Eating
the Elvis Presley Way
David
Adler, ISBN:
1857824121 Published by John Blake, distributed in Australia
by Bookwise International Buy
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Despite
it's unfortunately evocative, or should I say, unflavoursome
title and cover photo of Elvis devouring a superimposed
tri-level ice cream, 'Eating the Elvis Presley Way'
is actually quite a serious, although with large dollops
of humor, examination of The King's eating habits.
David
Adler's narrative is an enjoyable celebration of Elvis'
lust for life and food and one that benefits greatly
because of
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the
author's sojourn across America from Las Vegas to the southern
states of the US where he experienced first hand the culinary
delights that entranced The King and talked to many of those
who knew Elvis and cooked for him.
How
many of us can say we had a dinner cooked by one of Elvis'
favorite cooks at Graceland, Pauline Nicholson? Well, David
Adler can! Sometimes it's a really tough job being an Elvis
researcher and author.
While
it would be easy to dismiss David Adler's book as a cheap
shot at Elvis' unusual eating habits, this is clearly not
the author's intent. Adler adds real value to the Elvis
story by taking the reader into the food culture that existed
at each stage of The King's culinary life.
From
the Tupelo backwoods to the cafeteria at Humes High, Army
food and the Vegas hotel cuisine, the robust discussion
of food, its origins, preparation and relationship to life
becomes incredibly interesting and tasty. And what could
have been a bland topic is given flavour by the author's
frequent humorous observations ("Like his films, essentially
fantasy travelogues for couch potato fans......Elvis literally
couldn't stomach his movies") and ability to cleverly interweave
elements of Elvis' biography into the story.
Adler
also makes a number of succulent observations about the
role of food in Elvis movies (what he broadly terms "food-sex"
jokes).
The
book is chock full with many rare black & white photos (including
a great one of Elvis and Vernon raising their glasses in
a toast) and there are nearly 100 recipes for Elvis' favorite
meals reproduced throughout the book. These include the
scrumptious recipe for Elvis and Priscilla's famed six tier
wedding cake and the 'Love Me Slender' diets.
Among
my favorites were the pepper sauce recipe "hot enough to
send UFO's flying" and Miss Vertie's Greens. And the story
about the $4,000 dollar caviar-and-scotch breakfasts in
Vegas has to be read to believed.
'Eating
the Elvis Presley Way' was originally published in 1993
with the title 'The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley' and
inspired the author's critically acclaimed television documentary
'The Burger and The King'.
Verdict:
don't be fooled by its title and cover photo. 'Eating the
Elvis Presley Way' is an important, nutritional look at
Elvis' lust for life and the socio-cultural role food plays
for all of us. And it includes the "Sleeping Beauty Diet".
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