A PERSONAL RANT INTENDED AS AN INTRODUCTION

1
A PERSONAL RANT INTENDED AS AN INTRODUCTION

• Ive made it to the 300s and have I found a
  stinker! To date, reports given in this class
  have been of highly estimable books and, thus,
  received deservedly positive reviews. Yet, there
  are so many ill-conceived and poorly executed
  books out there! What follows is a review of the
  later.
• While preparing this report, I experienced a
  mirthful legerity. One speaks easily of
  minutiae, not so of profundities. Therefore, I
  would encourage others to present similarly
  inferior reference works.
• A positive review is, at best, informed
  concordance, at worst, spineless genuflection. A
  negative review is, at best, the hurtful truth,
  at worst, nouveau-riche snobbery. Id like to
  believe that Im telling the truth, although I
  may just be a snob.

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YOU EAT WHAT YOU ARE PEOPLE, CULTURE AND FOOD
TRADITONS

• GEORGE BABCOCK
• LIBRARY 150
• WINTER 2003
• Let me tell ya bout your blood bamboo kid
• It aint Coca-Cola, its rice.
• --Joe Strummer

3
CALL NUMBER AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION

• THIS BOOK CAN BE FOUND IN THE KING COUNTY
  LIBRARY SYSTEM (NUC CODE WaSKC) UNDER THE CALL
  NUMBER R394.12 BAR 1999
• Barer-Stein, Thelma
• You eat what you are people, culture and food
  traditions / Thelma Barer-Stein 2nd ed.
  Willowdale, Ontario Firefly Books, 1999.
• 544p. maps 29cm.
• Includes bibliography and index.
• ISBN 1-55209-365-4

4
OVERVIEW

• "There is no cultural group and no individual
  for whom at least one specific food - the memory,
  taste, or smell of which - does not evoke a pang
  of loving nostalgia," says Thelma Barer-Stein,
  author of You Eat What You Are People, Culture,
  and Food Traditions. This engrossing book
  examines the culinary traditions of 56 cuisines
  around the world, and illustrates how food
  preferences are linked to social structure,
  geography, and history. What food people choose
  to eat, how they prepare it, serve it, and eat it
  - fingers or knife and fork? - are factors
  profoundly influenced by individual cultural
  inheritance. Although food is only one aspect of
  cultural tradition, it probably leaves the most
  indelible imprint. Aside from being necessary for
  survival, food provides pleasure, comfort, and
  security. Food is a symbol of hospitality and
  social status, and often carries religious
  significance as well.
• You Eat What You Are is an engaging look
  at food and its social histories, filled with
  fascinating details that give readers a rich
  understanding of the world around them. More than
  100 regional maps, up-to-date list of sources and
  references, index, and comprehensive glossaries
  of ingredients and dishes complete the volume.

5
ARRANGEMENT

• The book is arranged into alphabetical chapters.
  Each chapter covers specific ethnic, cultural or
  national gastronomic traditions. A bibliography
  and an index are included at the back of the book.

6
SUBARRANGEMENT OF CHAPTERS

• Chapters begin with historical, regional, and
  cultural overviews complemented with small
  locator maps. Sections on "Domestic Life"
  categories of food commonly used, such as dairy
  products, fruits and vegetables, and the like
  "Meals and Customs" "Special Occasions"
  "Cooking Methods" and "Regional Specialties"
  follow. Glossaries of foods and food terms
  complete each chapter.

7
FORMAT

• It is only in book format and currently out of
  print.

8
SCOPE AND CURRENCY

• The author attempts a comprehensive global
  culinary survey, yet the subject is so vast that
  she can only superficially touch upon individual
  traditions.
• The second edition of this book is a revision of
  a work first published in 1979 and, as reviewers
  point out, many of its sources have not been
  updated.

9
INTENDED AUDIENCE

• From the books preface
• While this book is intended mainly as a useful
  resource for both the professional and the
  student, many gourmets and travelers may also
  consider this reference as a resource for their
  own cultural and culinary adventures.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Thelma Barer-Stein is an author, food
  and culture consultant, professional adult
  educator as well as publisher and editor-in-chief
  of Culture Concepts Inc. As a 20-year old
  Canadian publishing company, Culture Concepts
  Inc.'s new focus is to develop book projects for
  other publishers and professionals, to act as
  agent for selected authors and to provide editing
  and consulting services for non-fiction
  titles.Born in Vancouver, BC, Thelma began her
  professional career as dietitian, graduating from
  the University of British Columbia and interning
  at Toronto General Hospital. Her Master's degree
  from the University of Western Ontario is in
  Educational Administration and her Ph.D. is from
  the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  (OISE), The University of Toronto. Listed in
  Who's Who in Canada and Chatelaine's Women of
  Distinction, Thelma is the author, co-author or
  editor of several books, has contributed numerous
  chapters in books, and more than eighteen
  academic articles in professional refereed
  journals.
• Selected Publications
• You Eat What You Are People, Culture
  Food Traditions. Enlarged 2nd ed. Toronto
  Firefly Books, 1999.To Life! Setting a New
  Standard for Delectable Healthy Eating Within
  Cherished Kosher Traditions. (Co-editor.)
  Toronto Culture Concepts Inc, 1996.The Craft of
  Teaching Adults. Enlarged 2nd Ed. (Co-editor.)
  Toronto Culture Concepts Inc., 1993.Glossaries
  of Foods Food Terms. London, ON Culture
  Concepts Inc., 1980.You Eat What You Are A
  Study of Ethnic Food Traditions. Toronto
  McClelland Stewart, 1979.
• Awards
• Cuisine Canada Gold Award 1999,
  Special Interest Food and Beverage Books, for You
  Eat What You Are (2nd ed., Firefly Books
  1999).Ontario Arts Council Award for You Eat
  What You Are (1st ed., McClelland Stewart
  1979).Canada Council Explorations Award for You
  Eat What You Are (1st ed., McClelland Stewart
  1979).Wintario Publications Award for You Eat
  What You Are (1st ed., McClelland Stewart
  1979).

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REVIEWS

• This is an impressive volume for a single
  writer to attempt. The author's enthusiasm and
  interest are exhibited in the very readable
  nature of the book, and she invites readers to
  communicate omissions to herThere are some
  problems, however, with this reference workThe
  bibliography is lumbered with far too many older
  referencesdoes not present a general list of
  pertinent books(and)seems unbalanced With the
  exception of guinea pigs (Peru) and lizards
  (Australia), the content seems to be sanitized of
  apparently unpalatable items such as insects,
  worms, dogs, and cats
• 
  -The Booklist
• Even if your library has other standard culinary
  reference sources, such as Larousse
  Gastronomique, which does have recipes but
  provides fewer details on individual countries,
  you will still need the range and depth of
  information Barer-Stein's practical book offers.
  Highly recommended.
• 
  -Library Journal
• I know Australia is at the end of
  the world for most Americans and Canadians, but I
  would presume that an ethnic cooking "expert"
  such as Barer-Stein presents herself to be could
  access more up to date information than the 30
  year old sources used in her book. Inaccuracies
  abound - including "home freezers are not yet
  common", "skim milk is not widely accepted",
  "cheeses are not a usual part of the diet",
  "potatoes are expensive"!!! and the unbelieveable
  lunch "the working person will have an
  inexpensive hot plate of mince, potato, and peas"
  -- Yuk! And certainly not a food habit of my
  living memory. Not to mention the glossary an
  amazing hodge-podge of food from the 1950s, New
  Zealand Maori seafood and strange fare such as a
  molehill "a desert of almond-filled prunes coated
  and mounded with gelatin, whipped eggs and cream
  and topped with chocolate" which nobody I know
  has ever heard of.We also now eat kangaroo, emu
  and crocodile steaks, but never never never has
  goanna "a large fatty lizard, often eaten
  grilled" ever graced any South Australian
  table.So - don't waste your money. This book is
  a sloppy updating of the author's 20 year old
  study. Firefly Books should be embarrassed to
  have it in their catalog.
• 
  -Reader Review from Amazon.com

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PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS

• I skimmed chapters on countries I have visited
  and found them to be fairly accurate, however,
  most of my foreign experience is confined to
  restaurants, not home-cooked meals. I was
  disappointed that the author devoted only 7 pages
  to American cuisine. Cajun cooking alone
  deserves at least 7 pages! Compared with the
  current promotion of homogenized global McCulture
  (I went to Paris, visited EuroDisney, stayed at
  the Holiday Inn and ate at McDonalds), this
  book seems to be a romanticized vision of the
  past, like something from June Cleavers
  collection.

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QUESTIONS

• Im going to dinner at a Japanese colleagues
  house, what are appropriate table manners?
• If you ask an Englishman for squash, what are
  you likely to get?
• What the heck is that? (Question asked while
  eating a pizza with large orange chunks as a
  topping in New Zealand. Chunks later identified
  as pumpkin.) The follow-up question being Why
  would anybody order pumpkin on their pizza?

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SHOULD I LOOK IT UP ON THE INTERNET?

• Overall, the internet was an easy reference
  source for the first two questions. The answer
  to the last question was much more elusive.
  Question 1 Using keywords Japanese table
  manners, information was easily accessed.
  Question 2 Keywords English squash directed
  you to English racquet sports and had to be
  refined to English squash food to get a
  useful answer. Question 3 Keywords pumpkin
  pizzaNew Zealand yielded only solipsistic
  travel diaries and Pizza Hut menus that offered
  pumpkin dishes and pizza, but not pumpkin pizza.
  Using pumpkin pizza Queenstown resulted in
  only one reference to pumpkin pizza in
  Australia. Given the proximity of the two
  nations and personal experience, I accepted this
  answer. (See next slide)

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PUMPKIN!

• I never knew there were so many ways to
  eat a pumpkin, but the Australians have
  discovered them all. Americans could learn a few
  things from the guys Down Under. In Australia,
  pumpkin dishes range from pumpkin soup to pumpkin
  bread to roasted pumpkin with dinner. But the
  coup de grace is undoubtedly pumpkin pizza. It
  looks strange and tastes even stranger. When
  discussing this pumpkin pandemonium with my
  Aussie friends, they're flabbergasted to learn
  that Americans don't share the affinity for their
  favorite gourd. I tell them we have it once a
  year in pie for Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas.
  Then it's their turn to look confused because
  while the Australians may enjoy pumpkin 20
  different ways, they've never thought to put it
  in a pie.
• 
  Rachel
  Stikeleather
• http//www.austin360.com/aas/travel/australia
  /1027locals_2.html

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THE END