Elizabeth Warren - Recipe Plagurism

Summary

In 1984, Mrs Warren contributed five recipes to a cooking book edited by her cousin, Candy Rowsey, that was titled "Pow Wow Chow." The book was intended to be a series of recipes that had been passed down through generations of Oklahoma Native American members of the Cherokee tribe. In May of 2012, it was discovered that at least three of the five recipes submitted by Mrs Warren appeared to have been taken directly from other sources. This included two recipes that appeared to have been taken word for word from a 1979 article writen on August 22, 1979 by Pierre Franey in the New York Times News Service titled "Cold Omelets with Crab Meat.” A third recipe for "Herbed Tomatoes" appears to have been taken from a 1959 article in Better Homes and Gardens.

Cold Omelets with Crab Meat

The images below show screen captures from the book in question - Pow Wow Chow - and two recipes submitted by Mrs Warren titled "Cold Omelets with Crab Meat" and "Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing". The third image is from an August 1979 article written by the former chef of a French restaurant Le Pavillion. He notes that the recipes in question were those that he would make for special guest of the owners. The recipes submitted by Mrs Warren are word for word copies of the 1979 article with one small change to the tense of one word.

Note that the two articles differ in description only in the description of the egg mixture as "brown" vs "browned." The similarity includes calling for the use of a 7 inch teflon pan.

Use a small omelet pan, or, preferably, a seven-inch Teflon pan. Heat about one-half teaspoon butter in the pan. Add about one-third cup of the egg mixture. Let cook until firm and lightly brown on the bottom, stirring quickly with a fork until the omelet starts to set. When set slip a large pancake turner under the omelet starts to set. When set, slip a large pancake turner under the omelet and turn it quickly to the other side. Let cook about five seconds. Remember, you want to produce a flat omelet, not a typical folded omelet. Turn the omelets out flat onto a sheet of was paper. Continue making omelets until all the egg mixture is used.

Better Homes and Gardens

The third article claimed to be plagurized was from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The recipe in question was titled "Herbed Tomatoes."

References

[1] Website: Breitbart.com Article: DID ELIZABETH WARREN PLAGIARIZE HER 'POW WOW CHOW' RECIPES? Author: Patrick Leahy Accessed on: 08/27/2012

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