Great writers about food

[John Whiting]

As I've often said, I'm partial to those books whose literary style embodies an integral relationship between a location, its people and its cuisine -- in which "terroir" includes not only the land, the flora and the fauna, but also the native inhabitants who make distinctive foods out of what is around them. Four come immediately to mind, two from France and two from Italy.

Peter Graham, _Mourjou: The Life and Food of an Auvergne Village_, 1998, Viking

James Bentley, _Life and Food in the Dordogne_, 1986, New Amsterdam

Patience Gray, _Honey from a Weed: Feasting and Fasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia_, 1986, Prospect Books

Elizabeth Romer, _The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley_, 1984, Weidenfeld and Nicolson

These are all noteworthy for the ways in which they do *not* resemble the slick condescention of Peter Mayle's various Provence rip-offs. Each of the latter, of course, has sold many more copies than the first four put together, thus proving whatever you like about the great reading public and the infallibility of the market.

[Steve Plotnicki]

John - I think there are so few good books in this category that when I saw the various lists and additions, I couldn't think of any to add off the top of my head. But then you added the Elizabeth Romer book which I forgot about and is a fantastic book. But I wonder why you needed to take that gratuitous shot at Peter Mayle in your last post since his books have nothing to do with this topic? Can't you just reconcile that his audience was the million dollar villa crowd and the audience for the books you mentioned was the fishing pole with an ugly cod hanging from the end of it crowd? Each one has merit to it. For Peter Mayle told a tale of how to escape the rat race in order to live somewhere beautiful. Not how to catch cod and to salt it.

[g.johnson]

Can't you just reconcile that [Mayle's] audience was the million dollar villa crowd

Since Mayle's books were best sellers in the UK and were made into a TV series this characterization seems typically wide of the mark.

[Steve Plotnicki]

G. - Do you not see that I purposely exagerated EACH example in order to make the point? It's an American thing to make sure we communicate the point properly. It works well but is a real flytrap for pedants.

[g.johnson]

G. - Do you not see that I purposely exagerated EACH example in order to make the point? It's an American thing to make sure we communicate the point properly. It works well but is a real flytrap for pedants.

Plotters: You got me. I fell for it. I really did think that you were serious in your posts. Now I realize that no one could be that dim. You are the supreme ironist. Congrats.

[Suzanne F]

No, he's not an ironist. I'll bet he's never touched a Proctor-Silex (the ironist brand I currently own) in his life. He is merely full of shi*

[John Whiting]

But I wonder why you needed to take that gratuitous shot at Peter Mayle . . . Can't you just reconcile that his audience was the million dollar villa crowd

I knew I could count on Steve to defend the crassly commercial as a matter of principal.

[Jon Tseng]

Three suggestions:

i) Elizabeth David (proper pronoun: The Divine)

ii) Terry Durack (proper pronoun: The Definitive)

iii) Simon Majumdar (proper pronoun: The Demented)

although at a pinch Anthony B could substitute for iii), but only for Kitchen Confidential

;-)

J

[Steve Plotnicki]

Well I wouldn't call Mayle's first book crassly commercial. And second, what does crassly commercial have to do with this topic? This was a nice topic until you injected class warfare into it. Mayles books ahve nothing to do with this topic. The books aren't about food and Mayle doesn't pretend to be a food writer.

[John Whiting]

Steve, you're on your usual diet of shoulder and chips. The four books I recommended had in common the fact that "their literary style embodies an integral relationship between a location, its people and its cuisine". Mayle attempts the same sort of mix, including food, although his treatment of the latter is anecdotal rather than analytical.

I remained convinced that the contrast between him and the four writers I mention is illuminating. It's the difference between joining a community and imposing one's self as a sort of feudal lord. I've visited both Bentley and Graham: their houses are on the main streets of their respective villages and look exactly like everyone else's; Mayle's is a sumpuous villa surrounded by a wall with a locked gate, all paid for by the royalties on his amusing anecdotes about the country bumpkins and their village idiot.

Is that "class warfare"? I would call it simple observation.

[jaybee]

Mayle's first book is an interesting point of discussion. It was a very entertaining read. But through it I was uncomfortable thinking how the "locals" would feel reading it. I wasn't sure if he was poking fun at himself for not being able or willing to understand and particpate with the "locals" or he was ridiculing them for the benefit of a sophisticated English audience. Yes the book was very succcessful. In a way, it confirmed what most of the readers expected such an experience to be like. And he walked the tighrope of cultural parody and self-deprecation fairly well. His second book was less successful in this regard, and fell to really poking the locals and his guests with sharp sticks.

My late father in law built, in the early 1970s, what turned out to be a palatial villa on the beach of the Mexican Pacific coast. It was in a village of palapa huts with dirt floors. A bit of paradise. He took time to learn Spanish as spoken by the towns' people and developed a wonderful respect among them. They called him "el doctor" and came running to help whenever some emergency occured, which was quite often. There are many amusing anecdotes to tell about screw ups in construction (two houses were built on the reverse lots, so the lot numbers were reversed with a bribe to the zoning inspector). The point of the story is that he became a member of the community and, though always a "gringo", was respected and admired by the local indians for the respect and caring he showed them. I thought Mayles had found a formula of ridicule and parody at the expense of the "locals" which made him rich.

For the record, I did devour the first two books and watched the tv movie.

I was told that he had a house on Fire Island, as was described by the locals as "an arrogant prick."

[John Whiting]

For whatever it's worth, jaybee's subjective reaction approximates my own. It's my experience that the English who have settled in the Dordodge - "la Petite Angleterre" - have on the whole made an effort to integrate, or at least have shown respect for the local community, whereas the Côte d'Azur has attracted a quasi-aristocracy who take more than they give.

As for jaybee's father-in-law, there are such people; would that there were more.

[John Whiting]

There's a book which is far from being great, but which I enjoyed enormously and which I think would be an ideal summer read for eGulleteers. It's Stuart Stevens' _Feeding Frenzy: Across Europe in Search of the Perfect Meal_. Originally published by Atlantic Monthly Press, it's available in paberback from Amazon, apparently only in the UK. It's the story of a mad race to eat in 29 Michelin 3-star restaurants in 29 days. As the pace hots up, the plot becomes ever more breathless, but as the restaurants whiz by, Stevens succeeds in getting in a lot of shrewd comments. It's not unlike surfing eGullet on a good day.

[Jinmyo]

Thanks for the recommendation, John.

As for Mayles, calling something crassly commercial is no more class warfare than is saying that popular boy bands are crassly commercial. It's an aesthetic assessment, not a call to arms, Steve.

[Gavin Jones]

It's an aesthetic assessment, not a call to arms.

I am very much suspecting that the purpose of eGullet is to turn the one into the other.

[Steve Plotnicki]

John - As Jaybee so astutely points out, Mayle's book was intended to entertain. It was geared at an audience of 300,000, not 3,000. Never anywhere does it pretend to be an exhaustive telling of the people, traditions or food of the region. It's the age old fish out of water story. Big city guy moves to a pond with local fish. There are countless novels based on the same premise which are entertaining. All Mayle did was switch the venue to Provence and use the quirkiness of those particular locals along with the natural beauty of the region as his foils in the story. To try and compare his book(s) with serious accountings of reports of a region or exhaustive explanations of a single food source like Cod or Salt, just tells me that you don't understand Mayle's book in the first place or you resent its success (compared to the lack of commercial succes for the books on your list.) I had read the Stuart Steven's book when it first came out and found it a poor book. But I can't remember exactly why.

[Jinmyo]

I had read the Stuart Steven's book when it first came out and found it a poor book. But I can't remember exactly why.

If it comes to you, Steve, please let me know.

[John Whiting]

To try and compare his book(s) with serious accountings of reports of a region or exhaustive explanations of a single food source like Cod or Salt, just tells me that you don't understand Mayle's book in the first place

To state that I was comparing Mayle's book to those of Kurlansky just tells me that your attention was wandering. I compared it to four books which similarly -- and much more complexly and sympathetically -- set out to narrate their authors' coming to terms with an unfamiliar environment. At no point did I mention Salt or Cod -- or even salt cod. You'd better rehydrate.

As for _Feeding Frenzy_, I suggest it merely as entertainment. Anyone who can stay glued to eGullet has a good chance of being amused.

[yvonne johnson]

To try and compare his book(s) with serious accountings of reports of a region or exhaustive explanations of a single food source like Cod or Salt, just tells me that you don't understand Mayle's book in the first place or you resent its success (compared to the lack of commercial succes for the books on your list.)  

A person offers a balanced assessment of the limitations of a book that happened to sell well = Person doesn't understand the book or resents its commerical success

Utter tosh

This resentful argument is already wearing very thin.

[Steve Plotnicki]

John - Gee if you think Mayle set out to write a book on the "authors' coming to terms with an unfamiliar environment," in a "complex and sympathetic manner," you need to get out more. Maybe you should join a book discussion group? Mayle's book is intended to be lighthearted and entertaining, and the others intended to be "complex" and exhaustive on their topic. I thought this topic was "Great Writers about Food," have I missed something? What does Peter Mayle have to do with that other than to point out that things you think are crass and commercial sell and things you think are of quality don't?

[jaybee]

Utter tosh

I ordered this once in an obscure Scottish restaurant on the lower east side. I thought the chef's interpretation lacked character and was rather pretentious.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Jaybee - I thought that all Scottish food was utter tosh.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Double post

[jaybee]

Jaybee - I thought that all Scottish food was utter tosh.

No, Steve. There are many forms of tosh made in Scotland. Utter tosh just happens to be the most expensive and thus is considered the highest quality, most refined form of the genre. Perhaps one day, I'll take you to my favorite Scots restaurant for a tosh degustaçion. Bring a bottle of Pommeroy's best Chateau Fleetstreet '89; it goes well with tosh.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Jaybee - I thought utter tosh came from the udder of the cow? Isn't single malt whiskey was the thing to drink with it?