Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Book Filled With Recipes And Women’s History

Merri Lou Dobler Correspondent

The story goes that the divine dancer Josephine Baker found a bit of bubbly rocked her socks - even if all she wore was nothing more than a G-string of bananas.

Scandalous Parisian salon hostess Natalie Barney was known for making a mean cucumber sandwich. Avant-garde art lover Alice B. Toklas turned on with her psychotropic fudge (and before you ask, no, we’re not giving out that recipe).

These were wild women who celebrated life with meals that made them sizzle. “Wild Women In The Kitchen, 101 Rambunctious Recipes & 99 Tasty Tales” (Conari Press) is part cookbook, part women’s history. It’s written by the Wild Women Association, an organization whose purpose is to rediscover and rewrite our wild foresisters back into history.

Cleopatra’s methods were always theatrical. Pliny the Elder said she made a bet with Marc Antony that she could spend the equivalent of $2 million on a single banquet. Cleopatra won the bet when she supposedly dissolved her huge pearl earring in a tumbler of very strong vinegar. She was about to dunk the other earring when the referee called a halt, declaring her the winner (although scientists have subsequently proven that pearls do not dissolve in vinegar).

How about Isadora Duncan’s asparagus salad, Priscilla Presley’s ricotta, tomato and spinach noodle lasagna or Sarah Bernhardt’s bouillabaise for dinner tonight? You may be interested in Cher’s Salade Nicoise, Jane Austen’s lemon mincemeat or Patisserie Delanghe’s croissants (a French delicacy inspired by Marie Antoinette).

Try this mouthwatering recipe that’s only 96 calories per serving and takes only 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish.

Then go out and have a wild time.

Soy Baked Fish

From “Wild Women In The Kitchen, 101 Rambunctious Recipes & 99 Tasty Tales” (Conari Press).

1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 teaspoon sugar

4 fish fillets, about 3 ounces each (snapper, halibut or any whitefleshed fish)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a shallow casserole dish, combine the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, broth, and sugar. Place the fish in pan in a single layer. Let marinate for a few minutes, turn over, and let marinate for another few minutes.

Bake, basting a few times with the sauce, until the fish is opaque, about 10 minutes. Serve with the sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.