In cookery we trust

M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture: Themed Issue – Cookbook, 16 (3): online. ISSN: 1441-2616, 2013

Cookbooks and fictional works are reflections of each other in terms of creativity, function and structure as both forms of writing serve the purposes of: telling us stories; providing us with an education; and they both have neat structures of beginning, middle and end. In some instances the two forms are so closely entwined that a single volume will concurrently share a narrative while providing instruction in the culinary arts. This article examines some popular examples of contemporary fiction unpacking how cooking in the books is becoming so popular that the line which traditionally separated cookbooks from other types of books is becoming increasingly distorted. This article argues food has always been acknowledged as essential for daily life, while books have long been acknowledged as food for thought and food for the soul. Thus, these creative endeavours – the cookbook, the fiction book, as well as the cookbook and fiction book combined – serve to offer us physical, intellectual, and emotional nourishment.

Text - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse

Abstract: Our cookery book is both a culinary and historical source. The ingredients chosen for the recipes provide an insight into food economy and wastage, diet and nutrition, and food preferences in Australia in the early twentieth century. Its popularity – it was reprinted at least 24 times from 1916 to the 1950s – attests to its uptake by at least two generations of women. In the preamble, the author discusses the five components of food ‘necessary to build up the body’. This is the first time that components of nutrition such as protein, fats and carbohydrates are discussed in a cookbook. In the introduction the author, Miss Flora Pell, also draws links between nutrition and nation building. She writes about the important role of women as cooks in building up a nation of strong, fit and healthy citizens who will go on to contribute to community life and national prosperity. Our cookery book is a fine example of domestic feminism, iced with patriotism, which was first published...

2016

Contexts, 2014

I examine cookbooks and articles about cooking written by second-wave feminists. I explain how these activists brought their political ideas to the kitchen and suggested cooking in ways that could work toward greater gender equality.

Drawing from Geertz’s assertion on how cultural forms need to be treated as texts, the essence of the paper lies in establishing firstly food as an endowment of culture and secondly how it can be treated as text, text that goes beyond the pages of cookbooks and even beyond the verbal narrations of recipes. The cultural and symbolic traditions vividly displaying itself in the day to day practices involving food . With the help of food memoirs, the paper illustrates the cultural fabric embedded in the narrative styles of writers of food.

History Compass, 2006

Even after immigrant women had changed to American dress and began sending their children to public school, the last aspect of life to change was their foodways. One of the ways by which women could stay within their sphere and still find a public voice was through the compilation of a community cookbook that were compiled for the benefit of their churches and a myriad of community organizations. But they were far more than just collections of recipes. A careful examination of charity cookbooks shows how women defined their roles, disseminated hierarchy within their own groups, advised others, dispensed moral teachings to a broader audience, and preserved the best parts of their own heritage for future generations. And in the process, women who probably never would have been published or remembered beyond their family ties have produced artifacts worthy of continued inquiry. Last year my mother needed to move into a nursing home and we spent an emotional weekend distributing her worldly goods to family and friends. Among her most treasured possessions that now holds a place of honor in my home was her mother's cookbook from Salem Church in Toledo, Ohio. It was stuffed with recipes that my mother, and earlier my grandmother, had cut from magazines and newspapers as well as many handwritten recipes and notations. "We served these sandwiches at Jill's bridal shower. This newspaper clipping is the soup they served at the White House on V-J Day. These were the cookies Grandma made in Germany." Suddenly, the cookbook was more than a jumble of recipes, it was a living and breathing testament to how my immigrant family was bound together with a larger community. This cookbook contained a narrative structure and a wealth of cultural and historical material in a source not usually associated with historical inquiry. Like most women, my grandmother never fought for public issues, but she was an excellent homemaker. I knew my heritage was German, but I always thought of myself as American. Could charity cookbooks be used to demonstrate how women negotiated the terrain between the private and public spheres while defining what they meant as "American"?

2018

Whatever is said,is said by humans, people, citizens, parents, children, morons. So is there a reason to quote anyone for additional credibility? Totally pointless, it is only for the academic purposes, to fit to the settee frame, to be included in the community. First, you play as a member according to the rules that were settled before you appeared, then you are either their best obedient member, or break with them in order to get the power and install your own system. Gladly, the author was born without a penis and we are at the kitchen here. We are cooking. Not only to feed ourselves and follow the instincts, but also to unite, to realize ourselves, to get the power and control. Familiar scenarios? They were not invented, they evolved and developed within us. Every generation contributed to this development along with competition for the survival. Taking onto account the biological nature of a human being this thesis suggests to view human behavior as an interaction with constructs and concepts through the prism of food. By the metaphor of consumption and digestion. Food is present in our lives on many levels and it is not only a survival matter, but also a form of communication, domination, manipulation and control. In our kitchen we will discuss how the concepts arise, chat about conventional order and social constructs. The goal of our research is to show the artificial nature of society and this is the reason we will question the common notions and speculate about alternatives. We will mention values and belief systems that are the core of human actions. Obviously, there are no ready-made solutions, so do not have any hope for a fast food meal! Join the discovery and you are welcome to serve yourself!

ReCollections, 2010

Introduction > Flora Pell's teaching career > Nutrition and Our Cookery Book > Patriotism and Our Cookery Book > Domestic arts colleges and the education of girls > The turbulent history of Our Cookery Book > Curatorial challenges in interpreting and exhibiting Our Cookery Book > Conclusion > Endnotes 1-30 > Endnotes 31-65

American Studies, 2015