University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2009 Until The Meat Falls Off The Bone Holly Kapherr University of Central Florida Part of the Creative Writing Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Kapherr, Holly, "Until The Meat Falls Off The Bone" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4071. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4071 UNTIL THE MEAT FALLS OFF THE BONE by HOLLY V. KAPHERR B.S., Brigham Young University, 2005 A.A.S., Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, 2006 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2009 ABSTRACT Though this work started as a formal academic cultural study, it stretched and squirmed and became not only an examination of the cultures themselves, but how I came to fit within those cultures. By combining my experiences travelling as a child and young adult as well as learning the craft of professional cooking, the essays in this work are highly centered around food and what food means both to me and to cultures throughout the world. The structure and tone of these essays varies greatly from one to the other, all at once casual, almost conversational in one, and pedantic and formal in another. This thesis was designed to grant readers a broad scope of my ability as a writer and cook. The six recipes contained in the collection are meant to move the work along as a meal would, leisurely and savoring moments, but at the same time, there should always be a sense of anticipation about what will appear next. The characters in this thesis came from near and far – from France to Lima – and each carries a cultural and culinary significance in the work. Each essay ties food to emotion – love, distress, bewilderment, intrigue and zeal. The main themes in this work stem from the ingrained nature of values taught at childhood – whether we like them or not, the role of food in shaping the cultural clash of peoples and the inherent connective nature of food as common ground. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks first to Lisa Roney, who encouraged this work to evolve and grow the way it should, while I tried and tried to make it grow how I wanted it to, and who talked me down from my own anxious ledges, while guiding me toward the finish line. Thank you to Pat Rushin, who taught my first fiction workshop (ever, in my life) and who showed me that workshops are actually meant to be helpful – not terrifying. Thank you to Jocelyn Bartkevicius for steering me toward great books and encouraging growth. With much gratitude, I thank my parents for supporting my decisions, even though they were – and often still are – confused at first. Thank you to Jaclyn Sullivan for having endless faith in my writing and for assuring me that I still have stories to tell. And thank you to Cliff – for opening my eyes. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS A LADLE OVER THE LAW ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Enter, Food ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Every-time Lamb Shanks with Lemony Cauliflower Mash ................................................................................ 22 The Food of Love .................................................................................................................................................... 23 Sopa de Ajo ......................................................................................................................................................... 41 A MOUTH FULL OF THE SOUTH ........................................................................................................................... 42 Gone With the Pork ................................................................................................................................................. 42 Joe Bob and the Grunt ............................................................................................................................................. 57 Best Grilled Whole Fish ...................................................................................................................................... 85 I DON’T RIDE CAMELS ........................................................................................................................................... 86 Ramadan Early-On .................................................................................................................................................. 86 Forbidden Fruits .................................................................................................................................................. 98 Cumin and Camels ................................................................................................................................................... 99 FORGETTING FOIE GRAS ..................................................................................................................................... 114 A Pita Full of Paris ................................................................................................................................................ 114 Black Bean Falafel with Asian Slaw ................................................................................................................. 129 Quelle Disastre! ..................................................................................................................................................... 130 Almond and Rosewater Macaroons ................................................................................................................... 149 FRIED RICE WITH A SPANISH ACCENT ............................................................................................................ 151 East Meets, and Eats, West .................................................................................................................................... 151 Ceviche de Pescado Peruano ............................................................................................................................. 162 With The Grain ...................................................................................................................................................... 163 WRITING LIFE ESSAY ........................................................................................................................................... 178 APPENDIX: BOOK LIST ......................................................................................................................................... 185 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Bayeux Tapestry............................................................................................................................................. 4 v A LADLE OVER THE LAW Enter, Food This is not a “dead grandma story,” but I will start with the assertion that the beginning of the rest of my life started with the death of my last living grandparent. Our extended family gathered in gray, unforgiving New Jersey in November of 2004 for the viewing and funeral of Maria Milazzo, the matriarch of a well-seasoned Italian family with spurious mafia roots. I took a red-eye flight the night of Thanksgiving Day, after spending an impromptu holiday dinner with the aunt and uncle of my best friend, Ryan. There’s nothing like spending a family holiday with people you’ve never met. There had been no solace in the mashed potatoes and gravy, the bastion of what Americans consider true “comfort food.” No happiness found in the chatter of loved ones I didn’t know. Ryan tried to bridge the gaps by filling in my aspirations of going to law school, and performing some monologues we’d written together for our sketch comedy group at BYU. After dinner, he took me to see the SpongeBob Squarepants movie before dropping me off at the airport. I laughed at the bathroom humor, at the depressing little squid wearing a blue hat, at SpongeBob’s ridiculous antics, but nothing seemed to fill the emptiness left by the absence of my family on that holiday quite like taking practice LSAT tests. Instead of sleeping on that sluggish four-and-a-half-hour flight from Salt Lake City to Newark, I took a practice test. My parents arrived to pick me up in a rented Lincoln Town Car. The only time my parents rent Lincolns is when they’re trying to impress our extended family. 1 My father missed the announcement that, beginning in the early 90s, Lincoln Town Cars officially ceased to be impressive. My father told me I looked horrible. “The flight was hell,” I answered. I skipped the wake and the subsequent family dinner to squeeze some more points out of my score. A few weeks after that Thanksgiving, I walked into the testing center at Brigham Young University where I was to spend the next five hours of my life taking the test that would decide my future. Looking around, I felt like I had the advantage