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News from the Guardian: " Food prices hit record high: UN food price index up 3.4% from December, the highest level since the organisa...

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10.24

Some important government pronouncement on food just told us to eat less. Marion Nestle approves -- see <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2011/01/2010-dietary-guidelines-finally-get-tough-on-obesity/70540/">2010 Dietary Guidelines Finally Get Tough on Obesity</a> and <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2011/02/getting-beyond-jargon-a-close-look-at-the-new-dietary-guidelines/70589/">Getting Beyond Jargon: A Close Look at the New Dietary Guidelines.</a> There are lots of open questions. Most people with a weight problem already know that they eat too much. The government didn't need to do research on their behalf. They also know that the diet industry only helps around 10% of them, and that most weight loss is temporary. And that doctors don't have any really effective strategies. Nor does the government. Then there's another little detail, as stated in the L.A.Times: "The fast-food industry didn't get the memo" -- <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fast-food-calorie-20110202,0,6031639.story" target="_top"><img alt="'Eat less,' U.S. says as chains super-size their fast food" class="headlineThumb" height="105" src="http://www.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/storylink/2011-02/59167211-01181728.jpg" width="187" /></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fast-food-calorie-20110202,0,6031639.story" target="_top" title="'Eat less,' U.S. says as chains super-size their fast food"> 'Eat less,' U.S. says as chains super-size their fast food</a> The article offers a ton of details on how fast food chains aren't on the same page as the government. If they were, fast-food representatives told the reporter, they'd be out of business. So here comes another litany of menu choices with thousands of calories and oodles of all the things the government says not to eat, including (though named only by Marion Nestle) the SOFAS -- SOlid Fats and Added Sugars. People want strong tastes: that means salt and sugar. People want good value: that means huge portions. Meat. Cheese. Gallons of coke. Fries. Well, tomorrow is Groundhog Day and again I'm thinking of that movie about being trapped in the same repeating nightmare over and over. Which reminds me that we're having a blizzard so there's not a chance that the Groundhog will see his shadow; probably no groundhog in most of the country will even be able to get out of his hole. But that's irrelevant to fast food.

In Real Life

Some important government pronouncement on food just told us to eat less. Marion Nestle approves -- see 2010 Dietary Guidelines Finally Get...

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20.16

Aurelio Zen eats a hamburger

Ratking is the first in a series of police procedurals starring detective Aurelio Zen. The author, Michael Dibdin, continued with around a dozen other Zen novels. Aurelio Zen is an honest and dedicated crime fighter in the rottenly corrupt atmosphere of Italian politics and policing. In Ratking, he solves a kidnapping, implicating members of the victim's family; however, all the perps get off. Dibdin follows many precedents in crime fiction, including the use of meals to punctuate the pace of the investigation and to illuminate Zen's character and his relationship to the people he interviews. Earlier detectives like Maigret, Hercule Poirot, and even Sherlock Holmes had quirky food preferences; the convention continues in works by Donna Leon (Commissario Guido Brunetti) and Andrea Camilleri (inspector Salvo Montalbano) and many others. Ratking has one slightly offbeat food theme: during the course of the novel, Aurelio Zen's relationship with his American girlfriend Ellen is hitting a low point. She comes to see him in Perugia, the site of the kidnapping where he is temporarily posted. They go on a picnic, but the weather is bad and they are forced to eat in the car: <blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"Ellen started to unwrap the food: a mound of ricotta, slices of cooked ham, olives in oil, half a loaf of bread. On a warm sunny day in the open air it might have been idyllic. Eaten off sheets of wrapping paper balanced precariously on their shivering knees, the cheese looked a disgusting white excrescence, the ham pale and sickly, and the olives slimy. Even the wine, a heavy red, was a failure." (p. 182-183)</blockquote>At the very end, Zen returns to his home base in Rome and Ellen invites him for a simple dinner, where he tells her how he solved the crime. Although she said the food would be simple, he's a bit shocked to see "Findus 100% Beef American-style Hamburgers" on the label of a "shiny packet." She broils the meat and warms some buns. Then: <blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"She served the hamburgers wrapped in paper napkins, and brought a liter bottle of Peroni beer from the fridge. The hamburgers were an unhappy hybrid of American and European elements. The meat, processed cheese, and ketchup tried to be as cheerfully undemanding as a good hamburger should, but were shouted down by the Dijon mustard, the pungent onions, and the chewy rolls. "Zen began dismantling his hamburger, eating the more appetizing bits with the fork and discarding the rest." (p. 257-260)</blockquote>Of course she then tells him her plans for the rest of her life -- which don't include him. I enjoyed this tightly-plotted and suspenseful novel. I also read Cosi Fan Tutti, a later Dibden-Zen work, but found it a little too contrived, especially the effort to reproduce in modern Naples the plot of the Mozart opera of that title. My friend Sheila recommended this author, and told me that the Zen novels are currently being made into a BBC TV series in the UK. They will also air on PBS. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618371/">IMDB</a> lists 3 episodes so far, all this year -- I eagerly hope to watch them.

Aurelio Zen eats a hamburger

Ratking is the first in a series of police procedurals starring detective Aurelio Zen. The author, Michael Dibdin, continued with around a ...

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07.44

The History of Rugelach

Joan Nathan can make food sound irresistible -- and her article "<a href="http://www.tabletmag.com/life-and-religion/57109/tale-of-two-treats/">A Tale of Two Treats </a>" in Tablet Magazine today really did it. She traces the history of two types of baked goods, rugelach and schnecken, in German, German-Jewish, American-Jewish, and American history. She writes: <blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Schnecken are the predecessors to the American sticky bun, the sweet roll, the iconic rest-stop treat Cinnabon, and the delectable pecan roll that I used to eat at <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/passions-pursuits/drakes/">Drake’s</a> in Ann Arbor, when I studied at the University of Michigan. The popular <a href="http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=910">Settlement Cook Book</a> documents the evolution of this pastry: The first edition of the cookbook, issued in 1901, includes a recipe for “Cinnamon Rolls or Schnecken”; the 1920 book contains two versions, the original and one for “Cold Water Schnecken“; but by the 1940s the Settlement Cook Book had edited the name of the treat down to simply “cinnamon rolls,” and still later editions find the same yeast dough appearing as pecan rolls baked in muffin pans.</blockquote>I too remember Drake's sandwich shop, a declining favorite in Ann Arbor for many years until it closed in the early 1990s. Sadly I remember most vividly how for its last years, it was so poorly staffed and maintained that a display of Halloween candy corn sat fading in the window throughout all seasons, until it finally closed. Never mind. I loved Nathan's descriptions of delicious pastry.

The History of Rugelach

Joan Nathan can make food sound irresistible -- and her article " A Tale of Two Treats " in Tablet Magazine today really did it....

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08.27

What Mimi Sheraton's Family Ate

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdqA4uhEUeMmlsYJrCUn5Llnz3oAwJSxLKvInECnpocFNi0xplsK7fZfe-UD2yLs5fcnHlFr-m1Vb2iZRecg9mUicVcH9eszep3rLV_A8pZetYh0hLGRxdIU7VVvy4dYyIcnIeOr54WCB/s1600/sheraton.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566517436628289746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdqA4uhEUeMmlsYJrCUn5Llnz3oAwJSxLKvInECnpocFNi0xplsK7fZfe-UD2yLs5fcnHlFr-m1Vb2iZRecg9mUicVcH9eszep3rLV_A8pZetYh0hLGRxdIU7VVvy4dYyIcnIeOr54WCB/s400/sheraton.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" /></a>Mimi Sheraton grew up in a family that mixed traditional Jewish food with all kinds of American food. Her mother Mrs. Solomon made hot cereal on cold mornings, her own version of chopped liver, hamburger patties with egg and onion in the meat, tomato and herring sandwiches, stuffed chicken neck, sweet-sour salads, and shrimp salad. She made boiled potatoes, challah French toast, Hamantashen, and also Seafood Newburg. Her grandmother was a remarkably skilled baker, but most of her recipes were in her hands and head, and were never recorded. Mimi Sheraton's brief reminiscences -- like her description of the progression of foods her mother gave her when she was sick in bed -- are very enjoyable, though the recipes are the main content of this book. My own mother made many of the same dishes -- both the ones from the Jewish tradition and the ones from the American tradition. Like Mrs. Solomon, she even had envelopes full of dog-eared, food-splattered recipes that she wrote down from friends' phone instructions, newspaper and magazine clippings of recipes, and only one cook book. Despite having similar food up-bringings, though, Mimi Sheraton became a highly respected food writer and New York Times restaurant reviewer. And I didn't. I'm glad I found a nice used copy of From My Mother's Kitchen and added it to my collection. I hope I get around to trying some of the recipes, which reflect a type of home cooking that's often neglected in the spotlights of TV food and celebrity cooking that dominate newer cookbooks. One more thing: Sheraton generally seems to keep her age a deep dark secret. But she gave it away: she was nine years old when she fell in love with Clark Gable in the movie "It happened one night." The movie appeared in 1934. So now I know.

What Mimi Sheraton's Family Ate

Mimi Sheraton grew up in a family that mixed traditional Jewish food with all kinds of American food. Her mother Mrs. Solomon made hot cerea...

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07.29

A Never-Ending Domestic Drama

From four stories by Jhumpa Lahiri's collection Unaccustomed Earth, four Indian mothers express themselves by serving Indian food: <blockquote>"... I would find [my mother] in the kitchen, rolling out dough for luchis, which she normally made only on Sundays for my father and me." ("Hell-Heaven," p. 63) "The dining table had been set since the afternoon. This was my mother's way when she gave parties, though she had never prepared such an elaborate meal in the middle of the week. An hour before you were expected, she turned on the oven. She had heated up a panful of oil and begun to fry thick slices of eggplant to serve with the dal...." ("Once in a Lifetime," p. 231) "A single place had been set for me ... with translucent luchis piled on a plate, and several smaller bowls containing dal and vegetables arrayed in a semicircle..... I was no longer accustomed to Indian food." ("Year's End," p. 259) "When Akash [age 3] was younger she had followed her mother's advice to get him used to the taste of Indian food and made the effort to poach chicken and vegetables with cinnamon and cardamom and clove. Now he ate from boxes." ("Unaccustomed Earth," p. 23)</blockquote>Lahiri has a talent for describing the domestic scenes in Indian immigrant homes in American college towns. In almost every story well-educated and well-paid doctorate-holding fathers, whose careers were established in approximately the 1960s, live with their arranged wives and one or two quickly assimilating children. The children resist their parents' ways, though they rarely make a self-destructive choice. Their pizzas and donuts illustrate their feelings about their silently and servilely cooking mothers who are rarely fulfilled by life in American suburbs. In most of the stories, we learn about both the adolescence and the adult lives of these children, especially about their relationships with lovers -- mainly not Indians. Frequently we learn a bit about their own children, often born when they are far older than their mothers were. Every story varies a little from the others (and one has a seriously different plot), but when I finished this book and compared it to my memories of the author's other books, I feel as if I was stuck in a repeating trap something like the day that would never end in the movie Groundhog Day. Each iteration just a little different, but somehow the whole never quite changes. Lahiri is a talented writer and I hope she finds a way to use her talent for something new next time.

A Never-Ending Domestic Drama

From four stories by Jhumpa Lahiri's collection Unaccustomed Earth , four Indian mothers express themselves by serving Indian food: &quo...

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09.06

Doris Lessing: Mara and Dann

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPenFNTfO1IEQuZfkp14qUEkENur9tcCDAU4SYv_k-oCrV1kXXJ7Q86rEgvNXUExH6yIDYP8MKksSprFh0rLqK85wAVrhiyLpr9h3eZDPlDVLaeHQJeUwsNiQ8_QOD4gc2k22MrKlJY8f4/s1600/lessing.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565191066571160642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPenFNTfO1IEQuZfkp14qUEkENur9tcCDAU4SYv_k-oCrV1kXXJ7Q86rEgvNXUExH6yIDYP8MKksSprFh0rLqK85wAVrhiyLpr9h3eZDPlDVLaeHQJeUwsNiQ8_QOD4gc2k22MrKlJY8f4/s320/lessing.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 228px; height: 320px;" /></a><style>@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> In Mara’s world, nourishment consists of yellow roots, white tasteless lumps, and dry leaves without specific names; sour milk or milk directly from a large beast, flour bought from a trader and mixed with muddy water and cooked on a hot rock. She occasionally stays with people with somewhat better food. Her first taste of meat is a raw frog that emerges from mud after a rare rainstorm. Mara eventually learns to eat slabs of muscle meat cooked on a fire. But few things have a precise name. Mara owns a water can and some clothing that never wear out because the materials came from an earlier more sophisticated civilization. All her possessions fit in a sack that she carries as she treks through a dying landscape where rain has ceased to fall. Dann, Mara’s brother, travels with her most of the way through the book-long journey. He carries a knife and an axe, metal tools that no one seems able to make any more, and defends them against other desperate wanderers. From time to time they are taken into slavery, where at least they receive real meals. Eventually they reach a land where people have copied guns from ancient examples. War and famine follow them everywhere. Everything about their journey is vivid, but tedious. Doris Lessing is such a wonderful story-teller that I’ve been working through difficult books like this forever, it seems. She must tell you everything about a woman and all her challenges, and you must listen. Thinking back, I considered how Doris Lessing provided a foundation for feminists of the seventies. Her early works from the fifties and sixties explored the experience of woman in a groundbreaking way. Her characters (almost exclusively women) had lived through World War II in colonial Africa; early marriage as unequals to their often intellectually inferior husbands; desperate desire for education and challenging jobs when none was available, and second-class status in left-wing politics. They had undergone psychoanalysis at the hands of well-meaning and likable other women but it hadn’t made them what they wanted to be. But slowly Doris Lessing’s women emerged into something that I think she wanted them to be. And feminists loved it. The multi-volume personal history of the fictional character Martha Quest went through all this, and came out in a new world that hadn’t happened yet (though I think it’s now technically in the past). The Four-Gated City, with Martha Quest as a much older woman, was set in a future of Doris Lessing’s devising. The details of that future allowed Lessing to explore aspects of life that weren’t possible in the real world that she had been describing with painful accuracy before. Doris Lessing continued to create new environments and check out how women would handle them. She wasn’t writing science fiction, just doing thought experiments, is what I would say. Some worked better than others. Virtually all Lessing’s created futures are extremely unpleasant. I haven’t read everything she’s written but I’ve read a lot. War, famine, bad faith in political systems, degeneration of family and civil society, and other extremes all beset her societies -- normal demands of life don't set sufficient extremes. When she removes civilization and its protections, women characters like Mara have to deal with men who are stronger than they are, as well as with the danger of pregnancy from any encounter, willing or not. Mara and Dann, published in 1999 extends these thought experiments. Mara is the center. She’s born into an aristocratic family somewhere in Africa just as long years of drought destroy any possibility of their continuing to live. Food and water have disappeared as rivers and waterways have dried up, trees died, and animals starved. As a child of seven, Mara must start fending for herself and caring for her younger brother. Both are scarred by their experiences with hostile strangers, then raised by a woman whose dedication to them is somewhat mysterious. As late adolescents, they begin a long journey north in search of a place where there is comfort, security, food and water. The drought, famine, wars between diverse races and peoples, and the disastrously hostile human and natural environment challenge Mara in ways that Doris Lessing’s characters from the 1950s could never be challenged. For one thing, she is intellectually deprived, as well as starving and nearly dying of thirst. She has no words for cattle and goats (all are called milk beasts) or crocodiles (called water dragons), no ability to count much above her fingers and toes, no words for human sex organs or sex acts, no identification for plants in her landscape, only guesses about what might poison her, no words for the past or its technologies. She gets occasional glimpses of the civilizations that existed 10 or 15,000 years earlier and clearly produced advanced devices, weapons, transportation, and arts. That would have been us. Mara and Dann finally reach a farmstead where a settled life seems possible – but like many of Lessing’s tales, this one ends with ambiguity.

Doris Lessing: Mara and Dann

In Mara’s world, nourishment consists of yellow roots, white tasteless lumps, and dry leaves without specific names; sour milk or milk ...

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17.28

Food city area

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In Real Life

Aurelio Zen eats a hamburger

The History of Rugelach

What Mimi Sheraton's Family Ate

A Never-Ending Domestic Drama

Doris Lessing: Mara and Dann

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