Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 12:51:04 -0500 
From: Judi Mancuso <jm5p+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: What's the worst cookbook you own?

>Every now and then someone in this group asks something like, "What's
>the best cookbook for...?" 
> 
>My question is, what is the worst cookbook you own?  I don't mean those
>spiral-bound things got up for fund raisers--the ones where everyone
>contributes a recipe and the end result is a collection of recipes for
>instant potato and canned green bean casserole.  I mean a cookbook that
>was intended for broad distribution sales in book stores.  What's the
>name of your worst cookbook, and what's bad about it?
>-- 
>Crossly the Glad-Eyed Bear              ekman@netcom.com
>Home for the Terminally Infirm, Redwood City, California


I have a cookbook that I received last Christmas from someone in the
office--it is by Mike Kalina (the "Phanton Diner").  It is mostly a
Pittsburgh cookbook but has an interesting (and sad) story attached to
it so it may now be more widely available.  The cookbook is a collection
of Pittsburgh-area restaurant recipes and Pittsburgh foodfacts, food
memories, replicas of defunct restaurant menus, historical accounts of
area eating spots, etc........
Although all of the recipes are quite good---my husband calls anything I
make from the book "suicidal"--because the author committed suicide
supposedly over this book--a few weeks after it began selling in the
stores (my husband is insensitive sometimes).  Anyway, the name
"suicide" hs been added to lots of the dishes I serve from the
book--Suicide Pasta, Suicide Chicken.  It sort of caught on---I tend to
use the book alot when we have company---they are always alarmed when
they ask the name of the dish and we reply "Suicide Whatever It is".  It
makes for interesting dinner conversation. Anyway, it is not my worst
cookbook---but the one with the worst story behind it.  
The story goes something like this:
Mike Kalina is locally famous for reveiwing restaurants---so sometimes
his thumbs up or thumbs down could make or break a place.  He was very
involved in locally produced cooking shows and did have a syndicated
food column.  He was a pretty charasmatic guy and did well.  Anyway, he
supposedly found himself becoming involved with the local "mob" and was
said to be taking bribes for good reviews.  When it came time to write
the book (which proceeds were to go to charity)--it is said that he took
some major payoffs from restauranteers to have their recipes and reviews
appear in the book. Anyway, after the book came out, it seems Mike
Kalina's life took a downhill turn. First off, his partner (and
friend--he introduced Mike to his wife) was being investigated for
racketeering and his connection to the restaurant "underworld".  Then,
they went after Mike Kalina.  Meanwhile, Mike was diagnosed with throat
cancer.  Then, the grand jury began looking into Mike's affairs.  The
stories said that he could not take all the pressure. Mike was found in
his car (which had been buried under lots of snow) in the downtown
Pittsburgh area--with a garden hose attached to his exhaust pipe, then
placed in the window with all the windows taped off.  Once he was found,
the stories went wild. Since I had just received the book I took a keen
interest in the stories and felt so badly because in the book he had
several pictures of he and his wife and his new daughter--so I felt like
I knew them!  I really don't know what the final outcome on this whole
thing is---we have been without a newspaper for about 7 months now! 
But, I can tell you that it was interesting to follow.  Judi   
 

Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking