Great Depression Cooking Brings Food of the Past To the Present

Today, the struggles of average people aren’t just easily captured but easily distributed, and it’s such a pervasive element of our culture that sometimes I have to make myself remember that the same sort of documentation doesn’t exist for previous generations. Which is a shame; I’m probably not the only one who wishes they had some physical recording of their grandparents or great-grandparents talking about their pasts, making facts read in history books seem real.

The creators of Great Depression Cooking don’t have that problem, and have parlayed it into a great little web series that combines one great-grandmother’s culinary know-how with her memories of growing up in the worst economic crisis of our country’s history (so far, that is). Christopher Cannucciari’s lovingly filmed episodes intercut footage of Clara preparing a simple dish from the era with stories of her childhood, from memories of the house smelling like yeast from the garage next door (where bootleggers were cooking up whiskey) to the time her brother surprised her with a garter snake.

Clara doesn’t play for the camera, instead just going through the motions of old favorite dishes, her simple narration supplemented by on-screen captions. What’s really effective is that Cannucciari keeps the focus purely on Clara and her stories; we never hear from the camera person, never get an additional perspective. Which is great, as this is the sort of series that doesn’t need outside commentary. We show up and learn about what it was like to live in a disastrous economic climate, at least in one woman’s point of view. Oh, and we get to pick up some cool recipe ideas. Cleverly, a DVD of Great Depression Cooking is available for pre-order now, for those who can afford it.

The first three episodes of Great Depression Cooking were released in 2007 (oh, those carefree days before sub-prime mortgage loans became a household phrase), but it returned to the web last December to an upswell in attention (and viewcounts) thanks to its too-obvious hook: There is no greater challenge to eating well than finding your budget abruptly restricted, as too many people have discovered over the past six months. Clara’s Italian-influenced cuisine doesn’t have much epicurean flare. The meals rely heavily on potatoes and pasta, and they look nutritious and delicious — in these lean times, that may be all one can ask for.