Page 24 - Boca Club News - September '22

Page 24, Boca Club News

The Arts

Book Review...“The Secret History of Food: Strange but

True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat”

By Nils A. Shapiro the foods we eat and the facts that Mr. Johnson himself once admitted that most
On page 141 of this month’s impact that foods have people simply preferred vanilla.
selection, author Matt Siegel had on us, physically and Of course, while the author does not claim this as the
connects comments by two other psychologically. reason for the flavor’s overwhelming popularity, he does
writers to make an interesting point: As just one example of point out the following:
“Average Americans and human intervention, here is “...vanilla is one of the few ice cream flavors to be
Europeans not only live better than an excerpt from the chapter named after genitalia, thanks to Spanish conquistadors
more than 99 percent of the human on corn (originally called who ‘discovered’ it in the sixteenth century and called it
beings who have ever existed, they teosinte); some of the text vainilla, a Spanish derivative of the Latin vagina, because
live better than most of the royalty of history...gas-station has been omitted for lack of of its resemblance when spread open to harvest its seeds
minimarts now sell cabernets and chardonnays ‘far superior space: (and probably because they hadn’t seen their wives in a long
in quality to the wines once drunk by the kings of France.’ “We’re not even sure time). They then brought the plants back home to Europe
Today supermarkets offer at low cost dozens of items what the people who first and spent three hundred years trying in vain to pollinate
almost anyone who has ever lived considered unattainable ate teosinte actually did them because they couldn’t find the rostellum. (Insert clitoris
delicacies and died without tasting.” with it; for starters, an ear joke here.)”
It is an interesting point most of us never even think of it contained only five to twelve kernels compared to the One of the things we learn in the chapter, “Attack of
about. And by the time you reach that paragraph in this five to twelve hundred on an ear of corn today, and each the Killer Tomatoes,” is that it took six years of escalating
270-page book, (193 of text plus 77 of Notes and Index), of them was only around one-tenth the weight of a modern court battles before the U.S. Supreme Court took the case
you will already have learned many hundreds of surprising, kernel. So an entire ear of teosinte would have been about that led to a key decision in 1893: “Supreme Court justices
even shocking, facts about a subject that consumes us the size of a cigarette, though probably shorter. And there read from various dictionaries and heard testimony from
every day of our lives. Even better, the whole is served up wasn’t a central cob, so you couldn’t eat the whole thing... expert witnesses before ultimately ruling that tomatoes were
deliciously by a writer with a sense of humor that prompted You could eat only the tiny kernels, which were individually vegetables because they “are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips,
one reviewer to describe this as “a laugh-out-loud funny wrapped in an almost impenetrable outer casing...Yet for turnips, beets, cauliflower, celery, and lettuce, usually served
read.” some reason our ancestors saw potential in this lowly grass at dinner...and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.”
Matt Siegel has written about food and culture for such and kept replanting it, choosing only the seeds with the Such other chapter titles as “A History of Swallowing,”
publications as The Atlantic, Fast Company, and The Paris most attractive traits—say, height, girth, tenderness, and “Pie, Progress, and Plymouth Rock,” “Breakfast of
Review. He is a former English professor who lives with disease resistance—until it grew into a tall and dependable Champions” and “Honey Laundering” further attest to the
his dog, Waffles. Having now read “The Secret History of grain they could live on. So it was a lot like dating in high variety of topics and the author’s sense of humor.
Food,” I would unhesitatingly place him at the top of my school.” One doesn’t often find on a literary menu a tasty
list of ideal dinner companions. Those of us of a certain age will remember the ubiquitous smorgasbord of hearty information, served with a generous
It is clear that the author has done a great deal of chain of Howard Johnson restaurants, 1,000 of which lined helping of sweet wit. I strongly recommend that you place
research in the development of this book. He covers an the nation’s highways and dotted big cities during and after your order for “The Secret History of Food” as soon as
impressive range of topics related to this one subject, the World War Two era, a new location opening every nine possible.
taking us on a journey that extends from mankind’s earliest days. They were famous for their giant outdoor signage
days on this planet to the present day—and includes both advertising 28 flavors of ice cream. This book’s chapter,
the ways in which humans have altered the very nature of “The Vanilla of Society,” points out among its many tasty

RE-ELECT

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 4

Mayor Robert Weinroth is working for us

Lowered taxes in Palm Beach County Protected our environment and water resources

Supported our first responders Reduced costs and tackled the affordability crisis

Kept our neighborhoods safe Solved traffic and transportation challenges

PALM BEACH COUNTY REDUCES PROPERTY TAX RATE,

THE FIRST CUT IN 12 YEARS

CUTTING TAXES 7/13/22

Paid by Robert Weinroth, Democrat, for County Commission

Re-Elect Robert Weinroth Tuesday, November 8

www.RobertWeinroth.com