<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: An Very Good Book if You Like Central Pennsylvania Diners
Review: This book appears to be the eighth 'Roadfood Cookbook' by Jane and Michael Stern who also write a 'Roadfood' column for Gourmet magazine. Aside from the fact that this book has just been published, I got a copy to review because I grew up on the same kind of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking described in this book. Thus, I was sure I was doubly qualified to evaluate this volume.The value of this book to a reader will be directly proportional to the degree to which they really like diner food of eastern Pennsylvania. Like many other local cookbooks, the food is simply not as interesting as you will find in just about any cookbook by a professional culinary journalist such as Patricia Wells; top rated restaurant chef such as Tom Colicchio or Alfred Portale; or TV program host such as Sara Moulton or Tyler Florence. All the recipes for non-Pennsylvania Dutch specialities are pale imitations of, for example, Italian or New England specialities. The recipes rely very heavily on canned products and the amount of butter used in many of the recipes would make a French chef blanche. Oddly enough, some recipes occasionally use margarine instead of butter for no apparent reason. One example of a classic recipe done with an inferior recipe is the offering for creamed chipped beef. This book's recipe adds no spices whatsoever. A very good recipe in Craig Claiborne's New York Times cookbook uses a technique that is much more familiar to cooks who are used to making roux and bechamel sauces. It also suggests adding nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne. Another classic with an inferior recipe is the cole slaw recipe. It is just one of a long string of vegetable and vegetable / protein salads where mayonnaise is a major ingredient. James Beard gives a far superior recipe for cole slaw with no mayonnaise. I am entirely familiar with the fact that there are hundreds of variations on cole slaw. I am only indicating that the version offered here is not the best. All recipe instructions are fairly simple because so many of the dishes are fairly simple, relying on rich ingredients such as butter, mayonnaise, half and half, cream, or canned soups for their punch. The instructions for preparing most vegetables is to 'chop' them, where most cookbooks would specify a quarter inch dice or smaller. Some recipes call for grating onions by a food processor. Most other writers would suggest a dice, as the food processor can turn onions into slime. Most of my comments are really not relevant to true Pennsylvania Dutch specialities, as the book is pretty true to my experience of this style of cooking. The recipes for the famous 'Dutch' relishes such as chow-chow are pretty close (although my experience is that the green beans are usually cut, while the authors put them in whole). The recipes for breakfast sticky buns are as good or better than I have seen from similar local sources, but not as good as the Julia Child book on baking. One really surprising exception to the very ordinary type of recipe to be found here is the pancake recipe. This is one of the very few places where I have seen people take the trouble to separate yolks from whites and whip the whites and fold them into the rest of the batter. I am impressed. If you want an ethnologic picture of central Pennsylvania diner fare, you cannot find any better source than this book. It is also a reasonably good book of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, but it leaves out several classics such as stuffed pig stomach and apple dumplings. If you are fond of the authors' series of Roadfood books, you do not want to miss this offering. It's picture of coal region life, as someone who lives on the outskirts of this area should know, is excellent. If you want a good Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook, I recommend you pass on this book and get a book by Betty Groff, Mary Showalter, or Phyllis Pellman Good. Recommended with qualifications. I give it four stars rather than three because of its relatively low list price.
<< 1 >>
| 
