Eating our words
Merguez, orecchiette, tikka masala, veggie. What do those words have in common? They were all added to the in the same year, 1975.
Ryan Haley, an editor at and librarian in the of New York Public Library (and born in 1975), recently published a limited edition artist鈥檚 book. In , he documents the first eighteen years of his life by chronologically listing the words added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in that time period.
On its website, the is described as "an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both past and present," and is the considered to be "the definitive record of the English language." Every year the OED adds new words to the dictionary, thereby cementing that word or phrase to the annals of history. When compiled together, as in this project, the list of words reads like a time capsule capturing the social history of a given year. And while most (if not all) of the added words had been in use before their entry date, their addition to the OED represents when they became more commonly used in the English language.
I was fascinated with the food words in this project, and how certain themes clearly emerge, specifically coffee drinks, ethnic foods, and name brands. For example: Espresso-macchiato and latte macchiato (1976), Shake 'n Bake (1976), kir royale (1977), pad thai (1978), pasta fagioli (1980), amuse-bouche (1982), microbrew (1985).
I asked Ryan some questions about Autobiography.
Cooked Books: Do you have any favorite food words from this project?
Ryan Haley: I really didn鈥檛 pay too much attention to the words as I was assembling the book. Once I had thought of and fine-tuned the idea, the words themselves ceased to be really important. I think it鈥檚 only recently as I鈥檝e 鈥渞ead鈥� through the book that I鈥檝e started to notice the kinds of words that were added within that time and sort of ponder the cultural or historical moment that gave the word currency or legitimacy. For example, McDonaldization from 1975; used as a term for the corporatization of culture or for American cultural homogeny. What was happening then? Did a chez McDo open on the Champs-脡lyss茅es? Did the last Mom & Pop restaurant close down in Peoria? Well, the OED references this book by Jim Hightower called as the first (popular/documented) use. I haven鈥檛 read it, but summary descriptions indicate that book was quite influential in some of the anti-corporate/back-to-the-land ethos of the late-70鈥檚. Then in 1979 you get McDonaldize, which is somewhat related and in 1982 you have just plain old 惭肠顿辞苍补濒诲鈥檚鈥�
CB: What do you think about the culinary themes reflected in these eighteen years?
RH: The first thing one notices is the cosmopolitan growth of the English language and how voracious we are at borrowing terms from other cultures. A lot of that has to do with the British and American empires 鈥� look at all the Hindi and Sanskrit words that in a bastardized form entered English in the 19th century (i.e., chutney). I think Autobiography reflects a slightly different universe of borrowing: science, technological boosterism, political terms, pop cultural references, and urban slang. These areas are heavily represented; whereas foreign terms are definitely in the minority. But back to the topic, I think it鈥檚 pretty evident that Americans have expanded our eating habits during my lifetime to encompass most of the world鈥檚 cuisines 鈥� we鈥檙e omnivores in more than one sense 鈥� and that鈥檚 reflected in our language as you mentioned with 鈥榩asta fazool鈥� and microbrew and also words like cavolo nero (1987). Currently, I think nothing of making Thai, Indian, and Mexican dishes; foods that my Scottish grandmother would have died had she seen and tasted.
CB: Any favorite recipes or cookbooks?
RH: There are a lot of dishes that I come back to semi-frequently because they function as comfort food and I really enjoy making them: carbonnade 脿 la flamande, Bolognese sauce (I鈥檓 uncertain which recipe is the best, but I鈥檝e been gravitating towards 鈥檚), a Turkish lentil soup, and a pork shoulder braised in orange juice, whole spices, and beer. However, I鈥檇 say my all-time favorite recipe is , which isn鈥檛 in the OED incidentally, and which my sister turned me onto in Vancouver in 2001. It鈥檚 a Malaysian coconut rice dish with a few other components we had at a little restaurant for breakfast. Another is a dry-curried green bean dish with mustard seeds from Yamuna Devi鈥檚 ; which is probably my favorite cookbook and the 2nd or 3rd cookbook I purchased鈥擨 think the first was James Villas鈥� or the that David Rosengarten wrote. Also, really important to me now is Diana Kennedy鈥檚 . She鈥檚 written several really great cookbooks, including a new one about cuisine that I have on my wish list. And, because I鈥檓 a big nerd, I really like Harold McGee鈥檚 and the Oxford Companions to and .
CB: Are there any food words that you think should be added to the OED?
RH: I haven鈥檛 checked these, but how about lardo, guanciale, speck,鈥�
You can purchase a copy of Autobiography, Volume One on the Ugly Duckling Presse .
Rebecca Federman blogs at .
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