 Alice and Martin Provenson are the illustrative talents behind The Fireside Cookbook. Along with James Beard they were a trio, and the cookbook reads like they had fun together. It's ripe with life and the words, recipes and images play together on the page. It feels like you could run your fingers along the book block like a flip book. For the assignment, the Provensons took a preliminary sketching trip to Europe—a plum assignment. I spent last weekend with a family I like spending time with and they gifted me this gem. That I love illustrations in cookbooks is no secret. The artistry is the first thing to capture my attention. I could pull a bunch of cookbooks off my shelves just based on how visually extraordinary they are. A great cookbook is a balance of words, stories, photos, recipes, and illustrations and always expresses a unique character, likely the result of collaboration. It has depth because a confluence of extraordinary talents came together. I want to live in the “cocktail snacks” section with the four variations of devilled eggs and the recipe that begins with cream cheese, anchovies, and garlic. I’m looking lovingly at my cast-iron skillet while considering Shenandoah Fried Chicken made with cracker crumbs, lard, and “rich milk.” A whole page is devoted to aged ham. A fox trots through the chapter on chicken. Have you ever had a fricassee you didn’t like? There’s a method for cooking smoked beef tongue and an oxtail ragout I tagged. And no end of vegetables like Baked Hubbard Squash and Pennsylvania Dutch Tomatoes. I was getting excited flipping toward the dessert section, but it's clearly on the diet the book opens with—there's a handful of pages covering fruit. Was this written during one of Beard’s slimming periods? It surely made a few Upper East Side socialites happy. As an avowed dessert lover, it's missing some potential. *** I have lived in Toronto for coming on twenty-five years and I got a call this week about a community garden plot for me in a spot near the Humber River in the west end. Sadly, I had to turn it down because I have too much on my plate. But yeah, one step closer to a garden that is equal parts vegetables and flowers. There’s a toddler who’s moved in two floors above me and around dinner and through the early evening I can hear little feet running around. It’s an adorable sound. Kids are rare in buildings like mine and there’s no good reason why. On the topic of flip books, this is a Japanese gem from this week. Women cooking. *** I had no idea who Clifton Chenier—the King of Zydeco—was before hearing this tribute by Lucinda Williams. That’s why I listen to the new music playlist every week. The song fits her vocals like her trademark black leather pants. Vandelux has two versions of this Motown classic, and both make me want to dance. 20252025Comments are closed.
|
Archives
May 2025
© Deborah Reid, 2021 - 2025. All Rights Reserved. Categories
All
|
RSS Feed