Stirring the Pot with Benjamin Franklin

November 15, 2017
The author of Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen (2014) and other biographies told from the angle of what historical figures and their contemporaries ate turns her attention to Benjamin Franklin. Moving through his life in chronological order, she integrates research and speculation about his diet into a relatively conventional, if circumspect, biography. While those who have read much about Franklin won't find much new here, the volume does introduce his life briskly and cheerfully. Most intriguing are the many recipes that end each chapter. Well documented, thoroughly tested, and kindly adapted to the modern kitchen, they offer readers the opportunity to imagine their way back into the eighteenth century. They may not be proven to have been on Franklin's table, but chances are they're close to what he ate. The adventurous may be willing to take on sodden sallet, a salad dressed with butter, or hot water gruel, Franklin's usual breakfast of hot cereal mixed with toast cubes. Plenty of tempting desserts should satisfy the less culinarily experimental.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)