Sink your teeth into a good book

[Demimonde]

So as I was rambling earlier, I am about to start a lit class on Women and Food. Considering the number of foodie bibliophiles on the forum, I thought it might be fun to share the book list with you guys and discuss some of the topics.

The list for the class is as follows:


Julie & Julia by Julie Powell


My Life In France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme


Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart



I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou ('cuz you know you can't have a women's lit course without her...)


Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America by Linda Furiya

It is a pretty great list, I am hopeful. I am planning to talk to my prof and see if I can bring in some other food related women's lit, for the class. M. F. K. Fisher is a must! I was also a little surprised not to see Laura Esquirel, but I suppose the prof wanted to avoid having two books that were made into movies for the students to crib. So feel free to throw in any other books you know of that may fit the bill, and we can eat those up too.

In the hopes of breaking the book clubbing curse, I'm starting the thread here. No pressure to read them all, (well except for me!) just pick up the ones you might like and we can talk about them. Hopefully, having talking points from my class with get us moving as well.

I get my syllabus Monday, which will give me a time line for the class. I'll toss that up when I get it, but you guys can pick what you like and read 'em when you like.

[livius drusus]

I think I'll start with the Julias then skip to the end for the Bento. I can't think of any books to add other than Like Water For Chocolate, of course, which you've already mentioned.

You should definitely propose movie nights. Eat, Drink, Man, Woman would be at the top of my list.

[Demimonde]

Ooo! I like that idea. I am always looking for films that can go in tandem with what I'm reading. Hence, my recent word wall review of Kingdom of Heaven. Julie and Julia would be a must. I actually haven't seen the film version of Like Water for Chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, what about Chocolat? I could always give that another look. Mmm... Johnny Depp.

What would be a good Movie night? Maybe Wednesdays? Midweek, fewer social obligations?

I'm excited!

[Megatron]

Originally Posted by Demimonde

I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou ('cuz you know you can't have a women's lit course without her...)

I didn't realize this book was about food, unless they've rewritten it where the caged bird is now a turkey or something.

[biochemgirl]

I'm excited to read something not baby related. I don't know when I'm going to the library next but I'm assuming Julie & Julia will be all checked out so I might start from the bottom.

[biochemgirl]

Speaking of women and food and lit, has anyone read the books by Ruth Reichl? I picked up Tender at the Bone at the library and ended up loving it so much I read Comfort Me with Apples and Garlic and Saphires as well. I just love the way she describes food.

[Demimonde]

Originally Posted by Megatron

I didn't realize this book was about food, unless they've rewritten it where the caged bird is now a turkey or something.

I haven't read it yet. I suppose that they may cook or eat something in the book. The real reason IMO is that they passed a law a while back that if there is a class on Women's Lit, Maya must be there.

BCG! Those are interesting books. I hadn't heard of her, but I am going to have to pick them up. Once, that is I get money after buying my school books. It was a real bonanza for the bookseller when I walked in. 15 hours this semester and 12 are English.

[Qingdai]

"My Year of Meats" by Ruth Ozeki, it's about the food industry, but a good read.

[Demimonde]

Okay, sorry it took me a while to get back to the thread. I've been having to register and reregister and deal with a lot of administrative bs, (while still looking for a car.) Good news though! I will be able to graduate a semester earlier than I anticipated! :yippie:

Back to the meat of the thread though. The schedule that my prof came up with is theory heavy in the front. Another text on autobiography was part of the list that I didn't bother y'all with. We are getting that out of the way first, then on to Maya. I don't think anyone expressed interest in that one, so I'll spare you that, unless anyone objects. After that the sched is as follows:

Bento Box by 9/21
My Life in France by 9/30
Julie and Julia by 10/16
Barefoot Heart by 10/28

These are my due dates, to do what you will with. I will have read them by then, and I will provide discussion points as the prof does.

The suplementals that we are reading right now are really interesting. We read the first chapter of The Recipe Reader: Narratives, Contexts, Traditions By Janet Floyd, Laurel Forster (which is on GoogleBooks! Free! Thank God!) and the class discussed it Wednesday. Some of what we discussed:

Do recipes in the cultural context act as a contraint for women, regulating and perscribing social mores and convention, or to they act as a means of personal expression, allowing women to invent and control in their sphere of influance?

I think that overtime recipes can stand as a litmus test for women's roles. Looking back at my older recipe books I can see the expectation that were placed on women. The long and laborious recipes, instructions on how to present the food, emphasis on making it from scratch ect. Whereas today we have a totally different roles for women, and different expectations. Women are working, they have other duties outside the home, and as a result we have many books on 30 min meals and semi home made. I don't think that this is to regulate at all, I think that the recipes reflect the roles of women but do not serve as a contraint at all.

I do think that the "expressive potential" is great. I think all of us tweak recipes and riff on the ingredients to customize them to our palettes and pantries. I know I have secret ingredients that I am proud of, and special recipes that I have made my own. It is a form of art and expression.

How does the debate over "authenticity" and "orginality" in recipes relate to women?

I think that the authenticity proponents do try to regulate women's expression in a way, while the originality arguments encourage creativity. That being said, I have my horror of some recipes that just seem wrong to me. (ie "Beans in my chili? GTFO!") I am wondering if this is an extension of my own feelings about my food, my recipe is better than others, or is there a kind of glass ceiling in terms of food? I can create, but I want to keep others down? (I will have to think further about this.)

Are recipe variations/sharing a form of plagiarism?

This is a biggie. I think that recipe sharing is not at all a form of plagiarism. It is a cultural discussion that goes on. And as the recipes move they change, and evolve based on the locale and the people eating the food. This is why we have so many variations in food. I think of it like song. Two people can sing a song in very different ways, even though the mechanics are the same.

Do recipes create a "imaginary communities?"

This is the topic I wanted to talk to you all about the most. In some ways the cookbook has served as a replacement for the matriachal teaching in the kitchen of yester-year. Shared recipes, and books, do create different ways in which we look at food, and their are camps that evolve. The Martha folks in one camp, the Rachel Ray folks in another, is one way to look at it. The Whole foods people vs. the Semi-home made contingient.

You guys are a real community to me, and I participate in a lot of online recipe swaping boards where we share tips and tricks. Is this textual recipe sharing an evolution in the nature of recipes? What do you see happening in the future as women have this meta-recipe dialouge going on rather than a simple book? Is the imaginary community, as Forster and Flyod describes it, becoming a real one?

Okay that is all the food for though I have right now. Excuse the typos, I am in a rush for my next class, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

[Demimonde]

Today we discussed an article about metaphor in M.F.K. Fisher's works. The discussion was based on an article by Julie Campbell. Sadly, I cannot link it since it is a library reserve. For me though, in discussing the particulars of the article, there was a lot I couldn't talk about as it would have been off topic. So if there are any other Fisher lovers out there, listen up.

I had a really strange introduction to Fisher. I found The Art of Eating collection while shopping for a Father's Day present for my Dad. No, I didn't get lost while looking for golf books. I am a real anachronism in the class, and in most places, as my father was the kitchen mentor for me growing up. So finding Fisher when I was twelve, and glancing through the titles of the chapters, I felt this immense connection with my dad's sense of humor. So I bought it for him.

My dad loved that book. I remember him laughing over it and one time I found him crying over it. Like Fisher, he lost the love of his life. He and my mother loved food and cooking, and traveled together before she became ill. His life paralleled Fisher's in many ways.

It wasn't until a few years ago, that I was able to finally pick up that book and read it. I had saved it, and kept it on the shelf for years after he died. It was really hard to glimpse inside and see notes he had made, and the dog eared pages that were made with his hands.

One of the central themes of Fisher's work, in my view, was her sense of being confident in one's personal taste as well as the ability to keep oneself company. I remember her writing about the ability to eat alone as a form of high art. With food we so often think of it in communal terms. But for many in our society at least one meal is eaten with only oneself for company, and for many more it is a way of life.

I think that is one of the hardest things for a woman to do especially. Fisher wrote about how being confident enough to share only onself for company was the highest level of self sufficency. I think that can really serve as a metaphor for living life. And it is just as difficult for a man as it is for a woman. But the payout in personal pride is huge.