Customer Reviews

The Wasp Cookbook

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Alexandra Wentworth isn't such a WASP that she'll say no to marrying for love (specifically, marrying former Clinton chief of staff George Stephanopoulos in 2001), but she's a WASP enough to have come up with a recipe collection that not only has pretty good food, but features the unmistakable ring of authenticity as well. Listen to these tidbits:

"Every WASP must have a picnic basket that's at least sixty years old. If you don't have one, buy a new basket and bury it in the ground for a year."

"WASPs relish an excuse to get bedecked from head to toe in Ralph Lauren wear--khaki jodhpurs (the classy answer to Spandex), tweed jackets, floral scarves, and burgundy calfskin gloves."

"These elegant debutantes, in their Bergdorf white gowns and long white gloves, are presented by their fathers. After the brief ceremony, they are toasted as the paragons of fine breeding, good taste, and decorum. They then spend the rest of the evening getting drunk, smoking cigarettes, and giving new meaning to the term 'fine breeding.' "

The recipes work, mostly because they're simple. Some have great names--Nummies, for one (dried apricots filled with Boursin), or Our Family's Eggnog. For the most part, though, look at this less as an honest-to-goodness culinary venture and more as a time capsule of WASPhood in a time when WASPs are no longer commemorated, lauded, made fun of and displayed as they were in John Cheever's heyday.

This book made me laugh until I cried. Clearly the author has "been there." Forget about the recipes; it's the commentary that matters. I particularly liked the cookies sent to the child at boarding school with "love from Mummy" written in the cook's handwriting.

SAMPLE REVIEW, (ONE OF 3) FROM THE COVER OF THIS BOOK: 'A very funny, nostalgic trip through WASPland. Chock-full of sociological information".....Letitia Baldridge

If you are a person who pronounces the word as "QU-LIN-AIR-Y', and NOT as "cull-in-ary'; if you admire and aspire to the "WASP" (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant) lifestyle, love books such as "Elegance", by Genvieve Darieux, and "Faro's Daughter" by Georgette Heyer, (which....I herein must admit, in shameless self-promotion, that I have also reviewed for Amazon), and all other exquisitely written regency novels...would die to become a debutante, or a debutante's glamourous escort, if you read the "Style" sections assiduously, and agonize, daily, with your sense of fair play, and political correctness coming into conflict with your love of the good life and material success....THIS IS YOUR COOKBOOK!

It helps to have a wry sense of humour, as well, in reading this book. For the authoress, ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH, is not only a genuine, top-drawer WASP, but is also an accomplished comedienne, having appeared on "IN LIVING COLOUR", and other entertainment vehicles. (Ms. Wentworth seems to have found THE answer in how to assuage a guilty conscience and STILL enjoy the "good life": simply to SHARE the wisdom and wealth, of that good life, with others! She did so in the TV programme, "IN LIVING COLOUR", and does so, as well -- and with obvious glee and relish, (no pun intended -- by me, at least), in this book.

The book is divided, firstly, into the four seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season has several subsections, (such as "Annual Family Meeting Tea", in 'Spring') Each subsection contains one or more receipies....many with pithy, and insightful comments showing the good, (and yes, the bad) sides, of real WASP life. For instance, in "Annual Family Meeting Tea", there are two receipies, prefaced by a delightfully humourous, and very knowing introduction. Herewith, the introduction, and one receipie, (together with the comments given)

.........A N N U A L....F A M I L Y....M E E T I N G....T E A.........

The annual family meeting used to be a time when the extended family gathered to discuss property, financial accounts, and the name of a good doctor who can declare Grandpa legally incompetent. Alas, as WASPs have, over the years, lost much of their estate and holdings, owing to n'er-do-well offspring, the annual family meeting has become more of a de facto reunion. If you have married into such a family and are of a different background, I suggest you feign the flu or a slipped disk and stay home.
As WASPs can't cook an elaborate meal, family meetings have mercifully taken on a tealike quality.

.......................M A R Y ' S.....K N E E S.......................

Serves 15-20. An important drink for calming nerves and provoking hearty laughs, (ie: add extra vodka).

6 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups fresh squeezed lime juice
4 cups Absolut citron (lemon vodka)
2 cups Grand Marnier liqueur

Mix ingredients with plenty of ice and orange wedges.

Seven other topics, (making a total of eight topics) each including several recipies, are given for "Spring", (many with similarly pithy insights), These include one or more receipes for "Easter Supper", "Bridal Tea" and "Baby Shower Bruch" -- amongst receipies for other crucial Spring events in the WASP Calendar. In "Summer" are shown receipes for ten events, including: "June Graduation Supper", "Fourth of July Cookout", and "Wimbledon Fancy", (amongst others). "Autumn" gives receipes for six events, including "Prep School Send-Off", "A Middleburg Foxhunt" and "A Racquetball Lunch", and other important events. And "Winter" again gives culinary musts for six events, including "Debutante Ball Cocktails", "Boxing Day Lunch", and "Vail Weekend".

(This reviewer notes the fact that several receipies are given for both "Fourth of July Cookout", and for "Boxing Day Lunch". This shows this book to be a genuinely AMERICAN WASP cookbook.....as, by and large, both American WASPS -- and WASP Admirers -- find absolutely no contradiction in being proud to be American, and being an unashamed Anglopile, at one and the same time. Or, at least, we try very, very hard to find no contradiction in liking, and being proud of, our interest in both. I mean, after all, it HAS been over 200 years since the American Revolution, and, with the "Special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K. And, after all, Boxing Day DOES involve giving presents to the "help" -- which is a good, democratic idea...or is it a condescending one???? Well, it appears that, though WASP wanna-bes, like me, struggle mightily to join our sometimes conflicting admirations, real WASPS, such as Ms. Wentworth, have absolutely NO compuction of combining their seemingly conflicting admirations. At least, no apologies of any kind for admiring things English is given in THE WASP COOKBOOK. And, after all, why should there be -- as a WASP, Ms. Wentworth, and others like her, are only admiring their own genetic heritage. Oh....why can't everyone be lucky!?

I noticed, by comparing similar receipies in "The WASP Cookbook", and "The Jewish Cookbook", (by Mildred Bellin....which, yes indeed, I have also reviewed for Amazon), that the WASP recipes use FEWER INGREDIENTS. Thus, to "Waspisize" any receipie, it MIGHT be an idea to simply take away some ingredients....preferably those with the most calories or fat. However, for GENUINE Wasp receipes....along with eye-opening, very true, very humourous, and often self-depricating comments, this slim volume with 110 numbered pages, a WONDERFUL velveteen cover, (with golden printing on the cover!), and lovely pale-blue endpapers, can't be missed! It is a very true, and very real, treasure-trove, both for WASPs, and for anyone who wants to eat like one!

This is a great book. I bought it for myself - and I'm now buying them for my WASP girlfriends for their birthdays - a very funny book with some good (not great) recipes.

This is the perfect gift for any ocassion. It's humorous and the recipes are fun.

Not only did I love the recipes, Mary's Knees, St. Croix Breeze, I loved the humor! This cookbook made me laugh! The author, Alexandra Wentworth, is hysterical! Truly one of the funniest books, let alone cookbooks, I've read! Have fun while cooking and enjoy!

Ali is very funny, yet very real.
This book is a wonderful peak into how the wasp half lives.
I enjoyed this book very much on many levels.
The recipes are funny ... lots of booze. But credible just the same.
Hoping for more from Alexandra Wentworth!!!

I received this gift as a shower gift this summer before mywedding. Everyone was reading it aloud. It made my shower. I highlyrecommend running to your nearest bookstore and buying a few. It's fabulous!

This is one of the funniest books I've read. The recipes are simple yet classic. Definately comfort food. I pick up the book once a week and just giggle.

This book is an ageless treasure. A wonderful gift for any ocassion. Especially, wedding season! A great shower gift! I loved it!