Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie

August 19, 2013
Food writer Wolff, who grew up in the Midwest and still resides there, has amassed a brilliant collection of Heartland food stories. The contents of the book range from essays by novelists (Elizabeth Berg, Jaquelyn Mitchard, and others) to works by newspaper columnists, cookbook authors, and chefs. Some are humorous; others are nostalgic, or are filled with fascinating historical facts and tidbits. The collection is organized into four major parts: “Midwestern Staples” (including an in-depth look at Chicago’s Italian beef sandwiches by Michael Stern and an ode to the fried pork tenderloin sandwich by Jon Yates); “Distant Cultures,” in which Minnesotan Anne Dimock and others examine the foods that arrived with various immigrants (in her case, rhubarb, a German-Scandinavian dessert essential for pie, kuchen, and kram); “Holidays, Fairs, and Events” (readers will be amply sated by Lorna Landvik’s culinary tour of the Minnesota State Fair); “A Full Belly” (including Douglas Bauer’s view of his mother’s hard work in her Iowa farm kitchen) and “The Midwestern Sweet Tooth” (Bundt cakes, fudge, and beyond, as in “When a Pie Is More Than a Pie” by cookbook writer Jeremy Jackson). The 30 essays and 14 recipes (a portion of which are reprints) bring the flavors of the Midwest vividly to life; but, more importantly, they dig deeply into the universal connections between food, family, time, and place.

September 15, 2013

Some 30 well-known Midwestern writers reflect on food and family, and their reminiscences provide a feast for the reader in this hearty collection of essays. Jacquelyn Mitchard's "Corn in Heaven" is a joyous celebration of this sweet summer crop, evoking warm and wonderful memories of family gathered around as the corn roasts on an open fire. Writer Elizabeth Berg celebrates her Aunt Lala's meatloaf, recalling her Midwestern middle-class upbringing where "everyone had meatloaf once a week." NPR personality Peter Sagal laments Chicago's 2006 ban on the sale of foie gras, and writer Sue Hubbell offers up "The Great American Pie Expedition." VERDICT A delectable read, sprinkled with recipes and generous helpings of fun and plenty of food for thought.--Graciela Monday, San Antonio

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
With its acres upon acres of cornfields and orchards, the Midwest ought to have some of the country's best foods. In summer, that's often true. But as with the rest of America, midwesterners have too often turned their backs on their most flavorful foods in favor of an easy drive-through at a fast-food outlet. This anthology of essays on the Midwest's best and most unpretentious foods should go a long way toward regaining the respect the heartland's cuisine ought to enjoy. Jacquelyn Mitchard celebrates the area's most typical summer fare, sweet corn, especially its marvelous new variety, Mirai. Donna Pierce reminds us that midwestern cuisine owes much to the black migration. Lorna Landvik reveals that the institution of state fairs both enshrined local foodways and introduced novel traditions. The national reach of midwestern culinary art emerges in professional chef Gale Gand's feature on a Hoosier cheese maker. For regional collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)