Epicurian efforts in jail.

August 5, 2003 6:53 PM

Prison time requires culinary creativity.
posted by machaus (13 comments total)

good post. thank you.
posted by jann at 8:03 PM on August 5, 2003

.
posted by 4easypayments at 8:22 PM on August 5, 2003

"Recipe For Prison Pruno" - the last link - is indeed a great poem, as the third link asserts. Thanks, machaus. Nice post.
posted by interrobang at 8:40 PM on August 5, 2003

I always felt that machaus put too many onions in the sauce. But still, it was a good sauce. languagehat had a system for slicing up the garlic with a razor blade until it would liquify in the pan, and fishfucker cooked the meat for the main course.
posted by crunchburger at 8:46 PM on August 5, 2003

I always felt that machaus put too many onions in the sauce. But still, it was a good sauce. languagehat had a system for slicing up the garlic with a razor blade until it would liquify in the pan, and fishfucker cooked the meat for the main course.

Metafilter: Hell is other people.
posted by interrobang at 8:58 PM on August 5, 2003

that rocked machaus. this is the kind of post i come here for.
thanks.
posted by dolface at 9:12 PM on August 5, 2003

any technology, once understood by the masses, is uncontrollable.
posted by quonsar at 10:32 PM on August 5, 2003

High on the list of things we rarely think of: a positive(?) sense of culture in prison. Eye opening to say the least.

Thank you.

I noticed that Anthony Bourdain had some doing in this.
My xgf read his "A Cook's Tour" while we were together, reading excerpts to me all the while. If you wish to continue on this sort of flavor, albeit on the outside world, I urge you to seek it out.
posted by a_green_man at 11:32 PM on August 5, 2003

I've just finished reading You Got Nothing Coming which is a true account of a US Phone Company Exec's time in a Nevada State Jail. He talks about pruno, but the descriptions of the prison meals have to be read to be believed. In fact the whole book is pretty terrifying, but the prisoner's ingenuity has to be recognised.
posted by jontyjago at 1:33 AM on August 6, 2003

In the UK, pruno is universally known as 'hooch'. On hot summer days (we do get the odd spell of good weather over here), you can wander round a cellblock and know who's brewing from the pungent aroma of rotting oranges in sugared water (with added yeast if they've managed to 'borrow' some from the kitchen) wafting from under a cell door. Depending on the security levels at the prison, it's imbibed at night on your own or just before lock-up with a couple of trusted friends. And depending on the brew, it can produce high levels of hilarity or rather extreme levels of violence...

Whatever the immediate reaction, the hooch hangover in a prisoner (a hoochover) is something to be given a wide, wide berth in the morning...
posted by humuhumu at 1:49 AM on August 6, 2003

Great post! Ramen noodle soups must be a rather inconvenient currency, difficult to fit in your wallet!
posted by chrid at 4:09 AM on August 6, 2003

Great post, machaus!
posted by widdershins at 6:42 AM on August 6, 2003

Sadly, this reminds me of boarding school!
posted by Pollomacho at 9:09 AM on August 6, 2003