A Columnist’s Response to “Culinary Illiteracy”
A few days ago, I blogged about Candy Sagon’s article about how “culinary illiteracy” has taken over American kitchens. Tim Rowland of the Herald-Mail responds to this article and lightheartedly defends the homecook.
Says Roland:
It is only natural, I suppose, that they would want to blame us, the home cooks, for a problem that is clearly one of their own creation. I can’t tell you how many cookbooks I’ve burned because the recipe instructs you to “cook until done.” And a turkey will thaw in the refrigerator? Oh sure, that works. What temperature is Butterball’s fridge set at, 80 degrees? Then there’s my colleague Marlo, who reports a recipe in an older cookbook for roasted chicken that ended with the instruction to “make gravy.”
And what does “fricassee” mean, anyway? It sounds so made-up, like “broasted” chicken, or “Condoleezza” Rice.
Now, I don’t know if there is actually a dish named after Condi Rice, or whether it’s the other way around. But the point I get from Roland’s piece is that not knowing the proper culinary terms doesn’t matter in the real world of the home cook. I’ve met a number of good cooks who don’t go by the book. If I’m familiar with the terms, good for me. But not knowing what foie gras is doesn’t make one a lesser cook. And I admit I don’t know what “fricassee” means.
Does this mean I’m about to toss the cookbooks that are filled with these “made-up” words? No. It just means that, while it’s part of the fun to know what they mean, it’s also OK not to know. As Roland ends his article, “we sure ain’t starving”.
Tags: cookbooks, Cooking, homemakingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cooking, General Housekeeping and Homemaking
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