Home Economics: A Cookbook Review

By Abel Busoni
Contributing Writer

There has been a sort of renaissance among a certain group of Americans when it comes to food, evident not only in the growing cast of local establishments serving up food they actually cook from scratch (with varying degrees of success), but also in the droves of people who are learning to cook from scratch at home, the amount of media attention that is given to unhealthy diets, and the overall trendiness of cooking on television. All of which is good news for a largely unhealthy population that often lacks access to healthcare.
But from what darkness has this gastronomic renaissance brought us? From what evil depths has American cuisine risen?

“Fashionable Food, Seven Decades of Food Fads” (1995) by Sylvia Lovegren (sure sounds like a pseudonym to me) takes the edge of a chef’s knife to the history of American cuisine, starting in the 1920s and continuing into the 1990s, cataloging not only the depths from which we are rising, but the struggle against the processed food juggernaut of an industry that began a long time ago, as well as other things along the way, like war-time food in the 40s (meatloaf!).
Maintaining the general form of a cookbook and filling it with both garish recipes and endearingly true gourmet recipes (though often misguided), Ms. Lovegren comically savages our traditions in a way that is both funny and tragic. The efficiency with which she does this is viciously revealing.
So much of the 20th century was driven by that classic American trait: the inane desire to use and incorporate NEW technology into one’s own life. Anything new. Cuisine was no exception, as the home was radically transformed by the appearance of mechanical refrigeration (as opposed to the icebox), numerous home appliances, and the growing cadre of processed foods that the housewife (for we are talking of historical times) was eagerly and ill-advisedly taking into the home. Much marketing was done on television, in corporate cookbooks, and in women’s magazines. Perhaps tellingly, a number of utterly garish “gourmet” recipes are cited from sources ranging from Betty Crocker to popular women’s magazines, frequently with buzzwords like “modern” and “gourmet” pasted everywhere.

Some of the recipes cited, like the “Three P’s Salad” from the twenties (peas, pickles, peanuts, and mayonnaise) or “Barbecued Bologna A La Crisco” from the fifties are so unappealing to the modern palate that you have to wonder what people were thinking and, by extension, what questions people will ask about our own time.

It would be more comfortable if the book were only full of recipes that were unrecognizable and grotesque, but unfortunately (especially beginning in the 1950’s) the book is full of recipes that many Americans are still cooking. The ones that strike me the most are those featuring canned soups. About gourmet canned soups (cream of mushroom, etc.), one particular quote, taken from a book called “The Sixty Minute Chef (1947)” is almost too recognizable for comfort:
“Dear Carol,” wrote Carol’s sister, the novelist Rhoda Truax, “if you are collecting gourmet recipes, here is a delicious one. It is so simple and not at all expensive. You buy 29 cents worth of haddock. Then you open a can of mushroom soup, pour it over, and pop it in the oven.”
The role of the corporate marketing channels is made clear by the sheer volume of citations, recipes or otherwise, made from their mass communications that, surprise, call for you to use their mass-produced food. Focusing on the corporate aspect is the least cynical way to approach the problem of American cuisine, but occasionally she asks for more from the American people themselves.

“Potage Sénégalese, jambon en croûte, carottes à la poulette, gâteau chocolat au rhum? Now that’s gourmet. It was irrevelevant that these dishes were, in order, canned cream of chicken soup with curry powder, canned ham wrapped in frozen pie dough, canned carrots in canned chicken gravy (garnished with canned truffles, to be sure), and devil’s food cake made from a mix with a jar of rum sauce. Appearance was all and reality was the cook’s own little secret.”
Not all the recipes are disgusting; many of them are appealing, and I suspect that with this book, you could make a killer set menu. There have always been people who could really cook, and the book highlights a number of people and books in American history who championed real cooking, even while 99% of America was descending into culinary darkness.

But that’s nothing compared to today, as we see a noticeable shift in the way we’re looking at
cuisine. From where did the strength to change come?

Classically, it was Americans that traveled to Europe and discovered the way people were living there, but today? It’s hard to tell. Maybe it’s a genuine interest and desire to change. However, as Americans are always quick to take up new technologies regardless of their true meaning, I can’t help but notice the tremendous amount of medical technology and knowledge (if knowledge is preventative, it can be called “technique”) scattered about, as well as the popularity of the Food Network and other programs and their corresponding cookware, so maybe it’s the same old thing: Americans adopting new technology and falling into the marketing trap.
Either way, I’ll take it.

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IF YOU BUY:
WHAT: “Fashionable Food, Seven Decades of Food Fads” (1995) by Sylvia Lovegren
WHERE: Amazon, bookstores, etc.
PRICE: $12.31 (new, Amazon)