VL-IV: Chap7- Prairie cooks

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Joseph Tracy writes:

The cook thing was funny too, contrasting the actual self  
reliance and survival skills of a poor 14 year old Hippie( not  
gourmet, but food), with the coddled and fed rebellion of the upper  
middle class zen retreat set.  Its cartoonery but funny and true in  
the sense of theory being too often  more appealing to the over- 
educated than doable action.

Prairie's cooking skills call to mind the Disgusting English Candy episode and Roger and Pig Bodine's dinner party menu from GR. Sad fact is, Pynchon's drawing on real-life disgusting American cuisine.  I've inflicted variations of Prairie's spinach casserole on my own family and actually encountered a recipe for Bologna Kebabs, with a tangy sauce made from grape jelly and ketchup.

Laura