Cookbooks Worth Reading

A visiting friend and I got to talking about cooking and cookbooks. I showed him my latest darling--a Gullah-Geechee cookbook that, aside from tempting recipes, offers a glimpse into that particular Low Country culture.  And then I realized how much I love cookbooks that present a culture or way of life through food.

I've read and re-read Rick Bragg's book and blogged about it HERE.

Edna Lewis's lyrical prose takes us back to the rural Black community of her childhood, with menus and dishes suited to the seasons and their celebrations.

I inherited these two from my mother--who made good use of both. Clementine in the kitchen is full of classic French recipes, suitable for the American kitchen. It's also the story of the Beck family in France, pre-WWII, their amazing cook Clementine, and her adjustment to America and its food when she accompanied the family back to New England.

Cross Creek Cookery is a glimpse at old Florida before it was ruint by The Mouse and way too many people. Hushpuppies and tangerine sherbet and all manner of good things to eat.

And one more good un HERE.

 

What Were They Thinking?

I discovered this little booklet tucked inside an old cookbook. Frozen puff pastry has always been something I enjoy cooking with--we had Turkey Wellington for Thanksgiving and I still have a package of puff pastry in the freezer--so I leafed through, looking for inspiration. The elegant presentation on the cover led me to expect some high class gourmet fare.

Mile high  chicken pie? Count me in! But sweetbreads? Not something I've ever even tasted--nor seen for sale.  And what's in the rest of the directions--canned chicken a la king and canned carrots? Oh, my--this must be a recipe from the Fifties. I should have realized it wasn't for me anyway with only one clove of garlic.

The sausage and oyster croustades sounded interesting--then I saw that the sausage called for was canned Vienna sausage. Canned oysters aren't a deal breaker for me--if they're smoked oysters--but gravy from a package is.

I love looking through old cookbooks and seeing how tastes and skills change over the years.  My grandmother's recipes often involved gelatin and almost never garlic. She cooked from scratch for the most part. And vegetables were cooked into submission. My mother's repertoire was pretty daring for the Fifties--Coq au Vin! Bouef a la Mode! Lasagne! (light on the garlic though.) But even she couldn't escape the canned cream of mushroom soup that figured in many a casserole.

Today, I think, there's a good emphasis of fresh vegetables--kale, anyone? I find myself tossing it into many a dish. The pandemic has given lots a folks a renewed interest in cooking. and the internet puts a myriad of recipes--ethic and otherwise--at our fingertips.

I think I'll look there for something ethnic to do with that package of puff pastry in the freezer.