Coq au Vin
I can’t hear the name of the dish “coq au vin” without thinking of this Mary Worth strip from May 12. 2005. Mary Worth invited Rita Begler, the alcoholic whose daughter recently died, to lunch at her place. Rita, when asked about coq au vin, quipped that she has cooked with wine before and “sometimes I even add it to the food!” From that point, you knew that Rita was going to get sloshed and do something. It was so over-the-top, I remember it to this day, and I have found I can’t think of coq au vin without associating it with alcoholics. In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, coq au vin seems to be mentioned for no other reason than to give Elly an excuse to talk in mock French in the second panel. But there may be another reason.
The other potential dish mentioned in panel 1 is beef stroganoff. I note that many beef stroganoff recipes call for sherry wine as one of the ingredients. Basically you have 2 dishes mentioned that include alcohol. In Lynn Johnston’s recent travelogue of her journey to Oaxaca, Mexico; alcoholic beverages were mentioned in each and every part of the travelogue. Alcohol is near and dear to Lynn Johnston. I know this is a weak connection to today's strip. Nevertheless, I find it mildly amusing.
As for the punch line of the strip, I am trying to make sense of it. After John says he will eat anything as long it’s something he recognizes, Elly thinks, “Somehow macaroni and cheese has lost its challenge.” This means:
a. Elly is no longer challenged by making Kraft dinner. The scary part is that at one point she thought there was a challenge there.
b. Elly thinks that John’s statement essentially means that the other recipes no longer have a chance in competing for the affection of John Patterson (lost challengers). John can too easily recognize Kraft dinner and so it has his affection.
c. Kraft dinner is so easy to recognize, Elly Patterson can’t think of a way to alter it to make it something John won’t recognize.
d. Elly has made Kraft dinner so often, John can actually recognize what it is. "That misshapen glob of yellowish stuff. That's macaroni and cheese! I remember it from the last time!"
e. Gourmet food is wasted on John, who only like meals he knows. My kids are the same way, although my son at 13 has gotten to the age where he is interested in trying foods he doesn't know. In this respect, he is more advanced than John Patterson. Elly Patterson could cook for my son, but I would be afraid of those asparagus tips. Vegetables are suspect when it comes to Elly's cooking. Hopefully these asparagus tips come in a can.
The other potential dish mentioned in panel 1 is beef stroganoff. I note that many beef stroganoff recipes call for sherry wine as one of the ingredients. Basically you have 2 dishes mentioned that include alcohol. In Lynn Johnston’s recent travelogue of her journey to Oaxaca, Mexico; alcoholic beverages were mentioned in each and every part of the travelogue. Alcohol is near and dear to Lynn Johnston. I know this is a weak connection to today's strip. Nevertheless, I find it mildly amusing.
As for the punch line of the strip, I am trying to make sense of it. After John says he will eat anything as long it’s something he recognizes, Elly thinks, “Somehow macaroni and cheese has lost its challenge.” This means:
a. Elly is no longer challenged by making Kraft dinner. The scary part is that at one point she thought there was a challenge there.
b. Elly thinks that John’s statement essentially means that the other recipes no longer have a chance in competing for the affection of John Patterson (lost challengers). John can too easily recognize Kraft dinner and so it has his affection.
c. Kraft dinner is so easy to recognize, Elly Patterson can’t think of a way to alter it to make it something John won’t recognize.
d. Elly has made Kraft dinner so often, John can actually recognize what it is. "That misshapen glob of yellowish stuff. That's macaroni and cheese! I remember it from the last time!"
e. Gourmet food is wasted on John, who only like meals he knows. My kids are the same way, although my son at 13 has gotten to the age where he is interested in trying foods he doesn't know. In this respect, he is more advanced than John Patterson. Elly Patterson could cook for my son, but I would be afraid of those asparagus tips. Vegetables are suspect when it comes to Elly's cooking. Hopefully these asparagus tips come in a can.
posted by howard at 11:59 PM
4 Comments:
The real point of the strip, of course, is that Elly works and works and works and her efforts are never appreciated; she tries her best to please her husband and he's just too selfish and mean to allow her even the tiniest of victories. That's because we've gone from Elly being in one of her trademark blind rages to her typical exercises in martyrdom and despair.
Memo to Mary Worth: "poulet au vin" would be "chicken with wine"; "coq au vin" is "rooster with wine."
I agree with dc2 about the point of today's strip (and the one that'll probably run tomorrow): "John sucks!" ;)
DreadedCandiru2,
The real point of the strip, of course, is that Elly works and works and works and her efforts are never appreciated; she tries her best to please her husband and he's just too selfish and mean to allow her even the tiniest of victories.-
This is a pretty good summary for the strip, but it is not the source of its appeal. It is when Lynn Johnston started telling stories about the characters in real time that you got all the “my kids are the same age as Michael / Elizabeth” stuff. That was the salvation of all the "Elly is miserable" strips. Without that, For Better or For Worse would be just another version of The Lockhorns or Mama, 2 strips with repulsive characters that regularly torture each other for humour.
aprilp_katje,
Memo to Mary Worth: "poulet au vin" would be "chicken with wine"; "coq au vin" is "rooster with wine."-
Mary is known for her meddling, and not for her language skills, obviously.
Post a Comment
<< Home