buylotrogold

: What sort of oaf would put squirrel heads in a burgoo? You save them for : the : : ObFiddleTune: SQUIRREL HEADS AND GRAVY.... : I read, though, that all the squirrely sorts of recipes are written : right out of the new _Joy of Cooking_ in favor of dissertations on : pasta and foccacia. That's why old cookbooks are usually more interesting than new, trendy ones... ObBook: SUNSET magazine's WESTERN COOKBOOK ca. 1946 ObTVShow: THE VICTORIAN KITCHEN Back when we all used lard, life wasn't so scary..                                         Neal Barrett, Jr in                                         DEAD DOG BLUES      I have in my possession an old Official U.S. Army Cookbook- I would have to check the date, but I think it was issued during World War II or shortly after.  Anyway, Ted, this would seem to be the answer to your prayers- Army culinary philosophy held that few recipes existed that couldn't be improved by adding a healthy dollop of lard.  None of this fancy nouvelle cuisine crap, either- Seasonings?  You got yer salt, you got yer pepper, what the hell more do you want?      The list of recipes reads like a roll-call of absent friends: corned beef hash, scrambled eggs a la militaire (that is, made from good, wholesome dried eggs)and, most evocative of all, shit on a shingle.      Directions have been carefully included with each classic recipe, but they will give effete contempary cooks a certain amount of pause- rather than subject its apprentice chefs to the needless complexities of civilian cooking (how many pints to the quart, how many teaspoons to the tablespoon, etc.), the Army made up its own system of weights and measures (take 6 number 3 dippersfull of lard.  Melt in a hot skillet. Add 12 number 5 dippersfull of dried eggs, stir in 3 number 1 dippersfull of dried milk, reconstituted.  Cook at moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until done).      Damnation, I'm starting to drool on my keyboard, just thinking about it!                                                         Bob Gore

Boom-Boom booms:         Which reminds me. Vance, I think, or someone, told         me MFKF had done a bio of Brillat-Savarin. I have         lost the reference, so if anyone recalls such a                 delicious work, could they remind me sweetly of the         _title_? MFK translated Brillat-Savarin's brilliant: *PHYSIOLOGIE DU GOUT, ou, MEDITATIONS DE GASTRONOMIE TRANSCENDENTE*.         love (cold first pressing) Boom-Boom Verily oilily FIDO