In the introduction to Prairie
Home Cooking, author Judith Fertig asks us to ". . . imagine
an old quilt spread out under a prairie sky. On this quilt an array
of sweet and savory dishes form the small towns, farms, and ranches
beckon you to taste the best of prairie home cooking." The reader
accompanies Fertig as she spreads open the quilt, a patchwork of dishes
developed as immigrants from Germany, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Czechoslovakia,
adapted their traditional recipes to the foodstuffs in America. With
its proverbial rolling plains the Midwest provided wheat and corn, enough
acres of land to graze cattle for meat or for dairy. Our hardworking
ancestors worked the land and brought these foodstuffs to the home table.
These are Fertig's resources.
Fertig loves her topic, and has
done assiduous research. She shares her knowledge in sidebars of quarter
or half page size, in full page inserts and in recipe introductions.
Her text is so richly informative, and written with such spirit and
humor that we sat down with the book to read through the sidebars, for
once ignoring the recipes. We relished the brief history of the evolution
of chewy stringy cows to succulent steak. We enjoyed her insight in
Kansas City BBQ, Sauerkraut, the Swedish Table, the Native American
Feast of the Hunter's Moon.
We didn't ignore recipes for long
for this is home cooking at its best, its most authentic. We can almost
hear the plop of a fresh berry as it is picked from a bush and dropped
into the pail. The recipes are practical and earthy, and carry within
them centuries of old-world traditions. There are recipes for every
course, all of them written with clarity, all of them attainable by
the home cook without a scramble to find exotic ingredients. Fertig
begins with a wealth of pickles, preserves and condiments - our ancestors
method of surviving winter. There are recipes for after-church suppers,
for pot luck dinners, for religious celebrations that reflect the country
of origin. You'll find North Country Pot Roast, German Cheese Tart,
Preserved Watermelon Rind and Tomato Preserves. Along with these recipes,
you'll find recipes for Bierocks, Canadian Prairie Tourtière,
Shaker Lemon Pie, Russian Mennonite Chicken Noodle Soup, Swedish Spiced
Wine. The recipes all speak of community, all use the abundance of the
prairies.. And if you have a wee interest in ice cream, you'll love
Family Reunion Vanilla Pudding Ice Cream.
Snap this book up. The face shining
through both recipes and text reflects the spirit of America when it
was just being settled. And in a world that increasingly becomes dedicated
to fast food, the recipes in Prairie Home Cooking gives us the
foods we love to eat best, all of them evolved from the traditions of
the past.
About the Author:
Judith M. Fertig is an authority on the foods of her native Midwest.
She writes a column for the Kansas City Star and has also written for
Saveur, Country Living, and the New York Times.
Born in Ohio and trained at La Varenne and the Cordon Bleu, she lives
in Kansas City, Missouri.
The author has kindly shared these
recipes with us:
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