Drinking to the Wolf in a Time of Pandemic (or War or Peace)

Abstract

In her 1942 cookbook for economy in the wartime kitchen, M F K Fisher issues a bold call to arms for home cooks: "Now, of all times in our history, we should be using our minds as well as our hearts in order to survive to live gracefully if we live at all" (1990:192) Equal parts belles lettres and practical guide, How to Cook o Wolf, perhaps more than any other piece of twentieth-century food writing, speaks presciently to our pandemic Zeitgeist For the denizens of the 1940s, it was cupboard blackouts and ration cards For us, in the second month of the lockdown caused by COVID-19, it's the appalling scarcity of toilet paper and the dog days of social distance And for some 22 million Americans, it's also the swift kick to the gut of suddenly losing one's livelihood