Reflections on A Call to Cook

In exploring gastrography as a form of life writing, we have taken a variety of material from our lives and experiences and, centering these elements on the role of food, investigated the interaction of food with both community and personal identity. Gastrography, according to Smith and Watson’s Reading Autobiography, “designate[s] life writing that is closely linked to the production, preparation, or consumption of food” (271). Smith and Watson point out that gastrography can be employed to address wide-ranging issues such as the preservation of a unique cultural identity, colonization, or sustainability (271). As a cookbook, our gastrography goes beyond the general format of listing recipes by providing short reflections that explain the significance of the dish in our memories, lives, or relationships.

As a collaborative autobiography, A Call to Cook unifies the varied experiences with food that we have had as a result of our differences in family background, locality, and personal choice. Whereas Charles has grown up in the Charleston Lowcountry, eating seafood and enjoying signature Southern dishes, Crystal’s culinary experiences have been shaped by her mother’s Southwestern origins and her decision to avoid eating meat. These predilections characterize the recipes which are included in our cookbook and ultimately reveal a great deal about our backgrounds and lives. By situating each of our individual impressions and recipes with one another’s culinary experiences, our gastrography presents a wider range not only of foods but also of concepts. Through combining our reflections and recipes into one cookbook, we address a collective experience that, while touching on similar themes such as family and locality, allows for differences in interpretation.

Our gastrography functions within a number of the roles of self-life writing, seeking out the meaning contained in the seemingly simple necessity of preparing and consuming meals. For example, Crystal explores her ties to her family and enjoys the acknowledgement of her superb pumpkin pies in November’s entry, revealing the importance of tradition to the food that she cooks. By passing on an important family tradition to her, Crystal’s grandmother reinforces the relationship between food and relationships. On the other hand, Crystal’s recipes such as Curried Squash and Tempeh Hot “Wings” are major deviations from the foods which her family prepares, showing the development of personal tastes and choices in food paralleling the development of her identity. Charles’s recipe for Cheat’s Curry further represents this important function of our gastrographical project, as the act of making the dish serves to remind him of his ties to a friend and a community which played an important role during his year in Canada. By extending the importance of food and the interactions associated with its preparation and enjoyment into our lives with friends as well as family, we trace the development of self that characterizes the college years and young adult life.