When I began writing Something We Dreamed, I was also starting a SUNY research project. In this ninth post, I continue to share what I discovered. (Some of this material was originally posted on August 4th, 2009.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flyer from Julia Child’s 90th Birthday Celebration

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it” — Julia Child

THE BELOVED FRENCH CHEF:

Julia Child

IN HIS BOOK A History of Cooks and Cooking, author Michael Symons notes that “Mass Foodism” (also known as being a “foodie”) has been on the rise for years — as can be observed in the booming gourmet food/cookware industry as well as soaring sales of cookbooks. Part of this rise, Symons adds, is due to television bringing “foodism to the masses” via charismatic instructors like Julia Child.

Julia Child made what was once intimidating obtainable,* and became an international icon after first appearing (in 1963) as “The French Chef” on Public Television. Child’s greatest contribution to the art of cookery, however, is most certainly Volume One of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (published in 1961).

Child (along with her colleagues Simone Beck and Louisette Berholle) spent a decade researching and writing Volume One — the “style and clarity” of which, according to Noel Riley Fitch (author of Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child), makes it “a genuine masterpiece in culinary history.”

In 1950, Child, Beck and Berholle started their work with a goal to create a book novice American cooks could understand, yet would still be “interesting for the practiced cook.” Ten years later, Knopf’s Judith Jones wrote that the soon-to-be-published book

“will do for French cooking here in America what Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking did for standard [American] cooking.”

Jones was right: the book has been in print for over 40-years, including a new edition celebrating the release of the film “Julie & Julia” with Oscar-winner Meryl Streep appearing as Ms. Child.

Directed by Nora Ephron, “Julie & Julia” opened to generally good reviews and earned millions at the box office. The film also spiked sales of both My Life in France (released by her grandnephew, Alex Prud’homme, after Child’s death) and Mastering the Art of French Cooking (now one of the top selling cookbooks of all time).

“Julie & Julia” is the first of what might well become many motion pictures based on Child’s fascinating life encompassing great loves, world-wide travels, epic feasts — and perhaps even a stint as a WWII spy. Standing over six-feet-tall, Julia Child’s dynamic physical presence and positive personality drove her ever-increasing popularity as a TV performer and delivered her passion for cooking to an international audience.

Writer Christopher Lydon, quoted in Fitch’s biography, states that:

“Queen Julia has done more than [Betty] Friedan, Gloria Steinem and Co. to show American women a model of power in public and expressive self-discovery at home.”

Even after her death (in 2004 at the age of 91), the cult of Julia Child is still hungry for more: DVD collections are available for purchase, her home kitchen has been moved into the Smithsonian Museum, new books are inspired by her life, bumper stickers read “What Would Julia Do?,” and the truly obsessed can buy devotional candles.

If you haven’t yet had your fill of all things related to ‘the original spice girl,’ check out Flickr’s Julia Child group (lovingly administered by the author of this blog.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT UP: Following in Julia’s Footsteps (TV/Celebrity Chefs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more? Check out:

1. Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (Knopf)
2. Noel Riley Fitch’s Appetite for life: the biography of Julia Child. (New York: Doubleday.)
3. Laura Shapiro’s Julia Child: A Life. (New York: Penguin Lives.)
4. Michael Symons’ A history of cooks and cooking. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press.)

*In sharp contrast to Julia’s style, an even more commercially successful TV food instructor/cookbook author/icon — Martha Stewart — leaves most of her audience with an inferiority complex. Stewart’s tables are set with expensive pieces and her personal appearance (that of a former fashion model) is difficult for most buyers to relate to. It may have been Stewart’s time in jail (after she was convicted for lying about a stock sale) that saved Stewart’s career. With the public able to view her personal suffering, has Martha Stewart become more understandable (and believable) to the average consumer?

When I began writing Something We Dreamed, I was also starting a SUNY research project. In this eighth post, I continue to share what I discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“When I was little, I longed desperately to eat catsup from a bottle. It was, of course, strictly forbidden because the sauce was not made in our own kitchen (and anyway, bottles were vulgar, especially on the table). I still think I may never really get enough catsup”
– M.F.K. Fisher, True Food: Wholefoods for Modern Times, 1988

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POET OF THE APPETITES:

M.F.K. Fisher

AS AUTHOR JOAN REARDON notes in the preface to her biography of Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher — Poet of the Appetites — M.F.K. was not the first person to put culinary memories on paper. M.F.K. remains, however, possibly the single greatest influence in what has become a lucrative industry: literary writing that interweaves recipes with fiction and/or personal recollections.

Fisher’s The Art of Eating (a fat book collecting five of her earlier titles) has inspired generations of writers.

Without M.F.K.’s “sensual and intimate” writings, we might not have modern food-focused (and recipe-infused) books such as Laura Esquive’s Like Water for Chocolate, Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking, or Nora Ephron’s Heartburn (see notes below).

Fisher’s first book, Serve it Forth, was influenced by research the author conducted in the early 1930s at the Los Angele’s public library.

According to her biographer, Reardon, Serve it Forth’s essays incorporate aspects of Fisher’s personal life with tales of ancient Roman and other European “food and feasts [as]…described in the library’s collection of historic texts and early-twentieth century translations.”

In 1939, Serve it Forth’s U.K editors assumed “M.F.K.” was a man “who did not write about the pleasures of the table in correctly female and home economics fashion.” When meeting Mary Frances for the first time, the author claimed the men said, “no woman could possibly have written” such a book. [It should be noted that Fisher’s biographer challenges the idea that the editors were unaware of the author’s sex: “The claim that she was breaking new ground as a woman writing about culinary history pleased Mary Frances." In fact, a central theme of Reardon’s occasionally mean-spirited biography is that Ms. Fisher was “self-absorbed” and “constructed a mythology about herself as a writer."]

IN THE EARLY 1940s, Fisher had lived through much turmoil in her private life and published The Gastronomical Me – considered to be the “most personally revealing” of her books. Rave reviews appeared in leading periodicals of the day including Book Week which noted the volume had

“a prevailing sense of tragedy—death and the intimation of death against which one fortifies oneself by grasping at the sharp, sensuous joys of food and love.”

As America entered the Second World War, M.F.K. wrote recipes for eating frugally including ‘War Cake’ made with bacon grease (since butter was scarce) and which was supposedly “loved by hungry children.” She also wrote movingly about a wartime economy that was blasting holes in home-front pocketbooks, kitchens and hearts:

“It is easy to think of potatoes, and fortunately for men who have not much money it is easy to think of them with a certain safety. Potatoes are one of the last things to disappear, in times of war, which is probably why they should not be forgotten in times of peace.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT UP: The French Chef: Julia Child

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more? Check out:

1. M.F.K. Fisher’s The Art of Eating (New York: Vintage Books).
2. M.F.K. Fisher.com
3. Jeannette Ferrary’s M.F.K. Fisher and Me: A Memoir of Food and Friendship (St. Martin’s)
4. Joan Reardon’s Poet of the appetites: the lives and loves of M.F.K. Fisher. (New York: North Point Press.)
5. Jonathan Yardley’s “Laurie Colwin: A Story Too Short but Still in Print,” The Washington Post.

NOTES:

1. Like Water for Chocolate is a love story set in Mexico, interspersed with recipes, that was made into a popular film.
2. Laurie Colwin, who died in 1992 at the young age of 48, was a writer for Gourmet magazine.
3. Nora Ephron, who is now a film director in Hollywood (Julie & Julia), wrote about food (including recipes) in the popular novel skewering her real-life (philandering) husband: Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.

When I began writing Something We Dreamed, I was also starting a SUNY research project. In this seventh post, I continue to share what I discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© Scribner 1931

Irma S. Rombauer, bestselling author of Joy of Cooking

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CASUAL CULINARY CHAT:

Irma von Starkloff Rombauer

THE BESTSELLING COOKBOOK OF ALL TIME – Joy of Cooking — was written by Irma von Starkloff Rombauer. Released in 1931, the book has never gone out of print. According to a journalist writing for The New York Times web site, “With most cookbooks, a sale of 40,000 is cause to cheer;” yet in the last decade alone, Joy of Cooking continues to sell at a rate of “100,000 to 90,000” a year.

Irma von Starkloff was born in St. Louis in 1877 and studied at Washington University’s School of Fine Arts. She married a lawyer, Edgar Rombauer, and they had two children. In 1930, Edgar committed suicide.

Irma was 54-years old, and had been widowed only a year, when The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes, with a Casual Culinary Chat was released. She spent three-thousand dollars of her own money to print the first, slim version of the book – which was about a year’s salary for people living in depression-era America.

Rombauer is the person considered to be responsible for the introduction of recipe headings — what she called: “paragraph incentives.” Paragraph incentives are the little ‘come-ons’ at the top of a written recipe that seduce readers into wanting to make a dish. [A contemporary cookbook writer that excels at this art is Marcella Hazan who writes about Italian food in a voice that is both authoritative and romantic. After reading the following, who wouldn’t want to make Zuppa di Calamari e Carciofi?

“In the kitchens of the Italian Riviera, any dish that does not make use of vegetables is considered an opportunity lost. Although this is a seafaring province, its cooking is the story of a love affair with the products of gardens, orchards, and woods. Where else would one make soup with squid and artichokes?”]

Irma Rombauer was a visionary in seeing cookbooks as more than just instructive texts, and the author fought with publishers to retain the “chatty comments” calling attention to recipes “that would never be tried otherwise.” Replying to one publisher by telegram, Rombauer stated that cookbooks

“BELIEVE IT OR NOT” were now “CONSIDERED LITERATURE ESPECIALLY BY MEN [who found the] AVERAGE COOK BOOK DEADLY MONOTONOUS.”

Eventually, Rombauer prevailed, and her tasty food-marketing materials remained intact. The book became so popular that food editors worried “if this book has too wide a circulation there will be little for us…to do.”

As decades have passed, Rombauer and family members added so much additional material to the book that The New York Times claims Joy is now “a kitchen reference that can help you do everything from mix a gimlet to purify water.”

In 2006, the Scribner publishing house released a 75th-Anniversary edition of the best selling cookbook of all time — with over 1,000 pages and 4,500 recipes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT UP: Poet of the Appetites: M.F.K Fisher

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more? Check out:

1. Irma S. Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking (1931 edition) and Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition
2. Anne Mendelson’s Stand Facing the Stove: The Story of the Women Who Gave America The Joy of Cooking (New York: Scribner).
3. Radcliffe College: Rombauer Family. Papers of the Rombauer-Becker Family, 1795-1992: A Finding Aid.
4. Kim Severenson’s article: “Does the World Need Another ‘Joy’? Do You?” (The New York Times).
5. Marcella Hazan’s More Classic Italian Cooking (Random House).

When I began writing Something We Dreamed, I was also starting a SUNY research project. In this sixth post, I continue to share what I discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fannie Farmer & Student (© Bettmann/Corbis)

“Progress in civilization has been accompanied by progress in cookery.”
—Fannie Merritt Farmer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE MOTHER OF LEVEL MEASUREMENTS:

Fanny Merritt Farmer

THE BOSTON COOKING SCHOOL Cook Book was written by Fannie Merritt Farmer in 1896 and has sold over three million copies in eleven editions. The book’s author is popularly known today as simply: Fannie Farmer.

Ms. Farmer’s contributions to the art of the cookbook are of great importance: She standardized measurements so a dish appeared on the table the same way every time. Before the publication of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book* (later The Fannie Farmer Cookbook), ingredients and directions were vague: typical instructions included “add a heaping cup” or a “walnut-sized piece of butter.”

Farmer, however, was “obsessed by accuracy” and wrote in precise terms like “a cupful is a measured level.”

As recounted by author Laura Shapiro in her book Perfection Salad: “[Farmer’s] product was scientific cookery and she had complete faith in it; what she was able to do better than anybody else, finally, was to make it accessible, appealing, and even necessary to middle-class housekeepers.”

Farmer may have been rigidly scientific in her writing – yet she ignored social norms of the time by, reportedly, eating with abandon.

Farmer also dealt with heavier challenges. Stricken with polio as a child, she was paralyzed for months, and remained an invalid for years. She did not enter cooking school until the relatively late age of thirty-one and then suffered a stroke that left her (once again) without the use of her legs.

Continuing to lecture about cooking while confined to a wheelchair, by the time of her death in 1915 at the age of 57 (from another stroke), the author’s cookbook had sold over 360,000 copies.

Farmer’s book is still in print today in updated versions (edited by Marion Cunningham) and via reprints of the historic text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT UP: Casual Culinary Chat: Irma von Starkloff Rombauer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more? Check out:

1. Fannie Merritt Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook.
   
2. Marion Cunningham’s The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (Knopf).
3. Anne Willan’s Great cooks and their recipes: from Taillevent to Escoffier (New York: McGraw Hill).
4. Laura Shapiro’s Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (New York: Random House, Inc.)
5. Feeding America: digital.lib.msu.edu
6. Bob Allen’s A guide to collecting cookbooks and advertising cookbooks: a history of people, companies and cooking (Kentucky: Collector Books).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Author Laura Shapiro notes that The Boston Cooking School – and other such schools of the period – schooled women in “domestic science” with an aim for “moral gentility.” One school master said the “disorderly girls in his charge did become ‘humanized and refined’ from their experience in cooking class.”

When I began writing Something We Dreamed, I was also starting a SUNY research project. In this fifth post, I continue to share what I discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© Reg Smythe 1981

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TWENTIETH CENTURY FEMALE COOKBOOK AUTHORS

continued

IN THE BOOK Can She Bake A Cherry Pie? American Women and the Kitchen in the Twentieth Century, author Mary Drake Mcfelly discusses how the sharing of food knowledge can indeed act as an agent of society that bridges differences between cultures and brings people together.

Even before the advent of community cookbooks, women exchanged such food knowledge by word of mouth and on scraps of paper. In rural areas where distance and weather can make face-to-face interactions difficult, some women even share recipes via short wave radio broadcasts.

Our family recipes (typed on cards or torn out of magazines) have become deeply cherished heirlooms. Examples of a recipe’s value can be seen in Hurricane Katrina news stories which recorded the anguish people felt over losing cookbooks and recipe boxes.

Author Barbara Habar, in her short story Follow the Food, further discusses the historical and sentimental value of these objects which were once considered to be useless ephemera. Haber’s mother never documented recipes in a formal collection (e.g. a tin box filled with 3×5-inch cards). However, any of the adult daughter’s recipe requests were quickly replied to and always included an equally memorable story about the families’ past. Habar now wonders if her mother felt “the stories themselves might not be enough…” so the writing down was justified by including something practical like a ginger cookie recipe.

Perhaps more poignantly, recipes recorded in the book In Memory’s Kitchen are the bittersweet memories of better times dictated by women interned in a Czech concentration camp during the Second World War. These recipes were never intended to be published as a cookbook. They did, however, create a much needed diversion for those imprisoned while giving each unintentional food writer hope that cherished memories would survive – even if the writer herself did not.

IN THE FIELD OF professional publishing, as the twentieth-century progressed, women cookbook writers were now influencing the lives of women around the world in ways that went well beyond simply making household chores easier. Modern women writers now introduced the element of food as a sensual event: the art of eating for one’s own pleasure. The idea of a women being able to eat alone – and cooking to satisfy her own hungers – became a reality.

At the same time, corporate America was busy selling cookbooks using imaginary and controllable women like picture-perfect “Betty Crocker.”

While imaginary “Betty” continued to strive to please husband and child, recipes with new rules were being written by independent, free thinking women who had begun to live exciting and imaginative real lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT UP: The Mother of Level Measurements — Fannie Merritt Farmer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more? Check out:

1. Mary Drake Mcfelly’s Can She Bake A Cherry Pie? American Women and the Kitchen in the Twentieth Century (University of Massachusetts Press).
2. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign’s online exhibit of community cookbooks: www.library.illinois.edu
3. Chris Roses’ One Dead in the Attic: After Katrina (Simon & Schuster).
4. Carla De Silva’s In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezín (New Jersey: Northvale).
5. Susan Marks’ Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food (University of Minnesota Press).