On a diet

In the middle of Julia Child’s and Alex Prud’homme’s My Life in France, I paused over the notion that Julia and husband Paul would need to start a strict régime to lose a bit of weight. Certainly the thought had occurred to me that their daily intake sounded a bit rich, but I had brushed it aside thinking that the descriptions must be overindulgent while the portions were a bit more conservative. Nevertheless, there it was in Julia’s words, diet. So, naturally, I began to ponder, what did diet and exercise look like, exactly, for Paul and Julia Child? She doesn’t go into specifics, and I admit I have not done advanced research on the exercise fads of the time, but I can’t help but picture Julia Child, dressed appropriately in sneakers and a rather modest skirt, power-walking down the street, pitched forward with her great height to get some momentum, and pearls swinging frantically at her neck with each great stride. And even if it’s likely miles from the truth, this notion makes me smile.

And then, while perusing my winter 2003 copy of Gastronomica, I discovered another gem in an article celebrating Weight Watchers’ success in it’s 40^th year of operation: an original recipe from the Weight Watchers cookbook circa 1947:

Cannoli (Italian Pastry)

Ingredients:

“Pastry” Cases:

2 slices enriched white bread, cut horizontally to make 2 thin slices (“twofers”)

4 cardboard tubes, each 1 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (toilet paper size), wrapped in aluminum foil

2 tablespoons diet cream soda


Filling:

1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese, well drained

Artificial sweetener to equal 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Prepare “Pastry” Cases: Flatten the twofers with a rolling pin. Roll each slice around a paper tube. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes until bread is golden brown. Remove bread from tube and return to oven for 5 minutes more, or until inside is lightly toasted. Combine soda and vanilla extract and sprinkle over twofers.

Prepare Filling: With an electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth, add remaining ingredients and continue to beat until light. Spoon equally into prepared “pastry” cases. Chill in refrigerator until very cold. Makes 2 luncheon servings.

Please, whatever you do, do not make this recipe. Fist of all, the recipe itself has technical problems, for instance, the vanilla is listed, quite clearly, under “filling” but then you are told to use it specifically in the preparation of the “pastry” cases. Then there is the problem that the word “pastry” appears only in rather mocking quotes. And finally, if cannoli were absolutely needed and calories were a problem, perhaps the answer would have been to use skim milk ricotta, or to eat a salad on the side. White bread cooked on an old toilet paper tube is only an appropriate diet strategy because it should sufficiently make you lose your appetite. Oh Weight Watchers, what can I say other than you’ve come a long way, baby.