Customer Reviews

Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Perhaps a 5-star endorsement from the woman who plays the role of the wife in this book doesn't carry much weight. But consider this: I've been reading and re-reading the essays in Fat of the Land for the last several years, and they continue to engage and amaze me. When Cook refers to the American lawn as a "one-note symphony of righteousness," or to an oyster's shell as rife with "barnacle condominiums," my poet brain is thoroughly delighted. Cook has done his homework. He shares not only the biology of the critters he's going after, but also the extent to which their existences and/or habitats are at stake due to over-harvesting and environmental ruin. Despite all the doom of extinction and toxicity, FOTL manages to be one helluva of a fun read. You'd think by now I'd've stopped laughing at the funny parts, but nooooo--I still laugh my head off each time I get to the part where Ivar gets stuck in his wet suit . . . and again when Josh eyes the huge oyster presented to him by his future brother-in-law, and sucks the thing right down.

There are lots of good reasons to buy this book--its poetic prose, the laugh factor, the skinny on how to find, forage, and prepare wild foods for the table, the desire to learn more about the natural and Native American history of the places where Cook forages, to name a few. But most of all buy this book for the likes of Ivar, Dave, Beedle, Josh, Chris & Lori Cora, Steve, Warpo, and Margery--the quirky, endearing, lovable, one-of-a-kind enlistments who assist Cook with filling his bountiful basket. These folks are the driving force of this book. Without them, it's just another how-to with recipes. With them, it's a work of art.

Langdon Cook's 'Fat of the Land' is more than a foodie read. His exploration of our region's lesser-known and lesser-loved delicacies, and his travels far and wide in pursuit of them, will provide a sort of shad's-eye view of some of the weirder ways to spend your time in the Pacific Northwest.

Aside from the fascinating local lore--apparently, people 'squid jig' about a mile from my house--what I enjoyed most was Cook's sense of humor about himself. He doesn't pretend to be anything other than an urban male learning through trial and error about the natural world beyond (and often within) the city limits. There's no bluffing or jargon-spewing here: he's always ready to see the ridiculous side of his own adventures, and to appreciate the fecklessness of modern man in the wild.

Overall, a great book for anyone who loves the outdoors but fears the razor-toothed ling and the deadly Amanita phalloides mushroom.

This one of the smartest and most entertaining books on food, nature and cooking to come along. It blew me away. Cook is a great writer. Like a younger, hipper Jim Harrison.

A must read.

Don't buy Fat of the Land as a field guide - although you'll pick up plenty of tips on edibles of the NOrthwest. Don't buy Fat of the Land for the recipes - as delectable as they may be. Buy Langdon Cook's Fat of the Land because it is a joy to read. The author's understated, delightful prose will make this a book that you will want to return to again and again. Witty, wry, a treasure. This is the best book I have read this year.

Where our food comes from and how we get it is not always on the minds of contemporary eaters but Langdon Cook brings all these things into view in `Fat of the Land.' I enjoyed his depictions of foraging for mushrooms, dandelions and entering the waters for fresh crab, oysters and squid. Cook brings to life many distinctive characters who accompany him during his foraging excursions. These characters came to life on the page as colorful people - just as interesting as the catch of the day. As someone who is squeamish about fish I found myself wishing for more chapters about plants instead of the finned delicacies that Cook obviously loves (he has chapters dedicated to ling, shad, steelhead and silver salmon) but these chapters were nevertheless well written and held my attention until the next chapter about mushrooms or berries which I intrinsically enjoyed. I am sure there are many readers who will glean much more enjoyment from these chapters than I did. The recipes at the end of each chapter are introduced by little entertaining vignettes and describe in detail how to prepare these mouth watering meals. This book is just as much a culinary adventure as it is an off-the-land cookbook to treasure. Keep it on your kitchen cookbook shelf after reading it. It is sure to inspire and encourage many tasty meals. Having lived in Alaska and now Washington and foraged for many edibles myself, I would recommend this read to any of my friends.

Fat of the Land is a great read! Lang Cook, in the tradition of John McPhee, has written a collection of stories about places, the ecology, and the people who live and play in them. With foraging as his purpose, Mr. Cook's essays educate the reader about the natural history of his prey with witty prose and wonderful storytelling. I couldn't put it down.

What a great find and a good read. Hailing from the back woods of Al, I picked wild blackberries and poke in the 40's and 50's. Also went frog gigging on Friday nights-Langdon Cook has captured my precious memories in his modern day quest to find good natural food. His stories kept me up past midnight which is late for me. If you like stopping to look at a tree, bird or just being still to feel nature, you will enjoy this book. I am going to be waiting for the next book.

Unlike sausage and the law, Lang Cook makes learning how scrumptious edibles are found and prepared a delight for all the senses. The trial-and-error foibles of a sometimes fumbling forager reflect Lang's deep rooted respect for the greatness of the bounty that abounds outdoors and appreciation that, as the Jewish maxims teach, while we might be but specks of dust along for the ride on this blue ball, the world was truly created for us. Lang's poetic prose viscerally conveys the slosh of the waves and the dew of the fields as he gathers clams and plucks berries in the wilds of the North Left Corner of the country in a savvy and most entertaining fashion, egging all of us on to forgo the creature conveniences of contemporary living (Whole-foods schmole-foods...), and to drop off of the grid and venture out to see what goodies lie just off the beaten track in our own environs. Not many can impress we New Orleans foodies, but certainly Lang has.

Fat of the land is an entertaining account of Langdon Cook's adventures in living off the land in the Pacific Northwest. Each of the 15 chapters focuses on a particular wild food, be it razor clams or dandelions or salmon or huckleberries. Along the way, we hear about how the author harvests and then consumes the delicacy at hand, as well as something of its biology. Each chapter concludes with a tasty sounding recipe. I must give some of them a try. I was pleased that the author mentioned some potential hazards for those who might try to follow in his footsteps, whether how to avoid poisonous mushrooms or bears; however, the lack of a "for further reading" list suggests that the book is more about armchair adventures than a "how-to" guide for putting food on the table. And some of the harvest methods, such as donning a wetsuit to go spear fishing for ling cod, are more about adventure than efficiency of effort. Overall, the book is well written and enjoyable to read, and the author's enthusiasm for foraging is contagious. It would make a good gift for a family member or friend who enjoys reading about food.

Cook is a modern, urban male indigenous to an opposite coast where clams are fried, not dug. Relocated to the Pacific Northwest for graduate school, he met a fascinating young poet with an ear to the wind and an eye to the ground, and by her beauty, found himself rapt. In a comically-told recollection of her contempt at his efforts at a woo with a reconstructed fast food breakfast sandwich (""I don't do McDonald's", she said dryly"), his now wife and twice-babymama opened the door to a world that would clearly become a new passion for Cook.

Langdon Cook is no latter-day Euell Gibbons, and Fat of the Land - Adventures of a 21st Century Forager is no mere Stalking the Wild Asparagus. More than simply a field guide to modern locavory, FotL is a series of witty vignettes that are really about the people and places that have informed his passion - they all just happen to involve the hunt for "foods that don't run away." These are forthright tales of character-building trial and error (smashed shells of many razor clams before hitting limit), of humility at the smallness of men in an unforgiving landscape (and fast tides that fill slow boots with icy water), and thankfully, of hard-won triumphs (even if those triumphs are later rudely stolen in the middle of the night by greedy raccoons and must be re-won the following day). And more than a gatherer of popular and less-loved wild foods alike, Cook is clearly a writer.