Show wa walter we winchell Is a h 1 h his cot n wik b 0 duchen d ony guess lady learn to cook or your G GI I 1 will go home to the armyl by captain ben ban levin irvin butler founder Found tr and nj dim of 1 the 1 01 ol abatu chaft sitting by the roadside on a summer day chatting with my mess mates males passing time way away singing in the shadows shadow underneath the trees freest goodness how do de li ci ous oui eating PEASI an old civil war song ani and I 1 it goes to show that in all wars uppermost in the soldiers mind la is food I 1 should spell that word with capitals FOOD zora layman the radio and recording artist sang eating goober peas the other night at a cocktail party I 1 dont know whether it was her singing or what but zora zor 0 lay mans song practically started riot I 1 was the center of it all The women at the party began asking me questions they wanted to know all about army stood and believe me I 1 told leml I 1 told them b both 0 th as an exair ex air corps captain and as the founder of the society of am amateur chefs an exclusive new york club composed of famous men who make a hobby of cooking first of all I 1 explained about this business of KP the movies and fiction have painted t kappee mostly as a business of peeling potatoes and cleaning garbage cans but a lot of nonsense many soldiers try to get on KP and why not the kitchen Is one of the warmest spots around the camp in the winter time the dures duties are easy enough and the theres always the pick of a well stocked larder from which to select ones food im not kidding Insle instead adof of being a punishment job handed out by the army to kappee Is one detail GI joe mind according to bill rhode who Is one of the editors of gourmet many of the their irfan fan letters come from soldiers and sailors I 1 had bad lunch with bill the othir other day and he told me how many requests tor for epicurean recipes there had been from men in the various services that very day hed received a letter from an admiral asking how bow to 16 smoke herring the slogan the best fed army in the world has been tossed around a great deal people dont any longer grasp entirely what it means the army kitchen is no harum affair in many instances it is an elect electrical cical job and span offering an open invitation to good cookery it has everything in the wa way y of equipment and believe me the medical officers see to it that it Is as son sanitary gitary as a kitchen can pos pbs glibly be made no coolin you can just about see your face to in the bottom of an army garbage can thousands of army lads have been carefully trained in cooking butchering and baking endmost and most of them have become good cooks some at least have become efficient cooks although perhaps uninspired and then of course some seme I 1 will never learn 31 hence the discrepancy cre pancy between reports from various camps and units some men will rave about the food they en oyed loyed in their outfit others will keep on yearning tor for mothers beef stew and apple pie but take it from me very few are telling their pals what a wonderful cook the girl is they left behind and theres something else I 1 told the ladles at the cocktail party to ponder pander over though the army food wins no squawks the GIs occasionally yearn year n tor for the finer things of life for instance a nephew of mine john piper who is an army pilot somewhere in the south pacific upon learning that I 1 was back in new york wrote to me tor for a recipe tor for wild duck a la ia press my old mess sergeant ler geant now stationed in a southern climate inquired as to how to make a tart urne lime marmalade another inquiry came cameto to me from a service man tar far away IU let you guess asking how t to make I tulles these are thin thin wafers that accompany curry when the latter is served in the elegant manner an officer connected with the kamys dietary service told roe me that hed had an inquiry from a mess oer ergeant sergeant asking how to make wine ou out t of berries a reasonable enough request only the army give out with answers to such questions they know now all food corns conte out ol of cans with repeal came the renaissance renal siance of american gastronomy slowly an interest in good food returned but with the war millions of boys are learning and discovering that all food does not come out of tin cans and tills this interest is growing by leaps and bounds in camps soldiers have eaten freshly baked bread and the old id cotton wadding type of bread from the corner grocery store wont have much appeal to these the boys in the future |