Review
All creative cooks have their personal favorite cookbooks. They will extol what they consider to be the definitive recipe for cake, sauce, or jam, to be found in this or that book. One such cook and noted food authority is M.F.K. Fisher and she has for years treasured the slim volume by Catherine Plagemann, first published in 1967, Fine Preserving. Fisher, a noted cookbook author in her own right, now offers her annotated comments and a few of her personally favorite recipes to this previously out of print book. Mind you, Fisher is no blind apostle. Her comments range from the mildly disapproving "This is a fairly good recipe, but I still say no to the sneaky habits of pineapple in liqueur" to her firmly held opinion that cooks using artificial jelling agents (and Mrs. Plagemann was one such person) should be drawn and quartered. What is also apparent, however, is her solid respect for a cook who understood making preserves and was able to transform preserving from the lengthy surnmertime craft of farmwomen into an enjoyable art to be practiced year-round by anyone with a bit of skill and patience. The recipes range from fruit preserves to mushroom ketchup and a pepper dish called Moroccan Chermoula that holds the promise of instant addiction. The text is nicely enhanced by the pencil drawings of Earl Thollander and the introduction offers an equipment list and advice on techniques. This gives the interested reader an enjoyable, conversational visit with two knowledgeable cooks and the treat of learning a skill that can be enjoyed again and again with the opening of every new jar. -- From Independent Publisher
