Chicago Cooks - and much more than the great pizza
by - Written: May 11 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: interesting history, good recipes, elegant photos in the center
Cons: targeted at a niche audience
The Bottom Line: Chicago Cooks is an interesting look at a city and the history of food that impacts across the nation.
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| CyndiA's Full Review: Carol Haddix - Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Chicago ... |
Chicago Cooks in more ways than one. I visited the windy city last fall and feel in love with the culture and with all the great restaurants. It seemed only natural to pick up Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Food History with Menus, Recipes, and Tips from Les Dame d’Escoffier Chicago.
This food history book is edited by Carol Mighton Haddix who is the food editor for the Chicago Tribune. The women who put this project together are members of the Chicago Les Dames.
Les Dames d’Escoffier members are women in the food industry. This can include restaurant owners, chefs, cookbook writers, wine retailers and so on. The idea was to provide a way for females, in a male dominated industry, to network and share ideas. Ironically, d’Escoffier was a prominent male chef in the mid 1800s – world renowned and quite the trend setter. I would have thought the group might have picked a female namesake. In any case, Les Dames is an invitation only group for female foodies with Chicago being one of the oldest and most well known chapters of the group.
Chicago has been a town where goods (including food products) are made and also a hub in the trade route in the United States. It’s no surprise then that it’s a place where new dishes are made and where new food trends start and then spread across the United States.
The first part of the book looks at food history over the last 25 years. Though the focus is on Chicago, readers will notice the national trends that have been seen over the last couple of decades. There are specific recipes tied to various points in history in this section. For example, the food experts talk about the interest in ethnic dishes and share recipes for Creole Red Beans and Rice and Polish-Style Filled Pancakes.
The second part of the food book includes full menus with recipes for various occasions. This runs from a New Year’s Eve with Friends to an Elegant Christmas Dinner with a brunch, cookout, a seafood feast sandwiched between.
Some of the recipes are very simple while others are much more complex. There’s quite a range with this being a history book and with many food experts involved and contributing. Everything is woven together with little stories which makes the book much more than just a cookbook.
I’d say that Chicago Cooks would be most appealing to folks living in Chicago or with roots to that area. It’s also a good book for those interested in food history and trends. It’s a good book for a niche audience.
Recommended:
Yes
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