Saturday June 20, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
The American Lighthouse Cookbook Becky Sue Epstein and Ed Jackson

The American Lighthouse Cookbook: The Best Recipes and Stories from America's Shorelines

We visit lighthouses for the charm of their unique structure and the scenic beauty of the sea. However, little is known of the lighthouse keepers themselves. Becky Sue Epstein gives a voice to these arduous workers through the recipes representing the foods they and their families relied upon in The American Lighthouse Cookbook. The book will give you a new perspective on these little-known figures; its incredible menus will encourage you to buy locally and depend upon the land just as their demanding schedules forced them to.

In its pages, the stories of different lighthouses along our country’s coasts are highlighted, going into detail about their individual characteristics and particular pasts. Chef Ed Jackson, who developed the majority of the book’s recipes, supplements these backgrounds with menus inspired by the foods and cooking techniques native to that region. You’ll find Sautéed Fiddlehead Ferns and Asparagus alongside boiled Lobster with Melted Butter to feature the flavors local to the coast of Maine. Also included is a “Dinner for Company” menu starting with a Hearts of Palm Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette, finished by a Key Lime Pie to show the mix of cooking styles true to Mayport, Florida.

By exploring so many geographical locations and representing them through the foods native to their region, Becky Sue Epstein creates a culinary adventure for those readers wishing to be swept up by the lighthouses’ history and romance. The American Lighthouse Cookbook impresses upon its readers a lifestyle which relies only upon locally-gathered ingredients. It shows that food is a statement of how we eat, an indication of where we come from, and an expression of who we are.

Saturday June 13, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
One Big Table by Molly O’Neill

One Big Table

The American tradition of cooking at home is a practice that has been threatened by our modern-day mindset of emphasizing convenience as our primary goal. Molly O’Neill spent ten years collecting recipes and stories from across America, investigating whether or not this custom had really been destroyed. Thankfully, through her many miles covered and the countless stories shared with her, Molly discovered that across the country, Americans are still honoring their heritage with the foods that give their family a place on the map.

She compiled these findings into her book One Big Table. It is part-cookbook, part-reference guide, and party-history book. However, Molly herself gives the most comprehensive definition, describing it as a well-balanced portrait of American cooking.

My favorite section is titled “Bread: An Unrefined History”, which highlights one of my favorite spots as a student as Smith College, Hungry Ghost Bread. It dedicates an entire page to the bakery’s history, and goes into detail about the steps the owners, Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei, have taken to establish themselves as a self-sustainable business. The book’s dual focus on recipes and stories is shown in Molly’s supplementing the bakery’s background with a recipe for the owners’ friend’s, Jamie Pagana's, Rich and Herby Cornbread. The experience of enjoying this “soul-satisfying companion to hearty soups and stews” will be enriched by knowing the story behind its creation.

This is the ultimate Heirloom Meals cookbook. Not only does it share the foods indicative of a nation ground in culinary history, but it also includes their stories, advertisements of ingredients from the period, and the family photos which show the many people a recipe can touch.