[Stoves] Cookstoves and giving thanks

[Nikhil Desai]

Today happens to be a "Thanksgiving" day in the US - the last quiet day
before Christmas, and goodwill flourishes in this roughly four-week period.
Sometimes not, and sometimes lasts longer.

I am not known as the type who would give thanks, but this year I want to
give thanks to people on this list. They may have been irritated with or
enjoyed my barbs, and may have taken offense. In particular, a sincere
thank you to the list owner and moderator, who have put up with my writing
that others don't know about.

Now cookstoves. Those of you who can access the Wall Street Journal may
enjoy this piece by Bee Wilson.

It was Teddy who mentioned Bee Wilson to me a few months ago. So, another
special thanks to him.

And to Cecil, to bring anthropology back to me. So happens that Bee writes
about anthropologists: "

"Our hosts were both anthropologists, and they understood why someone might
have an irrational need to honor a seemingly pointless food tradition.
“Ritual matters,” one of them remarked with a smile, clearing away the
remains of the unappetizing red cylinder. With each passing year, holiday
food seems to become more intensely ritualized. The repertoire may have
widened over the past decade to take in new items such as “festive” kale
salad and quinoa and pomegranate stuffing, but our fierce attachment to the
cooking itself hasn’t changed. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Rosh
Hashana or Diwali, the list-making starts ever earlier. I have a friend who
starts anticipating the candied walnuts she makes every Christmas as early
as September. The recipe columns advise that we treat holiday preparation
like a “battle plan” and provide lists of cooking instructions for the big
day, mapped out minute by minute, starting at some ungodly hour with, “Get
up. Switch on oven. Have coffee.”


My thanks, whatever you think of them, are not just for your tolerance but
what I have learnt from you all.

Wilson writes, "In years gone by, the holiday meals of winter were just one
feast among many."

That is how I remember cooking, but maybe some standardized stove for
standardized bulk (commercial) cooking is the need of the coming decades,
not a household stove that will be used less and less and often for just
reheating purchased meals.

Nikhil
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Why We Need the Ritual of Holiday Meals
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-we-need-the-ritual-of-holiday-meals-1511366436>
 Bee Wilson, Wall Street Journal 22 November 2017Holidays are now the only
time of year when we really focus on what and how we eat—and that is a
source of security


Nikhil Desai
(US +1) 202 568 5831
*Skype: nikhildesai888*
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