Depression-Era Food on On Point today
May 15th, 2009 by Maria
This intrigues me. Won’t be home to listen - hurray podcasts! Different end of the spectrum than No More Takeout, but On Point’s second hour today will talk about “Food Files from the WPA.” Featuring Mark Kurlansky (author of Cod, and Salt), whose new book explores the American Food from the WPA files. Cambridge’s own JJ Gonson of Cuisine en Locale, localvore and Best of Boston personal chef extraordinaire (and mom of two Graham and Parks students in between all of that!), will also be on hand with some of the actual food. Can’t help but wonder if Tom Ashbrook has ever had tripe (cow stomach) before. It does’t seem to mesh with the whole NPR thing in my mind but journalists are an adventurous bunch.
My dad’s great-aunt always loved to make tripe for him, it was one of his favorite dishes of hers - I could never get past the strange appearance and texture. Always thought it was an Italian immigrant thing, but perhaps everyone ate it during the Great Depression.
Acutally, both Tom and Mark not only have had, but LIKE tripe. I know that it must be possible. After all, I like camembert after a lot of years of trying, but I can’t even stand the smell of the stuff, and my home and car are rather tripey at the mo’.
I think I messed it up. The tripe I got from Super 88 was very white, and melted down to almost nothing when cooked as long as suggested for raw tripe in the book. I have suspicions of pre cooking or bleaching or some other preparation that I did not anticipate.
So it goes. Note to self, next time get raw, unwashed tripe.
Yeah, right!
Thanks for the shout out!
xo JJ
Hmm. Well, if they need a tripe hit and can’t convince you to give it another go, my dad had some at Vinny’s in Somerville recently that he pronounced to be acceptable. Although Anthony, in all his four year old discernment, pronounced the meatballs not to be as good as Grandma’s or Mommy’s. My mom claims she tasted his and agreed, but I’d say he knows where his bread is buttered….It’s not like he can take himself out to Vinny’s whenever he needs a meatball fix.