It’s been said that novels are the books that get to the heart of the human condition. I can definitely see the evidence for that, but I think I would argue in favor of a different kind of book. You probably have three or so in your kitchen right now.
Yup. Cookbooks.
Even today, in the age of processed, frozen and fast foods, there are cookbooks and recipe boxes that have been passed down through families for generations still seeing use. Most of it only on holidays and special occasions, but still.
Food, by necessity, is something humans have in common. All across the globe, it’s an integral part of culture and community gatherings. And since ingredients can only be combined in so many non-poisonous ways and even fewer tasty ones, writing things down was probably the best thing before sliced bread.
Everyone eats. And for most of human existence, everyone ate what was available, which was the same thing their parents, grandparents and ever-so-many great-grandparents had eaten.
In these days of global trade, the wildest and most far-flung ingredients are handy at local grocery stores, so times have changed. I’m not sure my prairie dwelling grandfather would have known what quinoa was or what to do with it if it smacked him in the face, but my dad made it for dinner not too long ago .
Of course, he could Google a good recipe for it, which is another thing that’s changed. Now, if someone wants to try making something new, it’s only a few clicks away, so cookbooks may in fact become somewhat obsolete before long.
As tools, anyway. I maintain that they’re fascinating as windows to the lives of people.
In our kitchen cupboard, we’ve got the second volume of a set that was put together by a telephone company sometime in the 1960s. It’s… quirky, I’ll give it that.
Each recipe has a different name and location attached to the bottom, and each is written in a different style. You’re far likely to find measurements given in terms of “2 cans” or “1 package” or even, in one jam recipe, “1 crate” than in cups or quarts. Out of the first 15 appetizer recipes, six of them call for Velveeta. One calls for Cheez Whiz.
If you want to try making anything, you should make sure to read through it first, because ingredients will pop up in the instructions with no warning. Still, it’s got the recipe for the best strawberry pie I’ve ever had .
A lot of the recipes are for pies, jams and jellies – ways to use up food and fresh ingredients before they can go bad, a necessity if one has an orchard or a prolific garden. The quantities they call for make them difficult to make out of season. Even more are the kind of things where substitutes aren’t easy, because the recipes have been reduced to the point where every ingredient is absolutely necessary.
In short, each recipe in the cookbook is a brief snapshot of a very different person living in a very different time.
Whether the recipes are collected in a server, a book or a box, they hold an unfailingly clear view to the most practical and necessary part of the human condition. All of the purple prose and insightful characters in the world can’t really compare to the weight of tradition still alive today.
— Nina Collay is a junior at Thornton Academy who can frequently be found listening to music, reading, wrestling with a heavy cello case, or poking at the keyboard of an uncooperative laptop.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
