Cooking USA: 50 Favorite Recipes from Across America [Hardcover]

John Margolies (Author), Georgia Orcutt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

What's more American than fried chicken and apple pie? Join Georgia Orcutt and John Margolies on a cross-country culinary journey to find all the delicious possibilities. Cooking USA spans the 50 states, offering 50 recipes guaranteed to stir up as much nostalgia as fabulous food. Louisiana Chicken Gumbo, Maryland Crab Cakes, Washington Apple Dumplings -- each state offers its own scrumptious slice of America. Full of fun facts (Who knew Delaware was home to the world's largest frying pan? Or that Oregon is the number one blackberry producer in the U.S.?) plus colorful artwork reminiscent of small-town life of yesteryear, this collection of regional flavors truly celebrates the tastes of the States.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A map of America in rainbow sherbet colors, dotted with cartoon cows, poultry, fish and fruit, adorns the cover of this pint-sized collection, suggesting a vivid and retro cross-country tour. But while the graphic design and multitude of reproduced postcards, travel brochures and road maps make this a page-turner, the uninspired collection of recipes is purely pedestrian. Margolies, an expert in American commercial design, culls many wonderful pieces of kitsch from his personal archive. There's a postcard from South Dakota featuring "Albert, World's Largest Bull" and a brochure proclaiming, "Ohio Suggests an Auto Tour!" But food editor Orcutt fails to deliver. The 50 recipes are arranged alphabetically by state and include, more often than not, the commonest of selections. So there's New York Cheesecake, Maine Steamed Lobster and Idaho Baked Stuffed Potatoes. The Chicago Pizza calls for two pounds of "refrigerated pizza dough" while Carolina Pulled Pork meets its demise in a Dutch oven full of bottled barbecue sauce. (At least 15 of the recipes come from such sources as Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc., the Cherry Marketing Institute and the Hawaiian Electric Company.) Stately food facts precede each recipe, serving as helpful nuggets for dinner party conversation. "Each year, the World Championship Chili Cookoff is held in Reno" leads into what's perhaps the book's best bet: Reno Red Chili, an homage to ground chuck and garlic. Otherwise, there's Utah's Funeral Potatoes. Although the dish is a popular choice at Mormon funerals, its mix of cream-of-celery and cream-of-chicken soups, sour cream, cheddar cheese and butter suggests an end-of-the-road-meal of heart-stopping proportion.
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About the Author

John Margolies is a New York-based photographer and lecturer on American popular culture and design. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books.

Georgia Orcutt is an editor and writer, with a special interest in regional cooking. She has been food editor of Yankee Magazine , US editor of What's Cooking? and editor of The Old Farmer's Almanac Good Cook's Companion .

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811839605
• ISBN-13: 978-0811839600
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious & Easy, July 23, 2010

By 

M. MCGINN (Lynn, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cooking USA: 50 Favorite Recipes from Across America (Hardcover)

Delicious, easy recipes that make you feel you've taken a taste test of the entire U.S. Highly recommend!

5.0 out of 5 stars Yummy reading, January 30, 2010

By 

Kayle E. Blogna "material girl" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cooking USA: 50 Favorite Recipes from Across America (Hardcover)

Christmas gift for my roommate-she can't wait to dive in to all the culinary treats that lay ahead!

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a cooking road trip to all 50 states without leaving the kitchen, November 1, 2009

By 

Drew Hutchinson "PlanetDrew80" (Canal Fulton OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cooking USA: 50 Favorite Recipes from Across America (Hardcover)

I bought this book last spring. This is an amazing cookbook and boy do you have to see what kind of recipes this book has. This is The Cooking USA cookbook. Its a cookbook that has 50 recipes, 1 recipe per state, and in those recipes are the type of food that are famouse for the state. For Exsample, There a recipe for New York Cheesecake, because cheesecake is the state capital and they say New York take their cheesecake seriously. And then there Sugar on snow for Vermont. Because one of the ingreadents in that recipe is maple syrup. Because Vermont is known for produing the larges suply of Maple syrup. So heres how my cooking road trip work for this book. READY

To start with
For cocktail hour: How about a Tennessee Lynchburg Lemonade with Jack Daniels whisky and some Billy Ray Cyrus or Glen Cambell to go with that, or A Kentucky Mint Julep. Look at all those pretty horses at the Kentucky Durby.Who will win the Kentucky durby? I don't know, but I'll drink to that

For first course Meal: Warm up with a Massachusett Clam chowder or Texas Brazos River Chili, Does that sound good to ya all

For the main meal: There Maine Steamed lobster with Idaho Baked stuffed potato or Hawaii Sweet and sour spareribs, or for the pizza lovers every where, and there only 1 way to eat one and that the windy city. Illinois Chicago pizza with the deep dish crust that evryone loves.

And to end the perfect meal: Hoo Ya. Theres the Mississippi mud cake, Georgia peach cake, Florida key lime pie, Michigan cherry pie, and Oregon blackberry pie.

Now that I toke the road trip and had a blast with this book. I think you should take one to. So buy this book and take the trip and tell me how it went. And don't forget to take some photos too.