The Shop on the Corner

I'm a Gen X'er. Born at the end of the 70's, most of my childhood can be relegated to the 80s and early 90s, well before the post-human advances in technology forever amplified and conditioned our ability to communicate without abandon. However, in our ability to communicate from our respective Android and Apple appendages, I have seen a heartwarming trend in society. The move is silent and perhaps even unconsciously occurring, yet is one that tracks with a notion of preservation of food culture that allows for more inclusion in discourse...

Before I go into further detail, let's remember my trusty saying,

"In order to know where you're going, you must know where you've been." And, you're probably going to get to the end of this and wonder how this is related to food and culture. Stay with me...

I'm certain those of my generation (those of us who began the online epoch with AOL accounts) recall watching Meg Ryan spar with Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail. What's even more interesting about this movie is that it in fact is based on the 1940s film The Shop Around the Corner, which was based on the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie. While flirtacious feuds seemingly stand the test of time for cinema audiences, so do books - the reason Meg and Tom were at such unrest in the 1998 film. You see, Meg Ryan's character owned a small bookstore, full of charm and character. Tom Hanks' mega-book chain was positioned to demolish any semblance of the shop (and run it out of business).

I recall when recipes and food information started being communicated online. Like Tom Hanks' mega-store in the film, the ability to access food and culture content via the internet begin around the same time the movie was released and Food Network began broadcasting television cable content. So what about the 'old fashioned' way of communicating recipes - you know, recipe cards stained and sticky, or cookbooks with ragged dog-eared corners indicating which recipes are obvious "go-to's" based on appearance of the tattered condition of the stalwart pages?

This is where the silent movement of what is old seems new again is once again finding a way into the kitchens, or simply just the book collections, of culinary aficionados. As we live in a world where it seems that global advances in technology make communication more available, here's some news right here in the South. In Georgia, 10.6% of residents rely on cellular data to access the internet, while 12.3% of residents have no internet access at all. So without the ability to "Search" a recipe online, turning back to something that never disappeared but was simply put on the shelf for a time, awaiting a valiant comeback, is necessary.

Cookbooks.

While we still are faced with barriers of illiteracy and challenges when books are printed in languages unfamiliar to the potential reader, those issues are ever present in an online environment as well. However, the trusty cookbook can be physically present, without need for a digital device or via access that is corporately controlled.

Thus, I encourage you all - go to your kitchen or to your family or a friend's house, or the library. Pick up a cookbook. The comfort in holding those bound pages of food heritage are powerful...

I recently found that my mother has a first edition Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child