Gushing over gumbo and celebrating celery: two literary quotes.

[full_metal_ox]

I encountered these quotes in Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons (Little, Brown and Company, 1996), by Nava Atlas; the problem is that I haven’t the book ready to hand, and it’s no longer in any of my local library systems.

The first quote came from a nineteenth-century (French? British? I want to say De Tocqueville or Brillat-Savarin) author who’d visited the U.S. and found an epiphany in gumbo: they proceeded to eulogize it as the perfect food, combining vibrant flavors and being soup and vegetable and entree in one.

The second was by a Victorian or Edwardian British author, extolling celery, in its cold clear no-nonsense crispness, as the gustatory expression of autumn. (These quotes embellished recipes for a gumbo and a celery soup, respectively; Atlas’ cookbook had something of a literary and reflective tone.)

ETA: wolfinthewood has identified the celery quote, from the essay “A Word for Autumn” in Not that it matters (1919) by A.A. Milne; kineticatrue has tracked the gumbo quote to Will H. Coleman’s Historical Sketch Book and Guide to New Orleans and Environs (1885), p 91.

Comments

[rosefyre]

Have you considered asking your local library if they can do an interlibrary loan to get you the book? Most libraries offer some form of interlibrary loan -- there may be a small fee, but in my experience they're often free. It exists in various libraries on WorldCat: https://www.worldcat.org/title/vegetarian-soups-for-all-seasons-a-treasury-of-bountiful-low-fat-soups-and-stews/oclc/33665910 -- if you give your local library that link they can probably order it for you.

Alternately, you can buy the book used for about $5 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LiAO9F (it says 40 cents but, you know, shipping).

[full_metal_ox]

I’ll bear that in mind, and thank you.