Serious Pig: An American Cook in Search of His Roots - Hardcover

Thorne, John; Thorne, Matt Lewis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865475024 ISBN 13: 9780865475021

Publisher: North Point Pr, 1996

Synopsis

In this collection of essays, John Thorne sets our to explore the origins of his identity as a cook, going “here” (the Maine coast, where he’d summered as a child and returned as an adult for a decade’s sojourn), “there” (southern Louisiana, where he was captivated by Creole and Cajun cooking), and “everywhere” (where he provides a sympathetic reading of such national culinary icons as the hamburger, white bread, and American cheese, and sits down to a big bowl of Texas red). These intelligent, searching essays are a passionate meditation on food, character, and place.

About this title

Review:

" [Thorne's] richest book yet; one in which simple disparate thoughts begin to coalesce into a genuine philosophy of food." -- Ruth Reichl, "Saveur"
" Here' s a rare treat, a book in which the recipes are only a means to an end or stepping stones in cultural detective stories . . . [Thorne's] folkloric approach to food nourishes the brain as well as the body." -- William Rice, "Chicago Tribune"
" The Thornes love their subject, but critically, knowledgeably and with a sense of humor that makes the narrative flow as if velvetized by mayo." -- Sheila Himmel, "The Washington Post Book World"
“[Thorne's] richest book yet; one in which simple disparate thoughts begin to coalesce into a genuine philosophy of food.”—Ruth Reichl, "Saveur"
“Here’s a rare treat, a book in which the recipes are only a means to an end or stepping stones in cultural detective stories . . . [Thorne's] folkloric approach to food nourishes the brain as well as the body.”—William Rice, "Chicago Tribune"
“The Thornes love their subject, but critically, knowledgeably and with a sense of humor that makes the narrative flow as if velvetized by mayo.”—Sheila Himmel, "The Washington Post Book World"
"[Thorne's] richest book yet; one in which simple disparate thoughts begin to coalesce into a genuine philosophy of food."--Ruth Reichl, "Saveur"
"Here's a rare treat, a book in which the recipes are only a means to an end or stepping stones in cultural detective stories . . . [Thorne's] folkloric approach to food nourishes the brain as well as the body."--William Rice, "Chicago Tribune"
"The Thornes love their subject, but critically, knowledgeably and with a sense of humor that makes the narrative flow as if velvetized by mayo."--Sheila Himmel, "The Washington Post Book World"

[Thorne's] richest book yet; one in which simple disparate thoughts begin to coalesce into a genuine philosophy of food. "Ruth Reichl, Saveur"

Here's a rare treat, a book in which the recipes are only a means to an end or stepping stones in cultural detective stories . . . [Thorne's] folkloric approach to food nourishes the brain as well as the body. "William Rice, Chicago Tribune"

The Thornes love their subject, but critically, knowledgeably and with a sense of humor that makes the narrative flow as if velvetized by mayo. "Sheila Himmel, The Washington Post Book World""

"[Thorne's] richest book yet; one in which simple disparate thoughts begin to coalesce into a genuine philosophy of food." --Ruth Reichl, Saveur

"Here's a rare treat, a book in which the recipes are only a means to an end or stepping stones in cultural detective stories . . . [Thorne's] folkloric approach to food nourishes the brain as well as the body." --William Rice, Chicago Tribune

"The Thornes love their subject, but critically, knowledgeably and with a sense of humor that makes the narrative flow as if velvetized by mayo." --Sheila Himmel, The Washington Post Book World

From the Publisher:

The author of OUTLAW COOK explores his roots.

BOOK DESCRIPTION (FOLLOWED BY PREPUBLICATION COMMENTS)

John Thorne, author of SIMPLE COOKING (1987) and OUTLAW COOK (1992), grew up as an army brat. His family moved, as all military families do, from one base -- and one part of the country -- to another every few years. Even so, they spent as many summers as they could on an island off the Maine coast, and this was the one place where, as an adult, he felt he might find a home.

So, eight years ago, he left the metropolitan Boston area to move to Maine, first to the town of Castine on the Penobscot peninsula, and then even further up the coast to the tiny fishing and lobstering community of Steuben. There, he and his wife, Matt Lewis Thorne, settled into a fisherman's house buried in a pine wood, just a stone's throw from the tip of Pigeon Hill Bay.

Almost all the essays collected in this book were written during this Down East sojourn, and they can be read together as an extended meditation on connection -- an exploration of the ways a dish can make itself at home in a particular locale and how, by preparing these dishes, an outsider can come to better understand his neighbors.

Both Thorne and his wife grew up eating Yankee cooking, and they were moved to find that culinary tradition alive and kicking in saltwater Maine. In "Here," the first section of the book, they renew their acquaintance with several familiar dishes -- corned beef hash, lobster stew, baked beans, blueberry bread-and-butter pudding -- in both Down East vernacular eating places and home kitchens.

The second part of the book -- "There" -- traces Thorne's love affair with the cooking -- New Orleans Creole and bayou Cajun -- of Southern Louisiana. Although his visits there were all too brief, la cuisine de Louisiane has continued to enchant him, as has the experience of being a stranger in a strange land. He writes: "'There,' then, doesn't just mean there-Louisiana, it means there-the-other-place...the woman you fell in love with but didn't marry, never see anymore but haven't in the least gotten over and never will." This passion spills over into his deep and sympathetic evocation of the twilight of French Creole foodways, the unexpected resurgence of Cajun cooking, and the great gift that African cooks gave them both: the largesse of the gumbo pot.

Finally, in the third section -- "Everywhere" -- Thorne uses his own rootlessness to help him take the measure of an American cuisine that is, more and more, learning to survive without any real roots at all. He come to terms with white bread and American cheese, explicates the erotics of the hamburger and the chocolate chip cookie, follows the evolution of barbecue out of the decline of the pig, examines the role of cornbread in the formation of the American character, and wryly observes the correspondence between the aesthetically inspired but rule-wracked ethos of the Shakers and our own equally confused relations with eating today.

In his last book, the award-winning OUTLAW COOK, John Thorne wrote about his struggle to find his identity as a cook. In this new one, he tells about his search for connection in all the American dishes that have touched his imagination -- and works his way back through the history of each so as to understand it afresh. Anyone with a love of American food will enjoy accompanying him as he traces authentic chile con carne back to the passion of mountain trappers and buffalo hunters for "grease and gladness"; sets out the affinities between the French Creoles and their African cooks in the mysterious gombo zhèbes; and delights in the way his Maine neighbors still feel so deeply about the right way to make a chowder -- whether fish, clam, or corn. And cooks will find fresh inspiration in the book's many detailed recipes, that range from buckwheat cakes, home-fried potatoes, fresh pea pie, Moosehead gingerbread, crusty skillet cornbread, and an amazing concatenation of rice and beans dishes that reaches from the American South through the Caribbean and all the way back to Africa.

PREPUBLICATION COMMENTS

John writes about Maine food, Maine places, and Maine people in a style that is incomparable -- completely original, "spot on" accurate, sensitive and yet truthful, sometimes painfully truthful. "Down East Chowder" is the very best piece ever done on the subject (and there have been dozens); it is worth the price of the book alone. John has the uncanny ability to introduce us to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde who live in every cook. -- Jasper White, author of JASPER WHITE'S COOKING FROM NEW ENGLAND.

I can't decide whether John Thorne is a culinary Kuralt or Thoreau. Perhaps a bit of both. No one cares or writes more passionately about food. And no one has ever made our culinary history easier to swallow. -- Jean Anderson, author of THE GRASSROOTS COOKBOOK.

America's most serious pig, John Thorne is also the country's most serious and delightful food writer. You'll treasure every tidbit in this feast of a book. -- Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison, authors of SMOKE & SPICE and THE BORDER COOKBOOK.

Lucky for us that John Thorne decided some years ago to give his kitchen-eye view of the ongoing American experiment. Every culture needs a food person to read and interpret its tea leaves and cookie crumbs; John is ours. SERIOUS PIG shows us the maturing culinary social wisdom of John and Matt Thorne. You can take their knowledge to the bank and their many wonderful dishes to the table -- and both ways, you'll be the wiser, the fuller, the more inspired and contented. -- John Egerton, author of SOUTHERN FOOD: AT HOME, ON THE ROAD, IN HISTORY.

John and Matt are my favorite food writers -- I love them. SERIOUS PIG is a fabulous treat -- great reading and great eating. -- Maida Heatter, author of MAIDA HEATTER'S BOOK OF GREAT AMERICAN DESSERTS.

Learn more about this book and the other publications by these authors at THE SIMPLE COOKING HOME PAGE: ` http://home.earthlink.net/~outlawcook/index.html

About this edition

• Publisher: North Point Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0865475024
• ISBN 13: 9780865475021
• Binding: Hardcover