Sea and Smoke

February 15, 2016

Printed on heavy stock with full- or double-page color photographs by Charity Burggraaf, Wetzel's first book is a work of art. Wetzel is the owner and chef of the Willows on Lummi Island, off the coast near Bellingham, WA, and Ray is a proponent of progressive cuisine in which a variety of techniques and ingredients are employed. Recipes for dishes such as porridge of lovage stems, halibut skins wrapped around clams and rolled in seaweed, and flaxseed caramels utilize ingredients found on or around the island (e.g., dandelion plants, mussels, verbena leaves, wild geranium flowers, and legs from a freshly killed deer). The book is organized not by course or type of food but more by method and principle--sections include Into the Kitchen, the Handoff, Caught, First Harvest, Gold Mine, the Perfect Smoke, and Last Call. The detailed index will help the cook find a particular recipe and the section "How To Use this Book" will aid in navigating it. VERDICT The recipes are clearly written, and the adventurous home cook with access to a broad array of ingredients will delight in replicating dishes served at the Willows. For fans of such high-end regional cookbooks as Magnus Nilsson's Faviken and Sean Brock's Heritage.--Christine E. Bulson, emeritus, Milne Lib., SUNY Oneonta

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