food history
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Great Local Book Fair
I had a great time yesterday at the Locally Grown Words Book Festival at East End Market. A great event!If you missed it, The Food Section is available at Amazon.
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New York Times Cookbook and the Origin of Recipes
I recently received this New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne (1961). Although Claiborne is given credit as author, many of the recipes were developed under Jane Nickerson‘s editorship. Jane was the NYT food editor from 1942 to 1957. Claiborne replaced her in 1957. A review by Anne Mendelson of a new edition of the cookbook, noted Nickerson’s contributions to the book. I was curious about what Claiborne wrote about Nickerson in the first edition of the cookbook. From the Preface:“There are many people to whom full credit is due for the quality of The New York Times Cook Book. First of all Jane Nickerson, my esteemed predecessor, the first…
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Cecily Brownstone & the Green Bean Casserole
Cecily Brownstone was the longtime food editor at the Associated Press who is include in The Food Section: Newspaper Women and the Culinary Community. I think of her every Thanksgiving because of her connection to the green bean casserole. According to a 2007 post from Saveur magazine:“It wasn’t until 1955, however, that the dish’s most steadfast incarnation entered the scene. This enduring formula, one that many home cooks still use, called for a trinity of convenience products: canned Durkee or French’s fried onions, Green Giant canned green beans, and Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup, usually accompanied by milk, soy sauce, and a dash of pepper. It was invented by…
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Poynter: Three early food editors who did a lot more than share recipes
I loved this Poynter post about my book, The Food Section, and three of my favorite food editors: Jeanne Voltz, Jane Nickerson & Ruth Ellen Church.
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Newspaper Picture Recipes
I came across this great images as I continuing writing about Chicago Tribune food editor Ruth Ellen Church. These “picture recipes” remind me of the food blogs of today. Church was in charge of overseeing the photo shoots as the pictures were taken in her Tribune test kitchen.
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Writing about Food Editor Ruth Ellen Church
I was reading the book, The Pecan: A History of America’s Native Nut, when I came across this reference to Chicago Tribune food editor Mary Meade. That was the pen name for Ruth Ellen Church. Church was the first newspaper food editor to have a wine column and it continued for 17 years. She traveled extensively and shared her adventures with her Chicago readers. For example, she spent three months abroad for her “What’s Cooking in Europe” feature series which ran for 56 days in the Tribune. During her career, she wrote a daily food column plus a special section each Friday. She also directed all of the food photography…