UNLV student creates cookbook showcasing politicians’ recipes

Jennifer Knight

Friday, July 26, 2002 | 3:05 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: July 27, 2002

A UNLV student has cooked up a thesis of a different kind by creating a book full of recipes from state politicians.

Sylvia Harber's undergraduate honors thesis began with a question: What's cooking in the minds and kitchens of Nevada's politicians?

The 47-year-old communications student asked current and former politicians to send her their recipes along with words of wisdom. She received 40 responses. The recipes were then tested, cooked and placed on the Internet for her thesis presentation.

In the end, Harber got an A -- and a better taste of how food makes the politician.

"I've always been interested in politics," Harber said. "I was just interested in what they liked to eat."

Playing off the appeal of celebrity cookbooks, the political cookbook offers a glimpse into the lives of elected officials we watch but don't really know. It also shows a little about their personalities.

"It's the old adage that you are what you eat," Harber said.

If that adage is true, then Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's recipe might say a lot about him. The recipe for Mayor's Meatballs, also known as Mob Meatballs, was sent in along a friendly warning: "Do not refuse these meatballs."

"I learned (the recipe) from a couple of defendants I was representing, who were under house arrest and had a lot of time on their hands," said Goodman, who used to be a criminal defense lawyer.

The recipe sent in by state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, shows she knows how to simplify her life. The recipe is for olive oil and lime.

Some of the recipes have historical significance.

Political consultant Sig Rogich reached back to his Icelandic roots to submit a recipe for Mama's Pancakes. He sent in his mother's handwritten recipe, which was lovingly preserved on yellowed paper.

Assemblyman Roy Neighbors, D-Tonopah, submitted a politically correct recipe called Middle-of-the-Roadkill Chicken, which calls for inoffensive cheese and humanely crushed garlic.

"This recipe was originally prepared in a wood and sometimes coal-fired stove, in a one-room cabin out in the middle of nowhere," Neighbors said. "Today I do it with gas, in a house with floors and a roof in uptown Tonopah."

UNLV food expert Audrey McCool said the mixture of food and politics boils down to one simple fact: "Food is power."

"Within the U.S. you have agricultural programs that support certain industries," McCool said. "The food industry lobbies for the distribution of certain foods. We eat what politicians want us to eat."

Perhaps that was the case when former Gov. Bob Miller was running the state. He submitted a recipe for Silver State Potatoes that he says was served regularly at the governor's mansion.

Harber's thesis project is now on the web at www. whatscookingnv.com.

"It's not going to end here," Harber said. "My goal is to have this published by the end of the year."