Desperately hungry while imprisoned in a string of Japanese internment camps in the Philippines during World War II, Boston-born civilian Natalie Crouter most likely did not envision her future role as a food historian. But the secretly written diary Crouter kept through years of increasingly miserable living conditions was laced with descriptions of more than 3,700 meals, each one precious to someone starving as she was. A record such as this, eventually published after the war, is valuable to the food historian who wants to know not only the type of food available to the prisoners but how the lack of it affected relationships in the camp. It is one of the grittier aspects of food as social history and is included in one of two new volumes. One of these, “From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals” (The Free Press, $25), is written by Barbara Haber, curator of books at Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library, where she developed a renowned cookbook collection. The book roams through a variety of food-related histories, including the chapter “Cooking Behind Barbed Wire,” from which Crouter’s story is excerpted. Others tell the story of the Harvey Girl waitresses at cross-country railroad depot restaurants, and the heritage of black cooks. Another book, “Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote,” by Janet Theophano (Palgrave, $29.95), uses everything from a 17th-century Englishwoman’s household manual to the cookbook of a Chinese immigrant in America to show the ways women expressed themselves in society. Moms with a special kick Are you the “Ultimate Soccer Mom”? The “got milk?” folks will be in Pittsburgh on Friday and Saturday in their latest quest, called 3v3 Soccer Shootout, to find mothers who encourage physical activity and a healthful diet. The kick-off event will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at the Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Ave. The tournament site, at the Turner Valley Complex, Turner Valley Road, North Huntington, will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Moms won’t be tossing soccer balls, however. Children are invited to explain why their mothers deserve to become Pittsburgh’s “Ultimate Soccer Mom” through a brief video or by writing an online essay. The winning mom will be featured in a Milk Mustache ad along with the child who nominated her, win a Chrysler Town & Country minivan and enjoy a family trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. During the two-day competition, kids of all ages also are invited to sport their very own milk mustache — free — at a photo booth. The Ultimate Soccer Mom will be chosen at the end of September. For details and to enter online, visit www.whymilk.com and click on Soccer Mom Search (on the right of the screen). Best of the best Culinary students have claimed another victory for Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Job Corps Center Culinary Arts Team won first place overall in the recent Culinary Arts Expo 2002 in New York City. The students, under the direction of chef Odette Smith-Ransome, competed in a variety of skill categories that included organization, presentation, sanitation, preparation and a written exam. The expo was held at the New York Art Institute, formerly known as the New York Restaurant School, over two days. The students are Massango Bamba, Salome M.A. Johnson, Kristina N. Kelley, Michael C. Morris, Anthony Pena and Terrell Taylor. They prepared for the competition for more than two months. The Pittsburgh Job Corps Center, under the U.S. Labor Department, offers career-development training for disadvantaged youths, including residential, vocational and academic education, plus employability training, stipend and medical care to motivated young adults. Details: (412) 441-8665. Still hot and cold Turner Dairy in Penn Hills is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its Premium Iced Tea. Total production in 1972 was 1,200 gallons — today, the family business pours out more than 1.8 million gallons of iced tea. The original Premium Iced Tea formula remains the same three decades later, although a few adjustments have been made to improve consistency, according to assistant plant manager Skip Goff. The No. 1 hot spot for sales, says general sales manager Craig Patterson, is McKeesport. In addition to the original Premium Iced Tea, Turner Dairy produces Diet, Decaffeinated, Green, Lime, Orange, Peach, Raspberry and Wildberry Iced Tea. The newest product, scheduled for production within the next few weeks, is Arnold Palmer Tee, a blend of iced tea and lemonade that will bear the golf legend’s likeness. Details: (800) 892-1039. Juice warning “Nutritious” and “healthful” might seem synonymous with juices made from fruits and vegetables, but juices not treated to kill harmful bacteria can cause serious illness or even death in some people. The Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that 98 percent of commercially sold fruit and vegetable juices are treated with pasteurization; the remaining 2 percent must include a warning on the label about the health risks of drinking untreated juice. The warning reads: “This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly and persons with weakened immune systems.” While consuming dangerous foodborne bacteria usually will cause illness in one to three days after eating the contaminated food, sickness can occur with 20 minutes or as long as six weeks later. Sometimes, foodborne illness is confused with other types of illness. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain or flulike symptoms such as fever, headache and body aches. Details: (888) 723-3366. Power tomatoes Enhanced juice quality and longer vine life are two additional perks in genetically engineered tomatoes that have higher lycopene levels (associated with lowering the risk of certain cancers) developed by Agriculture Research Service scientists at laboratories in Beltsville, Md. The scientists found that polyamines — molecules that carry amino acid proteins — play an important role in fruit development and that increasing polyamines increases lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes. Lycopene is a carotenoid antioxidant that also might have other health-promoting effects. Research service plant physiologist Autar Mattoo says some human nutrition scientists have recommended that humans get 10 milligrams of lycopene each day, the amount in 10 to 15 tomatoes. By comparison, just one or two of the new tomatoes would provide the same amount, he says. The tomatoes are available for commercial production. — From staff and wire reports Send food and nutrition news to A La Carte, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212. Fax: (412) 320-7966. Or e-mail tribliving@tribweb.com .

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