Rachel Laudan

Rachel, do you know when or where Jane Grigson said her wonderful thing about masterpieces and ordinariness? I’ve searched without success, and would like to verify it.

best,
mm

Mary Margaret Pack

Personal chef, food stylist and food writer

It is a wonderful quote, isn’t it. “We have more than enough masterpieces. What we need is a better standard of ordinariness.”    And if there are any readers of this blog who don’t know Jane Grigson’s work, well, you have a treat in store if you like a meld of intelligence, poetry, scholarship and cooking.

I had it from John Whiting (whose page is well worth knowing even if you not lucky enough to be going to Paris bistros).   If there are

Here John Whiting’s response to your question, Mary Margaret.  Small wonder you could not find it.

My source was Paul Henderson’s “Cornucopia: A Gastronomic Tour of Britain”, London, Little, Brown, 2000, ISBN 0-316-64817-5. Here’s the context, where it appears on p. 277, the next to the last page:

“It is a hard thing to say, but fine food is far from the most important thing in the world. It is not really a question of reaching perfection – that would be too much to ask – nor of lotus-eating, but of finding and maintaining a level of confidence in the food we eat day by day that enables us to get on with the rest of our lives. I forget who said it [he later told me that it was Jane Grigson], but the phrase could apply perfectly well to the food of Britain: ‘We have more than enough masterpieces. What we need is a better standard of ordinariness.’”

1. Not food, but fabrics.  Scroll through to look at the photos.

2. A special way of preparing young rice from the Philippines. And while you are at it check out Robyn Eckhardt’s EatingAsia, evocative and informative about (mainly) the street foods of Southeast Asia.

3. Who knew?  The USDA still sends out plant collectors.

In the months ahead, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists plan to collect walnuts from Kyrgyzstan, grasses from Russia, and carrots and sunflowers from fields across the Southeastern United States in efforts that will enhance one of the nation’s most effective tools for protecting the food supply.

Hat tip to Jeremy Cherfas.

4. Almost Italian by Skip Lombardi is full of acute observations on American Italian food.  My only quibble is that I think he should call it A Different Italian.  Anyway Skip has now published a book about his Sicilian grandparents’ kitchen,  La Cocina dei Poveri on Kindle.   A plus for all us potential self publishers out there.  He figured out how to do it on Kindle not through a self-publishing companies.

5. On the subject of Italian, here is a lovely piece on stamped pasta by Laura Schenone.

6. Lots of interesting resources on Asia at asia-www-monitor@anu.edu.au

Such as this.

http://academic.reed.edu/formosa/formosa_index_page/Formosa_index.html

Peter Scholliers just reminded me that I really should add the journal he edits to Getting Started in Food History.  Absolutely.   He and the other two editors are at the very forefront of food history.  Here’s his note and the link.

Dear Rachel,
Perhaps an addition to your section with journals: Food & History (edited by Grieco, Montanari and myself, published twice a year, mostly about Europe (but inbedded in world history -naturally). Published by the Institut Europeen de l’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation (Tours, France). All information via: http://www.iehca.eu/IEHCA_v4/food.html/.
Best,
Peter