‘The Dead Celebrity Cookbook’ and the history of fatty cooking

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I had the pleasure of spending a weird afternoon with former ‘Daily Show’ film critic and Sirius Radio talk show host Frank DeCaro recently while he cooked up a couple of dishes from his new book, ‘The Dead Celebrity Cookbook.’

The first dish was Oscar-winner Greer Garson’s capirotada (don’t ask!) and the second was a delicious tray of Katharine Hepburn’s brownies (they are kind of like flourless chocolate cake). Watching DeCaro fumble with the melted sugar water required of the former dish, in order to dump it over baked white bread and grated American cheese and raisins, I began to appreciate how far we’ve traveled when it comes to the kind of ingredients we cook with since Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Imagine the calorie count in Humphrey Bogart’s coconut Spanish cream; Rock Hudson’s cannoli; Charlton Heston’s cheese tuna puff; Johnny Cash’s pan-fried okra; Elizabeth Taylor’s chicken with avocado and mushrooms; Anthony Perkins’ tuna salad; Buddy Hackett’s Chinese chili; Billy De Wolfe’s codfish balls; and Eartha Kitt’s chicken wings.

Read all about your favorite stars and the foods they loved, which should come with defibrillators, here.

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--Jessica Gelt