When a man is small, he loves and hates food with a ferocity which soon dims. At six years old his very bowels will heave when such a dish as creamed carrots or cold tapioca appears before him. His throat will close, and spots of nausea and rage swim in his vision. It is hard, later, to remember why, but at the time there is no pose in his disgust. He cannot eat; he says, “To hell with it!”
M.F.K. FISHER
[Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher Parrish Friede]
American food writer
1908—1992
Set It Forth
M.F.K. Fisher: Delicious Prose!
Aside from the title of one of M.F.K. Fisher’s best-loved books, The Art of Eating also accurately expresses the intimate relationship between food, life, and love. As much, if not more, than other food writers Fisher converted culinary memories into written feasts. The poet W.H. Auden once said, “I do not know of anyone in the United States who writes better prose.”
In an ironic twist, the kitchen in Fischer’s childhood home was under the thumb of her maternal grandmother. Sadly, the family’s culinary matriarch was devotee of the dietary discipline detailed by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. (That’s right—The cereal guy!) As a result, Fischer grew up with food that was typically overcooked and tasteless.
But when Grandma Holbrook was away … well … the Kennedy family came out to play! As Fisher described it:
We indulged in a voluptuous riot of things like marshmallows in hot chocolate, thin pastry under the Tuesday hash, rare roast beef on Sunday instead of boiled hen. Mother ate all she wanted of cream of fresh mushroom soup; Father served a local wine, red-ink he called it, with the steak; we ate grilled sweetbreads and skewered kidneys with a daring dash of sherry on them.
From To Begin Again: Stories and Memoirs
In the same memoir, Fisher would also note that, even at an early age, she found that she “easily fell into the role of the cook’s helper” and enjoyed time in the kitchen.
Author! Author!
Fisher’s love of words was also deeply rooted in her childhood. Her family amassed an impressive home library. And Fisher herself was an avid reader who also began writing poetry when she was five. Fisher’s father, Rex, was an editor and, at times, an owner of a variety local newspapers. Recognizing his daughter’s skills, he would often put Fisher to work as a stringer writing as many as fifteen articles a day.
Author of countless articles and 27 books over the course of her lifetime (including what many consider the definitive translation of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s seminal culinary text—The Physiology of Taste) Fisher’s writings not only reflected her passion for gastronomy but also painted vivid descriptions of her life abroad, in her various homes in the United States, and the relationships she shared from childhood and beyond.
And with three marriages over the course of her lifetime, perhaps it shouldn’t surprise anyone that culinary and carnal quips would often appear in her musings.
Along with Alfred “Al” Fisher (the first of these husbands) came three years of life in Dijon, France. The experience solidified the author’s love of food and appreciation of wine.
A Little Something on the Side
Despite her success as a food writer, Fisher had to take on interesting side-gigs at times to pay the bills. In the 1930s she worked part-time in a California card shop. Less surprising, Fisher was paid to research old cookery books at the Los Angeles Public Library.
During the early 1940s she even worked for Paramount studios in Hollywood, writing comedy skits for stars of the era, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour.
Quotable Cuisine
As much as any of the people found in Ian Makay’s Food for Thought, Fisher truly embodies George Bernard Shaw’s observation that one’s love of food is love in its sincerest form.
Given Fisher’s place in the culinary landscape, her words appear more regularly than most throughout various editions of Ian Makay’s Food for Thought. For now, allow this small selection to whet your appetite.
The Art of Eating
A well-made Martini or Gibson, correctly chilled and nicely served, has been more often my true friend than any two-legged creature.
# # # # # #
I feel now that gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or hillside; two people of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good home.
# # # # # #
Since we must eat to live, we might as well do it with both grace and gusto. Those few of us who actually live to eat are less repulsive than boring.
# # # # # #
Almost every person has something secret he likes to eat.
The “Last House”
Among her many contributions to the culinary world, M.F.K. Fischer also was a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library Association. Despite her love affair with France and with travel, California, more than any other place, was home. It is where Fisher spent most of her childhood.
Though not an enthusiastic student, California is where Fisher’s academic foundation was formed. That included bouncing through several undergraduate programs. However, these laid the groundwork for her graduate studies in Dijon during her first marriage with Al.
Throughout Fisher’s life, California remained the place she would land through three marriages and her more solitary final years.
After the death of her third husband, Fischer’s friend, David Bouverie, offered her a piece of land on his California ranch. She designed the home herself and called it “Last House”.
It served more as a base of operations for over a decade as she continued traveling to France regularly. Subsequently, as her health declined from Parkinson’s disease and arthritis, her home truly lived up to its name.
Despite these challenges, Fischer remained a prolific writer for most of her life, passing away in 1992 at the age of 83.
A Food Writer, You Say?
When someone discovers that I am a food writer, they typically assume that I’m either a food critic or have written cookbooks.
With respect to food critics—I’d never want to be one. While I appreciate well-honed reviews, it’s never been my calling. Coming from a family of restaurateurs, chefs, and servers, I know all too well how tough it is to make it in the culinary world. Unless there’s something good to say about a place, a chef, the staff, the meal, or my culinary companions on any given night, I prefer keeping my thoughts to that inner circle of family and friends.
As for recipes—I’ve developed “a few” in my kitchen. Some have even appeared in print, on the Internet, and in live shows online and on tv. Yet, I’ve never seen myself as the best teacher when it comes to conveying culinary techniques.
I write about food and culinary-adjacent things.
And I am not alone in this.
Yet, of all the people who consider themselves food writers, only a relatively small circle are authors whose prose captures the essence of what food means in our lives. Among these, M.F.K. Fisher has perhaps had the most profound influence over the course of the past century.
A Lasting Legacy
A year before her death, Fisher was elected to the American Academy and National Institute of Arts and Letters. Playing off the title of her book, The Gastronomical Me, and in recognition of this achievement, the editorial board of The New York Times penned a tribute to Fisher titled, “The Gastronomical She”.
In it, they captured what is, perhaps, the essence of why Fisher’s work is so special and so enduring:
Calling M.F.K. Fisher … a food writer is a lot like calling Mozart a tunesmith. At the same time that she is celebrating, say, oysters (which lead, she says, “a dreadful but exciting life”) or the scent of orange segments drying on a radiator, she is also celebrating life and loneliness, sense and sensibility. …
Celebrant of “pickled peaches like translucent stained glass” and “souffles that sighed voluptuously at the first prick,” Mrs. Fisher is like no other writer in the august group of which she’s now a member. But, then, M.F.K. Fisher is like no other writer anywhere.
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