tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post7425511680294834930..comments2024-03-18T19:37:39.556-05:00Comments on Western Fictioneers: California CocinaWestern Fictioneershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01683314579075461026noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-19679476398931792642013-11-14T11:42:40.921-06:002013-11-14T11:42:40.921-06:00Tom, I've always considered myself a "coo...Tom, I've always considered myself a "cook" as I understand "chef" is a French word for boss...and I'm sure as hell not the boss in my kitchen even though I do most the cooking.L. J. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506184514602317769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-68432743898178570882013-11-13T04:45:53.358-06:002013-11-13T04:45:53.358-06:00So, Larry, I'm guessing the real difference be...So, Larry, I'm guessing the real difference between a cook and a chef is that the chef is the one staring lovingly at all his or her shiny kitchen equipment, while the cook is the one laboring over a sizzling grill, flipping burgers with a three-patty spatula. Thanks for the fun post.<br />thomasrizzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00762315714546553945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-55984719615250013702013-11-12T20:09:50.977-06:002013-11-12T20:09:50.977-06:00Always enjoyed cooking and recipes are just sugges...Always enjoyed cooking and recipes are just suggestions in my book. Fun and informative. Keep them coming. DorisRenaissance Womenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-53927170029221924852013-11-12T15:13:02.274-06:002013-11-12T15:13:02.274-06:00Some more stuff....
Saturday I attended Mass in t...Some more stuff....<br /><br />Saturday I attended Mass in the morning.... Not the least interesting to me were the costumes. Standing, kneeling, sitting over the floor were the people of many races. Here is a genuine American; in that aisle kneels a genuine Irishman, his wife by his side; near him some Germans; in the short pew by the wall I recognize some acquaintances, French Catholics, also an Italian. But the majority of the congregation are Spanish Californians.... All are dressed in holiday clothes. Here is a man with Parisian rig; there one with the regular Mexican costume, buttons down the sides of his pants; beside him is an Indian with fancy moccasins and gay leggins; behind me, in the vestibule, looking on with curiosity, are two Chinamen. No place but California can produce such groups.<br /><br />From the journal of<br />William H. Brewer<br />Sunday evening, March 31 (Easter) 1861<br />Los Angeles<br />L. J. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506184514602317769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-56621785878721187792013-11-12T12:41:30.343-06:002013-11-12T12:41:30.343-06:00From the Introduction to California Cocina:
This ...From the Introduction to California Cocina:<br /><br />This cookbook is, like my Cooking Wild & Wonderful, a narrative as well as a "recipe" book. It's full of historical references as it's a look at the past, a look at old California, and the wonderful lifestyle that proceeded the Gold Rush and the influx of 350,000 argonaughts from the world over. The California Gold Rush was the largest migration in the history of the world, as California, in four years, grew from fifteen or twenty thousand paisanos (Californios, of Mexican and Spanish heritage) and native American's. California had over 30 tribes who mostly lived in peace and harmony in the plentitude of the state with it's mild weather and abundance.<br /><br />In the middle of the eighteen hundreds, before the interlopers began to control the water for irrigation, the great central San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento Valley to the north, enjoyed over 4,000 miles of salmon stream. Now it's the most productive agricultural valley in the world, but the salmon, and much else, is lost.<br /><br />But that's another story for another time.<br /><br />This is a tale of, and an opportunity to enjoy a taste of, life as the Californios lived it.<br />You'll see lots of quotes out of journals and novels of the time, some from my own writing but all based on much of my reading of those old texts, and lot's of recipes purloined from cookbooks and recollections long out of print.<br /><br />I hope you get a feeling for the fun, and education, I got out of compiling this "cookbook." And I hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I enjoyed writing (and copying) the content.<br /><br />Buen provecho, amigos!<br />L. J. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506184514602317769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-58005931072705610502013-11-12T12:24:45.122-06:002013-11-12T12:24:45.122-06:00Of course the fun part is reading the original mat...Of course the fun part is reading the original material from which all these quotes were derived. California, more than any other state, had such a drastic conversion from 30,000 Indians, Mexicans, and a few Sandwich Islanders and Boston sailors to over 300,000 in four years...the greatest migration in the history of man at the time. Central Cal had 4,000 miles of salmon streams, now zero, and a half million elk and thousands of griz. And lots of those new folks wrote about those things, and much much more.L. J. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506184514602317769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-9794677998559038792013-11-12T10:37:30.338-06:002013-11-12T10:37:30.338-06:00Larry, I always find these posts of yours fascinat...Larry, I always find these posts of yours fascinating. I have said before, I don't set the world on fire cooking (or maybe I do!)LOL but your recipes and insights are always so interesting that it makes me re-think my ideas about wanting to cook. That takes talent! LOL I won't be making ink anytime soon, but it's interesting to know how they did it.<br />CherylCheryl Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.com