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American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes (hardcover)

Edited by Molly O'Neill

“Wow, what a great collection! This is a must read for all foodies and culinary professionals.”—Andrew F. Smith, Editor in Chief, The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink

Overview
Table of Contents
Contributors

Overview

Story of the Week “The Eating-Houses,” George G. Foster

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In a groundbreaking new anthology, celebrated food writer Molly O’Neill gathers the very best from over 250 years of American culinary history. This literary feast includes classic accounts of iconic American foods: Henry David Thoreau on the delights of watermelon; Herman Melville, with a mouth-watering chapter on clam chowder; H. L. Mencken on the hot dog; M.F.K. Fisher in praise of the oyster; Ralph Ellison on the irresistible appeal of baked yam; William Styron on Southern fried chicken. American writers abroad, like A. J. Liebling, Waverly Root, and Craig Claiborne, describe the revelations they found in foreign restaurants; travellers to America, including the legendary French gourmet J. A. Brillat-Savarin, discover such native delicacies as turkey, Virginia barbecue, and pumpkin pie. Great chefs and noted critics discuss their culinary philosophies and offer advice on the finer points of technique; home cooks recount disasters and triumphs. A host of eminent American writers, from Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Walt Whitman to Thomas Wolfe, Willa Cather, and Langston Hughes, add their distinctive viewpoints to the mix.

American Food Writing celebrates the astonishing variety of American foodways, with accounts from almost every corner of the country and a host of ethnic traditions: Dutch, Cuban, French, Italian, Jewish, Chinese, Irish, Indian, Scandinavian, Native American, African, English, Japanese, and Mexican. A surprising range of subjects and perspectives emerge, as writers address such topics as fast food, hunger, dieting, and the relationship between food and sex. James Villas offers a behind-the-scenes look at gourmet dining through a waiter’s eyes; Anthony Bourdain recalls his days at the Culinary Institute of America; Julia Child remembers the humble beginnings of her much-loved television series; Nora Ephron chronicles internecine warfare among members of the “food establishment;” Michael Pollan explores what the label “organic” really means.

Throughout the anthology are more than 50 classic recipes, selected after extensive research from cookbooks both vintage and modern, and certain to instruct, delight, and inspire home chefs.

Molly O’Neill, editor, was food columnist for The New York Times for a decade and host of the PBS series Great Food. Her work has appeared in many national magazines, and she is the author of three cookbooks, including the award-winning New York Cookbook. Her most recent book is Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball.

Read Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for ice cream (PDF, 800 KB)

This special publication features acid-free paper and a unique design with specifications differing from those of Library of America series titles.

This volume is also available in a paperback edition.

Project support for this volume was provided: In Honor of Sarah Porter Boehmler
Table of Contents

A bullet ( † ) indicates a recipe.

Introduction, by Molly O’Neill

Pehr Kalm | from Travels into North America
Thomas Jefferson | † Ice cream
Joel Barlow | from The Hasty-Pudding
Amelia Simmons | † Johny Cake, or Hoe Cake
Meriwether Lewis | from The Journals of Lewis & Clark
John Pintard | Letters to His Daughter, 1819-32
John M. Duncan | A Virginia Barbecue
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin | Exploit of the Professor
Lydia Maria Child | † To make a chowder
Frederick Marryat | from A Diary in America
Eliza Leslie | † Potted Lobster
Nathaniel Hawthorne | This Day’s Food
James M. Sanderson | Above All Other Birds
Sarah Rutledge | † To Dress Macaroni à la Sauce Blanche
George G. Foster | The Eating-Houses
Tunis G. Campbell | † To Make Corn Bread
Herman Melville | Chowder
Annabella P. Hill | † Peach Leather
Henry David Thoreau | Bread | Watermelons
Esther Levy | † Irish Potato Pudding
Frederick Douglass | from My Bondage and My Freedom
George Martin Lane | The Lay of the One Fish Ball
Marion Harland (Mary Virginia Terhune) | † Tomato Catsup
Henry Ward Beecher | Apple-Pie
National Cookery Book † A Michigan Receipt for Making Shortcake in Camp
Walt Whitman | A Great Treat of Ice Cream
Estelle Woods Wilcox (comp.) | † Hayes Cake and Tilden Cake
Harriet Beecher Stowe | from Cookery
Elizabeth Stansbury Kirkland | † Mother’s Rice Pudding
Randolph Harrison | from The Philosophy of Frying
Marion Cabell Tyree | † Meat-flavoring
George Augustus Sala | The Tyranny of Pie
Emily Dickinson | † Black Cake
Frank Hamilton Cushing | from Zuñi Breadstuff
Abby Fisher | † Chicken Croquettes
John Burroughs | My Sugar-Making Days
Mary Lincoln | † Chicken Chartreuse
Ward Mcallister | Success in Entertaining
Mrs. F. L. Gillette & Hugo Ziemann | † Roman Punch No.1 and No. 2
Henry Adams | from History of the United States
Mrs. E. E. Kellogg | † Bran Jelly
Charles Ranhofer | from The Epicurean | † Lobster à la Newberg or Delmonico
Elizabeth Robins Pennell | Spring Chicken
Fannie Merritt Farmer | † Eggs à la Goldenrod
Annie D. Tallent | Bill of Fare on the Plains
Henrietta Sowle | from I Go A-Marketing
Sarah Tyson Rorer | † Hamburg Steak
The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book Calas | † Cranberry Sauce
Paul Laurence Dunbar | Possum
Lizzie Kander | † Matzos Pudding
Owen Johnson | from The Great Pancake Record
Hester Price | † Old-Fashioned Hickory Nut Cake
Edna Ferber | from Maymeys from Cuba
Mrs. John E. Cooke | † Perfection Salad
Mary Antin | from The Promised Land
Rufus Estes | † Baked Bananas, Porto Rican Fashion
Clarence E. Edwords | Around Little Italy
Willa Cather | from My Àntonia
Edith M. Thomas | † Bucks County Apple Butter
H.L. Mencken | The Home of the Crab Hot Dogs
George Washington Carver | † Puree of Peanuts Number Two (Extra Fine)
Sheila Hibben | Eating American |† Cape Cod Turkey (Stuffed Codfish)
Thomas Wolfe | from Of Time and the River
Isabel Ely Lord | † Nut Loaf
Gertrude Stein | from American Food and American Houses
Beverly Hills Woman’s Club | † Chop Suey
John Steinbeck | Breakfast
Kenneth Roberts | from Down-East Ambrosia
Rex Stout | † Planked Porterhouse Steak
Joseph Mitchell | Mr. Barbee’s Terrapin
Nelson Algren | from America Eats
M. F. K. Fisher | A Lusty Bit of Nourishment |Define This Word
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | from Cross Creek Cookery
Samuel Chamberlain | from Clémentine in the Kitchen
Jerre Mangione | from Mount Allegro
S. J. Perelman | Avocado, or The Future of Eating
Betty MacDonald | That Infernal Machine, the Pressure Cooker
Buwei Yang Chao | † Fried Scallion Cake
Ogden Nash | The Strange Case of Mr. Palliser’s Palate
Jade Snow Wong | from Fifth Chinese Daughter
Alfred Kazin | from A Walker in the City
Maria Sermolino | from Papa’s Table d’Hôte
Irma Rombauer & Marion Rombauer Becker | † Almond Cake or Torte
Ralph Ellison | from Invisible Man
Helen Evans Brown | † Gazpacho
Alice B. Toklas | Food in the United States in 1934 and 1935
Carey D. Miller, Katherine Bazore, Mary Bartow | † Pineapple Pie
May Sarton | Sukiyaki on the Kona Coast
Clementine Paddleford | from A Flower for My Mother
Peg Bracken | from Good Cooksmanship, or How to Talk a Good Fight
John Berry | Toward Fried Chicken
William Styron | Southern Fried Chicken (with Giblet Gravy)
Evan Hunter | Pancakes
A. J. Liebling | from The Modest Threshold
Euell Gibbons | How to Cook a Carp
Joseph Wechsberg | Dinner at the Pavillon
Eugene Walter | The Gumbo Cult
John Gould | † Baked Beans
James Beard | from Delights and Prejudices |† Beef Stroganoff
Langston Hughes | from Soul Food
Michael Field | † Vichyssoise
Leroi Jones | Soul Food
Ella Rita Helfrich | † Tunnel of Fudge Cake
John McPhee | from Oranges
Gary Snyder | How to Make Stew in the Pinacate Desert: Recipe for Locke & Drum
Julia Child | About the Television Series
Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, & Simone Beck | † Coq au Vin
Nora Ephron | The Food Establishment: Life in the Land of the Rising Soufflé (Or Is It the Rising Meringue?)
Gael Greene | Lessons in Humility and Chutzpah
Anna Thomas | † Zucchini Quiche
Roy Andries De Groot | The Techniques of the Kitchen—The Making of a Cook
Madhur Jaffrey | † Moong Da
Richard Olney | from Simple French Food
Paula Wolfert | † Chicken Tagine with Chick-Peas
Calvin Trillin | The Traveling Man’s Burden
Marcella Hazan | † Risotto alla parmigiana
Craig Claiborne | Just a Quiet Dinner for Two in Paris: 31 Dishes, Nine Wines, a $4,000 Check
Russell Baker | Francs and Beans
Ray Kroc | from Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s
Edna Lewis | Morning-After-Hog-Butchering Breakfast
Raymond Sokolov | An Original Old-Fashioned Yankee Clambake
Guy Davenport | The Anthropology of Table Manners from Geophagy Onward
James Villas | Blessed Are We Who Serve
Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins | † Chicken Marbella
Lillian Hellman & Peter Feibleman | from Eating Together: Recipes & Recollections
Waverley Root | Gillotte’s
Laurie Colwin | Kitchen Horrors
Sara Suleri | from Meatless Days
Chris Maynard & Bill Scheller | from Manifold Destiny
Wendell Berry | The Pleasures of Eating
Alice Waters | The Farm-Restaurant Connection
Daniel Pinkwater | Where Is the Grease of Yesteryear
Sheila Ferguson | † Philadelphia Pepperpot Soup
Jeffrey Steingarten | Primal Bread
Ray Gonzalez | Mama Menudo
Maxine Kumin | Enough Jam for a Lifetime
Danny Meyer & Michael Romano | † Yellowfin Tuna Burgers with Ginger-Mustard Glaze
Laura Shapiro | Do Women Like To Cook?
Victor M. Valle & Mary Lau Valle | from Recipe of Memory: Five Generations of Mexican Cuisine
John Thorne | The Toll House Cookie
Shirley Geok-Lin Lim | Boiled Chicken Feet and Hundred-Year-Old Eggs: Poor Chinese Feasting
Howard Mitcham | † Creole Gumbo
Judith Moore | Adultery
Betty Fussell | from My Kitchen Wars
Rick Bragg | Dinner Rites
Ken Hom | † Steamed Pork Loaf with Salted Duck Eggs
Grace Young | The Breath of a Wok
Anthony Bourdain | from Kitchen Confidential
David Sedaris | Today’s Special
Jhumpa Lahiri | Indian Takeout
Patricia Volk | from Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family
Eric Schlosser | from Fast Food Nation
Corby Kummer | Cheese: Cindy and David Major, Vermont
Gary Paul Nabhan | from Coming Home To Eat
Ana Menéndez | Celebrations of Thanksgiving: Cuban Seasonings
Robb Walsh | † Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales Chili
Ruth Reichl | from Looking for Umami
Michael Pollan | My Organic Industrial Meal
Contributors

Henry Adams
Nelson Algren
Mary Antin
Russell Baker
Joel Barlow
Mary Bartow
Katherine Bazore
James Beard
Simone Beck
Marion Rombauer Becker
Henry Ward Beecher
John Berry
Wendell Berry
Louisette Bertholle
Anthony Bourdain
Peg Bracken
Rick Bragg
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Helen Evans Brown
John Burroughs
Tunis G. Campbell
George Washington Carver
Willa Cather
Samuel Chamberlain
Buwei Yang Chao
Julia Child
Lydia Maria Child
Craig Claiborne
Laurie Colwin
Mrs. John E. Cooke
Frank Hamilton Cushing
Guy Davenport
Emily Dickinson
Frederick Douglass
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
John M. Duncan
Clarence E. Edwards
Ralph Ellison
Nora Ephron
Rufus Estes
Fannie Merritt Farmer
Peter Feibleman
Edna Ferber
Sheila Ferguson
Michael Field
Abby Fisher
M. F. K. Fisher
George G. Foster
Betty Fussell
Euell Gibbons
Mrs. F. L. Gillette
Ray Gonzalez
John Gould
Gael Greene
Roy Andries de Groot
Randolph Harrison
Marion Harland
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Marcella Hazan
Ella Rita Helfrich
Lillian Hellman
Sheila Hibben
Annabella P.Hill
Ken Hom
Langston Hughes
Evan Hunter
Madhur Jaffrey
Thomas Jefferson
Owen Johnson
LeRoi Jones
Pehr Kalm
Lizzie Kander
Alfred Kazin
Mrs. E. E. Kellogg
Elizabeth Stansbury Kirkland
Ray Kroc
Maxine Kumin
Corby Kummer
Jhumpa Lahiri
George Martin Lane
Esther Levy
Edna Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
A. J. Liebling
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Mary Lincoln
Isabel Ely Lord
Sheila Lukins
Betty MacDonald
Ward McAllister
John McPhee
Jerre Mangione
Frederick Marryat
Chris Maynard
Herman Melville
H. L. Mencken
Ana Menéndez
Danny Meyer
Carey D. Miller
Howard Mitchum
Joseph Mitchell
Gary Paul Nabhan
Ogden Nash
Richard Olney
Clementine Paddleford
Elizabeth Robins Pennell
S. J. Perelman
Daniel Pinkwater
John Pintard
Michael Pollan
Hester Price
Charles Ranhofer
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Ruth Reichl
Kenneth Roberts
Michael Romano
Irma Rombauer
Waverly Root
Sarah Tyson Rorer
Julee Rosso
Sarah Rutledge
James M. Sanderson
George Augustus Sala
May Sarton
Bill Scheller
Eric Schlosser
David Sedaris
Maria Sermolino
Laura Shapiro
Amelia Simmons
Gary Snyder
Raymond Sokolov
Henrietta Sowle
Gertrude Stein
John Steinbeck
Jeffrey Steingarten
Rex Stout
Harriet Beecher Stowe
William Styron
Sara Suleri
Annie D. Tallent
Anna Thomas
Edith M. Thomas
Henry David Thoreau
John Thorne
Alice B. Toklas
Calvin Trillin
Marion Cabell Tyree
Mary Lou Valle
Victor M. Valle
James Villas
Patricia Volk
Robb Wals
Eugene Walter
Alice Waters
Joseph Wechsberg
Walt Whitman
Estelle Woods Wilcox
Thomas Wolfe
Paula Wolfert
Jade Snow Wong
Grace Young
Hugo Ziemann

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