 A
Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women
Told Through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances,
by Laura Schenone
Reviewed by DivaTribe member "The Creole Cat"
She stands majestically atop a box that floats over a crest of
waves. In the distance, ships carry immigrants to the new land.
Above her head, she holds a box of wafers that she pours into
the sea. This is Lady Liberty feeding the world.
The above description is a sketch taken from Laura Schenone's
A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove. This is one of those tomes
you wish had been offered in high school home economics and history
classes. Had we known the history of our gender, the hardship
our ancestors went through to feed mankind, and our connection
with food, maybe some of us would have been more enthused about
taking those mandatory courses. Perhaps we would have been more
appreciative of the fact that it was not easy in those dark days
to come up with a meal plan with only the basics of corn, fruit
and nuts, and later, buffalo and fish. And that is exactly what
Ms. Schenone teaches us, among other things, in her enlightening
book.
Tracing the matrilineal society from the old world to the new,
we learn how the basis of food is indicative of cultures, the
economy, and the world's religions. How the first women
of the land - the Native Americans - were forced to
assimilate themselves into "respected" society; how
slaves from Africa were brought over, separated by those who
could cook, and those deemed for field work (sharecroppers);
and how Victorian women could never imagine cooking dinner over
a hearth-fire (just as we modern women can't imagine cooking
with a cast iron stove). Womankind may have possibly been the
first farmers, and Ms. Schenone does a commendable job of detailing
how our roles have changed in the home and in the workforce throughout
the ages.
From our earliest years, we are taught that food is sustenance.
It brings comfort and creates memories. Food has been used as
a form of protest, as well. Especially in the cases of the Brooklyn
food riots of 1917 where discouraged women took to the streets
rallying against inflation; war campaign posters with Uncle Sam
pointing his finger at civilians to ration their food supply;
and the lunch counter sit-ins of black Americans during the turbulent
1960s. Ms. Schenone re-introduces us to familiar names like Susan
B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, as well as staples like Aunt Jemima,
whose existence was the concoction of an adman. We are also introduced
to unfamiliar names: among them, Lydia Maria Child, a white New
Englander who in 1833, published An Appeal in Favor of
That Class of Americans Called Africans. One of the first anti-slave books
to be published, the book caused a scandal and Ms. Child was
immediately ostracized; And Catharine Beecher, a public speaker
who aggressively promoted female education (but not, surprisingly,
suffrage), and along with her more famous sister, Harriett Beecher
Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin) authored the 1869 manual American
Women's Home (said to be a precursor to Ladies'
Home Journal).
Ms. Schenone uses a plethora of resources, from authentic photographs
to advertisements to testimonials. Not to mention an abundance
of recipes, including excerpts from pre-war cookbooks. Amastich
(chicken for the Sabbath), the original pepper pot soup (later
adopted by the Campbell company), sweet potato pie and General
Lee's jelly cakes. They are all shared here for us to try
in our kitchens. It took me a little longer than usual to read
the book, only because the author makes so many wonderful references,
I had to go search out some of these incredible women she mentioned.
Even her bibliography is outstanding. I also appreciated the
fact that she did not discredit men's contributions, especially
after the Civil War, which ushered in industrialism and a new
kind of science called technology.
A Thousand Years Over a Hot
Stove is a testament to women's courage, forthrightness,
and stamina. It reminds us that we have had a presence in everything
from the 1893 World Columbian Exposition (where, for the first
time ever, a Woman's Building was dedicated to literature,
inventions, handicrafts, et al., - all by and for women), to
establishing such institutions as the American Red Cross. Our
sisters have come a long, long way, and this book helps define,
cherish, and further explore their legacy.
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