The National Book Festival seemed to have a smaller footprint this year than in the past, but that didn’t dissuade the throngs of book-lovers crowding into the Washington Convention Center. I went in search of the few food and cooking-related items on the agenda, and, of course, any other bookish good times there might be.
Sometimes, relevance is where you find it. Amor Towles, mainstream fiction writer, mentioned that among the comments he received from readers was a criticism of his novel’s description of dishwashing by an Award-Winning Member of the Future Homemakers of America. (“You wash the glassware first!”) Well, now I’m more determined than ever to read The Lincoln Highway.
Parade of States
I always enjoy wandering up and down the aisles of the “Roadmap to Reading” area. All the states, territories, and the District of Columbia have sent librarians armed with tchochkas, flyers, and their State Books (one each kids’ and adults’). Two of these books were about regional food. Georgia showed off Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer by Matthew Raiford with Amy Paige Condon, while Connecticut’s table boasted not only the book but the author as well. Winsome Bingham lived up to her name as she described her children’s book, Soul Food Sunday.
There were some choice selfie traps. The National Endowment for the Humanities had set up life-size cutouts of famous dead authors to pose around, and even had a dedicated volunteer to assist in snapping whole families.
And who should I almost bump into but Dolly? Of course, she has a terrific book giveaway program (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library). And did you know she has written a cookbook? Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food, in 2006. There should be more philanthropists like her.
Random Food Observation
I should also mention that a relatively new addition to the food-for-purchase options at the Convention Center is an outpost of Ben’s Chili Bowl, complete with a mural of the original place on U Street.
Incidental Food Agenda
Now, I’m sure that this was just an accident of scheduling, and not deliberate on either party’s part, but the Washington Post food writers’ discussion directly conflicted with the Library of Congress’ author presentation of American Feast: Cookbooks and Cocktails from the Library of Congress, by Zach Klitzman and Susan Reyburn, the newly-released survey of their amazingly comprehensive collection. Fortunately, those events were located very close together in the exhibit hall, and I managed to stay for most of the Post discussion before decamping to the LoC pavilion for the last few minutes of that talk. Afterwards, the authors graciously signed my book and posed for a picture.
I appreciated the chance to meet the two Post writers, Ann Maloney and Daniela Galarza. They described how they reorganized the Post food lab, which I had last seen when Bonnie Benwick gave me a tour, back when the Post had just moved into their current building. Galarza has been hard at work on the newsletter, which generates a lively dialog with readers.
Here is some inside dope:
Newspaper food sections, like the fashion industry, have to work in advance of the seasons. As we endured 90-degree temperatures outside the convention center, they were developing recipes for Thanksgiving. And here’s a scoop – look for a recipe for mile-high apple pie in the coming weeks. Also, a Thanksgiving po’boy (to deal with leftovers).
All the photography in the Food section is authentic – shot with real food cooked from the recipe. The only fake props they use are ice cubes. After all, “We’re journalists!” And they seldom have leftovers – after the shoots are done, word goes out to staff on their internal Slack channel, and the food is gone within ten minutes.
Klitzman and Reyburn spoke to the changes in eating habits through time that American Feast illustrated through its pictures and descriptions of books and menus. They were taking questions from the audience when I snuck into the presentation. One questioner asked about the weirdest food they had encountered in their research? It has to be frosted ham from Fannie Farmer’s A New Book of Cookery (a sequel to her famous Boston Cooking School Cookbook). Yes, there it is on page 41, looking unsettlingly like a Shmoo.
On a more serious note, the recipe lists and cookbooks hand-written by prisoners in World War II describe dreams of meals to be eaten upon release from captivity. Sometimes they don’t represent real food, but idealized versions of dishes dreamed about by starving men.
Because One Actual Festival Session Is Plenty for Food Books
I headed to the one official agenda session, in an actual meeting room, focused on food books. Do I sound a little nostalgic for the good old days when there was a whole track dedicated to food writing? That’s because I am. But I suppose I should be thankful for what I can get.
“Dig In: What Food Says About Us with Cheuk Kwan and Anya von Bremzen” was moderated by Daniela Galarza, from the Post. Kwan’s book, Have You Eaten Yet?, focuses on owners of and workers in Chinese restaurants outside of China, while Anya von Bremzen’s National Dish explores six national cuisines through examples of their iconic dishes.
Kwan explored how Chinese food adapted to ingredients and cultural preferences in the many countries in which exiles from various cultural upheavals sought refuge. When food morphs from its original form due to the pressures it encounters, who’s to say what’s authentic? He’s discovered the best Chinese food is to be found as staff meals in restaurants of the diaspora.
When Kwan mentioned that he had his first taste of Hunan cuisine in New York City in the 1970’s, I felt a jolt of recognition. I wonder if we frequented the same restaurant at the same time?
Von Bremzen mentioned the breakup of the USSR, which inspired her to interrogate how national identities are constructed. What is considered authentic cuisine? Authenticity comes from your memory. Adapted dishes, like those of the Chinese diaspora, become part of new nation’s diets, and issues of “cultural appropriation” become moot. You can’t talk about food without politics. Russia and Ukraine both claim borsch as their own.
I wished I had the chance to share a meal with both these authors! Fortunately, I have the next best thing: a copy of each of their books. I will be reading them in the near future, and reviewing them here, along with American Feast. Stay tuned!
