“When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it.”
So writes M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992), the first great female gastronome of the twentieth century, who introduced American readers to the marvels of French cooking years before Julia ever chopped an onion at Le Cordon Bleu. M.F.K. Fisher was one of the great culinary writers of all time not for her recipes, but for the way she uses food as metaphor. For M.F.K. Fisher, the mindful preparation and eating of food was an art, a philosophy, a way of making sense of the world. Her essays are wise, moving, and funny.
M.F.K. Fisher was in essence the mother of food blogging. Thousands of Mad Housewives now share their sensual and humorous experiences with food, their recipes, their passions. And why not? Food sustains life, and writing about food is writing about all that sustains life.
In her 1942 book, “How to Cook a Wolf,” M.F.K. Fisher gives practical advice on how to provide a nutritious meal when there is little in the pantry. But it is so much more. She talks about how loving care needs to be taken with food, especially when times are tough. How every part of a vegetable or meat is to be cherished, the juices from steamed vegetables used as the base for another dish. How one appreciates a baked apple for dessert when there is nothing else, how succulent it is, how many flavors one can find in it. Be intimate with your food, she tells us, chop it, grate it, clean it. Enjoy the process of cooking, enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I also have been reading a memoir by a woman who was part of the French Resistance during World War II. The rebels plan their dinners as carefully as their espionage—after blowing up a bridge, they meet at a favorite restaurant for paté, a Bresse capon, goat cheese, and a bottle of Beaujolais. They are French, after all. I think of Anne Frank and her family cloistered in an attic, joyous at receiving a crate of strawberries. When the war was at its worst, food was a refuge of relaxation and equilibrium. Sharing food with strangers was a way of thumbing their nose at hardship.
When you have little food, you experience it intensely.
And now? When unemployment approaches 11 percent, how does one keep the wolf from the door? One way is to always have a well stocked pantry. Here are ten inexpensive ingredients every pantry should have. Just add a few other staples (milk, olive oil, cheese) and you can always come up with something wonderful for dinner.
- Many varieties of dried pasta
- Jars of different pasta sauces, including frozen basil pesto
- Bags of frozen vegetables
- Frozen ground meat or meatballs
- A bag of potatoes
- Frozen chicken breasts
- Grains—brown rice, millet, barley, couscous
- Frozen shrimp and scallops
- Chicken stock—cans, or home prepared and frozen
- Bags of fresh salad and spinach
Keep a few bottles of Mad Housewife wine on hand, and every night you will feast!
When all else fails, make soup. Soup is the simplest, yet most satisfying of all meals with an infinite number of variations. In the fall and winter, you can make a large pot of soup and serve it for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Nutritious, warm, delicious. Served with good bread, cheese, and a bottle of Mad Housewife, nothing is more perfect.
When you buy chicken breasts, don’t buy those naked anemic deboned breasts—buy it still on the bones. It is less expensive, tastes better, and makes several meals. At home, debone the breasts, throw away the skin and fat, freeze the breasts (in serving sizes—e.g., two if you normally cook for two), and toss the bones in a pot of water, with salt, chopped onion, celery, and herbs. Boil for a half hour. Remove the bones, let cool, take off remaining chicken, and throw it back into the pot.
What you now have is priceless. A stock that will make any dish taste gourmet. Or make the basis for a succulent soup. Freeze for later, or start your soup now. The wolf will thank you with a smile.
Tortelloni Soup with Zucchini
While traveling through Tuscany as a young woman I discovered two simple and lovely soups: one made with zucchini in broth, the other with tortelloni in broth. I put them together. Perfect for a light dinner, or an elegant first course. And it only takes minutes to make.
6 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
2 scallions, chopped (or ½ onion)
9 ounce package of fresh tortelloni (sausage, cheese, or prosciutto)
2 smallish zucchini, sliced in rounds
1 tablespoon basil pesto (optional)
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
dash of fresh lemon juice
black pepper
1. Sauté the scallions in EVVO until soft. Add stock and boil. Add tortelloni. Cook per instructions on package.
2. When pasta is almost cooked, add zucchini and cook for 1 minute. Add basil pesto.
3. Serve into bowls. Add dash of lemon juice and pepper. Sprinkle on Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and parsley. Serve with Mad Housewife Chardonnay and crusty bread.
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