2008 Woodie Awards
Food as a story (web exclusive)
Vanessa Veiock - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/13/06 Section: Arts
- Page 1 of 2 next >
As human beings we nurture an inexorable hunger - cravings for the sweet, the sour, the hot, the cold, the crunchy, and the smooth. We eat to live, and some of us even live to eat. But greater than our physical appetite is a deep desire for the comfort, nurturance, and camaraderie in partaking a memorable meal. As Doug Bauer proves in his newest book, Death by Pad Thai, some of the most unforgettable feasts aren't centered on the ultimate delectable tastes. Rather, they are the "occasions that extend the culinary circumference" and "include the more complex palates" of human sentience.
Taking reins as editor, Bauer, a Prairie City, Iowa, native who has previously written for Sports Illustrated and Esquire, said his anthology "bubbled up" from a casual discussion of interesting meals between friends. Using a process he described as "casual, random in a certain way," Bauer recruited contributors. "It was nothing scientific," he explained, "just a conversation that got wider."
Expanded to include 20 writers' renditions on "memory evoking taste," Death by Pad Thai ventures into 20 nonpareil essays, only one of which has been previously published, detailing personal introspect framed by food.
"For what makes the subject of food the scrumptious stuff of story is not the perfect balance of the recipe or the genius of the chef," Bauer writes in his introduction, but "the narrative of what's humanly at stake when we sit down to eat." Expounding on the evolution of his tastes from ketchup and Miracle Whip to finer sauces, Bauer recalls traveling to New Orleans for a palate escapade with famed foodie M.F.K. Fisher on assignment for Playboy. In search of the most superb Ramos gin fizz, the "best" cocktail is not found in the most famed bar or acclaimed restaurant but in a local dive happened upon by chance at the end of their journey, a satiating end to a "magical" peregrination.
The opener in the line of flavorful affairs is international bestseller Sue Miller's reflection "Foodums," which expatiates on the fast, high-carb food that dominated much of her childhood and early adult life. Describing herself as "a bit of a slapdash as a cook," she recounts a somewhat failed attempt to create a more sophisticated meal for her friends. Yet she insists her unrefined creation was a powerful addition to the satisfaction of the meal. "Who's to say it wasn't more gratifying for the guests that the meal wasn't perfect, that the hostess was a bit of a ditz," she envisages. Later, after her future husband treats her to a carefully prepared gourmet dinner, Miller realizes "our hunger as never being only about food."
Taking reins as editor, Bauer, a Prairie City, Iowa, native who has previously written for Sports Illustrated and Esquire, said his anthology "bubbled up" from a casual discussion of interesting meals between friends. Using a process he described as "casual, random in a certain way," Bauer recruited contributors. "It was nothing scientific," he explained, "just a conversation that got wider."
Expanded to include 20 writers' renditions on "memory evoking taste," Death by Pad Thai ventures into 20 nonpareil essays, only one of which has been previously published, detailing personal introspect framed by food.
"For what makes the subject of food the scrumptious stuff of story is not the perfect balance of the recipe or the genius of the chef," Bauer writes in his introduction, but "the narrative of what's humanly at stake when we sit down to eat." Expounding on the evolution of his tastes from ketchup and Miracle Whip to finer sauces, Bauer recalls traveling to New Orleans for a palate escapade with famed foodie M.F.K. Fisher on assignment for Playboy. In search of the most superb Ramos gin fizz, the "best" cocktail is not found in the most famed bar or acclaimed restaurant but in a local dive happened upon by chance at the end of their journey, a satiating end to a "magical" peregrination.
The opener in the line of flavorful affairs is international bestseller Sue Miller's reflection "Foodums," which expatiates on the fast, high-carb food that dominated much of her childhood and early adult life. Describing herself as "a bit of a slapdash as a cook," she recounts a somewhat failed attempt to create a more sophisticated meal for her friends. Yet she insists her unrefined creation was a powerful addition to the satisfaction of the meal. "Who's to say it wasn't more gratifying for the guests that the meal wasn't perfect, that the hostess was a bit of a ditz," she envisages. Later, after her future husband treats her to a carefully prepared gourmet dinner, Miller realizes "our hunger as never being only about food."
Be the first to comment on this story