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Off the ShelfBook Review by Pamela
Phillips-Malcolm GRUB While part
of a genre of cookbooks focused on sustainable and organic whole foods,
Grub
offers some interesting twists. Its unique approach is the
result of the
collaboration of its authors, Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry, who
define “grub” as
the freedom to choose: real, unprocessed whole food; pleasurable and
healthful
food; and food in tune with our cultural heritage, grown and delivered
with
respect for those who grow, harvest, deliver and eat it. They decry
diet
dogmatism (including Atkins, vegan, vegetarian, raw... you name it). Grub, for
them, defies categories and inflexible rules prohibiting food we can
love
(unless you love Cheez Wiz and Twinkies), and attempts
to
re-center food as a key medium in daily relations and celebrations
among
friends, family and cultures. Anna Lappé is the daughter of
France Moore Lappé
and co-author with her of Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small
Planet,
which focused on food and human rights activism around the world.
Bryant Terry
is a chef and founding director of b-healthy, a non-profit organization
working
for food education and justice. The first
half of Grub, written by Lappé, is a primer on what is
wrong with our
food production systems and national diet. Lappé traces the
corporate takeover
of farming and retail food sales and the resulting impacts on our
national
health and the environmental woes. Her essays are filled with
interesting
“factoids”—for example, about how the now-ubiquitous corn syrup which
sweetens
most processed foods is processed differently by the body than sugar
and other
natural sweeteners, to the detriment of our livers. She also
traces the reasons we have become distanced from whole, healthy and
delicious
food. She offers clear examples of political donations and subterfuge
by
corporations, such as hiring public relations firms to create fictional
people
to attack legitimate scientific research. Corporate tactics also
include
creating bogus organizations with benign-sounding names, such as The
Food
Security Network or CropLife Much of
this information can be found elsewhere, and will not seem particularly
new to
those who follow food issues. But in Grub, Lappé
presents her facts and
arguments succinctly in a very accessible style that seems aimed
especially at
people under 30. In fact, I would recommend this book particularly as a
gift
for someone graduating college, or building their first kitchen and
independent
culinary habits. Bryant
Terry created the book’s second half, a series of innovative recipes
and menus
organized around seasonal and ethnic/cultural themes, along with
poetry, wine
and accompanying music suggestions for the meals. These assemblages can
be
enjoyed by anyone who likes adventure in their cooking or eating. They
include
a Rastafarian Ital meal, a punk selection, an Afrodiasporic buffet, a
Latinoamericano
meal, soul food, a macrobiotic selection, Cuban grub and meals designed
for
major holidays. I recommend the Lima Bean and Corn Dumplings with Sage,
and the
Mofongo with Wild Mushroom Sauce. No one should pass from this earth
without
trying the Jamaican sorrel beverage (although I use honey to his
sugar). Terry
does a nice job of blending conventional, “alternative” and ethnic
ingredients;
the urban kitchen of the book’s title is most relevant to the recipe
ingredients, which occasionally include items not easily located
outside of
small ethnic grocery stores or an excellent food co-op. I found the
estimated
prep times for several dishes ridiculously optimistic, but the actual
cooking
instructions are generally clear and simple. |
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