Words to Eat By by Ina Lipkowitz [ A Featured Review ]

Page 2 – Words to Eat By

At its best, the major sections of the book reveal interesting bits of history. Want to know the stories behind the food of the conquered people and the opinions of the conquered? It’s in here. Wonder about the practical problems associated with the spread of Christianity? Lipkowitz covers apples as forbidden fruit; the difference between a meat fast in a Mediterranean climate and a northern one; tales about beer and butter and how they challenged church leaders. These are the moments when the midsection of the book succeeds. The section on bread, for instance, includes a lengthy discussion about an early church argument: When Jesus said He is the bread of life, which bread did He mean? More then just an abstract discussion, this argument assumed that whatever bread He meant should be the bread used in communion. This became a point of historic division for the church, but a connecting point between me and the book. How often do Christians miss the bigger picture for the sake of a small detail?

The connection thinned and broke at the moments when my experiences, education, and biases differed from the author’s. I did not always feel a part of the assumed culture of the book. I imagine that it’s challenging to remember the basic sources of raw food when surrounded by concrete, but I can only try to empathize. I am far from a city girl. I grew up with a small orchard in the backyard, a big garden, animals named Steak and Bacon. I loved the transformation of those raw materials into both low and high meals. I have no guilt about eating a big pile of meat from an animal I once looked in the eye or fed from a bottle. I have no shame about eating a garden supper, and if you came to my house, I’d serve those dishes with pride, fully expecting that you would enjoy them. For me, dishes that I might cook or eat with Italian or French names are called by those names because they are of Italian or French origin. I would eat coq au vin, and would not hesitate to eat chicken in red wine. I would eat calamari fritti, and would not hesitate to eat fried squid. The book assumes that I find the foreign, non-Germanic name more appealing. While I think calamari is a more lovely sounding word than squid, the term squid isn’t repulsive to me.

The discussion of dairy further separated us. The author tells of a woman responding to a blog post about milk as a beverage. The woman confessed that she drinks milk, but does not order it in restaurants out of shame. Lipkowitz goes on at length about how this typifies culture, but it’s completely outside mine. My culture knows that the first name of the dairy farmer. He and his family and his cows live about a mile and a half from my house. My culture orders a glass of milk as our appetites dictate, bars, restaurants, wherever.

So, how did my date with the book go from a promising start to a disappointing end? I couldn’t figure it out, so I went back to the introduction. Lipkowitz received an invitation to a pig-pickin’, and found the idea disturbing. She attended anyway, and while she felt things I wouldn’t, her lively, warm, and personal narrative trumped the differences between us. She told her story well, throwing the reader into the middle of her personal culinary crisis. Later, her commitment to her thesis, combined with an academic style (Lipkowitz is a professor at MIT) replaced her earlier tone. Rereading made me wish for a different book, one with a stronger sense of her experiences.

Despite feeling that the thesis of Words to Eat By was overstated, despite wishing I could know the author better, there’s still much to enjoy and appreciate about this book. How much have our attitudes about food changed? How does our language, our environment, our history and religion shape what we consider good food? It would be a pleasant discussion over dinner with the author, I’m certain, whatever food was served.

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Laura Tokie has worked as a writer, performer, teacher and caterer, and lives in Michigan with her three kids and forgiving husband. You can keep up with Laura at her blog.