by Caitlin Coe
What is your gut telling you? Go with your gut instinct. It takes guts!
The lowly gut; a body part that is rarely in the forefront of our minds outside of such unpleasantness as hunger, magnitude, or distress, and yet to its perceived will we bend. Odd, don't you think? Well, as it turns out, this trait is particularly true if you happen to be American! Didn't think your midnight macaroni and cheese craving was indicative of the cultural and sociopolitical origins on which the United States was founded? Me neither, but having read Frederick Kaufman's A Short History of the American Stomach, I now know better. As the title would suggest, Kaufman focuses his narrative on the gut, or the stomach, and its critical and heretofore unsung role as the thread of the United States fabric—the feast or famine, binge or purge, consume or be consumed mentality which is a cornerstone of the country itself. Ok, so maybe that's a wee bit over the top, but that's the style of Kaufman's writing—a plethora of polysyllabic words pours off the pages, but stops just short of being pretentious. And frankly, I just feel much better knowing that I'm not snacking, I'm contributing to the American Dream. And so are you.
With such catchy chapter headings as "Debbie Does Salad," "The Gastrosopher's Stone," and "The Sweet Taste of God," it's quickly clear that A Short History isn't exactly a snoozer of a historical textbook. And don't be fooled—the wit is supported by solid research and fascinating anecdotes of the American gastronomic experience. The story of Miss Eliza Leslie, author of the 19th-century cookbook Directions for Cookery, whom Kaufman recognizes as "one of the first in a long line of celebrity chefs," seamlessly transitions into intriguing descriptions of her modern Food Network counterparts. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek parallels between our favorite culinary television shows and the sensually visceral (aka gut) reactions they can invoke is not to be missed.
Following the surprisingly amusing tales of regurgitation as a path to physical and spiritual redemption, and the forbidden pleasures of raw milk and other such taboos from which your government (and possibly rabbi) is intent on protecting you, Kaufman raises an interesting question: Are we Americans defined more by what we don't eat as well as what we do eat? Has the diet book du jour become the American Bible? And, curiously enough, has this not been true since Emerson and Thoreau were new to the bestseller list? Kaufman offers the following passage, written by Catharine and Harriet Beecher, as an insight to the original diet fad:
"Were one to believe all that is said and written on this subject, the conclusion probably would be that there is not one solitary article of food on God's earth which it is healthful to eat."
Amen.
Kaufman provides us with great notions to chew on throughout A Short History, be it the thought that the insatiable American appetite for everything it desires has left America bereft of everything it desires, or that it is the hunger in all Americans which constantly leads them to strive to better themselves and their world, culinary and otherwise. Some of these concepts will seem novel and daring, until you find through Kaufman's research that they're a matter of tradition. He will make you laugh, he will make you question, and he will leave you hungry to learn more about the American stomach. Don't think you have the stomach for it? Sure you do! It's the gutsy thing to do.
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