PAGE TWO THE MICHIGAN DAILY TESDAY, DECEMBER S, 1953 Faculty Cooks Reveal Favorite Menus, I Dishes 4 PROF. GRAF SELECTS A RECIPE PROF. SCANIO SHOPS FOR INGREDIENTS 'MIX WELL' SAYS PROF. O'NEILL PROF. KISH MAKES THE CRUCIAL TEST By JANET FORD Voila le potage! That's how to say "soup's on" in French, but several University faculty members find it enjoyable to cook and eat in other languages as well. To Prof. Otto G. Graf of the -German department; cooking is an art and not just a utility. He specializes particularly in French, Chinese and Japanese cookery. His cookbook collection includes over 60 volumes written in a variety of languages. One of the books, ° valuable 17th century Postmaster Gives T]ips For Mailing The proper way to wrap Christ- mas packages, that tediously be- wildering job most people dislike, was explained to Ann Arborites by Postmaster Oswald Koch. "Use a solid box," he began, "and fasten it with twine, wire or a banding material. Boxes sufficient- ly wrapped for ordinary mail eas- ily get damaged at Christmas time. Also gummed paper wrap- ping has little chance of holding because of the beating that the boxes take- in the large postal terminals." THE ADDRESS should be writ- ten plainly, the postmaster con- tinued, using a ball point pen or indelible pencil to insure that the writing won't smudge off when exposed to the elements. Books are subject to a reduced rate if declared on the outside of the package. The rate is eight cents for the first pound and four for each additional pound in all mailing zones. No additional charge is made for enclosed greeting cards; how- ever, no other personal corres- pondence can be enclosed in such a case. "The sooner you send the pack- ages the better," Koch said. "Put 'Do Not Open Till Christmas' on them if you like. But don't wait until the last minute."- "Everyone knows there's no Santa Claus anyway." cookbook written in Latin by aa Spanish Cardinal who was librar- ian of the Vatican, Prof. Graf keeps locked in a vault. * * * BY "MAKING it a point of peering into pots," the German professor has collected recipes while traveling in Japan, China and Europe. Prof. Graf, who is particular- ly partial to Chinese curries and Mosem Chinese cooking, counts curried shrimps and sweet and sour spareribs among his fa- vorite dishes to prepare and eat. The shrimps are cooked with green pepper, onion and season- ings while the sweet and sour flavor of the spareribs is achieved with soy sauce, sugar and cider vinegar. HIS TASTES do not extend to pastries, however, and in this he' tends to agree with Prof. Vincent A. Scanio of the Romance Lan- guages department who considers pastry cooking "a purely feminine activity." Prof. Scanio pointed out that Italians prefer fruit for dessert and while Italian pastry is "far superior" to French, it is usual- ly served at tea time and not as a dinner dessert. The Italian professor has eaten Italian style cooking most of his life and claims he has taken his mother's recipes as he remembered +1. a nnr7 «imnrnt nr7 iinnn +h cam 1f liL-o-- hic. mnat "ninv ali f.hP ix7nv fni" an hfvllr nl. on thPV will hp tem aiu uimproveu upon ueumt. ime is eat aiu eayi or J W IU an nour or s, aneyW t De * * * through, not red." just right," he said. THE BASIC thing to remember Close friends of the profes- Prof. Kish likes wine in or with in culinary art is that some things sor's are very enthusiastic all types of food. He claims it is don'tsgortogethr andhotherstdo don't go together and others do, about his "omnibus pizza." The "half the meal." Many California Prof. Scanio said. essence of pizza is "tomatoes wines are as good as European if "Marshmallow and onions- and onions plus something else," not better, he added. no! But onions and mushroons the professor divulged. He con- Copper and stainless steel fried together, plus tomatoes, bines all the possible pizza reci- cooking utensils are best to use, two lightly beaten eggs and pes and comes up with an "om- if they are available, the geogra- cheese is delicious." nibus." pher said. He also noted that he Prof. Scanio first took up cook- .can get most of the ingredients ing seriously while a graduate stu- Pure nostalgia for his native necessary for his recipes right in dent at Princeton and later at the Hungarian dishes started Prof. Ann Arbor, or no farther away University. "It was during the George Kish of the geography de- than Detroit, "if you look hard depression and much cheaper to partment on the road to cookery. enough." do m ow coking" h aded. Three basic ingredients of Hun-* * * * * *y garian cooking, red paprika, white ANOTHER enthusiast of this used very suc- noodles and green peppers, have art, is Prof. James C. O'Neill, of SAUCES can beusodnary suc- their colors immortalized in the the Romance Language depart- tablesand get away from tradi- country's flag. Noodles are eaten ment. He considers himself a tional eating, according to Prof. as a dessert and are usually served good meat and potato cook. "My Scanio who likes to fry cauliflower with sugar and poppy seeds, powd- real interest in cooking lies in and serve it covered with Par ered nuts or cottage cheese. experimental preparation of new { neasan cheese. > * *1 dishes from interesting foreign sPROF. KISH tried out French traditions and adapting them to Besides the traditional garlic Frhe materials and budget at and onion found in Italian cook- recipes while a graduate student hand. ing, the Italian professor uses in Paris and became interested in basil, Greek thyme and mint for the Italian cuisine while spending Prof. O'Neill claims that he is seasoning. a year in Italy. already a good cook and all he would need to be a terrific cook "Don't go to' great lengths to But his first love is for old- .. . His tastes also extend to "young leg of lamb rare, loaded with gar- lic and served with watercress; thin slices of Spanish onion and oranges in French dressing, good coffee and fat, juicy hamburgs,' rare." * * * WHEN SPEAKING of wines, the professor's eyes light up. His motto is "red or white, hot or cold, with fish or meat." Wine as an ingredient in cooking is also highly praised by Prof. Glenn D. McGeoch, of the music school. Recently Prof. McGeoch has been work- ing to perfect an Italian can- nelloni - a rolled pasta filled with chicken, truffles, mush-, rooms and seasoning. The con- coction is then rolled like a horn (hence the name) and covered with cheese. The mix- ture is broiled until the cheese melts. When ordering ingredients for his cooking, Prof. McGeoch some- times finds it necessary to order from an importer's shop in New York or to send to Chinatown for a bird's nest. The famed bird's nest soup is very expensive to make and "real- ly not worth it." The nest is soak- ed in water and boiled with other ingredients. "Its consistency is similar to tapioca pudding and it has a delicate flavor," Prof. Mc- Geoch said. "The test of a good cook," he added, "is whether he can take leftovers and make something de- lectable." * * * try filled with mushrooms, chives, PROF. RICHARD C. Boys of the mint, marjoramn, and red wine), PoOF. RICHARD C. oys of thecolor] English department gives this ad- ' vice to beginning cooks-buy a copy of "The Joy of Cooking" byl Irma S. Rombauer. Prof.. Boys started cooking when he was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University. A bushel of oysters cost one dollar at the Baltimore docks and would last all winter. Thus, he learned many ways to pre- pare oysters and other seafoods. His specialties include clam chowder, mussels, oyster stew and green tomato preserves. Prof. Boys recommends using a variety of spices and herbs, but in mod- eration, and he reports "no ul- cers," either.. He hascompiledra list of De- troit restaurants for the Modern Language Association and has a large collection of menui ,from restaurants all over the country. * * * ANOTHER English professor, Karl Litzenberg has always been interested in cooking: His mother was a "fancy cook" and he picked up much of his culinary skill by observation and experiment. Prof. Litzenberg who special- izes in "continental improve- ments on American dishes" has prepared a dinner menu for men. His "American steak dinner" consists of a broiled sirloin steak two and one-half inches thick marinated in red wine and herbs. Mushroom timbales (a rolled pas- a green saiaa ana a rea saiaa I : (greens, onions sliced paper thin and the whole thing turned red with a liberal supply of paprika) and French green beans cooked with sweet summer savory com- plete the menu. * * * THE REASON that the best men cooks are better than the best women cooks is that men don't do it often enough to get bored, Prof. Litzenberg said. "The main thing in cooking is to stand over the stove," he added,, "and women can't be bothered with long hours in the kitchen after a day of house- keeping." As advice to beginners, Prof. Litzenberg suggested that once they have learned the rudiments of cooking they "start experiment- ing with flavors." This is the dif- ference between a good and an excellent cook," he said. He also suggested that perhaps American housewives ought to throw away their frying pansand use the broiler and the oven more. "The greatest sin in American cooking is overcooking vegetables," he concluded. i cooking because then it becomes: real labor and all the joy is gone," is his motto. * * * THE FRENCH cuisine, Prof. Scanio leaves to his wife who is a "superb cook." When meat is to be broiled, however, the head of the Scanio family does it. He style Hungarian dishes-gulyas (goulash), noodles with prune jam and pancakes which are first fried in a skillet and then filled with jam, folded, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar and placed in a moderate oven. "If you prepare pancakes before dinner, and forget about them is "more time and more money." The French professor's reper- toire of recipes includes a "perfect French dressing," a sea-food cas- serole of oysters, scallops, had- dock, shrimp and mushrooms in white wine and cream sauce, glaz- ed strawberry tarts in custard and veal knuckles in white wine. Help fight TB Buy Christmas S .jls ,A DECEMBER OR MARCH? Christmas Celebrations, Date Once Controversial / By ARLENE LISS Controversy once raged over the celebration of the now well-estab- lished institution of Christmas. The earliest disagreement came when the early church fathers could not agree when or indeed if it should be observed. ONE FACTION supported the claims that December 25 as the date of Christ's birth was the right day to celebrate while' another group insisted that March 25, the date of the resurrection, should be a day of feast and thanksgiving. For some time the two groups waged a verbal war over the is- sue. King Arthur is reputed to be the first to celebrate Christ- mas in December. But the March SAY 1 0 erry iit *. TO HER.,. e vwth a Vt/rfrom 6.itler' Just a few suggestions' WATCHES PEN & PENCIL SETS BRACELETS TRAVEL CLOCKS RINGS SILVERWARE EAR RINGS LIGHTERS NECKLACES COMPACTS All articles gift wrapped and mailed if desired en faction clung to its belief until, threatened with excommunica- tion in the fourth century, it was forced to give in. For the next 14 centuries no- body opposed Christmas celebra- tions until Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, banned the festivities. The joy that reigned at this time of the year was incom- patible with Puritan principles which advocated more restrained observances. This view was echoed in New England in 1659 when a law was passed subjecting any p e r s o n found celebrating Christmas tol fine or imprisonment. * *.* OBJECTIONS FROM the Puri- tans were aimed at the wild revels which turned England into chaos at Christmastide. A Lord of Mis- rule was appointed in most vil- lages and towns, legalizing the pranks and mischief-making pre- valent at the time. Such pageants even disturbed church services by frequently interrupting the ser- mon. In more modern times Christ- mas was not officially banned in Nazi Germany, but it was strong- ly disapproved. Christmas was against the Nazi race and reli- gious theories and therefore the "COME IN AND TRY IT! the 0NvW ROYAL PORTABLE WITH SENSATIONAL NEW SPEED SELECTOR! g * celebrations had to be modified to fit into the National Social- ist doctrine. Some fervent Nazis went as far as to abandon the Christmas cele- bration in favor of a festival to the sun god whom old legends des- cribe as returning to earth soon after December. * * * IN AMERICA, except during the Puritan interlude, Christmas has been celebrated regularly in a fa- shion that incorporated the cus- toms of many lands. Ancient Rome, H o 11 a n d, Scandinavia, France, Germany and England have all contributed to American tradition. The practice of hanging green boughs comes from Rome where at the Saturnalia the Romans decorated their homes with greenery. The ancient and en- joyable custom of mistletoe had its origin in England where the Druids used it in their religious ritual. Legend dictates that when a kiss is given under the mistletoe a berry must be pluck- ed. There can only be as many kisses as there are berries. Santa Claus is the anglicized version of the Dutch Saint Nico- laas. However, the American ver- sion of Saint Nicolaas differs from the Dutch as it has gathered many other customs around it. The ori- ginal legend of a kind-hearted man who gives gifts to children on Christmas arose from stories about Bishop Nicholaas of Myra who lived in the fourth century. Nicholaas did many good deeds and, according to legends, gave gifts anonymously to many people. In Holland, Dutch children get their gifts on December 6 and cele- brate Saint Nicolaas Day they as this was the date of his birth. French children put wooden shoes by the stove for the Christmas gifts, but as English children did not own wooden shoes the custom arose of hanging up stockings in- stead. I V FOR. CHRISTMAS STATIONERY GIFT BOXES FOUNTAIN PENS OFFICE FURNITURE TYPEWRITERS :.. CALEN DARS Typewriters Billfolds.All makes, Portable Brief Cases and Standard. Immediate delivery. Playing Cards~ Photograph Albums Fountain Pens Sheaffer, Parker, Scrap BooksEsterbrook. RUSTCRAFT CHRISTMAS CARDS We imprint cards purchased here at a small cost. Since Phone 1908 MO RNO 8-7177 314 South State Street OPEN SATURDAY TILL 5 P.M. W AHR'S 'UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE *.. .316 SOUTH STATE fr ChHttina ' h F tedGPTS louSk tM Fountain Pen and Pencil sets Leather Goods Oil Painting Sets Glasses and Ash Trays I I I rl A -/ '1 I I I I t r t. /'1 1 i l 1 th 7^ n^ 1 I S1