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by Sonia Fuentes
Today’s celebrity chefs and culinary figures
are ubiquitous, and details of their lives and
work are often well documented. Yet, at a time
when information about nearly everything is
abundant, there’s a dearth of facts about
historic culinarians, those who influenced
the modern palate. So culinary historian
Alice Arndt, along with other experts she’s
met over the last 25 years, compiled a
dictionary of 200 of the world’s most
influential characters — some infamous,
others imaginary — in the history of food.
The result, five years in the making, is
Culinary Biographies, a comprehensive
reference book for food professionals in all
fields. “I really needed the book,” says Arndt.
Entries span the centuries, beginning with
Pythagoras (sixth century BC) and ending
with the beloved Julia Child. The scope of
the subjects’ professions and interests is
impressive; among them are teachers,
writers, artists, culinary ambassadors,
physicians and entrepreneurs. Photos, art or
reproduced documents accompany each one
to two-page bio.
Some of the culinarians listed are better
known for accomplishments other than
those associated directly with food, although
they played significant roles in its
development. Cato (234 – 149 BC), the
Roman politician who wrote “De Agri
Cultura, On Farming,” a farming handbook,
included recipes for breads and cakes and
tips for making wine. James Buchanan
Brady (1856 – 1917), on the other hand,
made his mark on culinary history by being
an expert gourmand. His dinner often
included no less than 12 courses. Legend has
it that Brady tasted Sole Meuniere while in
France and liked it so much he dispatched a
spy to the restaurant to procure the recipe
for reproduction in America.
Even fictitious characters show up along the
way. Aunt Sammy, a radio personality
developed by the United States Department
of Agriculture in 1926, offered up 15-minute
segments where she passed on household
tips, recipes and seasonal menus. Women
throughout the country read identical
scripts, lending their regional accents to the
character. Aunt Sammy, understood to be a
relative of Uncle Sam, become so popular
that the USDA published a cookbook of
“her” recipes.
indexes and a list of significant texts is a
geographical index indicating that many of
the individuals profiled had at one time or
another lived in the U.S. Arndt explains
in her introduction that, “Our intention
to make our roster of biographees as
international as possible has run up
against the fact that many cultures, less
individualistic than those of the West,
generally do not record the names of
individuals involved with food.”
Although Ardnt says that this project was a
challenging one, she’s already thinking about a
series of regional biographies from the
Americas and Europe.
Arndt is the author of Seasoning Savvy:
How to Cook with Herbs, Spices, and Other
Flavorings. She splits her time between
Houston and San Francisco, where her
daughter lives with her family, and where
she is a charter member of Culinary
Historians of Northern California.
Culinary Biographies, edited by Alice Arndt; Yes Press, Inc. (hardcover, 418 pp., $48.00).
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