chitrita Banerji

An interesting article about the role several small fruits and berries play in orthodox Bengali Hindu religion and culture.

illustration

Where Beauty Resides | Jenny Kimball

Three digital prints on silk of "Salt", "Garlic Skin" and Oyster Mushroom".

technology

Focus on the Fridge | Margaret B. Blackman

Sort of the popular history of home refrigeration, including the ubiquitous magnets and the practice of using the door to display family photos.

investigations

A Short History of MSG: Good Science, Bad Science, and Taste Cultures | Jordan Sand

Scientific and cultural perspectives on the use of MSG, complete with one and one-half pages of foot notes. A little too much for me.

Alexis Soyer's Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations | April Bullock

Another fairly lenghty piece, (ten pages), on a effort to establish an enormous dining establishment in London by a French immigrant chef, Alexis Soyer, who seems to have been the Emeril Lagasse of the day.

Excerpts from Punch, the timeless British humor magazine, about the project were among the most interesting parts.

The Symposium project, which ended up a financial failure, reminded me of today's cities' attempts to construct expensive edifices for sports teams.

{Most of you reading this already understand that Gastronomica isn't exactly the kind of light reading matter you might take on a trip into the bathroom. Most issues have at least a few articles I just can't get through, for whatever reason. I'll try and provide some idea what they might be about, but would welcome assistance from other readers more familiar with the subject matter. - SB}

classics

The Satyrica Concluded | Andrew Dalby

As I was just saying, some articles I just don't get. I'll be the first to admit that my education in the real "Classics" is deficient, which no doubt hampered my efforts to read this.

I gather the author took it upon himself to write his own ending to the Latin novel The Satyrica, and, I assume, did a fine job, since the magazine's editors decided to buy and print it? But for twelve pages, two of which are foot notes, I drew a blank.

lives

A Taste for Menus: Henry Voigt Touches History | Jeanne Schinto

On a lighter note, this is the story of a menu collection, complete with pictures of a few examples. Menus aren't usually considered literature, but as the author points out, they often tell stories and provide us with an unusual insight into a time or place.

Just picking out a few menus in the collection from a list provided; the Boston Light Infantry Association, Parker House, Boston, 1863, the Vasar College "Thanksgiving", Poughkeepsie, New York, 1894, the Cotton Club, Harlem, 1934, the Hotel Algonquin, New York, 1938, and the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, 1955/

archive

Frightening the Game | Charles Perry

Brief discussion of the effect of premortem stress on the flavor of meat; wild game in particular. The authour cites both 6th and 10th Century Persian and Arab texts and Modern food science writer Harold McGee on the subject.

interview

Critter Cuisine: An Interview with Al and Mary Ann Clayton | Vivian Patterson

One of three photos which accompany this interview is a hollowed out armadillo used to hold dip for a fruit platter. Another pictures Snake and Eggs, and the third a Tadpole Soup.

Once again, "zoom", right over my head.

community

The MacDowell Recipe | Ted Weesner, Jr.

The artist colony in New Hampshire has housed luminaries of American culture since its founding in 1904, including Thorten WIlder, Willa Cather, Aaron Copeland, Leonard Bernstein and Meridith Monk.

How food and eating play a role in the functioning of the facility is examined, including a recipe for MacDowell Colony Whoopee Pie.

working on the food chain

Kamut: A New Old Grain | Gordon Sacks

The future of an ancient grain.

My Cousin Bob's wife is an agricultural economist. Maybe she would find this interesting, but it was too agricultural and economic for me.

personal history

Opa! Belly Dancing and Greek Barrel Wine | DeAnna Putnam

Yes, Greeks like to drink wine and watch Belly Dancing, I already knew this, having seen Anthony Quinn in "Zorba the Greek".

chef's page

AKWA: Commercializing Creativity | Will Goldfarb

I believe The author of this article is an eGullet reader. He emailed me about this story, asking what I thought, but I'm afraid I don't feel qualified to render an opinion. The organization referred to, the AKWA, resembles a philosophical movement of sorts.

I hope either the author, or another reader, will attempt to enlighten me.

I did, however, enjoy the picture of the hundred dollar bill stuck up with Bandaids!

review essays

Keeping a Good House | Leni Sorensen

Pomp and Circumstance | Jason Sholl

the bookshelf

Books in Review

{I can't see the point of my reviewing reviews, unless I'm already familiar with the subject of the original review, or have some particular insight into one of the subject works. Neither is the case in either the essays or books covered in this issue.

I would like to point out that book reviews comprise 12-15 pages of each issue, and cover an eclectic selection of releases related to food. I've purchased several books over the years as a result of first reading about them here. - SB}

lagniappe

The Porcineograph

The back page is typically something unusual and/or thought provoking. This issue it consists of an 1800's style map of the United States superimposed over the outline of a pig, with hog related drawings as the map borders.

It's quite clever, although I doubt if residents of Oregon will be pleased to see what portion of pig anatomy their State represents?

Edited April 12, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[srhcb]

{A couple weeks ago a there was a thread discussing Food Culture on another eGullet forum. When my new issue of Gastronomica arrived today, I noticed the article "Culturing Food", by Susan Tax Freeman, and decided to write about it here, and then link this post back to that thread.}

"Culturing Food", by Susan Tax Freeman, in the Fall 2006 issue of Gastronomica Magazine, is the review of a series of fourteen books written by authorities on food and culture in various geographical areas, compiled under the direction of Ken Albala, Series Editor, with the Title, "Food Culture around the World".

Each volume of about 200 pages targets a specific region, and individual titles are, "Food Culture in....Japan, Near East/Middle East/North Africa, Great Britain, China, Italy, India, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Russia & Central Asia, Spain, Sub-Saharan Africa, France and Southeast Asia".

Ms Freeman begins by quoting E.B. Tyler's 1871 definition: "Culture....is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

The review is a serious look at scholarly works, (ie: not easy reading), and is pretty much beyond my ken, but those with an academic background in sociology or food history will probably find both the article and the books interesting.

Personally, I found this issue's regular "orts and scantlings" column, by Mark Morton, titled "Paronomastication", a lot more to my liking. The piece uses as many food puns as possible, some very clever, and others, like "those who forget the pasta are condemed to reheat it", of dubious worth.

This only goes to prove once again that while Gastronomica may not be the periodical with something for everyone, it does offer quite a varied selection of intelligent and well written works to those with peculiar tastes in food related literature.

SB (long term Gastro Lover )

Edited November 25, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[Carrot Top]

Here is something I enjoyed reading about food culture from an anthrolopolgical perspective:

Food and Eating.

Most discussions of "food culture" *are* geographically based, but it seems to me that even within these groupings, it is important to know the similarities that *all* cultures share. This possibly can offer one a deeper understanding of the "hows and whys" of the individual geographic cultural groupings rather than the simpler "this is how and what it is".

P.S. My own geography is off - I meant to post this in the Food Culture thread. Will do so now.

Edited November 25, 2006 by Carrot Top (log)

[srhcb]

Is anybody still reading Gastronomica?

I used to anxiously await each new issue, now my last three lay virtually untouched.

Other than Mark Morton's Orts and Scantlings column, In doubt if I've read half a dozen articles from them all together. (In fact, I just noticed I haven't even read Morton's piece in the Winter 2007 issue.)

Has the magazine changed, or have I?

SB

[Carolyn Tillie]

Is anybody still reading Gastronomica?

I used to anxiously await each new issue, now my last three lay virtually untouched.

Other than Mark Morton's Orts and Scantlings column, In doubt if I've read half a dozen articles from them all together.  (In fact, I just noticed I haven't even read Morton's piece in the Winter 2007 issue.)

Has the magazine changed, or have I?

SB

←

I think the magazine has changed. I am exactly like you - my last three issues have remained unread as well! When it first arrives, I immediately open it and go through page-by-page, looking for something worth reading. The next thing I know, several months have gone by, another issue arrives, and I realize I never went back to ready anything in the last one!

My renewal notice came and I didn't bother; even after having every single issue.

[srhcb]

I think the magazine has changed. I am exactly like you - my last three issues have remained unread as well! When it first arrives, I immediately open it and go through page-by-page, looking for something worth reading. The next thing I know, several months have gone by, another issue arrives, and I realize I never went back to ready anything in the last one!

I'm glad to learn it isn't just me.

When I compare an older issue to a more recent one I don't notice any obvious difference in the content.

I'd be real interested in hearing the opinions of other Gastro readers.

SB

Edited April 17, 2007 by srhcb (log)

[Carrot Top]

be real interested in hearing the opinions of other Gastro readers.

SB 

←

I would give you an opinion if they would decide to deliver the magazine. I ordered it through Amazon back in the beginning of December 2006 and have not received a single copy yet.

Two phone calls to "the publishers" were made (initiated by me, performed by Amazon) with promises that information as to "when it would be delivered" would be telephoned back to me by the publishers.

Neither time did I receive any phone calls back with any information.

I've just today asked to cancel the subscription. I'll now be richer by forty-seven dollars.

But, unhappily, unable to answer your question, SB.

[srhcb]

be real interested in hearing the opinions of other Gastro readers.

SB 

←

I would give you an opinion if they would decide to deliver the magazine.

←

Carrot Top,

If you, or anyone else, would like to peruse a few back issues of Gastronomica I'd be happy to send you a few of mine.

SB (as long as you promise not to read them in the bathroom )

[Carrot Top]

SB, you are kind to offer, and I'll PM you if someday the urge hits to need to read one. I've read lots of them in the past, but just felt like getting a subscription this year. Based on the comments above about the latest issues, one wonders, though. Hopefully it is just a sort of lull in the magazine rather than a permanent thing, the sort of lack of spark you mentioned.

Do, post after the next issue arrives, though, to let us know your thoughts on it.

[Carrot Top]

So okay. Just to make life interesting, today two things happened.

First, this morning I got a phone call from some guy at Amazon's magazine provider place who left a message that said "We have cancelled your subscription but you will get partial payment returned as you have been sent one issue."

Second, this afternoon I walked out to the mailbox and found Ta Dah! My first issue of Gastronomica by mail.

Five months, three and a half weeks after I placed the order for it.

It looks good, of course, now that they have decided to send it to me and cancel my subscription all in the same day six months late.

If I re-order, I surely will *not* do it through Amazon.

............................

Love the cover. Very cool rolling pin. I understand that it is *art* but still believe it would feel good in the hand and would also make a nicely-textured foccaccia.

[srhcb]

.... I walked out to the mailbox and found Ta Dah! My first issue of Gastronomica by mail.   Five months, three and a half weeks after I placed the order for it.

As if on cue, my copy of the Spring 2007 issue also arrived today.

Love the cover. Very cool rolling pin. I understand that it is *art* but still believe it would feel good in the hand and would also make a nicely-textured foccaccia. 

←

I personally found the cover picture of an apparently worm-eaten rolling pin somewhat disconcerting, but Gastro is known for it's intriguing covers.

I've just removed the magazine from it's "100% Recycleable 4LDPF" prophylactic sheath, and I'll give you my first impressions as I page through it. {interest generated in reading the article, 1 being least likely, 10 a sure thing}

Time Travels by Editor Darra Goldstein, "I traveled through all of Europe..." {4}

Nobody I personally know is listed in this issue's feature Contributors.

Borborygmus, Letters and short subjects, contains a piece by my old friend Anna M. Shih, entitled "Food Podcasts". Anna is a patent attorney and food writer who has published several other articles in Gastro. (She is also the person who introduced me to eGullet) {10} This will be the first thing I read.

Mark Morton's orts and scantlings regular column deals with food and word play. A quick scan of this installment doesn't excite me, except to note that "up until the sixteenth century (carrots) were called dauk or clapwype". {5}

An article about Chinese artist Zhan Wang has an interesting photo of a huge quantity of metal food service vessels. {3}

Sommelier, a poem. {1}

Something about "Gerald & Sara Murphy's Life of Beautiful Things", {2}

I'm getting tired of this already. I'll read Anna's piece and stash the magazine in my briefcase for work tomorrow.

SB (uninspired )

Edited May 31, 2007 by srhcb (log)

[Carrot Top]

You surprise me, SB. Had you eaten your Wheaties yesterday? So unlike you, to be uninspired.

I'll give you my thoughts in return on this issue of Gastronomica, as someone that has not read it in the past few years.

I love the texture of the cover paper. Nice.

The rolling pin I really do like as a cover shot. It catches one's attention, and even beyond the adorable phallic-ness of it, it does look like an item one would want to pick up and pay attention to. How did it get that way, I wonder. It reminds me of driftwood, and how that feels when you pick it up at the seashore, a particular sensory nudge that takes the mind to other shores, faraway places, high seas, adventure, and seabirds pooping on the bouncing rubber life raft. You know what I mean.

"Time Travels" - Discussions of Burgundian chateaus, even with the best of goals in mind, make me want to run for the West Virginia hills to chow down on roast groundhog. It's a problem of mine.

"Bobbobygmus" - Looks pretty good. "Hybrid Fields" the piece about art and the food system caught my eye as being promising.

"Orts and Scantlings" - interesting because it is about language, of course, and the cute little chart makes it look fun.

"Feast for the Eye" - on Zhan Wang - The photo of his work did not spark me into wanting to read an article that has phrases like "expansive worldview with subjects ranging from economics, theology, sociology, urban planning, and architecture to formal art issues . . ." because I start to feel as if I need to put my smoking jacket on, if I had one, to be able to sit sturdily enough to eat the words and digest them in little bites. I think I've seen better images of his work somewhere, though, so have been made curious to see if I can find them.

"Sommelier" the poem was nice, I liked the way it looked on the page and can feel the intent.

"Archive" - Gerald and Sara Murphy - Their Lives. Glerjmiojhwhihnb. Sigh.

But listen, I'm only on page 17 and this already has been fun. More later, perhaps.