Filling the Void with Cooking

For one reason or another, many people are unsatisfied with their lives. It's easy to lose focus of what's important. Julia Child felt that her life was empty after the war; she had no interest in continuing to work for the government and she had no interest in being a house wife. The movie Julie & Julia did a wonderful job showing how life can be empty without passion and how cooking can be the passion to give your day some meaning.

After many failed attempts to find her niche, Julia child found satisfaction in enrolling in a cooking school. She knew she would go mad if she was stuck being a housewife. As the only woman among returning WWII soldiers, her path would be easy. She was extraordinarily successful because she loved what she was doing and she had her husband and friends to support her. Julia was lucky she found something.

The movie Julie & Julia draws parallels between Julia Child's struggle to fill the void in her life and a similar struggle felt by Julie Powell. Julie had a horrible job and was relatively unhappy with her life. Using Julia Child's recipes as inspiration and her husband as support, Julie filled the void in her life with cooking. She created this image of Julia Child in her head as a friend and guide, and "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" became like a bible. Both Julia and Julie were able to fill the voids in there lives with cooking.

In some ways, I can relate to filling a void with cooking. I like research and making things, most of which is rather difficult to do at home. Cooking provides me with analytical entertainment and often something yummy to eat.

The Wine Selection of Babette's Feast

Wine defines the meal.
Contrary to what Martine and Philippa believe, wines do have names and are very different. All wine is made by yeast that ferment a concentrated "grape juice" and the wine is then allowed to age in wooden barrels. Having said that, chardonay is very different than riesling, and merlot is very different than pinot noir. The choice of wine can enhance or ruin a meal. The wines that Babette picks for her legendary supper excellently fits a traditional french meal and highlight the lavish excess of the repast.

Clos Vougeot (pronounced KLOSE VU-GOU)

Clos Vougeot roughly translates to "encolsed vinyard near the river Vouge." Originating in France, Clos Vougeot draws is history from the medieval era and was dismantled durring the French Revolution, though returned soon after. As a red from the Burgundy region of France, Clos Vougeot is a dark, fruity, Pinot Noir. Traditionally, Clos Vougeot would accompany meat or poultry entrées.

Amontillado (A-MON-TI-AD-O)

Amontillado is the first wine brought up by Loewenhielm, and the only wine he doesn't specifically name the brand of. Amontillado is a dark sherry originating in Spain. Traditionally, amontillado is served as an apéritif, or drink before the meal, which is how Babette serves it. Amontillado also goes well with a poultry or consmmé.

Veuve Cliqout (VOU CLICK-O)
Veuve Cliqout is a premium champagne originating in 1772, France. Veuve Cliqout is famous for modernizing the way yeast is removed from bottles. Champagne is traditionally reserved for celebrations and often finds its way into celebratory meals.





Note: Not all sparkling white wine is champagne. Champagne specifically comes from the Champagne region of france and has specific quality assurances.

Vieux Marc de Champagne (VOU MARK DU CHAM-PAIN)
This is the only wine mentioned in the movie not from the short story (the young boy butchers the name). Similar to the Veuve Cliquot, Vieux Marc de Champagne is a premium french champagne, though the Veuve Cliqout is considered a much better champagne.

Science of Cooking

While looking through my pantry trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I came to the realization that I was missing at least one key ingredient for my usual recepies. In a mix of desperation, boredom, and hunger, I pondered the significance of what a recipe is. A recipe is no more than a well designed chemical procedure designed to give a specific result. Recipes call for specific tools; whether it be a oven or GC mass, the success of your procedure strongly depends on how instruments are used. Cooking is a science, and an under appreciated science at that.

Some of you nay sayers out there insist that cooking is an art, but I call for a closer inspection of fine art. Painting is a combination of organic chemistry and geometry. Photography is a complicated form of physics and developing film is chemistry. Music is based in complex math and wave physics. Cooking and baking are edible forms of chemistry. I'm right, QED.

Irish-up that Remedy

Sore throat? Runny nose? Headache? Insomnia? Dysentery? In my family full of doctors, we have a relatively  non medical cure all for most everything. The master recipe is as follows: equal parts honey, lemon juice, and whiskey. Honey soothes the throat, lemon breaks up mucous, and whiskey helps with the cough and also makes you want to sleep. There are many variations to this remedy; my grandfather swore by Drambuie, my father with Walker, and I with Jameson. All have a good medicinal effect that I have no memories of. The recipe originates from Ireland, where whiskey has long been known to have medicinal purposes. It's been one of those things my family always jokes about. Whenever anybody complains about anything (medical or not), whiskey is always joked as the answer. It's the Poison of Champions

Jewgel (Kugel)

קוגל aka Kugel, is the great Jewish side dish, or if you're hungry enough, are stuck at home, and too lazy to cook, it makes a decent meal. Although most Jewish mothers only make kugel for Pesach or other Jewish sounding words, my Jewish mother makes kugel for every holiday.

Kugel is an integral part of my family dynamic; it really brings people together. Kugel was the only thing brought my sister home from college and I expect on continuing the tradition. Kugel has meant a lot to my larger Jewish family, because all Jews are related (or act like it). Kugel reminds me of when I go to my aunt's house (who isn't really my aunt) and I get barraged with questions by my extended family (also unrelated to me). "Somewhere are you going to college? Are you married yet? Do you have kids? Did you meet that nice Jewish girl I was telling you about?"

Sounds like home.

6 eggs
8 oz egg noodles
1 jar apricot jam
5 oz cottage cheese
6oz sour cream
Cinnamon sugar to taste

My Kitchen

A love of cooking and food is one of the strongest things I share with my parents. The majority of the food eaten in my family is bought as raw ingredients and is prepared by everyone. Only when we're all feeling lazy, we'll get take out from only China Gourmet, Thai Kitchen, Dominic's, Alfonso's, or my short registry of sushi places. My parents are very picky with their take out, especially italian food.

My mother is the only person in the family that regularly eats any breakfast (Irish oatmeal) and we all do different things for lunch, at different times. The only meal that is consistently eaten together is dinner, at our kitchen table. We eat dinner with each other every night. There's no TV in our kitchen, because we like to force conversation with one another.

Though I'm a vegetarian, no one else in my family is, and we prepare a lot of meat. We get everything from our local butcher, Rambo's. If I'm cooking, I usually make multiple small dishes, with at least one of them containing some form of meat. We try buying as much local produce as possible, usually from Melick's Farm Stand. Everything else comes from Costco.

My family doesn't really cook from any specific cuisine. My dad really likes to grill outdoors and my mother likes to bakes. I like cooking gourmet, and make all sorts of different types of food, from French, Mexican, Italian, to Indian, Ethiopian, and Middle Eastern. The kitchen always smells of spices.

There is really no average week of what we buy, because rarely is something ever made twice in our kitchen.
What we usually buy ($200-250 per week)

Fresh Vegetables: Pepers, Onions, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, leeks, scallions, potatoes, olives, tomatoes, bok choy.
Fresh Fruit: Apples, cranberries, leeches, bananas
Dairy: Gouda, Gruyere, Blue Cheese, Jack Chese, milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, unsalted butter
Meat and eggs: Lamb, ground beef, chicken, eggs, swordfish
Starch: bagels, flour, rice, lasagna noodles, lentils, egg noodles, siracha peas
Misc: Reisling, soy sauce, sriracha sauce

When I think of the food in France, an image of the open air markets of Marseilles enters my head. Fruits, vegetables, fresh caught fish, and bread strait out of the oven as far as the eye can see. But not all of france is like Marseilles; Paris is a very cosmopolitan city with very diverse food opportunities, much like New York City. 

The Le Moine family appears to be a very modern city dwelling family. Food costs much more in Paris than it would in the french country side.The Le Moine family spends over $400 dollars in food, which is much more than the majority of most families. Had the family lived closer to a farm or another food source, their weekly food cost would be much less. Most of the stereotypical "French" things you'd see are present: croissants, chocolate, wine, and cheese. As a european city dwelling family, they purchase a lot of bottled water. 

Some things do not seem as "French." I see sashimi meat in that picture. Because I'm such a huge fan of French cuisine, I couln't understand why anyone wouldn't want to eat fresh French food all the time. There is a huge amount of money spent on prepared food and fast food (over $100). Seems very... American. 

Even though some of the food is prepared or processed, the majority of the food is fresh bread, meats, and vegetables. A wide variety of meat serves as the primary source of protein. A lot of dairy is also consumed as milk and yogurt, but especially cheese. Using very rough estimation, it would appear that each family member consumed around 2000 calories per day. This diet is relatively healthy given where the family lives. Had their economic status been different and they were not able to spend as much money on food, their diet would most likely be less healthy. 

Appearances vs. Reality: RPS Food Culture

In a school that is militantly tolerant, it's pretty ironic how Rutgers Preparatory shits on culture's food traditions.  Like all things at Rutgers Prep, the food is defined by its appearance; the workers in their nice clean uniforms, all the "local grown" and organic labels, the sterile appearance of the cafeteria, environmental reform effort, and a wise name like "Sage"  would all leave one to believe that the RPS is quite impressive. If you try eating the food, the illusion created by Rutgers Preparatory School will be shattered forever. It's like taking the red pill in "The Matrix."

With unpalatable food items (if it can be called food) being served daily, how does RPS keep up the illusion? The school uses the dining commons for the annual phonation, the Middle States Accreditation Team banquet, and recently the "Dedication of the Learning Commons" celebration. These three events have two things in common: only parents and teachers are allowed, and the food is actually quite good. In order to continue serving sub-mediocre food on a daily basis to students, the school needs to keep the parents impressed. This causes disbelief when a student expresses dissatisfaction to the parent: "Oh the food can't be that bad... I had Ahi-tuna and pulled pork sliders at the phonation. You're just being picky. Back in my day..." and the school's genius plot succeeds! This practice is similar  to what many colleges do for "parents' weekend."

We are a very culturally diverse school; we have students from five continents and all different religious and ethnic backgrounds. It appears that the school caters food to a global community, and this notion is actually part of the schools marketing strategy. Further inspection will lead to disgust. As a proud NJ native, I consider myself an honorary Italian, and I am appalled by the pasta and the pizza. There is enough oil dripping off of it to power a lamp and so much garlic you will fend of friends and vampires alike. As a Jew, I cried when I tried their humus. For Chinese New Year last year, Sage made a big spiel about making "moon cakes" and how much effort went into making them. Upon seeing them, one Chinese student remarked "what is this?", so I don't think these were moon cakes.

This obsession with appearances is seen throughout the day-to-day of Rutgers Preparatory School. There is always a such pressure on students to make open houses run perfectly. God forbid we sit in our own lounges after school. Also, when Mrs. Klipstein walks by a classroom with visitors, she checks to make sure that the students are behaving like angels before bringing the strangers in. Unlike the food, there is some substance to Rutgers Prep. All we can do is hope that the food will eventually follow suit.