Joel S. Denker - The Carrot Purple and Other Curious Stories of the Food We Eat (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy)

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Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Denker, Joel.

The carrot purple and other curious stories of the food we eat / Joel S. Denker.

pages cm. (Rowman & Littlefield studies in food and gastronomy) Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-4885-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-4886-1 (electronic) 1. FoodAnecdotes. 2. Food cropsAnecdotes. 3. VegetablesAnecdotes. 4. FruitAnecdotes. 5. CookingAnecdotes. I. Title.

TX353.D4329 2015

641.3dc23 2015015016

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To Peggy, without whose belief in this work and dedication to the project, it would never have been.

Contents

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, this multiyear project would not have been accomplished without the unstinting support, encouragement, and tireless work of my wife, Peggy, on all phases of it. When I doubted at times whether it would ever be done, Peggy urged me to keep the faith.

I owe a good deal to my editors Ken Albala and Suzanne Staszak-Silva. Suzannes assistant, Kathryn Knigge, was also very helpful.

This book grew out of the food writing I did for more than two decades for the Washington newspaper, The InTowner . Peter Wolff, the papers editor and publisher, provided me with strong backing and encouragement throughout. He gave me a wide berth to develop my own voice, my own style of food journalism.

My good friend, Patrick McDonough, offered me invaluable assistance in carrying out the research.

My association with the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, at which I first presented my early carrot discoveries, was invaluable. This annual gathering of culinary amateurs and professionals, of students, scholars, artists, writers, gardeners, and a host of other food enthusiasts, was a major influence. Reading its proceedings and attending its meetings convinced me that I was part of a larger community. Oxford is a model of serious writing about food in all its dimensions for the general reader. Its vast body of work is cultivated without being prissy or pedantic. Attending a meeting at St. Catherines College in the company of luminaries like Elisabeth Luard, Claudia Roden, Barbara K. Wheaton, Madhur Jaffrey, Sami Zubaida, Gillian Riley, Bruce Kraig, Raymond Sokolov, and Jill Norman, among many others, was inspirational. Oxford veterans Charles Perry and Ken Albala made me feel welcome and graciously shared their wealth of food knowledge with me.

There are many others to thank for their assistance. In my quest for a publisher, Sara Roahen, the late Steven Shaw, Andrew Smith, Matthew Goodman, John T. Edge, and Susan R. Friedland all offered advice, and Ken Albala brought me together with Rowman & Littlefield.

A wide range of experts offered me the benefits of their food learning. Philipp W. Simon, an authority on carrots, took time out for many conversations, and taught me that a seemingly ordinary vegetable could have a fascinating and intricate history. Larry Pierce, Carlos Quiros, David Gentilcore, Jim McCann, Susan Tax Freeman, Helen Saberi, and David Plotnikoff each lent a very helpful hand. Pat Hooper from the Artichoke Advisory Board schooled a novice about the history of her industry and helped me to locate indispensable materials. Hugo Tottino from Ocean Mist Farms, the artichoke grower, and Margaret DArrigo-Martin, a former executive at DArrigo Brothers, the purveyor of Andy Boy broccoli and other vegetables, provided useful information about the history of their businesses.

My visits to restaurants and cafs helped me to flesh out my stories. The late, beloved Fred Cooper and his wife Barbara accompanied Peggy and me on many of our early expeditions. Fred was always enthusiastic about any new ethnic food discovery. Charles S. Vizzini offered companionship and insights about Italian vegetables and the food lore of Sicily, the land of his forebears. Emebet (Amy) Tsiga taught me a great deal about coffee and the spices of Ethiopia, her birthplace. In recent years, I have leaned on Luis Marroquin, the proprietor of Washingtons Taqueria Distrito Federal, for help in understanding Mexican food, as well as Latin cooking in general.