Local Authors/Local Cookbooks

I love to read cookbooks—not only for the technique and menu ideas, which are their fundamental element, but also for the histories and anecdotes that provide the spice. Here are a few of the outstanding locally-written cookbooks and compilations.

Our most prolific local food author is Michele Anna Jordan, a columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and a contributor to several magazines. She has written nearly 20 books about food, from A Cooks Tour of Sonoma (1990) to the most recent, Traveler’s Tales: The World is a Kitchen (2006); you can be sure there are more in the works. In between, she’s written on pasta, polenta, seafood, salt and pepper, tomatoes, oil and vinegar, mustard and more, exploring simple ingredients in great depth. Bacon lovers, take note: Michele orchestrated the construction of The World’s Biggest BLT at the 2003 Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival (documented online on YouTube) and dedicated an entire book to this iconic sandwich.

Michele’s books provide a broad historical perspective and yet are intensely personal, as if your neighbor just brought over a bowl of fresh produce along with her favorite recipes. With humor and reverence she draws you into her kitchen, out to the farmers markets and into the delicious world of food as she experiences it. Available online and at Copperfield’s Books.

Chef/author/teacher John Ash’s first book, American Game Cooking (1991, with Sid Goldstein of Fetzer Winery) is the ultimate pairing guide to game meats and wine. Ash emphasizes that this book is NOT about hunting, shooting, skinning or gutting, but rather a guide to cooking the meat of humanely treated, farm-raised game animals. If you want to experience the meats that sustained the native people of our country before the European invasion, you’ll find instructions here on shopping, preparation and cooking techniques for wild boar, buffalo, rabbits, venison and a wide variety of game birds.

These are complex recipes for the experienced cook; many have rich sauces and may take many hours (or days) to prepare, such as the recipe for spit-roasted wild boar. This latter one cautions, “It will take awhile to cook, so begin early in the day,” and offers that “you can cook it in the oven, if it will fit.” For each type of game, Ash suggests classic recipes and wine pairings. There’s also a brief chapter on “exotic” game, so if you were wondering which wine to serve with Scaloppini of Alligator, Ash recommends Sauvignon Blanc. Another of Ash’s works, From the Earth to the Table (2007), focuses on our wholesome wine country cuisine. Available online.

The Vintner’s Table Cookbook, published by Simi Winery in 1998, was written by Mary Evely during her many years as chef for Simi’s food-and-wine pairing events. This book is outstanding for its thoughtful recipes and beautiful design, plus a wealth of information about food and wine pairing. Using color harmony as a guide for food and wine affinities, Evely explored the influences on pairings beyond taste and aroma, such as mood, weather, body chemistry and personal preference, which she considered the first and last principle of wine choice. To quote Mary, “What you like best is always the best.”

There are helpful sections on analyzing recipes for wine choices, creating seasonal menus, and a profile chart for each type of wine. Although omnivorous in scope, vegetarians will find a wealth of recipes to try; most are simple to prepare and highlight local produce.

Each recipe includes thoughtful commentary on the ingredients and about half are accompanied by Zen-like photos of the finished dishes. If I’m lucky enough to be given a special bottle of wine, I head straight to the pages of this book to select the perfect seasonal recipe for pairing. With the autumn season upon us, I am looking forward to a festive dessert of walnut shortcake with fresh figs and pears accompanied by a Muscat or sparkling wine.

In her preface, Evely credits James Beard and Julia Child as her inspiration and this beautiful book earned the 1998 Julia Child Cookbook Award for First Book. Sadly, Mary passed away some years ago; this was her only book. Fortunately for us, this treasure is still available online.

Nourishing Connections: The Healing Power of Food & Community documents a project begun in 2007 by caterer Cathryn Couch with the twofold purpose of creating a summer job with cooking lessons for the teenage daughter of a friend while providing nourishing meals to a couple of families dealing with serious health issues.

Encouraged by the initial success of this venture, Couch envisioned what would become the Ceres Community Project—providing thousands of delicious, nourishing, free meals to local residents dealing with and recovering from illnesses while teaching hundreds of local teenagers the true joy of cooking. Couch and her co-writer JoEllen DeNicola share the story of their journey, offering simply written, explicit and healing recipes, laced with cooking tips and grateful testimonials from their clients.

This primer on cooking and nutrition, spiral bound with large, easy to read print and charming drawings and photos, would make a wonderful first cookbook for a young person, yet offers enough sophisticated recipes to intrigue more experienced cooks who are seeking to adopt a health-guided diet. The focus is on food as primary medicine, with chapters on nutrition and cooking basics.

While predominantly vegetarian, it does include chapters on seafood and poultry and “delectable desserts.” Now in its second edition, it’s available at Copperfield’s Books and through the website CeresProject.org.

Gerald Gass, the chef at McEvoy Olive Ranch in Petaluma, has given us The Olive Harvest Cookbook (2004), documenting the vision of Nan McEvoy who planted a 550-acre property with thousands of olive trees, other fruit orchards and gardens, and built a state of the art oil production facility. Maren Caruso’s stunning photos will inspire you to try Gass’ mouth-watering recipes for soups, salads, pizzas, pastas, meats and desserts, all featuring olives, olive oil, fruits, lavender and honey produced on site.

Giving ample credit to McEvoy’s vision, to the gardeners, ranch workers and his co-chef Mark Rohrmeier, Gerald humbly offers up some beautiful cooking ideas. How about an heirloom tomato pizza tonight, with some lavender ice cream for dessert? Available online and by order at Copperfield’s books.

Also of note is the cookbook Down Home: Downtown by Jeff Mall (Zin Restaurant, Healdsburg) and Josh Silvers (Syrah Restaurant, Santa Rosa). These two chefs and long-time friends apply their own styles—Mall’s Americana comfort food and Silvers’ Paris-meets-Florence—to a side-by-side presentation of seasonal foods with photos that look good enough to eat. Available at ZinRestaurant.com

Red Beans & Rice and other Rock’n’Roll Recipes by music impresario and blues legend Johnny Otis is full of juicy morsels of music trivia and multicultural recipes provided by Johnny, his wife Phyllis, his kids and their spouses, his friends, his doctor, fellow musicians and his extended community.

It’s all here—soul food from every culture: curries, gumbos and jambalaya, latkes and wagmiza wasna (vegetarian pemmican from the Lakota Sioux), chili, tiropita, tamale pie, Senegalese couscous, chorizo, fried chicken, “good old, plain old spaghetti,” and of course, red beans and rice. Johnny and his friends and family love to cook and eat, and Johnny’s vignettes are a window into a rich and soulful life. This book is mouth-watering entertainment and a great read. Available online.

I’ve touched on a fairly wide selection of locally written cookbooks, but naturally there are many more, including those cookbooks and recipe collections published by community groups, churches, and non-profits such as Food For Thought. Visit your locally owned bookstore to find even more of these gems. Happy cooking!