A Peep of History and Lifestyle Through Cookbooks Essay

A Peep of History and Lifestyle Through Cookbooks - Essay Example Historical cookbooks are mainly to pass on certain traditions of food preparation. It is also ought to preserve the heritage brought about by cultural evolution which happened in local kitchens. These kinds of cookbooks tell a story. It teaches the passionate cook about how such food came about- the story behind the ingredients, the reason for its conception etc. These kinds of books are very exact. If it is Italian cooking then expect the prominence of cheeses, tomatoes and other herbs. For French, the prominence of wine and butter are expected. And for most Asian dishes, chilli spices and noodles are to be look forward to. Artistic cookbooks bring about new ways of preparing traditional foods so it can be appreciated by more people, or specific types of people. An example is a vegetarian cookbook or a cookbook which targets diabetics. These are the "usual" dishes but meat is sometimes changed to vegetables or tofu, and carbohydrates are often changed to whole wheat and whole grains. Cookbooks are definitely helpful in understanding the way of life of different societies. These books tell a story of survival, celebration, scarcity or bounty or certain places, regions, era, or century. It can also be observed that the diet of different societies sometimes depend on their faith, beliefs, demography or most often than not, climate. It is of course, expected for people who live near the sea to have lots of sea foods in their diets. Food as Nostalgia Some women in the study conducted by Jean Duruz (1999), considered their successful food making practice as derived from natural ability. Most confess early interests in cooking, as they watch their mothers prepare the favorite foods of the family. However, through their narration of experiences, they illustrated how they learned to cook through a layering of knowledge from different influences. The women learned to cook from mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers, sisters, servants, aunts, female friends and neighbours, and occasionally fathers, fathers-in-law and husbands. They augmented this knowledge with domestic-science classes in high school and adult-education classes at technical college. Some were self-taught, both before and after marriage, through trial and error and reading cookbooks. According to Jean Duruz (1999), food brings about so much nostalgia in the Australian Society. Duruz describes for cookbooks which evoke 1950s nostalgia in Australia, a nostalgia for times perceived as conflict-free, pre-political, and child-like: "the fifties as a childhood for the nineties." Duruz' nostalgia is comprised of memories, such as the idealized 1950s nuclear family, which never in fact existed. According to Duruz(1999), he recipes and reminiscences are meant to evoke a lost Eden, a time before the fall, with the stress not only on the extended family, but the harmonious community. It is interesting to note that Duruz did not learn to cook as a child, as she recalls that household helpers did most of the cooking in

Advantages and Disadvantages of the European Union Research Paper

Advantages and Disadvantages of the European Union - Research Paper Example The discussion will also briefly look at the criteria followed by the states in order to be part of the European Union. Before the World War II took place, the world did not experience common cases of International organizations (alliances) as there are seen today. However, the war served as an eye-opener in that a majority of the states became open for cooperation towards creating these unions. This has largely been attributed to the widespread crisis, both economic and political, that had hit the world following the harrowing war. This prompted the creation of most of the organizations seen today with the European Union being one of them. As a brief history of the European Union, the idea of the alliance was incepted in 1949 and implemented in 1951 when the first founders of the Union came together for the formation of an alliance. The six member nations, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Luxembourg created what was first referred to as the Council of Europe. Their main objective was to unify the region while also proclaiming peace which was a much-needed necessity following the WWII. Following this was an expansion of the body and consequently, a new name was adopted in 1957- The European Economic Community. As the name suggests, the body was determined to create and facilitate free trade between member states. In the next 50 years, various countries have joined the body and in 1993, the body adopted the name The European Union, which is what it is known today. Currently, the union comprises 27 member states in Europe with the latest members, Bulgaria and Romania having joined the body in 2007 (S ajdik & Schwarzinger, 2008). The European Union is governed by various policies and guidelines that have been formulated over the years in response to various emerging needs in the alliance. Today, the union allows citizens of the member states to move freely within the encompassed