How long does it take to put together a cookbook? I don’t know, I’m not finished yet! I first announced my project to match recipes to Box Thirteen radio episodes in 2021, and here we are, enjoying 2024, and while I am closer to having a cookbook put together, it is still not ready.
What I have finally completed is a listen of every Dragnet episode, noting all mentions of food. The resulting database is available freely through google sheets, anyone is welcome to take a look, and if you notice any need for correction, please do let me know.
Dragnet Food Database Part One
Dragnet Food Database Part Two
I listened as carefully as I could, but over 300 episodes, my concentration was bound to wander now and then! (I have a somewhat easier to read copy of the database saved in Excel, and am also happy to share that file with anyone who is interested, just send me a message!)
Why am I (very slowly) working on a project to match cookbook recipes and old radio episodes?
Because I’ve listened to a lot of classic radio dramas. It’s a hobby of mine. And I often listen to radio episodes while cooking.
Because it’s interesting to learn what the common meals of the relatively recent past were – a lot of the food is very familiar to me, but it’s not all as “whitebread” as you might think. It’s also interesting to me as a writer to see how different radio characters have their characters enhanced by the food given to them by their writers – for example, Sam Spade’s major food group seems to be “booze,” but Richard Diamond, while also in the detective business, seems to quite enjoy having dinner with his girlfriend, and Joe Friday, supercop, only orders doughnuts once.
It’s also fun to note that concerns about grocery price inflation have been around for a long time, and are justified – hearing that a can of frozen fruit juice used to cost 12 cents can serve as a powerful lesson in the practical effects of inflationary monetary policies over time.
I continue to thank Jenny Hammerton, her practise and generosity in matching celebrity recipes with films and TV episodes continues to inspire me to believe I will eventually succeed in getting my own cookbook projects together. If you haven’t visited Silver Screen Suppers yet, please treat yourself today!
My original plan was to have about 100 recipes matching Box Thirteen episodes, but I may have to run with one recipe per episode. We’ll figure it out. I am quite hopeful I will have something put together by the end of this year.
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