Customer Reviews

How to Cook a Wolf

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M.F.K. Fisher was a superb writer. And she lived in "interesting times" in Europe and California. How to Cook a Wolf pitted her inate love of food and cuisine against some severe times when money might be short or food was rationed. Her strange sense of humor and practical outlook are interesting; for example, she gives a recipe for a sludge to keep body (if not soul) alive. The instructions begin with borrowing 50 cents to buy the ingredients; hamburger, wilted vegetables. The resulting mush can be used as a nutritious dog food, or a staple to survive on. She even claims it can be quite acceptable fried as scrapple, but then you'd have to have some cooking fat (and even that could be hard to come by.)

In these times of plenty, it's hard to relate to this book except to read Fisher's ideas and fantastic prose; the section on "Sue" (really California artist and etcher Nel Coover) who survived and entertained her guests with wild ice plants, seaweed and stolen eggs and potatoes is captivating.

If you have never read any M.F.K. Fisher, start with "The Measure of My Powers", but if you have read her, and if you have developed a taste for her marvelous writing, this is one of her famous works that is unique and interesting.

Not only could she write with style, wit and warmth, she could also "serve it forth" -- the recipes really work! Especially the prune roast (it sounds dopey, but it sure is great!!). I'm hooked.

I can't vouch for her recipes but I can speak for her prose. I picked up this book for pure entertainment and found it. Fisher's conversation is elegant, entertaining, and educational, and her advice is at times amusing, at times timeless.

Ms. Fisher was writing in Europe during WW2; due to wartime rationing and shortages, the wolf seemed literally to hover near the door. Fine, she says, a wolf! Let's eat him!

Ms. Fisher shows the best of the chin-up attitude one hopes we would all be disposed to display in hard times. She was in Europe during the war, and suffered the hardships thereof; she writes from a love of the food she had been exposed to before shortages, but her writing is ABOUT the food she can obtain rather than what she can't. She writes wittily, even charmingly about how to live on practically nothing and how to do it with an eye to health and nutrtion, and flavor and enjoyment! Even in the 40's Ms. Fisher was aware that everybody needs to eat plenty of vegetables; even then she was aware that even sparse rations would be "better for you" if the food could look and taste appealing.


The book was later edited and annotated by the author, and this edition includes those notes.

One comes to see that in writing during wartime Ms. Fisher wrote from the "furnace of affliction" indeed and and that this book is as much a statement of philosophy as a guide to cooking and eating when food is sparse. One's attitude toward food, family, friends can be shaped to something resembling common sense and love of beauty whether a war is raging around one or no. The notes she added years later indicate that she still agreed with her earlier thoughts, in the main -- something had solidified, something had crystallised, in her thinking.

A must for the shelf if one likes to think about food in more than a visceral and immediate way.

The famous and funny book by MFK Fisher. I love the title alone. (meant to refer to the wolf at the door!) Recipes & prose and graciousness - she wants everyone to live well, no matter the situation. This is the very rare first edition, grey covers underneath the dustjacket. Someone is going to be very lucky. Highly recommended.

This book is relevant :
Much of what she says about food and eating that contradicted the common knowledge of the time have been proven in the interim.

This book gives a great slice of life look at the time it was written:
Discussing food shortages, rationing and other challenges unique to the WWII period was enlightening. I wasn't born until a full generation after the war, so although I knew that rationing existed, I didn't think about what this actually meant for families until reading this book.

This book is very, very funny :
The author has a dry wit that I very much appreciate. While the intention of the book is not to entertain, she definitely does so while discussing things of great importance during the time it was written. This was the first book of hers I've read. I've been missing out! I'll be reading more, and I can recommend this book without reservation.

MFK Fisher is somewhat over-rated as a food writer. This book has interest because it was written when food rationing was in force due to WWII. Rationing reminded her of other experiences of deprivation, which is the theme of the book. So-so writing, but a really good recipe for gingerbread. If you like gingerbread, this recipe alone is reason to read the book.