Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990                   TAG: 9004220250
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: F-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by NAN SEAMANS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`CLEORA'S KITCHEN' PRESENTS COOKING AS SOCIAL HISTORY

There's no question about it - Cleora Butler has put together a mighty good collection of recipes.

But what makes "Cleora's Kitchen" really fascinating is the first section of the book where she talks about growing up and learning to cook in Oklahoma during the early part of the 20th century.

This is an entertaining chronicle of black history written from the viewpoint of a woman who spent most of her life in the kitchens of the rich and famous in and around Tulsa. Butler cooked for others (with occasional forays into hat-making and sewing), and she presents a fascinating perspective of American history that is too little known.

The anecdote of Cab Calloway and his band coming to Tulsa to play for the whites at one theater and the blacks at another (with a quick stop for a meal prepared by Butler and her mother) made me think of the stories of Roanoke's Henry Street theaters. And the stories of preparing quantities of food for elegant parties at the homes of Oklahoma oil barons provides a glimpse of a kind of life unfamiliar to most of us.

Sure, the recipes look good and the few I've tried are. The division of the recipes into the time of their popularity gives a different view of each decade of the 20th century (1920s - Swedish Liver Loaf, 1980s - Wheat Germ Stuffed Tomatoes).

There are some intriguing bits of information about the kitchen discoveries of the 20th century: Did you know that the first recipe for margarine included chopped beef suet?

But the real value in "Cleora's Kitchen" is more historical than culinary; the recipes are just a bit of icing for Cleora Butler's carefully prepared cake.