Meaty Matters

Continuing the research on the links between
cartooning and carnivorousness

By Michelle Klein-Häss

In the late, lamented magazine Wild Cartoon Kingdom, the staff made a connection heretofore unnoticed by animation historians. It can be summed up in a simple syllogism: I'm a cartoonist, therefore I eat meat. Although there have been exceptions to this rule, some of the greatest minds in animation were quite fond of animal flesh. The series of articles cited the meat-laden diets of such greats as Walt Disney, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and the Fleischer Bros., as well as young turks like John Kricfalusi, whose appetite for a good steak I can personally vouch for after having dinner with him and a whole bunch of other Spumco denizens at The Pantry, a very manly restaurant in Downtown LA.

However, space no doubt did not permit mention of other great cartoonists and carnivores. And I also spent a fair amount of time researching the subject on my own as well, and found out some interesting lore.

Cartoon carnivore profile #1: Willis O' Brien.

The great model animation innovator Willis O' Brien was one for keeping a nice big kettle of stew bubbling away in his studio...as a grip on The Lost World recorded him saying in a diary entry, "I sure put the STEW back in studio, don't I?" It was invariably an Irish-inspired lamb and beef concoction, which scented the air as the painstaking shooting was done of the primaeval dinosaur struggles. This recipe was written down by a visiting MGM secretary, and found in a 1930s vintage copy of Fanny Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook I picked up at a yard sale in Hollywood two years ago.

O'Brien's Auld Sod Stew

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. lean beef stew meat

1 1/2 lbs. cubed lamb leg meat or lean lamb stew (the former is leaner)

3 tbs. oil (O'Brien used lamb fat, but this is the 1990s...Olive Oil works best)

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 tbs. flour

2 cups flat beer or light ale...Guinness is too heavy for this...

1 cup water

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced fine

3 or 4 bay leaves

A pinch or two of salt...you can always correct the seasonings later

1/2 tsp (a few good grinds) freshly ground pepper

1 tsp thyme leaves, crushed

1 bunch minced parsley...the flat leaf kind is best

A bunch of carrots, scraped and cut into 1" chunks. If you can find parsnips, add a few as well.

6-10 medium waxy potatoes, cut in wedges or quarters. Can be red or white. Leave the skin on...it's tastier.

4 to 6 turnips, peeled and cut in big chunks.
(this is a modern adaptation) 1 bag or two boxes frozen baby peas and pearl onions.

Preparation:

Use a big cast-iron Dutch Oven (the kind without the feet) for this if you can, or just a big stewpot. Heat the oil and throw in the chopped onion and the meat. Brown well on all sides. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and onion, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes, then add garlic and cook until the flour takes on a light brown color. Throw in the beer and water, stir well, then add the herbs and spices. Let it all simmer for at least an hour. You can get a few frames in before you break to cut your vegetables.

(Put the peas and pearl onions out on the counter to thaw.)Cut up your carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips. You don't want them too small...you want them to have a little gumption to them when you bite into 'em. Check that meat...you want it fork tender at this point. Throw the root vegetables in. Let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour...I like the meat to the point where it's so tender a baby can eat it. When the turnips are a little less than done, you put the English peas and cooked pearl onions in. Let it simmer and marry for about 15 minutes more. Give the boys fair warning that lunch is about ready so they can shut the set down for a while, then break out the bowls. If it isn't a shooting day, I like it with a Guinness and some nice crusty bread.

Willis.

Cartoon Carnivore profile #2: The Fleischer Bros.

Yes, I know they've been covered before. But nobody noticed the most important fact surrounding Max & Dave Fleischer's craving for meat and their commensurate skills as animators and inventors. You see, the name Fleischer in Yiddish means "Butcher" and the Fleischer family were a long line of Kosher butchers in Eastern Europe. Both Fleischer boys worked in their Zayde's (grandfather's) butcher shop in Brooklyn before the drawing bug bit them. And the knowledge of cow and chicken anatomy they acquired made drawing animals very natural and easy for them.

This is a recipe for Tzimmes which dates back to their Bubbeh (grandmother). It was scrawled on the back of a Betty Boop lobby card from 1935, and is in the collection of a big time animation art collector who shall remain nameless. The word Tzimmes means a fuss or a hubbub, but it really is neither. You just put the stuff in and let it bubble. This recipe adapts very well to crock pot cookery...check your manual for necessary adjustments.

Max's Bubbeh's Tzimmes with carrots and sweet potatoes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil (just like the O'Brien recipe, the original Fleischer recipe called for animal fat...in this case, the ubiquitous Schmaltz (chicken fat) found in Kosher kitchens to this day. Use canola or corn oil...olive oil would be too overpowering.)

3 lbs trimmed brisket

2 cups hot water

1 cup pitted prunes

2 cups red wine

A pinch or two of salt

A couple of grinds of pepper

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

8 scraped and sliced carrots

4 washed and chunked sweet potatoes (orange yam type best)

1/2 cup brown sugar

Preparation:

Plump the prunes in the hot water for a few minutes. While that's going, pour the oil into a big dutch oven, and brown the brisket in it. After you're done, pour off any remaining oil, then dump the hot water (reserving the prunes), red wine and spices into the pot. Cover and cook over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours. When time is up, stir the carrots, sweet potatoes and brown sugar into the pot, then cover and bake in the oven for two hours, uncovering the pot and stirring in the plumped prunes at the last half hour of cooking. Serve with Challah...what else?

Cartoon Carnivore profile #3: Tex Avery and Jim Smith

There was nobody who knew more intimately about the connection between meat and cartooning than Tex Avery. Meat and hunting gags abounded in his work for WB and MGM. And the famous eye-popping double takes that peppered his work did not come without meat entering the picture either. Tex had no problem drawing the takes, but teaching his staff of animators to draw them took some doing. Suddenly, he hit on an idea. Excusing himself, he drove down to the market and bought some items. He then drove back onto the lot, and ran into the MGM commissary to borrow a big pot, a knife and a hot plate. What resulted was an approximation of an old family recipe, brought down from his great grandfather Judge Roy Bean, the legendary "hanging judge" of Texas....authentic Texas chili, so potent with spice that his own animators wound up making the very takes he wanted them to draw. The lesson stuck, and every time Avery needed those killer takes, he would brew up a big pot of chili and his animators would get it every time. This recipe unfortunately died with Avery some time in the 1970s. But the importance of chili did not fade. I had been tinkering with a chili recipe for a few years when I heard the story about Avery, and I was inspired to perfect it. This is where native Texan, master cartoonist and Spumco Big Shot Jim Smith came into the picture. My husband is in a band with him, a fine ensemble called FreeHead, and one day I brought a pot of my chili to one of their rehearsals. I explained to Jim that I use both beans and corn in my chili, beans being a no-no in authentic Texas chili and corn being absolutely unheard of, but both being part of a Native American dish a friend of mine who is half Chiricahua Apache taught me how to make. He smiled and said "It might not be traditional, but I'll be the judge of whether or not it's good." He ladled himself out a bowl, and tasted it. "That's good chili, Michelle," he said. I felt a twinge of pride...a real live Texan likes my chili. Cool!

I humbly submit for your approval a true cartoonist-approved dish... Apache Death Chili. Warning...this is a very spicy chili. I will be giving clues on how to tone it down if you can't take it. But try it this way, and maybe you can use its inspiration to draw those killer double-takes too.

Apache Death Chili...dedicated to the memory of Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 brown onions, chopped coarsely

At least 8 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced...more is better

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped coarsely, fire-roasting and peeling optional

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped coarsely, fire-roasting and peeling optional

Olive, or better yet, garlic or hot pepper-infused oil for sauteeing

2 lbs MEAT. I like an equal mix of lean beef round, lamb leg meat and turkey thigh, ground once so there's still a little chunkiness to it or chopped to fine dice in a food processor. The lamb gives the chili a distinct Navajo/Apache flavor, but if you'd rather go with half beef and half turkey or all beef or all turkey, that's fine too. I've prepared it with all three variations and then some.

1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained

1 can "mexican style" or "salsa style" stewed tomatoes, drained. If you can't handle major heat, replace the Ro-Tel can with another can of "mexican style" tomatoes...it's usually milder.

1 can of Ranch Beans or Chili Beans, undrained

1 can black beans, drained

1 bag of frozen "mexican style" corn or plain cut corn, thawed and drained

1/4 to 1/2 can Chipotle Chiles en Adobo. They are smoky and very hot. However, even if you can't handle spicy food, just put one in or a little of some of the Adobo sauce the chiles are swimming in. The chiles lend a great, smoky flavor to the chili as well as the heat.

1 bunch cilantro, (fresh coriander or chinese parsley are other names for it) cleaned and chopped, stems and all

Leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh oregano...you can substitute dried in a pinch

1 tsp each ground cumin, garlic powder, pasilla or New Mexico chile powder, and garlic and pepper Mrs. Dash seasoning

1/2 can good beer...the "official" brand for this recipe is Dos Equis, but any good lager or light ale will do. If you can't drink or cook with alcohol, use one of those de-alcoholized beers, but those don't taste as good. Save the other half-bottle...you might need to add more to the chili. Pop open another one for yourself if you want to.

Keep a small can of tomato paste handy

Recommended condiments:

Chopped onion or scallion; grated jack, mozzarella or Oaxaca cheese; chopped avocado; chopped Cilantro leaf; sliced black olives; and/or a mix of 1 part sour cream to 1 part plain yogurt.

Preparation:

Saute onions until just at the point of transparency, then add the garlic and bell peppers. Saute until the onions are flecked with brown and caramelized, but not until the garlic burns. Next, transfer the veggies you just sauteed into a dutch oven or a crock pot, and saute the meat in the oil you used to cook the veggies, making sure to drain the fat off when the meat is cooked. Next, add the tomatoes, corn and chipotles. If this is going into a crock pot, add the beer in as well. Mix in the dry seasonings thoroughly. Cook for 6 hours unattended in the crock pot, or put the dutch oven in a 300° oven for 2-3 hours, checking the chili every hour or half-hour and stirring, adding beer if it needs liquid. Add the cilantro and beans an hour before the cooking time is over. If the resulting chili is too thin, add the tomato paste until thickened to your specs during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

If desired, the finished chili can be refrigerated, then reheated within two days of making it. It actually improves in flavor with this treatment, and you can skim off whatever grease there is easier when chilled.

Serve with some or all of the indicated condiments, and with cornbread, biscuits, tortillas or tortilla or corn chips. Jim mentioned to me once that in Texas, Fritos corn chips are sometimes used as "spoons" for chili.