American Cooking: The Northwest
by Dale Brown and the Editors of Time-Life Books
1970
I recently visited Seattle for a conference, and while most
of my food was decent but uninspired hotel cooking, I did have an amazing meal
at
Bar Sajor. Usually when I travel I manage to find a new cookbook to bring
home, but this time I was so busy trying to cram in some sightseeing that I
never got to a proper bookstore. I did see some cookbooks in a touristy shop or
two, but nothing caught my eye; they were mostly "gifty" books.
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The series has pretty covers, but the spines are prone to fading |
On returning, I looked over my regional American shelves,
but the pickings were slim. In fact only one book could be considered: American
Cooking: The Northwest from the venerable
Time-Life series Foods of the World.
For the uninitiated, FOW was series of 27 cookbooks that
were published by Time-Life between 1968 and the late 70s. Each volume actually
came in two parts: a hardback volume that described the topic cuisine (Classic
French Cooking, Russian Cooking, etc.) and frequently also functioned as a
travelogue, and a smaller, spiral-bound volume that contained just recipes.
While the hardbacks included some recipes, the spiral volumes had all the
recipes. Both can be found online for sale, though rarely together; the spirals
are harder to find.
Library and estate sales are a good source for both kinds; I
frequently see the international ones there. I got most of my international
spirals in one full swoop at a library sale and have been filling in the bound
volumes. Recently I snagged the American Cooking set, which is eight volumes
alone! Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the spirals for the American set.
But they're still worthy reading, and The Northwest was enjoyable in its depiction of a large and
diverse region. There was a focus on the historical Northwest, particularly the
food ways of the pioneers, loggers, and traders of the frontier. Much of the
text celebrates the natural bounty of the area with sections on hunting,
fishing, and foraging.
While the initial intent of these books may have been
educational, this volume, like many of the others, spends more time looking
backwards than forwards. Even the interviews with contemporary cooks and food
purveyors are pervaded with nostalgia for a disappearing way of life, one that
seemed more immediate in the Northwest region.
Forty-five years after initial publication, those ways seem
even farther away, and, of course, there is no indication of the massive
changes in industry and population that would occur. Yet, there is still a
sense of the forest when you visit the Northwest, even in the cities of Seattle
and Portland. An acknowledgment perhaps, of the mountains that sandwich the
area and its isolation from the east.
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What I was aiming for |
I tried the following recipe from the Alaska chapter. I like
rhubarb and have ready access to it from my mother's garden. The rhubarb plants
came with the farmhouse she bought 40 years ago--she occasionally divides or
moves them, and they just keep coming back year after year. The one
disadvantage of this old-fashioned rhubarb is that it is more green than pink.
So, my ring lacked the rosy hue of the original. In fact, it was a distinctly
unappetizing shade of what I will call "slug".
But as my stepfather said, "There's nothing wrong with
the taste." And the taste is good--a clean sweet taste, refreshingly cold,
and excellent with some whipped cream. I think if I made it again, however, I
would scant the sugar by a couple of tablespoons to give it a more sour edge.
Rhubarb Ring
Adapted from American Cooking: The Northwest
2 pounds rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces, about 4 cups
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups water
2 packets unflavored gelatin
Combine the rhubarb, sugar and 1 cup of water in a
non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is
dissolved. Simmer until rhubarb us tender but still intact. The original recipe
suggests 10 minutes. I found it only took about 5 minutes, and my rhubarb was
not very intact even then.
Meanwhile sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining ½ cup of
water and let it soften, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, stir gelatin into
rhubarb mixture and stir until it dissolves completely. Turn into an oil-coated
ring mold. Cool to room temperature and then cover and chill at least 3 hours
or until firm. Turn out to serve.
The book recommended serving this with strawberries and
barely sweetened whipped cream. I think the cream is a good idea, but I'm not a
fan of strawberry and rhubarb together. In the end, we just ate it with some
Readi-Whip.
If you are brave, scroll down for a photo comparison.
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Reality |