Customer Reviews

The Chesapeake Bay Cookbook: Rediscovering the Pleasures of a Great Regional Cuisine

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... if that isn't enough to make a person want this cookbook I don't know what it would take. You say you want more? Okay, I was born and brought up looking out over the San Francisco Bay and I consider it most beautiful, but this book made me want to visit the Chesapeake Bay area and get to know its rich history and its evidently warm and hospitable people, profiled in brief well-written essays in each chapter. Good black and white photographs of people and places, a nicely drawn map at the front of the book, and recipes that speak of tradition and family in the best American way like Mrs. Tovey's Chicken and Waffles with Gravy, and Tangy Peach Short Ribs of Beef. I can't imagine anyone would be sorry to have this book, once they opened the covers and began to read.

I grew up in Maryland and the recipes in this book are authentic and very good so far. Those I've tried are just like I remember my mother making. The peach cobbler is easy and delicious. The collard greens are super, and can be made with smoked turkey wings to cut the fat, although you need at least 10 cups of water, not 4. The softshell crab and the rockfish, oyster and other crab recipes look right on par. The anecdotes and margin notes are worth a grin. For example, this note regarding the Maryland Beaten Biscuits:

"... Its execution is best described by Joanne Pritchett... 'Honey, every time I know I'm gonna make these here biscuits, I get myself good and mad. Normally I think about my sister-in-law, Darlene, who ran off with my husband, right after Granny Pritchett's funeral....'" and then the recipe: "... Depending on my mood, I use an ax or big ole mallet. I make a ball out of the dough to look like Darlene's head and, baby, I let her have it. Use the flat side of the ax or mallet, and beat the [****] out of the dough till it blisters good. Takes about half an hour, but honey, it makes 'em tender as butter. ... Serve hot and put some liniment on your arm, or it'll be acting up the next day.'"