books

[Guest guest]

Some interesting books I took out the library this week (when they didn't have

WP's book, The Milk Book, or anything by Aajonus Vonderplanitz:-():

1. Real Stew by Clifford A. . Chock full of traditional, authentic

recipes

from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds... most of which could be prepared with

NT ingredients. Many recipes call for feet and other things I never heard of

until I read NT. I plan on buying this for myself because so many of the

recipes look great.

2. A Soothing Broth by Pat Willard. A charmingly written book about dishes

traditionally prepared for invalids. She's not NT, as she warns against the

use of raw meat, dairy, and eggs (as the original recipes called for), but many

of the recipes can be adapted. A great source of mostly lost folk wisdom.

3. Living the Natural Life by Grace Firth. A book by an amusing woman who

has shot and preserved her own moose (!), and is a traditional farm wife. It

was written in the 70's, but I bet could be found on the internet. The book is

all about how to preserve nature's bounty, with chapters on curing meats,

pickling, making fermented drinks, potting meats and cheeses, etc. Much is

non NT, but still fascinating. I was especially interested in the potted foods.

It

seems very NT, but maybe no one does it since it's not necessary anymore?

Maybe this is where SPAM came from? (I like SPAM...:-)) Also great stuff on

easy homemade cheeses of many different varieties... her writing style is

very whimsical and entertaining. (i.e. " I have discovered that pickles have

interesting things to say; some are queens of impudence, haughty and

impatient sours; some are friends that blend with every occasion; and others

are scoundrels, and burp bitter messages. " )

Reading the last book raised some questions for me, however. All the

fermenting of beverages was done with yeast. Is this bad? Isn't yeast part of

the kombucha mushroom? Is using yeast a more recent development (the

author's grandparents used it), and not as good as using whey or bacterial

cultures, like kefir? Also, saltpeter was used in all the curing of meats. Do

they use this today? Is this healthy? All I know about saltpeter is the

(possibly untrue) story of camp counselors giving it to little boys to suppress

their sex drives.

Thanks for any enlightenment you guys can offer,