Books, Books, And More....

Happy Ides of March!  Beware, beware…

Pop Question/Quiz:  Who wrote “The Three Musketeers”?   Correct.  Next question: Who created “From Absinthe to Zest”?  Get that one?  Answer: it’s the same person!  Alexandre Dumas.  Apparently Alex was quite the gastronome (at least in his own mind) and he wrote “Le Grande Dictionnaire de Cuisine” which was published posthumously in 1873, three years following his death.  He wrote the dictionary “to be read by the sophisticated and practitioners of the art”.  The good folks at Penguin books extracted this portion and published "From Absinthe…"  It’s one of those books that you lose and then find and start reading.  This little 100 pager was a Christmas gift from a cherished friend, and I picked it up a bit ago.

 Anyway I have really enjoyed reading it.  It does in fact have entries for each letter of the alphabet (except x) sometimes more than one.  It contains recipes, backgrounds, anecdotes and so forth for a variety of foodstuffs.  He is well, quite conceited, and doesn’t mind tooting his own horn about his cooking prowess and knowledge of food, and is extremely jingoistic about French Cuisine.  “France, as I have already said, is the only country that knows how to make a pot au feu”.   In the section on Homard he relates a story about a meal he decided to prepare for his friends.  “his (friends) cook, even though he claimed her to be a cordon bleu was unanimously demoted and I was elected to in her place.  She was free to keep the title of vice-cook, but only on the condition that she would not oppose the chief cook (Alex) in any way”.  He goes on to relate his preparation of the dinner, which consisted of (a linguistic mix) :  Tomato and Shrimp Bisque; Lobster á l’amáricaine; Plaice with sauce normande; Mackerel a la maître d’hôtel; Poulet a la Ficelle; Pulpe Frite (fried octopus); Tomates a la Provençale; Scrambled Eggs with Kidney Gravy; Points de Asperges; Coeurs de laitue a l’espagnole; and finally Dessert de Fruits.  Wines were listed as: Corton; Pommard; Ch. Latour, and Ch. d’Yquem..  Preparation of each dish is described in detail, all starting from scratch and each one has several steps.  He prefaces the preparation of the lobster with this admonition: “We beseech our readers, and above all the ladies, to pay great attention as the dish is very complicated”.  It is left to the reader to speculate on his meaning.  The words conceit and arrogance might come to mind. Then he goes into the five step process which he closes out with the following: “As this dish is somewhat complicated, it should not be attempted by novices; one must be a real cook, equipped with a certain skill, in order to attack it.”  Finally he admits at the end of an hour and a half, the meal was on the table.  Hmmm…. pretty darn fast there, Alex..

Despite all this, it is a very pleasurable book to read, and I recommend it highly to anybody with an interest in reading about classic late 19^th century French cuisine.  There is quite a bit of interesting facts and notes.

Another book I have enjoyed is called “Love in a Dish” a collection of essays and articles (most from the now defunct Gourmet magazine) by M.F.K. Fisher (1998 – 2002).  Any foodie worth salt will know she was a legendary food writer.  I very much enjoy her style, full of sensuous descriptions of life and food.  I especially enjoyed the article called “I was really very hungry” in which she recounts a lunch she had in France which turned into a almost spiritual experience.  Another entitled “Love letter to an empty shell” which is all about oysters.  She expresses an exuberance to food that will inspire you.  There are lots of sources for her work, so pick one up and read it (and then don’t read the bottom feeder for a while!).

And just to show you I am not a one trick pony, I read about things other than food.  I have been reading a lot lately about Irish History (unbelievably confusing), and 17^th century English and  (what turned into) American history, sort of around the time of Historic St. Mary’s City’s rise and fall.  I’ve pretty much read all the local books, and am now branching earlier and later.  Anyway at the book sale yesterday as I was sorting I came across a book called “The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastry” and picked it up.  It is 350 pages of small print, so I am not sure I will get through it.  But what really bothers me about this book is a shared trait of a lot of academic books.  I’ve noticed this before in “scholarly” books authored by professors and university people.   In this case, okay, I would like to know about the Rise and Fall.  So we open the cover and begin. The first section is called “Introduction to the Paperback Edition” in which the author “updates” some information from the original hardback edition.  It goes on for thirteen pages of small print with small margins during which he rambles about the Falkland Island war and other sort of side line subjects.  Okay, whew, I slogged through that.  Let’s get on with the Rise!.  Nope, we now get to the Preface of five more pages.  Then we get the Introduction!!  Nine more pages!!  So after about thirty pages you finally get to the subject.  I’m worn out.  I guess it’s common practice, but get on with it!

And lastly since we’re going on about books, MFO would club me if i didn't include a reminder that tomorrow (Friday, 16 March) is the first day of the annual Friends of the (St. Mary’s County) Library book sale.  I remind you every year and hope you are able to come and avail yourself of the opportunity to get some very good books at incredibly low prices, and support our local libraries at the same time.  There are thousands of books on all subjects and they pretty much fill up three buildings at our fairgrounds, one each for Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Children’s literature.  Tomorrow is “members only” day, open to current and new members of the Friends (you can join on the spot for $15).  It opens at one and stays open until 8pm.  Saturday (open to all) hours are 10 to 5, and Sunday is noon to three.  All left over books get recycled and given to charities, so they start from scratch each year.  It is fun to come and browse.  You never know what you might find tucked away someplace.  All the books are grouped into fairly narrow categories so you can pursue your interest fairly easily.  Cook books?  You betcha..

I will most likely be in the Non Fiction building taking money.  Stop by and say hello!  And buy some books!  (2 bucks hardcover; 1 for “trade” paperback; and 50 cent “regular” paperbacks).  There are also some videos, books on tape, and usually some of those old things called records..

Pretty fun event. And you can be

DF whatever you want to!!