Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbell of America by Steve Almond

A chance tour of a candy factory inspires creative writing professor and self-proclaimed candy freak, Steve Almond to explore the world of candy bars. Instead of focusing on the Big 3- Hershey's, Mars and Nestle, Almond will check out some of the few remaining independent candy manufacturers still in existence. In his confectionery tour across America, the author will discover new flavors, examine the challenges these small businesses face and brainstorm new strategies for survival. 

When Steve Almond writes about his candy tours, he's a great writer. However, the author poetically waxes way too much about other subjects. For example, this book was written during the election of 2004 and while he awaits the next plane that will continue his foodie work-vacay, Almond watches the results of the primaries and I think the whole sch-bang between W. and John Kerry. I completely understand why he mentions this as Almond talks with fellow travelers and air stewards about their love of candy during his trek. Yet, the writer also spends about 5 pages talking about the administration of Bush 43 being the new Nazi party and that's just 5 pages too long for a book that's supposed to be devoted to one's love of candy. 

When it comes to Steve Almond's love of candy, the journalist gets really in depth with his personal history. REALLY in-depth. I don't need to know how the wordsmith used a candy bar to measure the length of his teenage erection. I don't need to know of his carnal exploits with chocolate and his past lovers. But I did enjoy learning about the old school candies he bought as a kid. 

Steve Almond grew up in the late 60s through the 70s. This is like the golden age of candy. Sure, there have been candy bars since just after the Civil War. But the rules of marketing and advertising towards kids changed during Almond's childhood and that made for a quantum leap in the types of unique sugary treats that were created just for kids. Bubblicious bubble gum, Ring Pops, Blow Pops, Jelly Belly jelly beans, Reese's Pieces and Pop Rocks came out during this period of pop culture history. Sour candies were still a decade away but Almond got to grow up during America's introduction to the gummi candies of Germany! And of course, this was the age of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and all of the amazing treats that sprung off from that cult classic film!

Unfortunately, the writer doesn't seem to mention anything about the Gene Wilder movie that was so inspirational to my youth. Maybe that's my story to tell. One inspiration however that I gained from Steve Almond, was to go on a search for some of the candy bars that the author discovered while researching this book. I spent an entire weekend in the mountains of North Carolina looking for things like the Peanut Chew and Valomilks in the candy shops/tourist traps of Maggie Valley and Waynesville, NC. I got bupkis. However, I can say that my trip wasn't ruined as my wife's hankering for Cracker Barrel led me to find several of the candies Steve Almond learned about in the 'Old Country Store' section of the Mebane, NC location. 

I'm reading books about the culinary and food industries to increase my knowledge for my continuing education as well as being able to help my culinary students with their questions about all things epicurean. It's to my great lament that while I can cull things about candy I found in this book into some of my lectures, I cannot in good conscious add this book to the bookshelf I have of books for my students to borrow. I think I could get away with his use of the F-word. I mean, that's both Chef Gordon Ramsey and the late Anthony Bourdain's favorite word. If only Steve Almond hadn't talked so much about sex...

Lastly, I need to mention something about the cover that irks me. Having a generalized anxiety disorder and being a professional Chef and culinary instructor, I strive for bold and eye-appealing designs that have a touch of balance. I love that the letters of this book are all taken from different candy bars. A clever little visual puzzle for readers to figure out. What I absolutely hate is that the N in Candy and the F in Freak are taken from the same type of candy bar. Why does a cover with 10 letters only have 9 different fonts? This sort of thing makes my brain just itch to no end!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

I know it doesn't happen often. But I do occasionally read full length prose novels. I've been trying to make it a point to read 10 pages a day of material related to my chosen degree and teaching field: culinary. I get all sorts of professional training for the teaching part of my job. But I noticed that I wasn't doing much to continue my learning in the culinary field. 

I actually started this book in 2020. I had gotten through about 200 of the 442 pages of this book. And then the pandemic hit and I wanted nothing to do with reading books that weren't fun or escapist in nature. 

After reading a book about the history of the tomato, I decided to dive back into this book by award-winning journalist, Mark Kurlansky. I was a big fan of Kurlansky's 2006 work The Big Oyster; an extensive look at America's obsession with oysters and other types of shellfish. I had seen this work on library shelves previously and had it on my wish list to read some day when I found a used copy for only a buck. 

Salt: A World History is a huge read for a single book devoted to one (and the only) edible rock. From prehistoric day need through the rise of the Greeks and Romans all the way through the American Revolution to the restructuring of global powers after World War I and II, everything you needed to know about salt is in this book. Just about every chapter begins with the process of how a particular civilization gleaned or produced their supply of salt. Then we see how salt was needed to preserve meats and other foods. Finally, we examine the dreaded salt takes and subsequent wars and/or revolutions that came about because stupid politicians decided that filling their coffers were more important that filling the cupboards of the general populace. 

After a couple hundred pages of what feels like the same chapter just with the names and locations switched, the readings got a little boring. Once we got into the last 150 years of history, things changed and the book got rather interesting. Refrigeration ended the need for so much salt. Since cold air could keep your food as fresh as salting it, but with much less effort, the way people prepared foods changed. The need for salt nosedived. As a result, governments that relied on revenue from salt increased the taxes and tariffs imposed on the mineral and people revolted. 

I did not know how vital it was for the Northern forces to destroy the South's ability to produce salt in order to win the Civil War. I had heard Gandhi marched to the sea. But I didn't know that he went there to protest England's ban on even the poorest of Indian citizens from harvesting salt privately. I had no idea about China's ingenious way of using the natural gas found among salt deposits as a way to heat their home, much less to fuel their public bus lines. Plus, I didn't know how the search for salt itself was vital to the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania and Texas! There was a ton of fascinating stuff to learn about salt in the modern era of world history. 

I noticed that cod is talked about a lot in this book. That's because about 5 years prior, Kurlansky wrote a historical account of the North Atlantic fish. I'm betting he got a lot of inspiration to write this book from his research on cod. I own that book and I think after I read a couple other culinary related books, to switch things up, I'll be learning more from Mark Kurlansky. 

Salt was interesting. It was also a bit repetitive. I guess there are only so many ways to make the millennial age old process of obtaining salt seem different before you run out of ideas. Definitely a good read. But one that only the most serious of food lover, professionals and scholars are going to enjoy as this is a very complex book on one of the world's most vital resources.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Amazing World of Carmine Infantino (2022 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Challenge)

My Mount Rushmore of comics would be comprised of Stan Lee, Julius Schwartz, Will Eisner and Jack Kirby. After reading this book, I might have to change my line-up. 

I knew of Carmine Infantino's work on The Flash and ushering in the Silver Age of Comics. I was familiar with his work on Adam Strange and Star Wars. But I never really knew just how much of an influence on the DC Universe and comics itself that Infantino had until now.

If not for Infantino:

+ The look and feel of Batman would be very different including DC Comics' loss of rights to the character.

+ DC's 1960s beloved oddball characters such as Deadman, Detective Chimp, Bat Lash, and Strange Sports Stories would not exist. 

+ DC might have folded in the 1970s during a time when newly formed Warner Bros. was looking to unload the fledgling House of Superman that was being crushed by upstart Marvel Comics.

+ The policy of returning rights and artwork to artists might never occurred. Or possibly been seriously delayed well into the 80s or later.

And there is so much more. So much, it fills a volume!

Amazing World of Carmine Infantino is over 170 pages of comic book history. Filled with his artwork, sketches and words, this autobiography is also an oral history as many of Carmine's peers and influences offer insight. There's also a ton of praise from countless others who benefited from Infantino's talent and tutelage. 

Within the last year or so, I read the graphic novel biography of Jack Kirby. Having finished this autobiography, I see now how much Carimine Infantino was the Jack Kirby of DC Comics. He did everything. Infantino was a writer, plotter, artist, cover artist, editor, publisher and later DC Comics president. But unlike Kirby, Carmine didn't get as screwed by his publishers as The King did. As for when Kirby was with DC, the promised creator freedom didn't appear. Infantino doesn't seem to blame executives for the thriving failure of Krby's Fourth World as Jack always did. Infantino just blames poor sales and moves on.

Dosed Carmine paint a rosy picture of himself? To some degree. But he also seems not to bear grudges (though, boy, does he hate Bob Kane) and he is willing to point out his shortcomings and defeats. Don't expect to get too much a reveal in the artist's personal life once he gets going in the comics profession. 

An enjoyable book, Amazing World of Carmine Infantino highlights an exciting time in the comic book history- The Silver Age. If you are a Marvelite, you probably wont do flips for this book. But if you are also a comic book history, this is a fascinating account of how the 'enemy' operated in the early days of the war between DC and Marvel.

Now, who do I replace on my comic book Mount Rushmore???

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #28 (Prose non-fiction about Comic Book History) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 12

   When I'm not reading books, I'm a professional chef and culinary instructor. Today marks my first day teaching for 2017. For the next 11 weeks, I'm going to be teaching a class of about 20 students European cooking.
    
    With this milestone, I thought I would take a look at the culinary scene in 1977 for today's A Madman Turns 40.

* Chef Jeremiah Tower leaves Alice Water's Chez Panisse to venture out on his own. Many consider this move the beginning of California fusion cuisine which Tower's considered the father of. However, some accounts say Tower left in 1978, so this may or may not be the 40th anniversary of California fusion cooking which is comprised of fresh locally grown ingredients and a marriage of 1 or more culture's cuisines. A Thai Chicken Pizza is an example of this type of cuisine.

You can actually buy first editions on Amazon for not very much money.

*Paul Bocuse, considered the greatest chef of all-time, publishes his first cookbook in English:  Paul Bocuse's French Cooking.

*The Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 sets price limits for consumers while allotting farmers the right to meet growing quotas and still obtain federal help. This really benefits peanut farmers in particular. I mention this because the President of the United States at this time was a peanut farmer too (more on this guy next week.)

*1977 was the beginning of a 20 year study of the National Food Consumption Survey. Over 60,000 people were studied annually to determine food portions and calorie consumption. Spoiler Alert: the study found that our appetites got bigger as did our waist sizes as we as Americans were consuming more calories. One thing that surprises the researchers were that it's not just natural born citizens but immigrants as well, who are eating more as time progressed. Data from this study will change dietary recommendations and eating plans for those with diabetes, heart disease, and even eating disorders

* Ruth Graves Wakefield, inventor of the Tollhouse Cookie, the first chocolate chip cookie, passes away in this year.

Poor little snake, cut down in his prime.
What am I say? It's a frickin' snake?!

* I thought this food tidbit was amusing, glam rocker Alice Cooper's pet boa constrictor dies when the rat it was to dine on bites him first and it gets an infection. 

If any of my readers would love to gift me a set of these, please email me.
Donations gladly accepted.

* Burger King sells some really cool glassware depicting scenes from a little know film called Star Wars and they make a killing. During this sale, BK actually outsells McDonald's for the first time.

* Instructional cooking show Gourmet Cooking with Earl Peyroux begins airing in 1977. The show will produce 600 episodes before Peyroux retires in 1995.

1977-2017.

* The California Culinary Academy opens in San Francisco. Now known as Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, the cooing school is scheduled to close in September after operating for EXACTLY 40 years.

  Okay, so one 40th anniversary isn't going to be a good one.

   Hopefully, this isn't a sign as this Madman chef hopes to be around and kicking, I mean cooking, for several more years to come (God willing.) Good eating habits, new trends, high calorie foods, culinary training, healthy appetites, and the beginning of mass merchandising of popular TV shows and movies highlight the world of food and cooking in my favorite year. 

   Oh, I hear the class bell, time to mold some more aspiring cooks into the chefs of tomorrow.

   Bon appetite. 

"McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire"

WORTH CONSUMING!

As a foodie, I read lots of books on food. This book however was a first for me- and I couldn’t be more excited. I own a fiery food gourmet store, so this book about the history of Tabasco sauce and the McIlhenny family who produce it was the first book I ever read as “market research”.

I had found out about this book in a trade publication, I put in on my list of things to read, and then I read it.

 I really enjoyed it. There actually were people in this book that I know either in passing or very well, like Dave Lutes of Hot Shots. And I learned and unlearned tons of things about Tabasco, Scoville Units, and the Hot Sauce industry. Especially, the whole legend of how Tabasco sauce was discovered. Edmund McIlhenny’s pepper crop was left untouched by Union forces after the Civil War and so he decided to make his famous sauce. And thus a legend was born. This sounds an awful lot alike the story of how the Dukes of Durham started their tobacco empire. And upon finding that the Tabasco Sauce legend is nothing more than just that, I find myself questioning the Duke legend.

 This book is essential for any lover of hot sauces, foodies, or those interested in Cajun/ Creole society.

"The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell"

I hope to one day get my Ph.D in food science. It’s such a fascinating subject, and if one can grasp just a fraction of what it’s all about, it will so improve your cooking skills, love of fine food, and knowledge of cuisine in general. It’s essential to know this stuff if you want to even be considered a foodie!

I am a foodie- I own my own hot sauce retail store and website. So, when it came to finding a book that would be topical with my recent trips to the beach, I choose a great book about New York’s (formerly) thriving oyster industry. Who knew?

This book is written by a former James Beard Winner, is about food and the science of food (the sections on waste and cholera may make you never want another oyster again), the prep of oysters, the history of old New York, makes this like my dream book.

 There are even tons of recipes. But since I am not an oyster fan- I doubt I’d even make them. Well, no, I’d make them- I just doubt I would try them.

 Very Much Worth Consuming.