Leo Racicot, a friend of M. F. K. Fisher’s, wrote an essay about M. F.’s sojourn in Japan, a part of her life that rarely gets any ink. This total immersion in the Japanese way of eating and of living changed M.F.K. Fisher. Admirers of her work boldly underscore her sojourns in France, particularly in … More M. F. K. Fisher in Japan: A Meditation by Leo Racicot
The first guest post ever on Gherkins & Tomatoes! The following story comes from Leo Racicot, a talented poet and writer and friend of the famous author, M. F. K. Fisher. Ms. Fisher wrote extraordinary prose about food and life and everything in between. She pretty much started all the hullabaloo about food writing and … More A Trip to the Bathroom, Being a Reflection on the Passing and the Passion (and the red-walled toilette) of M. F. K. Fisher
Everything is moving so fast with the spread of COVID-19. Its true impact hits me when I read the stories coming out of Italy. A society where family and community are so strong, yet now they cannot physically be together, not even to bury their dead. A very human practice now off limits in a … More In a State of Siege: Coronavirua (COVID-19) – Day 5
There’s a whining at the threshold, There’s a scratching at the floor. To work! To work! In Heaven’s name! The wolf is at the door! ~~~C. P. S. Gilman The season of gift-giving will soon be upon us, with the mail deliverer knocking at our door, bearing credit card bills, not gifts. The holiday season hovers … More Cooking with Wolves (Or, Keeping the Wolf Away from the Door)
We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival. ~~ Winston Churchill ~~ Suffering? Why on earth write about suffering on a food blog, especially one ostensibly about cookbooks and their history? Aren’t food blogs supposed to be full of fun-but-complex recipes that you can make in 1 minute, … More Suffering — Sometimes it’s Just About Food and Sometimes Not
I’ll be blunt: I like my food with a heaping handful of nostalgic romanticism. Yes, there are those who claim that the present food landscape sparkles with the dreamy hue reminiscent of rose-colored glasses, that the perfume of nostalgia permeates too much of present-day “discourse” on food. And then there’s the flip side of that … More Pass the Nostalgia, and Nix the Organics
Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are. ~~ Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin ~~ As Alice Arndt said in Culinary Biographies, “The names of the most famous cooks of their day, the most influential writers and thinkers, the most fashionable restaurateurs, often bring blank looks when mentioned today.” Just the other … More Cooking: The Theory, with a Little Help from Chimps
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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