Synopses & Reviews
Organized by decade and by the cookbooks that shaped her life,
Tasting Home is the history of Judith Newton's emotional education—including her marriage to a gay man, and an exploration of the ways that cooking can lay the groundwork for personal healing, personal intimacy, and political community.
Review
"In this elegantly written work, Newton has completely taken us by surprise. There's a sense of tension, of expectation, of waiting for the other shoe to drop that creates a subliminal buzz. Through her personal story, Newton manages to weave in the entire course of the culture, a reflection of her skills as an historian and an accomplished writer as well as a born storyteller."
—Jeanette Ferrary, author of Out of the Kitchen: Adventures of a Food Writer and Between Friends: M.F.K. Fisher and Me
"In this captivating memoir, Newton draws the reader into a world where major events are brought to life with poignant food memories. Each vignette is pitch-perfect, lively, and engaging, striking a delicate balance between self-disclosure and universal themes of acceptance, love, community-building, and political engagement."
—Janet A. Flammang, author of The Taste for Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society
"Tasting Home is more than a food memoir. Influenced by the civil rights struggle, the women's movement, and the AIDS epidemic, it is an odyssey of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth. Like a grand meal, Tasting Home is a resounding success."
—Belinda Robnett, author of How Long? How Long? African-American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights
"This evocative memoir creates a tapestry of the personal and the political, weaving together stories of family, friendship, and community, of love, birth, and death. Punctuated by favorite recipes, this vivid narrative celebrates matters of both the kitchen and the heart."
—Wendy Martin, author of We Are the Stories We Tell and More Stories We Tell
Synopsis
Tasting Home is the history of a woman's emotional education, the romantic tale of a marriage between a straight woman and a gay man, and an exploration of the ways that cooking can lay the groundwork for personal healing, intimate relation, and political community.
Organized by decade and by the cookbooks that shaped author Judith Newton's life, Tasting Home takes readers on an extraordinary journey through the cuisines, cultural spirit, and politics of the 1940s through 2011, complete with recipes.
About the Author
Judith Newton is Professor Emerita in Women and Gender Studies at U.C. Davis. While at U.C. Davis she directed the Women and Gender Studies program for eight years and the Consortium for Women and Research for four.
She is the author and co-editor of five works of non fiction on nineteenth-century British women writers, feminist criticism, womens history, and mens movements.
Her most current work has appeared in The Redwood Coast Review (Winter 2012), poetalk (Summer, 2011), and at http://tasting-home.com and at http://ipinion.us/columns/?cat=26. She is currently at work on a feminist mystery and lives in the East Bay of California where she tends her garden.
Table of Contents
Contents
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
I. Foods and Fashions of 1936:
The Thirties, Forties, and Fifties
Cry Babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
The Queen of Pies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Death Valley Date Nut Bread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Sour Milk Biscuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Latinaires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Oatmeal Crispies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Sugar Smorgasbord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Loaves and Fishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Graduation Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
II. Mastering the Art of French Cooking:
The Sixties
Dry Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Berkeley Born Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The Jake Sandwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Shortbread and Madeira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Tarte Normande Aux Pommes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
“If It Werent For You…” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Our Vegetable Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Leaving Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
III. Time-Life Foods of the World:
The Seventies
The Cooking of Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Whole Wheat Crackers, Cheddar Cheese, and Herbal Tea . 119
Pears in Red Wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Toasted Wheat Germ and Pepped-Up Milk . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Cooking of the British Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
The Cooking of Provincial France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Chicken Vall.e DAuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Dickenss Punch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
IV. Moosewood:
The Eighties
Spinach-Rice Casserole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Whole Wheat Croissant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
In Other Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Pasta Fantasies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Muffin Madness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Bread and Babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Salmon Mousse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Carrot Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Hannah Banana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Even in Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
V. Martha, Frida, Mark, and Lee:
The Nineties
Food and Wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Bibimbap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Entertaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Currant Scones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Coyote Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
California Wine Country Cooking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Like Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Fridas Fiesta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Epilogue: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Index of Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303