SC - SC-Mason Dixon line OT OOP

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> I particularly
> wonder what the second one is using as it's evidence, since we have
> talked before about peasant cooking often not being written down.
> 
<snip>
> The Old World Kitchen
> by Elisabeth Luard
> 
> The rich tradition of peasant cooking is back. We were thrilled to find
> this back in print. One of our most requested books, is now available,
> thanks to the people at the Common Reader Catalog. This book was selected
> in a recent New York Times article by Mark Bittman as one of his all time
> favorites.
> R139            $17.46

Ha hah. Hah HAH ha ha.

Bittman isn't far off, in my view. I love this book, too, although I
don't generally think of it in connection with period cookery. It's not
something I'd buy for that, but it _is_ brilliant. What it is is a
collection of recipes acquired by the author after living in cities all
her life, then marrying a diplomat and being installed as a "housewife"
on a farm in, as I recall, the Basque region. It seems her concerned
neighbors held what is now called "an intervention" because she had
evidently not had the ritual hog slaughtering on the proper date. They
gently talked to her a bit about her background, and, determining that
she knew nothing of any practical value, the poor dear, determined to
teach her to be a proper farm manager. (You know, what Phlip does to me
about every other day!) This includes, naturally enough, the making of
sausages, black puddings, hams, and a variety of other staples.

I gather that subsequently Luard lived on other farms and had similar
experiences as she butted heads with tradition and lost...the book is
essentially What She Learned As A Farmwife 101. There is some material
she researched in books, but she gives fairly good attributions in those
cases, such as quoting from Meg Dodd in a discussion on haggis.

Highly recommended for those, like myself, with a gestalt approach to
cookery... ;  ) Not a bad price, either: I seem to recall paying more.
  
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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