Here we are reviewing – giving brief introductions – to three
cookbooks, one from American history, one on the favorite food of many, the
oyster, and concluding with a visit to the French kitchen. Dig in:
The Colonel’s Wife’s Cookbook
During the Civil War, Alice Kirk Grierson’s husband rose to
the rank of Major General of Volunteers from Illinois. After the war he joined
the regular army as a colonel and Alice followed him West.
Having the good fortune to be from a wealthy family, she
kept her recipe book mostly as a way
to instruct the cook.
This sampling of her recipes has been annotated and in many
cases tested by members of the U.S. Park Service and their friends, so you get
the original followed by a modern update. Most are basic and simple enough, and
half the book seems devoted to desserts. Also included are some entertaining household
hints and home remedies.
An Army Wife’s Cookbook is a very interesting historical
document for those who value our kitchen heritage. Learn how little or how much
some things have changed, or how they coped when there were no eggs to be
found.
Copies of it used and new are available, on Amazon they
started at $1.60 plus shipping.
A number of introductory pages to the book, featuring soups
and breads, may be found at this Google location.
Consider the Oyster
MFK Fisher was an outstanding food writer and in this book
she turns her attention to a delightful subject, the oyster. Where I live, the
season begins Oct. 1, so this an appropriate time for a review.
“Consider the Oyster” is not a big book, it runs to 77
pages. I believe the book first appeared in 1941.
This is MFK Fisher, you get a lengthy, educational and
entertaining discussion that will leave you well prepared to hold forth on the
subject on your own.
She dismisses the fable that oysters can only be eaten in
“R” months and tells us that we would know a potential killer oyster because it
would taste bad.
At some time in history at French banquets, guests might be
served ten or twelve dozen oysters to start the meal. There follows perhaps
more than you ever need to know about oysters in foreign lands.
And we get into pearls, and how a thousand dives might bring
up a single pearl.
She is not happy with chefs who fry oysters in batter,
rendering the mollusc “tasteless yet powerfully indigestible.” Far superior is
a quick roll in crumbs, a quick dip in hot fat, and the result served with
tartar sauce and lemon.
The many health benefits of oysters are also mentioned. The
book may be found for $2.88 plus shipping on Amazon, one of several places I
would look for a copy. I often find free shipping on eBay.
Recipes include dressing, stuffing, gumbo, Rockefeller and
many more. It appears that much of the book may be accessed at this Google site.
Heritage: The French Kitchen
Many of our food favorites descend from French kitchens –
various soups and stews, quiches, beef burgundy, chicken dishes, fancy desserts
and so on.
Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of “In a French Kitchen,” is a
good one to teach us. She is an American who relocated to France and now runs a
cooking school there.
The primary message seems to be that the French chef
operates without fancy gadgets, and prefers to shop for small quantities at
little markets rather than go the supermarket route. The foremost question is,
how would Mamie, or Grandma, have done it? That defines a certain spirit.
The book contains 86 recipes. I was attracted to braised
broccoli. Loomis’ recipe includes onions and does not include bacon but here is a substitute, given because it is difficult to obtain permission to quote from
cookbooks.
You will encounter many tips and techniques. For instance,
“Meat, when properly roasted, should have the same texture when you press on it
as the muscle between thumb and forefinger when the hand is relaxed.”
The book, published fairly recently, seems to cost around
$10 on average in secondhand conditon, plus shipping in many cases. I found one
copy in like new condition on eBay at $5.78, with free shipping. Be careful,
there are other products with the same or similar title…
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