OP: The Political Palate

 Sanguinaria Publishing, 1980. Paperback. Very Good Plus. Fourth printing.

Established in 1977 in Bridgeport, CT, Bloodroot is one of the few feminist vegetarian restaurants, born of the crunchy commune days of the ‘70s, still in operation.

Though it didn’t begin as a strict vegetarian restaurant, the founders—Selma Bunks, Sam Stockwell, Betsey Beavan, Noel Giordano, and Pat Shea—increasingly found connections between their ecofeminist ideals and ethical vegetarianism. Over the years, the restaurant evolved into a totally vegetarian, largely vegan, operation.

The collective published their first cookbook, The Political Palate, in 1980, stating, “Our food is vegetarian because we are feminists. We are opposed to the exploitation, domination, and destruction which come from factory farming and the hunter with the gun. We oppose the keeping and killing of animals for the pleasure of the palate just as we oppose men controlling abortion or sterilization.”

Of the dishes themselves, the collective’s focus is on seasonally appropriate, good food from a variety of international and ethnic influences, ahead of its time in many ways. Notably, this first book was published while the restaurant still served fish, which shows up in some dishes. 

Recipes include:

• Brussels sprout and grape salad with an herbed sour cream dressing in autumn

• Hupi pollivka—a Slavic mushroom, sauerkraut, and orzo soup—appropriate for celebrating the winter solstice

• For early spring, parsnip pie, featuring peanuts, onions, ginger, and lemon, all baked in a double crust

• Spicy eggplant in fermented black bean sauce for early summer

The Political Palate was followed by two subsequent volumes—The Second Seasonal Political Palate in 1984 and The Perennial Political Palate in 1993. The books are cherished by those who have them, so we don’t often see copies available. 

We are pleased to offer here a fourth printing in Very Good Plus condition, only ever issued in paperback. Creased spine. An important document of the intersection of food, politics, feminism, and queerness.