"Undead, undead, undead. . ."

My graduate-student advisee, who recently passed his Ph.D. qualifying exams in highly impressive fashion, was in the university news Friday. The reporter was intrigued by his work on zombies:

Bishop, who has been hired as a lecturer at Southern Utah University while completing his dissertation on zombie narratives for his doctorate, makes the case that the zombie was “sired directly by the imperialist system.”

The zombie, he said, is a postcolonial creature that cloaked the racist sentiments of the early 20th century, a time when Westerners who wanted the United States to become an imperial power were, at the same time, consumed with concern about black-white race relations.

Charlie Bertsch, a UA assistant professor of English and Bishop’s adviser, said what makes Bishop’s research so unique is that he interprets both the historic and cinematic references in horror films instead of focusing on audience response.

“He isn’t going to have any difficulty turning his dissertation into a book,” Bertsch said, “because his work is so interesting.”

It's nice to see someone who works so hard and cares so much about his research given such positive recognition. All too often, the rewards of the scholarly life do not come until the recipient has attained zombie status. But Kyle has many years of life ahead of him before he passes that threshold.

Daring Sauce of Vaguely Sicilian Origin, Version 2.0

I can't stand on my foot for very long still, so tonight's recipe had to be fast. Not that the one I posted here recently was that time-consuming. It's just that the new version is especially simple:

•Bring water to a boil and add the dried pasta of your choice
•Chop a large onion
•Open a can of anchovies in olive oil and pour the contents into a cast-iron pan
• Turn on the heat to medium-high
• Add the onion pieces
• Take a try pasilla or ancho pepper and cut it into bite-sized pieces, taking care to retain the seeds
• Combine the dried pepper with two or three handfuls of the tree nut of your choice. I used cashews tonight, to excellent effect
• Chop the pepper and nut mixture in a mini-Cuisinart or equivalent. Or mash them up with a mortar and pestle. You'll know they're sufficiently mixed when the nut pieces start to turn reddish
• Once the onion has turned translucent, turn he heat down to low and add two or three handfuls of raisins
• Cook the raisins, onion and anchovies for a few minutes on low, stirring frequently to prevent the raisins from burning
• Add white wine to cover the bottom of the pan and turn up the heat to medium high again
• Once the wine is hot and bubbling, stir in the pepper and nut mixture
• Since the nut pieces will rapidly absorb liquid, it is important to turn the heat down to low very soon after they have been added to the pan. Stir frequently
• Continue to cook for several more minutes, until half of the liquid is gone
• Add a few spoonfuls of the boiling pasta water to the pan
• Once again, cook on low until half the liquid in the pan has evaporated
• Turn off the heat
• Add the juice of two or three lemons
• Cut a handful or two of mint leaves into smallish pieces, taking care to discard the stems
• Add the mint leaves to the pan and stir
• Serve over pasta with pecorino romano or an equivalent hearty, dried cheese.

This may not sound like an impressive sauce, but the combination of strong flavors is seductive, particularly on a hot summer's day like today was here. Also, it tastes great at room temperature.