Customer Reviews

M. F. K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans: Celebrating Her Kitchens (California Studies in Food and Culture)

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As a person who has spent half a lifetime reading anything and everything on or about MFK Fisher, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book. Although I found it enjoyable,for the most part it was mostly a lot of information lifted from MFK's own writings about her kitchens, and the many places that she lived. The newer material was good, describing a bit more in depth what Mary Frances was going through during times of upheaval and illness, and there were some wonderful photos of the places that she had lived. The illustrations were lovely. All in all, it was a nice read- and makes one want to go to the bookshelf and pull down one of MFK's own, and read them again- they never go out of style!

Joan Reardon's M. F. K. Fisher Among the Pots and Pans is a brief biography of America's greatest food writer. Reardon wrote a longer bio in 2004; here, she's decided to keep her touch light by documenting the different kitchens rented, remodeled or simply passed through by Fisher in her progress through three marriages, the birth of daughters legitimate and illegitimate, and the writing of many, many books and articles.

Most of Fisher's kitchens consisted of little more than a hot plate and a pantry. Fisher insisted on eating and cooking in the same space, and her best meals were apparently also her simplest. Her 1942 book How to Cook a Wolf, written during the first years of World War II, addressed "the preparation of food in times of scarcity and bomb shelters."

Watercolors by Avram Dumitrescu recreate the kitchens. Designer Sandy Drooker has given the book a small footprint suitable for your airplane carry-on. A suite of updated recipes divide each chapter, providing some hands-on sustenance for Fisher fans. I read the book in an evening (as if it were "a cheese souffle and a light salad"), but is well worth holding onto for its compelling portrait of "a writing cook and a cooking writer," "bold at the desk as well as at the stove."

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A friend in the culinary field lent me this book and it is charming! I knew a little about Fisher -- primarily thro' books about Julia Child -- and don't have any of her cookbooks. But I had read two of her novels: NOT NOW BUT NOW and THE BOSS DOG, both which I thoroughly enjoyed. AMONG THE POTS AND PANS told me so much more about this very interesting, ahead-of-her-time woman, and it shares a few recipes, too. Very well written and beautifully illustrated. And yes, I've already ordered one of her cookbooks. Enjoy!