Annotated Bibliography

Allen, Emily. "Culinary Exhibition: Victorian Wedding Cakes and Royal Spectacle." Victorian

            Studies 45.3 (2003): 457-84. EBSCO. Indiana University Press. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

·        This is a peer-reviewed journal article from an educational journal on Victorian Studies. This article sheds like on the wedding cakes of the English Victorian Era, from the changes of cake structure, the French chef designs, and the influences of Queen Victoria. This article will be very useful as it gives a more detailed account of the Victorian era and contains more in-depth information on why these changes in structure and design took place. Because this is published with a University backing, and is an educational journal, I can trust that the information has been well studied and can help me form a better analysis of the wedding cake with more details and explanation.

Charsley, Simon. "The Wedding Cake: History and Meanings." Folklore 99.2 (1988): 232-41.

JSTOR. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1260461>.

·        This is a peer-reviewed journal article from a journal called Folklore. This article is another telling of the history of the wedding cake but has a more concrete approach, such as when the term “wedding cake” first makes a literary debut. This article will be nice to have for my research paper as it can provide a different, more obtuse version of the wedding cake’s history, and provide insight of it’s becoming through literature. As this is also a peer-reviewed journal, I can trust the information is accurate and that the data collected has been authenticated. Although I am not familiar with this specific journal, from reading it, I can tell how informative and useful this article will be for my research paper.

Royal Wedding Cakes: A History. Perf. Marc Meltonville. YouTube. YouTube, 27 Apr. 2011.

            Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDNMa-oWGxM>.

·        This is a short informative video found on Youtube from the “Historic Royal Palaces” channel. In this video, food historian, Marc Meltonville, discusses a brief history of wedding cakes and traditions throughout royal wedding history. This video will be good for my research paper as it examines the different trends royalty has set for wedding cakes, starting from Henry VIII of England to the 20^th Century. I have checked the origin of the “Historic Royal Palaces” channel and they are a non-profit arm of the British government specializing in the historical palaces of Great Britain. As this channel is sanctioned by Parliament, and that the man speaking is a food historian, I can trust this information is correct. This video will give a new view into how the trends of wedding cakes has changed over the years and how the English Royals have set those trends.

Solaru, Elizabeth. "Top Wedding Cake Trends for 2014." Elizabeth's Cake Emporium. N.p., 20

Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.elizabethscakeemporium.com/blog/2014/1

/19/top-cake-trends-2014>.

·        This is a blog entry from a reputable baker deemed by the BBC a “cake expert”. This blog entry is about the current wedding cake trends in 2014. This will be beneficial to my research paper because it will help me conclude the paper by giving an update on the current state of wedding cakes; So, I will go from history to the current trends. This cake maker, Elizabeth Solaru, has had cakes featured in Wedding Magazine, Hello, OK!, Wedding Cakes – A Design Source, along with other publications. 

Wilson, Carol. "Wedding Cake: A Slice of History." Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical

            Food Studies 5.2 (2005): 69-72. JSTOR. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://0-

            www.jstor.org.wncln.wncln.org/stable/pdfplus/10.1525/gfc.2005.5.2.69.pdf?acceptTC=tr

            ue&jpdConfirm=true>.

·        This is a journal article in a reputable journal having all to do with the history of wedding cakes. This article describes the history of the wedding cake from Ancient Roman weddings to modern day England; it also includes two recipes from traditional weddings prior to World War II. This article will be useful to my research paper because it is from a reliable source, gives specific examples I can use to help illustrate how these cakes were, and provides details from past history that other articles I have found have not touched on. Because my research paper will be on the history of the wedding cake, this non-biased, professional journal article will help guide me through my paper.

Collaborative Paper: "Why Are There No Great Women Chefs" Analysis

Gender exists everywhere, from who we are to what we do. This has the unsavory effect of creating and fostering stereotypes about genders and their ability - or inability - to do certain things. In “Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?”, Charlotte Druckman, examines the divide between men and women in the culinary arts. The divide in question is the perception of professionalism, mostly in the media; men are chefs, and women are cooks.

The introduction to the essay is an anecdote about Druckman’s personal life, specifically realizing that “Food & Wine’s annual roundup of ten Best New Chefs always listed one token woman” (Why Are There No 24). The simplicity and hard hitting force asserts itself immediately and the essay is all the better for it.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of chef is “a skilled cook who manages the kitchen (as of a restaurant)” (Chef). Meanwhile, the Merriam-Webster definition of cook is merely “a person who prepares food for eating” (Cook). This simple linguistic difference has wide-reaching effects on the perceived legitimacy of a chef’s skill. Druckman says that seeing men as chefs and women as cooks reinforces the idea of men being professional chefs and women being suited to the home kitchen (Why Are There No 25). Among the many reasons for this is likely the notion of the archetypal maternal figure; in essence, many people remember their mothers as the one who cooked most of their childhood meals. This childhood image asserts itself later in life when media portrays female chefs in a domestic setting, removed from the professionalism of the workplace, to better reflect the maternal appeal. Some undertones of “doting housewife” creep into this aura as well, having been modernized for today’s public.

Being a woman in a culinary profession herself, Charlotte Druckman takes the idea that women can’t take the heat of the industrial kitchen personally, as her readers do too. Druckman’s article is published in Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, so the intended audience is other chefs, particularly female chefs. “Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?” is a call to arms with the intention of illustrating the appalling display of supremacy from male chefs and pleading the female chefs take action against such abuse. Druckman uses many examples of fine female chefs, but one in particular deserves its own consideration – that of Suzanne Goin. The outrage comes not with the fact that she is an overlooked female chef, but that she is overlooked because she has the audacity to be beautiful. One of the few recognitions Goin has received was the interview she did with Vogue. Rather than talk about her culinary prowess, the article was instead focused on how she managed to keep such a delicate figure, comparing her to Audrey Hepburn rather than Julia Child. Druckman vociferates, “It’s as though the very idea of an attractive, stylish woman who can hold her own in a professional kitchen and even possibly out-cook the men is untenable, an impossible dream” (Why Are There No 28). This is given as applicable evidence to Druckman’s cause because it reveals that rather than earning recognition based on culinary merit, a female chef can only obtain acknowledgement by being physically pleasing.

Druckman’s message is a simple but assertive one: Female chefs, erase the stereotype and fight back! She uses statistics to shock her readers into wanting a change. While addressing the publisher Phaidon’s Coco: 10 World Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs, she states, “Collectively, these culinary authorities managed to put fewer than 10 women on the roster – less than 10 percent of the total talent featured” (Why Are There No 24). This number is impossible to ignore which is why Druckman used this figure to aggravate and draw in her audience. She uses the field of study of sexism and psychology in the context of the culinary arts to portray the wrongdoings of male chefs. Druckman's voice is clear in it's aggravation that this corruption is still prominent in these recent years. Druckman, while possessing extensive knowledge of the food industry herself, keeps her approach colloquial, rather than pedantic, as to inform all of her audience, leiman or not, of the male dominated misconduct. For example, when claiming culinary television is a man’s world, she says, “Finally, in Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters competition, a paltry three out of twenty-four American ‘Masters’ were women. Really” (Why Are There No). "Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?" is an article written for every person that manages to pick it up and read it. The article addresses both male and female chefs, but it's main concern is with such a universal issue that anyone can understand what Druckman is arguing. Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture is aimed at the professional chef but anyone interested in sexism, culinary professionalism, or simply an interesting read, would be able to follow Druckman's claims and evidence. While this article might be inconvenient to get a hold of for non-subscribers of this journal, Druckman felt so strongly about this subject that she wrote a book entitled Skirt Steak: Women Chefs Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen (5 Questions). Druckman's book dovetails off of this article to expand more on the culinary "men's club", and is just as relatable to every reader with her conversational tone. Though however colloquial it may be, researchers would still be able to obtain valuable data from this article, as most of the proof provided for these claims is in factual, statistical form. Druckman includes staggering statistics not only to provide hard evidence, but to also engage her female readers, as well as to alert her male audience; this and her use of support structure throughout her article stop the thought process some readers might have of “this is simply a biased opinion”, or semiology. She calls most attention to male vs. female stereotypes, especially in pop culture, to display the astounding inequities in the cooking world.

Druckman repeats the notion of the female chef being portrayed as the more docile, homey counterpart to the overtly masculine and competitive male chef throughout the essay; one of the most explicit examples is the comparison between the myriad of hosts for Food Network, both male and female. Male hosts such as Anthony Bourdain and Alton Brown are portrayed as both very knowledgeable about the culinary arts, always appearing to be “serious chefs, experts, adventurers, competitors” (Why Are There No 29 par. 2). On the other end of the spectrum, Rachael Ray - who denies she is even a chef - focuses on making simple meals that can be made in half an hour, and Sandra Lee is little more than “a table-decorating, cocktail-sipping ditz” (Why Are There No 28 par. 6), a fact made readily apparent within the opening moments of a Semi-Homemade broadcast. Unintentional or not, the message hiding among the subtext is painfully clear: women are simply not suited to the rigors of the professional kitchen. Femininity works better for cooking family dinners, catering parties, setting up nice tablescapes, and other “appropriate” tasks that women are supposed to be capable of accomplishing.

The purpose of “Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?” is to bring to light the injustices female chefs face in the culinary arts. The fact remains that gender exists everywhere, but the choice of our generation is whether or not to acknowledge the stereotypes associated with each. Charlotte Druckman wrote her article in a shocking statistical support format to petition for a better ruling, a ruling in favor of equality in the cooking world. She leaves it up her readers to evoke that change for the bettering of the culinary arts, and, indeed, society in general. “Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?” is a cry for help in which Druckman begs for the wall to be broken down, for the image of men as chefs and women as cooks to be dissolved. As she says herself, “The status quo is unacceptable” (Why Are There No 31).

Works Cited

"Chef." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

"Cook." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

Druckman, Charlotte. "Why Are There No Great Women Chefs." Gastronomica 10.1

          (2010): 24-31. JSTOR. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Druckman, Charlotte. "5 Questions: Charlotte Druckman, Author of Skirt Steak."

          Interview by Nozlee Samadzadeh. Web log post. Food52. FreshDirect, 23 Oct.

          2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Food Memoir: "Let Them Eat Cake"

            I really don’t know why the lower class of Paris got so upset at Marie Antoinette’s remark of “Let them eat cake”. Firstly, she never said this; it was just a vicious rumor, but come on! Cake! Who doesn’t love cake? Cake to me is the epitome of bliss. And there’s cake for every personality: cream-filled cake, gluten-free cake, ice cream cake, wedding cake, plain ol’ vanilla cake. I covet every kind of cake (besides the ones with fruit in the frosting. Really? Fruit? That’s not a dessert – that’s healthy). I adore yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting, Dairy Queen’s s’mores cake, but above all, above everything else, my all-time favorite type of cake is red velvet. Most people enjoy cake, that’s true, but my favorite cakes are my favorite because they are linked to my fondest memories.

            My dad and I don’t really get along. That is, we don’t talk much and when we do, it is usually a big mess. My dad started his own contracting business from absolutely nothing. After years of stress and hard work, he has succeeded in making KaufmanLynn Construction the second biggest construction business in South Florida. While I am very proud of how much my dad has accomplished, I am also disappointed because when I was growing up, my dad would take his stress home with him. He couldn’t seem to turn off “boss mode”, so scolding and pedantic reprimands were often a theme in our house. Happy memories of my dad are scarce, but I do remember one very special time. I was 12 and it was his 44^th birthday. My sister, Hillary, and I baked him this positively scrumptious yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting. It filled the house with the sweet aroma of vanilla. We wiped the lingering batter from the bowl and licked the gooey goodness from our fingertips. We decorated the outside of the cake with rainbow sprinkles and green icing in poor cursive that said “Happy Birthday!” He came downstairs and was completely surprised. We sang him the birthday song and took huge helpings of that yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting. He was happy that day and so were we. That cake will always remind me of my dad.

            As for the Dairy Queen s’mores cake? Well, that reminds me of my mom. You see, Dairy Queen doesn’t make a s’mores cake (at least, not on their own). My older brother Harris was leaving for The Citadel, a prestigious military college in South Carolina, and my mom wanted to send him off right. She planned to have the whole family come over for a send-off-dinner and wanted a special cake for dessert. Brilliance struck! Dairy Queen makes the most luscious ice cream cakes. My mom ordered a chocolate ice cream cake and brought in her own crushed graham crackers to be mixed in with the marshmallow filling. The staff was a little hesitant at first, but after completion, they all agreed she was a genius. She had created the Dairy Queen s’mores cake. After dinner had finished, out came my mom with the most glorious ice cream cake anyone had ever seen. Just one bite and everyone immediately fell in love. Second helpings were had by all. Now, for a special event in the Kaufman household, it’s a tradition that a s’mores cake will be served.

            Well, every special event but my birthday, that is. Every year for my birthday, my candles are always staked on one dessert– a red velvet cake. Besides red being my signature color and the name sounding so smooth, red velvet is the most delectable cake to ever exist. The cake is just chocolate with red food dye, but don’t think for one second that it isn’t positively delicious. Who doesn’t love chocolate cake, especially when it’s perfectly moist? I have to say, the cream cheese frosting is the best part, though. If you find a red velvet cake recipe that calls for a regular vanilla frosting rather than a cream cheese frosting, throw it away; it is wrong. Cream cheese frosting is the only way to go when baking a red velvet cake. The cream cheese frosting is what makes red velvet cake so special. I’m so excited for my birthday to come each year so I can glob on that extra frosting to my little slice of red velvety heaven. Red velvet cake always reminds me of October 25^th, where everyone thinks of me, sings me the birthday song, gives heartfelt gifts, and sends good wishes. But everything wonderful about my birthday before dessert time pales in comparison to when I slide that first forkful of cake into my mouth. Red velvet cake is the sweetest, most mouth-watering delight.

            If the starving people of France had only known about yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting, Dairy Queen’s s’mores cake, or red velvet cake, there wouldn’t have been any riots. Marie Antoinette would have been praised for her good taste. She would have gone down in history as the sweetest queen France has ever known. The deliciousness of cake can only do good. So I say: Prevent such atrocities from reoccurring! Don’t be afraid to try a tasty tiramisu! Bite into that beautiful Bundt! Sample that scrumptious Swiss roll! Let them eat cake!

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Ron Finley TED

So we just watched this TED talk in class and it was great. This guy, Ron Finley, talked about how he started growing gardens and has been trying to re-brand South Central. One of the most startling points he made was that Los Angeles alone has so many vacant lots that measured out could rival 20 Central Parks. I think his garden was a great idea and from the pictures shown, I could tell the volunteers thought so too. These gardens are such a marvelous idea because in this way, we can really learn about growing food locally and the food grown will be all organic and fresh. I only know South Central by its reputation which is not a very good one but knowing that these gardens are being planted and maintained would make me want to visit the next time I'm out there. It's a really cool idea to just used unused land to plant crops that can benefit the whole neighborhood. I really enjoyed this video and what Finley had to say.