"I WAS REALLY VERY HUNGRY"

If you're in the market for good reading about good food, I recommend without reservation As They Were, a compilation of essays by MFK Fisher. Basically, this woman is a golden god when it comes to gastronomical writing. It's not merely that the writing itself is a pleasure -- it is, completely -- but also the subjects. Raised in the first quarter of the last century, Mary Frances ate some kind of wonderful meals and did us all a big favor by writing about them. I almost unconditionally love reading about contemporary eating, but what's great about these essays is how they reveal how people USED to eat, and I find it fascinating.

In one essay titled "Young Hunger" she describes the restless wanting that regularly inflicts teenage stomachs. I'm a late bloomer, so I remain prone to this youthful avarice, but her essay reminded me of how physically starved I felt between the ages of 12 and 19. Mary Frances did, too, and she describes a "lunch" that she takes with her godparents that leaves her frustrated and hungry to the verge of tears.

I will now describe this "lunch" for you, because it boggles my greedy, 21st century mind:

A cup of attenuated chicken broth
A salted cracker
Half a piece of toast
A waffle with melted butter and a dab of honey.

NO WONDER people were smaller back then! NO WONDER the fashions of the day emphasized women's delicate waists: they HAD them.

I mean, COME ON! That lunch is not even the equivalent of an appetizer on one of today's menus! An APPETIZER: the thing we eat BEFORE we eat!

Hey George Romero: want to really see something scary and shocking -- check out what counts as "lunch" 80 years ago! I felt empathic hunger pangs as I read, and luckily I had the wherewithal to do something about them...no broth necessary.