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	Upcoming Events Recent Events Calendar Regional Groups Calendar Archive About SIGS	SFPFS Book Club Review of The United States of Arugula, by David Kamp 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 meeting will be hosted by Alan Finkelstein, on Tuesday, January 29 (pending Board approval). 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 February 2007 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 October 2006 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


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