Weekend Cooking–Great Depression Cooking with Clara

So I have been seeing Tweets over the past week or so from Kate Kerrigan (@katekerrigan), author of Ellis Island and the just released City of Hope, about cooking in the Great Depression.  See Tweets below:

Kerrigan’s new book is set in the 1930’s and Depression cooking must be an aspect she explores in the book (haven’t read it yet but will be in a week or so).  These Tweets made me curious and I clicked on the links to check out where this cooking was coming from.  And that is when I discovered Great Depression Cooking with Clara!

This is a series of Youtube videos featuring Clara making some of her favorite recipes her mother used to make them during the Depression.  Her grandson put the videos together as a way to remember the cooking because Clara is in her 90’s.  She also gives a little bit of personal history about what was going on during that time or memories the recipe evokes.  Not only was it interesting to see what they ate during the Depression (which was actually heartier than what I had originally been led to believe) but it actually provides us with cheap and relatively nutritious meals that could be served today when money is tight.  The below video is about pizza, but you can watch the whole Season 1 and Season 2 playlists.

With the success of the videos a cookbook was born called Clara’s Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression.   Like her videos, her recipes tell a story as well as tell you how to cook it.  You can read an excerpt on the Amazon page.  I don’t own this book yet, but I just might pick it up!

I think I will be trying out Clara’s Egg Drop Soup this week and if I do, it will hopefully be up in next weekend’s edition of Weekend Cooking.

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Any post remotely related to cooking can participate.

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

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Book Review: Salt by Mark Kurlansky

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
Unabridged, 13 hr. 43 min.
Phoenix Audio
Scott Brick (Narrator)
February 20, 2003
★★★☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Food History

Source: Borrowed audiobook from my local library

From the Bestselling Author of Cod and The Basque History of the World

In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.  Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt by Mark Kurlansky is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

Since reading A History of the World in Six Glasses I have been intrigued by the premise of food history, having never known that such a thing existed prior. I had heard of Kurlansky’s works when reading A Short History of the World and knew I had to read this one; however I was hoping to start with Cod, but my library wasn’t cooperating with me. So, I started with Salt.

Salt follows how this precious commodity changed or affected the course of history. I found this interesting because I had never really thought about how a seemingly simple spice could affect history. I actually found myself able to apply some of the logic imparted in this book within my Roman Empire class this semester because the author had spent a decent amount of time on the Roman use of a salt fish sauce known as garum and knowledge about salt even made its way into my paper on Roman roads! There were chapters on the evolution of salt mining, preserving, and how salt affected the American Civil War.

While I really appreciated the information provided in this book, I didn’t really love the format. It sort of follows the historical timeline, but it was a little bit all over the place. I think that this issue was only exacerbated by the audio production.

Overall, if you are interested in food history, this is probably a book you should read. If you are not that interested in food history, you might decide to skip this one as the road is a little long and, at times, tedious.

★★★☆☆

While I think this book was a little difficult to listen to and would have been better enjoyed in print, the narration was just middling. Nothing special to remember it by or really comment on.

Author Mark Kurlansky also has written several other food history books: Cod, The Big Oyster, Choice Cuts, The Food of a Younger Land, and Birdseye. You can visit Kurlansky’s website or blog for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Not Always On
• Wood Family Farm

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

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Book Review: The History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

The History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
Paperback, 311 pages
Walker Publishing Company
May 16, 2006
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Food & Beverage

Source: Purchased for my Seminar on World History Masters class

“As the tides of history have ebbed and flowed, different drinks have come to prominence in different times, places and cultures, from stone-age villages to Ancient Greek dining rooms or Enlightenment coffeehouses. Each one became popular when it met a particular need or aligned with a historical trend: in some cases, it then went on to influence the course of history in unexpected ways. Just as archaeologists divide history into different periods based on the use of different materials — the stone age, the bronze age, the iron age, and so on — it is also possible divide world history into periods dominated by different drinks. Six drinks in particular — beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola — chart the flow of world history. Three contain alcohol and three contain caffeine, but what they all have in common is that each drink was the defining drink during a pivotal historical period, from antiquity to the present day.”

This was a very interesting approach to looking at world history. Being a person that loves cooking and food – I somehow had not thought about food history or how beverages affected world choices. I was also excited to read this book for my Seminar in World History class because, to be honest, the 3 other texts were relative dry and boring compared to this one.

This book traces how 6 drinks have influenced world history – beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Each drink has two chapters dedicated to it – the first typically showing the evolution of the drink itself and the second spends time exploring the historical effects of the drink. When looking at the effects of the drinks the author typically explores medical, commercial/consumer, governmental, and religious implications. Some of the drinks have significant world implications – tea was significant in the forward movement of the American Revolution; cola was significant in the globalization economy; coffee was important at providing locations for the Enlightenment to grow from. I’m glad that the epilogue took a look at the impact of water – since water is the most important beverage in the world.

This book would certainly be a great companion work to go along with a standard world history text. It not only supports the standard history, but it gives a new perspective which makes a more well-rounded historical reading experience. A lot of history texts do not necessarily look at the daily human experience aspect of history, but rather focus on the big picture. While this does look at big picture, it also gets you a little closer to the human experience.

There were really only one or two complaints that I have with this book. The most significant is that it focuses primarily on the experience in Europe and the Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian cultures. There was brief mention of the Chinese with regard to tea, but I think that it would have better benefitted from some discussion of Africa (beyond Egypt) and Latin/South America. Alcohol was used significantly in ceremonies in Latin American cultures and it would have been interesting to explore the influence there. There was certainly relevance in other parts of the world – especially regarding alcohol and (I would imagine) coffee. The other smaller issue that I had with this book is that some of the conclusions that the author draws seems to be a little stretching it – however, possibly plausible. I would have liked to have a little more discussion regarding some of these conclusions before I would believe them.

Author Tom Standage also has similarly written An Edible History of Humanity as well as other books such as The Victorian Internet, The Turk, and The Neptune File. You can visit Standage’s blog for additional information about the books. If you would like to preview the book before reading it, why not try out this preview from Google books?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Literary Snob
• Karenthrelfall

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

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