My most literary friend, a novelist who puts his advances into tangibles, once asked me, after yet another inflated check for yet another mediocre meal in still another trendy restaurant: \u201cDon\u2019t you ever eat in a dive?\u201d I recall getting rather huffy but then conceding, \u201cNo, not in the alleged First World.\u201d Let\u2019s be serious. I was toilet-trained in an outhouse; I was weaned on beans and cornbread off a wood-burning stove — I need a certain level of comfort with my food anymore. But clearly I\u2019m much less choosy with books, since I thoroughly enjoyed one most creme brulee eaters would write off as so much Colombo frozen yogurt. <\/p>\n
\u201cWorld on a Plate\u201d is a classic case of a writer\u2019s reach exceeding his grasp, but anyone with more than a passing interest in how Progresso soup wound up next to Campbell\u2019s and how Goya landed off in a section far from El Paso\u2019s refries should find it gripping. Joel Denker, who teaches history and dabbles in food, promises \u201ca tour through the history of America\u2019s ethnic cuisines\u201d and delivers a supermarket genealogy, and that actually goes down much easier.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all history with a logo, but there\u2019s nothing wrong with that in a book written with such personal passion (unlike so many Food Network cookbooks, say). Denker boils Italian down to Progresso, in a Coppolaesque tale that begins in New Orleans (who knew the name originated with Progress Bakery, where the muffuletta originated?) Turkish is reduced to Colombo, started by Armenian immigrants who hooked America on yogurt. Unfortunately, the book pedros out as it tries to sum up Indian and Chinese and Greek with broader strokes, with no convenient story line. But always there are surprises. The last product I would associate with Jewish cuisine is Sara Lee cheesecake.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m enough of a word freak to be happy to keep this book sitting alongside more serious histories, like Evan Jones\u2019s \u201cAmerican Food.\u201d Sometimes a felafel comes in handy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My most literary friend, a novelist who puts his advances into tangibles, once asked me, after yet another inflated check for yet another mediocre meal in still another trendy restaurant: \u201cDon\u2019t you ever eat in a dive?\u201d I recall getting rather huffy but then conceding, \u201cNo, not in the alleged First World.\u201d Let\u2019s be serious…. Continue reading