Graphic Novel Review: The Incredible Story of Cooking: From Prehistory to today, 500,000 years of adventure.

 reviewed by Cord Scott, UMGC Asia

Stephane Douay and Benoist Simmat and Montana Kane (translator).  The Incredible Story of Cooking: From Prehistory to today, 500,000 years of adventure. NBM Publishing, 2024. ISBN 9781681123417. https://nbmpub.com/products/the-incredible-story-of-cooking

One of the simplest, yet most complex of basic needs, is food.  We need it to survive, but in this era of food on demand in the industrialized world, we have come to take it for granted unless it is not to our taste, or even expected taste.  Through the development of food preparation, Douay and Simmat take us into the history of cooking.  While such a momentous undertaking may seem impossible, the creators give the reader a good overview of how we have come to develop our collective culinary skills.

As with any historical text, sourcing of information is important, and this book does go into a variety of sources from centuries of written material.  It also relies on information from academics, cultural anthropologists, and historical accounts to give us an interaction of food and the development of society as a whole.

The book is divided into nine general chapters, with a final chapter centered on recipes for dishes made during historical times, as previously referenced in the book.  The first chapter covers the most time, from various proto humans through to the last ice age of approximately 9000 years ago.  This chapter goes into detail as to the types of food eaten, mostly through gathering of what could be foraged while watching what other animals ate to determine what was edible versus poisonous.  Many of the anecdotes on the developments of cooking are illustrated by humorous interactions of random characters and give the stories a human quality.

The first chapter also emphasizes the importance of preservation, such as lacto-fermentation as well as that of cold storage and other methods for preservation of foods.  The domestication of grains allowed for the later concepts of farming.  These concepts allowed people to sustain themselves for longer periods of time and therefore settle into one area.  This in turn allowed societies to work on permanent structures, develop written language and even preserve history.  Some of the basic diets from this era have come back into vogue, as is referenced later in the last chapter about food sustainability and diet.

The middle chapters deal with the rise of ancient civilizations such as Sumer, Egypt, Greece and Rome, and how their dietary habits influenced the rest of the world.  The authors state the creation of alcoholic beverages was important, but did not address the issue of why water was not used (due to contaminants).  This may be simply thought to be common knowledge, clean water is something taken so much for granted in the Western World, that the recent widespread development of it often is unstated in historical settings.

The link between food and trade is also explored in the middle chapters.  The idea of Chinese cuisine, going along the “silk road” towards the West, where concepts such as pasta were altered to suit needs and adapt to local grains was important.  This migration of spices, foods and preparation methods is often understated except when it leads to crises, such as the South American potato being introduced in Europe, only to be dismissed as an unfit food item for any but animals or the poor.

Douay does a nice job of explaining the traditional aspects of kitchen duties in the ancient world through the present day.  He highlights the idea of the importance of food as haute cuisine to diplomacy and status. He also explains the development of the modern restaurant concept, gastronomy (an ancient Greek word, revitalized by the French in the later 1800s) and the idea of standardization of food preparation.

The final chapters deal with food preservation in terms of cans and the creation of the food industry.  For this section, Douay notes the industrialization of the meat packing industry in Cincinnati and Chicago, to the phases of “pure foods” promoted such as Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Graham Crackers (p. 190).  Inevitably, any discussion of modern food leads to American fast food and its impact on the global scale as well as that of general nutrition.

The last part of the book glosses over more recent trends in terms of food security and availability.  More could have been written on these more present trends.  One “new” trend is that of getting protein through the consumption of insects to reduce the land needed for cattle; however, the idea of eating insects existed in many ancient cultures.  The new food movement recipe on page 214 for sustainable soup, using scraps of food, actually is what needed to be done for most of human history until very recently. Lastly, newer movements in cooking, such as the “slow food movement” are discussed as moves towards the future.

One of the few areas where I would have liked to see a bit more information is for spices and their use in southern climates.  It seems counterintuitive, but the idea that spicy food makes one sweat, and hence cool off, is not addressed aside from a quick reference.  Overall, the book is one that will give a basic overview of the culinary world, and it is an interesting one.  The recipes are ones that are also interesting but may or may not be practical in a current setting.

Book Review: Let’s Make Bread! A Comic Book Cookbook

 Reviewed by Christina Pasqua, University of Toronto

Ken Forkish and Sarah Becan. Let’s Make Bread! A Comic Book Cookbook. PenguinRandomHouse, 2024. US$22. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/697048/lets-make-bread-by-ken-forkish-and-sarah-becan/

When my husband and I started grad school, we got tired of having to regularly buy bread. We were already baking cakes and other sweet treats, so why not try the most essential item on our weekly grocery list? We started with Julia Child’s white sandwich bread and a friend’s recipe for peasant loaf, then dinner rolls, baguettes, challah, and brioche buns. Pizza dough and focaccia were already in our back pocket, thanks to my Italian grandmother, so by the time the pandemic hit, we were baking bread regularly enough that the shift to sourdough made sense. After a few years of trial and error—and with the help of Ken Forkish’s earlier book, Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast (2012)—our sourdough starter and boule baking skills are still going strong. Reading Let’s Make Bread!, co-authored by Forkish and Sarah Becan (illustrator of Let’s Make Dumplings and Let’s Make Ramen), I am reminded that our relationship with sourdough is not an uncommon one. Making bread is a long-term project that requires regular attention and care, is rarely perfect on the first attempt, but always worth the effort, and this comic book cookbook helps explain why.

 

Let’s Make Bread is approximately 150-pages and is divided into five main sections: The First Rise; Basics & Methods; Levain; Recipes; and The Final Proof. “The First Rise” is a short overview of who the co-authors are, what the book will cover, and what you’ll learn by the end of it. The “Basics & Methods” chapter, however, provides more extensive instructions on the equipment, ingredients, and techniques you will need to get started on your sourdough baking journey. For example, it explains how to weigh and mix ingredients, how to work the dough and shape it for either a loaf pan or a dutch oven, how to proof and bake your bread, and what to look out for when determining whether your loaf is done. I particularly enjoyed seeing the anatomy of a wheat berry and learning about the science behind how the dough’s moisture levels and environmental factors, such as time of year and temperatures in your baking area, can affect the outcome of your bread making process.

 

The “Levain” chapter is perhaps the most practical and reflective of Forkish’s bread making philosophy, beginning with a definition of the term: “Levain is the French word for sourdough. Because I don’t want my breads to taste sour,” the cartoon Forkish explains, “I usually use the word ‘levain.’ Both words mean the same thing: a wild-yeast culture made up from many feedings of just flour and water” (44).

 

 

In addition to this lesson on yeast cultures, the chapter includes step-by-step instructions for getting your levain started, how to store, maintain (i.e., feed), share, and reactivate it (especially if you’ve left it in the fridge for a while), all while explaining the fermentation process at the cellular level. The next chapter gets right to the good stuff—Forkish’s tried and true recipes from the simple “Saturday Bread” you can make and enjoy in a single day to more labor-intensive (i.e., multi-day) recipes like the “Country Bread” or “fruity” pizza dough. Tips and tricks for shaping your pizza dough, making the perfect sauce, and choosing toppings are also thoughtfully included, amping up your culinary skills. Many helpful charts are also listed throughout the chapter highlighting everything from essential ingredients to a schedule of day-to-day tasks to ensure success for each recipe. One of my favorite pages from this chapter follows the “Bacon Bread” recipe. I love it not only for its vibrant use of color but also because it extends the reader’s bread making skills to the inevitable (and most important) step in baking: eating.

 

 

This page wonderfully showcases the flavor profile and versatility of Forkish’s bacon bread recipe, teaching the reader how best to serve it through simple kitchen hacks. Who doesn’t love a homemade crouton!? Finally, the book wraps up on a light summative note in “The Final Proof,” reiterating some of the main takeaways: that baking bread is delicious, rewarding, and fun!

 If this is sounding like an instruction manual, it’s because in many ways it is. As an avid reader of narrative comics, I found I was craving a bit more “story” out of this comic book cookbook. There are some elements of this scattered throughout, but it’s not as detailed as some of the food histories that you get in Becan’s other illustrated cookbooks. For this reason, I would say Let’s Make Bread is a companion piece to Forkish’s Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast, which goes into much more detail about the author’s career and relationship to bread making, as well as the history of sourdough and its key ingredients. Nonetheless, this comic stays true to the basics of Forkish’s philosophy. Visually, the color palette is simple, but the blue and green accents play nicely off the golden yellows and browns of the breads and the white background used in much of the panel design. The artist’s attention to detail is scrupulous. Every texture, stretch, fold, and crackle of the dough is accounted for, making this a very useful guide for the various sensory elements of sourdough baking.

 

I do less of the bread making and more of the bread eating in my household, so I appreciate how this book helped me understand the basic elements of baking without the pressure to do it for myself or, if I were to attempt these recipes, to be good at it. Instead, Let’s Make Bread! revels in the experimentation process. This comic book cookbook would make a perfect gift for an aspiring bread baker, old or young, especially visually oriented folks who prefer illustrated instructions when learning something new. It’s full of humor, great recipes, and yummy illustrations that will have you baking (and eating) bread in no time.

Book Review: Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice: A Thai Comic Book Cookbook

reviewed by Cord A. Scott, UMGC Okinawa

Christina De Witte and Mallika Kauppinen. Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice:  A Thai Comic Book Cookbook. New York:  Ten Speed Graphic, 2024. 208 pp. US $22.99. ISBN:  978-1-9848-6160-3. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709867/noodles-rice-and-everything-spice-by-christina-de-witte-and-mallika-kauppinen/

For the culinary curious, but challenged, any sort of cookbook can be fraught with anxiety and frustration. What might seem simple on paper may turn nightmarish in the kitchen. However, the origins of food are far more intriguing for readers and culinary practitioners. For Christina De Witte and Mallika Kauppinen, the goal of combining food origins, recipes, and an ease of explanation is in Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice. As with so many books, it is a labor of love, as well as a long creative process to the final product.

In the first part of the book, the authors describe the manner in which they came to work on this project. For Christina, it was growing up as a mixed-race woman in Belgium. While she spoke Flemish most of her life, she often felt not quite comfortable in either her European life, or that of her Thai origins, of which she knew very little. It was only after she became an adult that she decided to embark on a quest to learn her mother’s language, which led her to an online teacher, Mallika (10).

Mallika’s story was interesting and meandering. She grew up in southern Thailand and started assisting in her family restaurant early on. She moved to Bangkok and worked at an aunt’s restaurant through adulthood. As an adult, she worked as a travel guide, and while in Finland, she met her now husband. After establishing a new life, she started cooking for neighbors, started a restaurant, and then took on virtual students for a Thai language class, which is where the two met.

The first part of the book describes the general areas of Thailand and how the food is a reflection of the local interaction with related cultures. For example, southern Thai food is spicy and heavily influenced by Malay and Indonesian culture, while the northern area has a Chinese influence. The Northwest is influenced by India and Bangkok is metropolitan and almost unto itself (17-21). From this point, the book goes into a variety of dishes made with specific ingredients. These form the chapters and are reflective of the areas in which the recipes originated.

From this point, the book is divided into chapters on ingredients, snacks and starters, noodle dishes, rice dishes, curries and soups, desserts and drinks, and finally, staples of Thai cooking. The first section, which discusses equipment, as well as Asian spices and ingredients, emphasizes the importance of cooking devices such as rice cookers (for ease), woks (for a traditional feel), as well as items, such as a mortar and pestle, for properly blending some of the ingredients. The authors also note what ingredients work best, which can be frozen for later use, and which sauces are authentic. Of particular interest was the “three buddies” spice (34-35), consisting of cilantro, garlic and peppercorn, which is frequently used in Thai cooking. The use of spices is another area of detail, as those not overly familiar with Thai cooking may shy away from chilies. The authors note that it often is left to the cook to decide, but, overall, the chilies bring a balance of flavor to the dish (36-37).

From this point, the descriptions become more precise, and again offer historical context. In the noodles chapter, some noodles originate from China and their texture and style may alter the presentation of the dish. There is also a historical overview of the flooding in Bangkok in 1942, when roadside restaurants were able to make dishes that all could quickly get, and were delicious at the same time.

The chapter on curries even offers some humor. For example, it is recommended to wear either regular work goggles (or even swim goggles!) when preparing curries. The pounding of the chilies causes some to fly out and it runs a risk of getting into the eyes. The cosmopolitan nature of Thai food, especially from Bangkok, is expanded with the brief history of Maria Guyomor di Pinha. She was of mixed heritage and introduced egg yolk desserts from Europe to the Thai community. When combined with other items, such as papayas and pineapples, introduced from Portugal (23), it has given Thai food a unique taste profile and quality that is renown the world over.

This book is a lively read, with effective explanations of the recipes. The preparation may inhibit those who are culinarily challenged (reviewer included), but, at the same time, does have one minor issue:  substitutions for items such as fish sauce or squid sauce when preparing the food. This may frustrate those who have allergies to shellfish. Additionally, there are few truly vegetarian dishes, for those who do not consume meat. The assumption is that one would cook the dish without meat, but this will also alter the original taste. However, this was one of the few issues that was noted.

On the whole, the book was a fast, engaging read that offers a new way to educate people on the history of food from a specific region, while offering visual references to the cooking process. In the end, there is also the additional engagement of not just reading but making the food. And in the end, it’s not only nourishment for the brain, but also the body.