Customer Reviews

Donner Party Cookbook: A Guide to Survival on the Hastings Cut Off

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When most people hear about a cook book in relationship to the Donner Party .. I doubt their stomachs start rumbling with hunger!! However, this book has authentic recipes mixed in with true history. Few people are aware of the facts "behind the scenes" concerning the fate of the Donner wagon train and what led up to the terrible winter disaster. Terry Del Bene even tells HOW to have a SUCCESSFUL Donner Party of your own!! Great read!! Highly recommended.

In The Donner Party Cookbook, anthropologist and archaeologist Terry A. Del Bene applies a dark humor with his accurate representation of 19th century cooking as reflected by the doomed Donner Party of 1846-1847. Deftly blending history, anecdotes, and recipes that have withstood the test of time, this unique and absorbing culinary tour of a bit of American frontier history is especially recommended for its authenticity and presentation style. From Rabbit; Gruel; and Brain Stew, to Bacon and Rice; Scrapple; and Carrot Coffee, the narration and recipes offers a glimpse of life and cooking on the westward trails of over a century ago, making The Donner Party Cookbook a superb read and a prized addition to dedicated cookbook collectors.

The recipes are very interesting and I'm going to try one or two (just can't bring myself to try and make the Brain Stew though). However, if you've read any other book on the Donner Party, this author's narrative is nothing but a repetition of other's material, with very little insight (i.e., character development or details) into the people and events of the party.

I would have much rather read discussion of how the cooking was performed, expanded discussion of diets or meals, food prep and storage, just, in general, diet/food-related anecdotes and history from the time of the Donner Party and travel along the Oregon Trail. This book provides very little of that.

If you have no intention of reading any other book on the Donner Party, then by all means, get this book! You will enjoy it and the story of their travels and travails will give you a good background. But if you've read anything on the Donner Party, this book is not worth the money. It is just a rehash of their story with a bunch of frontier receipes thrown in without relation to the context.