In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

In high school we had a foreign exchange student from Italy, Laura, attend Wichita Public High School for a year. You are welcome to think that living in Wichita for a year would be a more of a punishment rather than an "equal exchange", but I like to think that probably more than any of us who currently live in major metropolitan U.S. cities, she got a feel for how the majority of Americans live. I remember her telling me that she missed mozzarella-- at home it was fresh and came packed in liquid. I had no idea what she was talking about-- mozzarella, like all cheese, came shrink wrapped in a uniform block and resided in the refrigerated section at Dillons.

When I moved to Boston after graduation, I was suddenly exposed to many more fresh foods: the fresh mozzarella, fresh pasta and sauce, fresh, brown eggs and...the Farmer's Market! (I also missed foods of my own, like pimento cheese spread.)

It's now been more than 10 years and I eat and cook much different than I did growing up. Part of this is expense-- the prepackaged food are more expensive than making a huge pot of red beans and rice. But part of it is also thanks to Michael Pollan. The Omnivore's Dilemma exposed how much high fructose corn syrup is in everything and how Big Farming has environmental as well as health costs. If we're able to be responsible consumers, why shouldn't we?

His new book, In Defense of Food, tells us how to identify the real food (fresh mozz in water) from the fake food (block of white cheese "product" encapsulated in plastic with a list of ingredients longer than this post). Pollan tells us that we've been duped by scientists and nutritionists with every passing food fad (currently Omega-3s) and that sometimes the sum is greater than the parts (supplements just don't provide the same total nutrition that whole grains and plants do). His advice is threefold: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. Sounds easy and logical, but he breaks down how the Western Diet has made it difficult; we eat mostly processed and refined foods, with additives, we eat portion sizes much bigger than most cultures, and take our cues on satiation not on feeling, but on visual clues and finally we are a culture which eats many pounds more of meat per person per year than other cultures.

Mr. Pollan's premise in this book is radical because it is so different than how we eat, and how we grew up eating. It presents a doable challenge and ultimately reminds us that is what is good for the environment is also good for our health, and vice versa. This book gets 5/5 netflix stars.

Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

Readers of my other blog, Zandrea, might recall my anecdote on taking our girlscout troop "camping" last summer and my amazment, along with my other troop leaders, that the girls did not run off into the camp wilderness during freetime. They all stayed close to the lodge and for the most part did crafts that could just as easily been done inside (which, due to rain, at times they were). We attributed it to their being "city kids".

About a month ago, I was watching one of those Sunday morning shows* and a statistic along the lines of our grandparents knew and traveled 5 miles around their house, while our parents knew about a 2 mile radius and today's children are many times limited to their very house, if not their front and back yards. The book this came from is called Last Child In the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. I immediately added it to my library queue. I had wondered if I was just having a "kids today!" moment so thought this book might validate some of my observations.

Mr. Louv discusses various repercussions of "nature-deficit" among this generation of children: higher incidences of ADHD, not being able to identify local species of birds, insects, trees (thereby decreasing the liklihood of preserving them), childhood to adulthood obesity. Mr. Louv sites many reasons for this, and kids watching tv and playing video games is just one small reason. Liability/litigation have made exploring neighborhoods off limits, fear of "stranger-danger" has lead parents to keep kids within eye and earshot, organized sports and school have lead to less free time and schools have cut out recess and physical education if favor of more academic time to pass required tests. But Mr. Louv presents adults and kids working to buck the trend-- progressive school programs which feature nature learning, trips to the Alaskan wilderness for inner city kids. I thought about my experience in nature as a kid-- not a lot in Kansas, but summer vacations were often in Colorado or New Mexico and when we did visit New England, hours were spent at the beach, creating makeshift aquariums. Freshman year of high school I had an assignment to make an insect collection. I balked because what 14 year old girl wants to collect bugs? But I did it and was amazed enough to still recall it 16 years later.
Mr. Louv sometimes comes across as the dorky dad-- he makes us all feel good but also like maybe we shouldn't swear so much and drink more milk and less alcohol. But at the end of it all, he presents a compelling argument to set an example for kids and get back out in nature**. This reads like a college sociology book (although I liked my college sociology class), so it's getting only 4/5 netflix stars.

*note to self: get off your duff and get outside!
**inspired, I'm going to go outside and watch the total lunar eclipse. Or at least watch from the window with a movie on in the background.

Trail of Crumbs

A nice article in the New York Times about Ms. Sunee's new book.

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home

I picked up this book after seeing an ad for it in the New Yorker; a memoir about a young woman's life in France and her love of food...having just finished My Life In France I was still hungry.  Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee delivered on the romantic just as Julia Child's book did.  But it was filled with bittersweet and sometimes downright depressing imagery as well.  The end of most chapters contained at least one recipe corresponding to the remembered time and place just described.
Ms. Sunee was adopted by a New Orleans couple after being abandoned on the streets of South Korea with just a handful of crumbs for three days.  Like other books I've read about an adopted child, Ms. Sunee is never quite happy, and doesn't fit in.  She and her sister are the only Asian children in school and she always feels uncomfortable around her parents.  She does find solace with her grandparents, especially her grandfather, from whom she learns the secrets of Louisiana cooking.  As soon as she's old enough to leave home, she does.  She spends a semester abroad in France as her first travel alone.  She wants to become a poet, a writer and learns French.  She is soon able to translate for work.
At a young age she meets men more advanced in years and experience, but being seemingly fearless, Ms. Sunee follows them, looking for her own history.  At 23 she falls in love with a wealthy, nearing 40 year old French businessman with an adolescent daughter.  Ms. Sunee is soon "adopted" into this family with various roles: lover, step mother, social hostess, home keeper and cook.  She only feels truly comfortable cooking and provides the reader for recipes such as spring pea salads and La Daube Provencale, wild peaches poached in Lillet Blanc and Figs roasted in Red Wine.  Some of her recipes are memories of a past both real (Monday red beans and rice, Crawfish bisque) and imagined (quick fix kimchi).
As the years pass she feels more and more unsettled, especially as her partner Olivier establishes a life for her more and more.  She ultimately has to make decisions that women twice her age have a hard time making, and her naivete and inexperience push through her strong facade.  While I respected her for her bravery, I was conscious of her seeming lack of appreciation for a life she had, whether she truly wanted it or not (probably an inherent trait in a young 20 something).
I liked this book, but I was hopeful for more sophisticated self reflection, a la Eat, Pray, Love.  Still, it was an enjoyable read, one that took the gloom out of a bleak Boston Sunday.  4/5 netflix stars.

My Life in France

Continuing on with the French theme...My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme  was my pick for book club.  I was first re-introduced to Julia Child through the popular blog the Julie/Julia Project, where a "serventless American cook" attempts to recreate all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I then read Julie Powell's book based on the blog (so meta!) and netflixed some of Julia's old "French Chef" shows.  I was smitten! 

Julia Child is admirable in so many ways.  When I worry that I am getting older and have nothing to show for it and relatively little direction, I remember Julia.  She married in her mid-30s and only started cooking when her marriage took them to France.  In an era when women were not encouraged to work and were encouraged to raise a family, Julia broke the mold.  Julia threw her passion into learning, cooking, teaching, traveling and living life to its fullest.  I didn't intentionally pick a love story for February's book club, but it became evident that Julia loved Paul more than anything.  They had overlapping interests and supported each other in everything.  Julia did have conflicts-- as with anyone who collaborates with a friend, disagreements ensued.  But despite her frustrations, the friendship remained of prime importance.  And she flaunted her political beliefs, causing a familial rift with her father, but she stuck to her guns and beliefs.
I think my admiration and lovefest for Julia and this book is pretty clear.  I was even inspired to make French Bread!  This book gets an easy 5/5 netflix stars.

Swann's Way and Chocolate and Zucchini

Over four years ago I bought an old hardback of Proust's Swann's Way , the first volume of his Remembrance of Things Past. I thought it would be one of those epics like War and Peace or Ulysses that I could be proud to say I'd read. I'd read it curled on the sofa on a winter afternoon, with tea and cookies by my side. However I let it langour and collect dust on my shelf and finally made a New Year's Resolution to read it. Since that resolution was in 2004, I did my best to get it read before the New Year 2008. Most of the reading was in the SeaTac Airport, and subsequent flight from Seattle to Boston. I conspicuously made my pretentious reading known to my row mates, especially when the pilot kept updating us with the score to the Pats game (only in Boston, only in Boston...).

Besides being known for his lengthy descriptions, Proust is probably best known for his love of madeleines, the small French cookie. Fortunately I didn't have to delve in and wait until volume 3 or something-- the description took place before page 60 in the 600 page book! And because no one wants to read me describing his descriptions, I will instead describe my own attempt to make a delightful madeleine.
The recipe I used (after special ordering a madeleine pan from Amazon.com) was from Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook, based on her delightful blog. I like to think of Ms. Dusoulier as Proust's culinary heir to Paris; her recipes are classic yet updated and all have a story to tell, as she has her own cast of characters, much like narrator Marcel, and his friends and neighbors, in Swann's Way. The recipe I used was for savory Wanut, Pear and Rocquefort Madeleines. It was quick and easy, but since I chowed down on an appetizer of cheese and crackers, followed by an entree of baked mac n cheese, I wasn't so hungry when they came out of the oven. But the cats were! I had one and confirmed that once I am not so stuffed (in a few hours hence), they will taste wonderful.

In all earnestness, Swann's Way really was enjoyable and easy to read. I was surprised by Proust's humor: M. Swann suffers the same paranoia and lovesickness that anyone in a relationship endures. He humiliates himself by spying on his beloved and causing himself to fall out of favor with his preferred society. His characters have their personalities and ticks and his descriptions of places and events are evocative. I found myself laughing at the different characters' predicaments (which no doubt would be trivial had any of them had work or real jobs which to attend). Although Swann's Way is not plot driven and can take some time to read, it is worth it. I'm already looking forward to reading the remaining six volumes! I give both Swann's Way and Chocolate and Zucchini 5 Netflix Stars.

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN- by lisa see

Yet again I am the second to review this book- though I finished it well over a month ago. I also read another book before this that I'm blanking on, so that review will come once I remember the book. As for Snow Flower, I really lucked out since Andrea already gave the summary. I'll just write my opinion.
Like she mentioned, this book reminded me of The Good Earth- a previous pick for bookclub- and not just because they both took place in China. What I found interesting was the different feel I got for the era in which they took place. Like Andrea mentioned, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan took place approximately 100 years before The Good Earth, and yet I found it more relatable and current than The Good Earth. This could be due to the writing style (The Good Earth was written in 1931 and Snow Flower in 2005) or the fact that the main characters in Snow Flower were female, and therefore more familiar to me. In any case, I found that if certain era-identifying elements were removed from the book, I would have believed it took place in current time.
While I truly liked Snow Flower's character throughout the book, Lily's frustrated me at parts. Her selfishness and quick judgement had devastating effects, and yet her character was the one who remained highly regarded. Her uncle and aunt were my favorites- their place in the family was not strong, and yet they always made the best of what they had.
Overall a great read. It drew me and and held my attention quite well. Probably one of the quickest reads I've read in a while!
Netflix rating? 4/5 stars.