US History Cookbook Review

Craig Claiborne was determined to introduce different ethnic cuisines to the Americans. His main interest was in Asian and Mexican cuisines. At this history period, Americans had little exposure in food varieties and New York City had little epicure. Since Craig created creative dishes he opted to become an author of The New York Times where he rated restaurants. By doing this, he helped Americans make knowledgeable choices of dishes and restaurants that they visited. Craig also made sure he held restaurants accountable for their services by the four-star system he used to rate them. He went ahead to document his eating experiences hence enhancing his acquired talent and experiencing rising trends in America and the whole world at large. This paper aims at analyzing how the cookbook describes the times period and the recipes used.

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On 8th of December 1957, Craig decided to engage in a bold experiment and encouraged his audience to push against the boundaries. He wrote a recipe for brains in black butter and veal kidneys Bordelaise. This needed shallots which were not easy to find at the time and most of the readers did not know what they were. This recipe also required chopped calf’s feet and sweetbreads Virginia that had ham. This was an appreciation of his native religion. This recipe frightened Americans. By presenting this recipe, Craig wanted Americans to understand that there was more to meat than steak. The brain and chopped calf’s feet were delicacies that were disregarded in America but enjoyed abroad. At that time, Americans did not endorse variety of meats such as sweetbreads or tongues.

On 26th September 1957, the book suggests that Craig might have been in full command of his voice. He made a recipe that displayed a model of clarity and precision. The recipe was daring. However, the recipe was not an impossible one. The photograph included a ripple and marble striation. The apple pastries surmount were three. A stand of Venetian glass cake. Other two glass cakes were arranged on a plate following a Swiss hotel school Geometry. There were fruit swells in a Venetian glass vase and filter cigarettes. One was required to make a breakable dough into curving flowers which were slightly deep. The aim of this technique was to give the dough a Venetian glass bowl resemblance. In order to acquire the Venation Stripping, one had to rotate a toothpick that had been dipped in food color from the center of the dough to its ends.

Americans often wondered how many people would accept such a dare and try to cook such pastry. This recipe made Americans believe that Craig was going to take them where they had never been before. For the above recipe, he made a number of recommendations of apples he preferred. But only two types of apples could be easily found by the Americans. This included Delicious and McIntosh apples. All the other recommended apples were ancient hence the daring nature of the recipe. Craig always found joy in foods that were hard to find and unusual since they set of a great demand overnight. In this recipe tries also goes to the extent of giving credit to related works which was quite unusual.

His fourth recipe was quite challenging since it was that of an upcoming dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. This dinner has 400 invited guests, and over 1000 employees at their service. Craig wrote about the menu with an American pride. This is one of the menus used an American style. It included the following ingredients; beef filet with truffles, South Carolina green turtle soup and long Island striped bass. Sabayon sauce was not left behind either. However how challenging the recipe was, Craig had a time of his life. The recipe was later labelled a dramatic home recipe and an elaborate one. During this time, Craig recalled an earlier dinner with the Queen’s great-grandfather which was at Delmonico and commented on his appetite. This was in 1860.

Craig continued publishing the great recipes. When the recipes are critically analyzed, the determination of conquering an empty landscape is revealed in them since Craig predecessors recipes were not all fruit and egg fluff and had zestful tricks for canned foods. Although the publishers of the recipes would later praise easily found domestic foods and engaged in finding spicy olives or reviewing available juices and wines. They could not challenge the recipes of Craig in the New York Times. Some cookbooks had been published apart from the New York Times cookbook and posed as a threat to it. In this book review by Charlotte Turgeon, she considered Jim Beard to be the most considered Dean of America Cookery. Craig was not even ranked second. This was due to the bribes the publishers offered Americans at that time.

Later in 1975, Craig is seen placing a $300 winning offer to a certain action at a charity event. The two winners would enjoy a no-price-limit dinner at a restaurant of their choice. The dinner was sponsored by American Express. Craig chose Franey to accompany him at the dinner and their restaurant of choice was Chez Denis. Chez Denis is located at in Paris France. They ordered a $4,000 meal which consisted of lobsters, caviar, rare wines and many others. The meal was a Thirty-one-course meal. This five-hour experience received a negative response from the public due to its extravagance. Critics said that this was a period when the world did not have a lot of money. It was labeled scandalous since they ordered every dish on the menu and only took few bites from each. However, it was later revealed that Craig and his companion settled for the meals due to their presentation and high quality.

Craig is seen including other nation’s recipes in his cookbook. He wrote on different versions of meatballs from certain nations. This is because most nations on earth have their own versions of meatballs. In Sweden, they are named kotbullar due to the dill flavor. In German, the meatballs are known as Klopse, people in France often term them as boules and Italians refer them as polpettine. He however did not offer absolute and definite recipes from the countries. He made three recipes that represented the characteristic of each country.

The recipe of the Greek meatball was dill flavored and presented in classic sauce. The classic sauce is also recognized as the egg or lemon sauce. Indian version of meatball had curry powder despite the fact that Indian cooks preferred crushing their own curry powder at that time. The curry powder used by Craig and his team at this period off history was a commercially prepared curry powder. The version also consisted of cumin and coriander. The Mexican Version was adopted from non-Mexican authorities’ recipe. This recipe had the meatballs dotted with zucchini cubes and prepared in chipotle chilies sauce. The Mexican meatballs were admirably served with recipe and green salad.

Craig was really against a big change in American culture. He understood of the fast-rising un-natural and artificial foods which were harmful to the Americans. He was even against corrupt persons who sponsored money-fast value systems that were taking shape and threatening how Americans ate. He used his New York Times publications to address Americans. He claimed that the American diet was in need of an overhaul. On February 1958, he wrote that America was both the best fed and over-fed nation and their diet lacked appalling. In this regard, 20% of the nation was overweight and Vitamin deficiencies were common in all income levels.

Craig’s recipes tried making a difference in America and thousands of cooks and eaters were inspired. However, many Americans did not care about the quality of the food but loved cooking and eating for fun. The cookbook only reached a few Americans but and the Agriculture corporate complex was responsible for making it available to millions of people worldwide.

In conclusion, it is evident that the New York cuisine is similar to that of today. This is because it has inclusions of other nations culinary. Craig’s inclusions of other nation recipes and the great use of the American styles is evident in the book.

Bibliography

Claiborne, Craig, Pierre Franey, and Craig Claiborne. Craig Claiborne's The New New York Times Cookbook. New York: Times Books, 1979.

P, Jacques. “Jacques Pépin: A Force in America's Food Revolution.” The New York Times. The New York Times, May 8, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/craig-claiborne-a-force-in-the-food-revolution.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap.

McLeod, Hugh. The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. Oxford: Oxford Univesity Press, 2013.

Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Divided: the Civil War of the 1960s. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Farber, David R. The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s. New York, New York: Hill and Wang, 2000.