Tuesday, August 16, 2016
American Oriental Cookery
"Quick, easy... and intriguing ways to add zest to your menus..." says the cover of American Oriental Cookery recipe guide, published in 1962, and courtesy of the kitchens of Chun King and Mazola Corn Oil. As you flip through the guide and marvel at some of the more exotic asian fare, you may also be scratching your head in wonder over the recipes for Sloppy Joes, garlic bread, French Dressing, and London Broil. What the heck does some of this have to do with "oriental cookery" you ask? The angle of this guide, of course, is to show you how to prepare in a more modern, Chinese cuisine way, and to cut down on the saturated fats in your diet. I wish I cared about stuff like that, because personally I find the tastiest part of this book to be the fabulous (though uncredited) illustrations throughout this 30 page collection! Here is just an appetizer :)
I absolutely love the illustrations - and any recipe that claims to be "oriental" but man I seriously love that cover. It looks like everything came out of a chun king can or freezer box. So fab!
ReplyDeleteNo kiddin... when was the last time you ordered Chinese food anywhere and it looked even remotely like anything on the cover?
ReplyDeleteAw man, you know I love any spot-colored clip art. I could looks at stuff like this all week long. I love the full tableaux illustrations, like the "Feminine Hospitality" and "Family Dinner" pages (and boy do I really wish I had the knack of making beautifully minimal sprays of accent color, rather than the hours of laborious color overlays I woulda made if this had been my own project!). But my fave is probably that luau image. Love that woman's brushy grass skirt!
ReplyDeleteYes, truly amazing illustrations. The world needs more stuff like this instead of being so afraid of offending someone.
ReplyDelete