|
|

Upcoming
Events
Recent
Events
Calendar
Regional
Groups
Calendar
Archive
About
SIGS
|
|
November 12, 2007
by Christina Mueller
Welter
Here
is the wrap-up for our last meeting on The United States of Arugula
and info on our next meeting and book choice.
The book did not receive a rave from the assembled group. While Kamp
managed to touch on many aspects of the world of American food since the
beginning of the 20th century and it was overall an interesting book,
there were some major omissions and goofs.
Noted major omissions (this list could be very long): no word at the CIA
and its influence and not one peep about the rise of regional American
cooking or the major chefs coming out of Chicago.
The group's two favorite goofs:
1. Kamp's research on Julia Child was apparently limited to reading both
Noel Riley Fitch's biography and My Life in France by Alex Prud'Homme as
even the quotes Kamp used were lifted straight out of these books.
2. Kamp notes that Charlie Trotter never went to cooking school. Linda
Carucci, who in fact, went to school at the CCA with Charlie Trotter,
caught this slip up. "He dropped out after his first year and believe
me, he did not need the CCA training because he was so good, but he did
receive at least some formal training at a cooking school," noted
Carucci.
Which leads to point #3: was there an editor for this book? It seems
like Kamp was given carte blanche to write about what he wanted to write
about in the style he wanted with little oversight or editing. The
writing was uneven and it was not always clear why he chose certain
anecdotes and characters over others.
Last point, #4: what was the editorial purpose of telling us so much
about, say, Craig Claiborne's sex life, and nothing about Emeril
Lagasse's sex life? James Beard's and some about Wolfgang Puck's and
Alice Water's, but not Julia Child's or the chefs at the Silver Palate?
If you are going to give us the sexual dirt about some of the
characters, he should have provided it (or left it out entirely!) for
all. Did it help the creative cheffing process? This was not made clear.
In sum: this could have been a great coffee table book for the ages but
widely missed the mark. Arugula offers a decent historical
round-up, and some in the group felt it has merit as a quick read on the
history of good food in America, but Kamp needed an editor who focused
him on the history and research and not on the peccadillos of the
characters. Great potential that should not have turned into a
"sensationalist" work.
In the future…
Our next book is: The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith
Jones. Jones edited Julia Child's books and recently wrote this memoir.
Until then, be well and hope to see you soon at a Food Society event.
|
|
List of Recent Events
February 2010
Visit to Nettie's Crabshack
February 2010
A visit to FullBloom Baking Co.
January 2010
Annual General Meeting
December 2009
Wine Sig: Rosé sparkling wines
November 2009
Cooking Teacher SIG: Gifts from the Kitchen
November 2009
Tea Pairing with Numi Tea
November 2009
STP: Spice at Campton Place
October 2009
Canned Tomato Tasting
October 2009
Traveling Table Visits Brown Sugar
September 2009
Visit to AG Ferrari
September 2009
Cooking Teachers SIG report
September 2009
Lark Creek Steak hosts Australian Traveling Table
September 2009
Recession-Buster Wine Sig
August 2009
Over $6000 raised at BBQ
August 2009
2009 BBQ a big success
July 2009
Cooking Teacher SIG: Korean cooking
July 2009
Traveling Table: Estate
July 2009
Sustainable Meat and Seafood
June 2009
C.J. Olson Cherry Farm Tour
June 2009
Ice Cream Tasting
May 2009
Wine SIG Tastes Gewürztraminer
May 2009
Master Class in Chocolate
April 2009
Protecting Intellectual Property
March 2009
East Bay Networking Event
March 2009
Cheddar Tasting
February 2009
Rhone whites delight
February 2009
M.F.K Fisher
January 2009
2009 AGM and NMR
January 2009
SFPFS Cooking Teacher SIG Meeting
January 2009
Traveling Table to Chez Papa
December 2008
Burgundy Wine SIG
September
2008
Cooking Teacher SIG
September
2008
Minutes from September board meeting (Word doc)
September 2008
Peanut Butter Tasting
September 2008
SF Networking event at Local Kitchen
September 2008
Stirring the Pot: Celebrity Chefs
September 2008
Traveling Table at Mantra
September
2008
30th Anniversary of SFPFS
August 2008
Board Meeting Minutes (Word Doc)
August 2008
Coffee Cupping
July 2008
Cooking Teacher SIG
June 2008
Honey Tasting SIG
June 2008
Food Writing Book Club SIG
June 2008
Digs Bistro
June 2008
Sauvignon Blanc Showdown
May 2008
A Visit to Careme 350
May 2008
Cooking Teachers SIG
May 2008
San Mateo Members Meet
May 2008
South Bay Members Connect
April 2008
Wine SIG takes a Beaujolais Cruise
April 2008
Demystifying the Food/Wine Dilemma
March 2008
Pasta tasting
March 2008
Cooking Teachers' SIG
March 2008
Traveling Table to Ubuntu
March 2008
Gelato Making
February 2008
Best of Show Cabernet Sauvignons
January 2008
AGM 2008
January 2008
Cooking SIG at Ramekins
January 2008
Stirring the Pot: Future of Chinese Cuisine
December 2007
Marmalade tasting
November 2007
Wine SIG samples sparklers
November 2007
United States of Arugula review
November 2007
Decoding Molecular Gastronomy
October 2007
Career Change Roundtable
October 2007
B Star Bar
September 2007
Barbary BBQ on Maiden Lane
September 2007
Vanilla Tasting
August 2007
Wine SIG tastes Rieslings
June 2007
Wine SIG Rosé Tasting
June 2007
Wines from Livermore
June 2007
Tasting Sig Explores Fetas
June 2007
Dinner at B Restaurant
May 2007
An Evening with Jaques Pepin
April 2007
Knockout Santa Cruz Wines
March 2007
Feasting at Chef Chus
Annual General Meeting
February 2007
Lessons from a Master Taster: Darrell Corti
February 2007
East Bay Urban Wine Tour
January 2007
Traveling Table: Radio Africa and Kitchen
December 2006
Holiday Cookie Exchange
November 2006
Southern Foodways Alliance
Stirring the Pot with Chuck Williams
October 2006
Wine Sig Looks for Varietal Character
August 2006
SFPFS Barbeque on the USS Hornet
August 2006
Stirring the Pot: Building your Culinary
Pedigree
June 2006
Antony Bourdain at the Commonwealth Club
May 2006
Expo West 2006
May 2006
Table Travelers visit Old Mandarin
January 2006
The Annual General Meeting
January 2006
Impressions of Fancy Food, the 31st
annual trade show
September 19, 2005
Stirring the Pot: The History,
Dynamics, and Ethics of Luxury Dining
June 22, 2005
Stirring the Pot with Nell Newman,
Els Cooperrider and Guinness McFadden
May 25, 2005
Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust
Fundraising Dinner
May 18. 2005
Philippe Stark and Michel Rolland
at the SF W Hotel
April 28, 2005
Roundtable: The Food and Culture of
Burma
February 15, 2005
Stirring the Pot with Harold McGee
October 22, 2004
Food Fight! A Lively Discussion of Today's Most Challenging Food Choices
July 12, 2004
Blenheim Apricot Food Tour
May 17, 2004
Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Hubert Keller, Michael Mina and
Bradley Ogden
March 15, 2004
Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Gerald Asher
February 10, 2004
SFPFS Traveling Table goes to New Delhi Restaurant
January 26, 2004
AGM / NMR Review
November 10, 2003
Reel Food - Castro Theatre
September 25, 2003
Food Tour - Heritage Fruit Orchard at Filoli Gardens
September 17, 2003
Rick Knoll on Organic Farming
June 16, 2003
A Conversation with Thomas Keller: The Soul of Haute Cuisine in America
May 19, 2003
The SFPFS Traveling Table - Roxanne's in Larkspur
April 28, 2003
Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marian Burros and Marion
Cunningham
March, 2003
Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marion Nestle
|