The first time Meyer Wolfsheim met Jimmy Gatz, the young man hadn't eaten in days. Freshly released from Army duty and on the hunt for a job, the major wore his medal-decked uniform around town not to tout his valor or value - but rather because he couldn't afford civilian clothes.

For the princely sum of just over $4, Wolfsheim stuffed the starving kid full of food and locked in his loyalty for life.
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Has a non-cookbook ever sent you scrambling kitchen-ward?

For legendary and James Beard award-winning chef Norman Van Aken, literature often beelines straight from his brain to his stomach.

He says of the delicious bond: "The strands of fate and history pull us in circles we may never fully comprehend, but they are there. And why I’m a chef is moved, most surely by all of the ‘levers’ moved by the pencils, pens and typewriters of these artists and many more."

Five Non-Cookbooks that Influenced My Cooking: Norman Van Aken

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Apropos of our post on the Tomato and Mayonnaise Sandwich - A.K.A. The Finest Sandwich in the Known Universe, we present some passages from Louise Fitzhugh's 1964 'Harriet the Spy'.

"There is nothing that makes me sicker than watching Harriet M. Welsch eat a tomato sandwich. Pinky Whitehead"

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Every so often, we'll share short passages from works of fiction that have sent us scrambling kitchen-ward.

"There was a jug of creamy milk for the children (Mr. Beaver stuck to beer) and a great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes, and all the children thought - and I agree with them - that there's nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and has come out of the pan half a minute ago. And when they had finished the fish Mrs. Beaver brought unexpectedly out of the oven a great and gloriously sticky marmalade roll, steaming hot, and at the same time moved the kettle onto the fire so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured out. And when each person had got his (or her) cup of tea, each person shoved back his (or her) stool so as to be able to lean against the wall and gave a long sigh of contentment." - 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis (1950)

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