I mostly choose recipes at random, so it’s interesting when I can find so much information on the lives and contributions of people associated with them. Many of the authors of the very old cookbooks I work from had some of the worst politics imaginable. Nancy Polikoff, on the other hand, spent her entire career championing causes that I happen to agree with.
When I emailed Polikoff about her onion pie recipe in the 1977 “Home Grown Recipes: A Collection of Vegetarian Recipes From the Listeners of WHFS, 102.3 FM“, she had no recollection of the cookbook. She did recall being a WHFS listener in the 1970s, a former college-radio DJ in Philadelphia, and a pescatarian (she occasionally eats chicken now.)
I grew up listening to WHFS (mostly on its 99.1 frequency) and I’ll have to make a separate post about that at some point. Polikoff’s career deserved its own post.
Nancy Polikoff author photo, Beacon Press
After earning her Bachelor’s degree at University of Pennsylvania in 1972, Polikoff entered the Georgetown University Law Center, “determined to fight for women’s rights.” (Personally I’m always wowed by stories of people who had this kind of vision in their youth.)
Polikoff’s legal and professorial careers have centered around family law and its many complexities, and tied in with the rise of marriage equality as a political issue.
Family law has always favored some types of families over others. The year that Polikoff entered law school, a biological father could easily lose their children if they had not been married upon the death of the mother. In her circles of activism, Polikoff “met a lesbian mother who lost custody of her children because of her sexual orientation,” she later wrote. Injustice has played out in arenas of adoption, custody, and other life-affecting issues that only a lawyer could name.
At the end of her first year of law school, Polikoff came out as gay herself.
Her 2008 book “Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law” examines the shortcomings of marriage as a requirement for the equal status and legal rights of all types of families.
She is currently Professor Emerita of law at American University, where she had been teaching family law since 1993. (‘Emerita’ sort of means retired – I had to look it up.)
This recipe gave me a rare opportunity to highlight an intersection between LGBT history and food. Although that history is certainly there, it is not always so easy to find, and it is never wise to make assumptions about history.
1977 to now may not seem all too historic, but reading through Polikoff’s many accomplishments is a welcome reminder of how much has actually changed in that span of time.
Recipe:
- 1 c. saltine crackers, crushed
- .5 c. butter
- 4 c. onions, thinly sliced
- 1 can water chestnuts, drained
- 1.5 c. milk
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1.5 tsp. salt
- pepper to taste
- grated cheddar cheese
Mix saltines with 1/4 cup melted butter. Press against bottom and sides of a 10″ pie plate. Melt remaining 1/4 cup of butter and cook onions. Add water chestnuts and cook for a few more minutes. Pour into pie plate. Mix eggs with milk and seasonings. Pour mixture over onions. Top with cheese. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until set.
The source for a lot of this information is Polikoff’s essay “Why the Law Shouldnt Value Marriage More than Other Relationships…and Why I Choose It Anyway,” from Before I Do: A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay and Otherwise, 2016, Elizabeth F. Schwartz