Customer Reviews

Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook

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This is a terrific book of old florida recipes, some of which come from the archives of the old Ponce de Leon hotel in St Augustine, built by Henry Flagler in the late 1800's. It is a treasure! I was born in St Augustine and have fond memories of dining at the "Ponce". The recipe for coconut fried shrimp in cognac batter is worth the cost of the book.

Does St. Francis Inn Bread Pudding or Minorcan Shrimp Pilau sound tempting? This cookbook presents recipes appropriate for the different periods in St. Augustine's 500 year time span. The history for each period is painlessly woven into each section. It even includes likely recipes (roasted bear, raccoon and venison) from the Timucua Indians.
The book quickly moves into the Spanish period with recipes like oyster stew and avocado salad. Other periods include the British, the Minorcans, return of the Spanish, early American territory, the Gilded Age and finally the present era of restoration.
From those different influences the book includes recipes like coconut shrimp, mincemeat cookies, smoked salmon tarts, and key lime pie. A few recipes are too novel for the average cook of today (alligator tail, wild and spicy hog feet, bull frog legs or bootstrap jerky). Most recipes are appealing and manageable.
This book makes a wonderful souvenir for anyone who visits historic St. Augustine, or a useful book for anyone who likes heritage recipes or any cook looking for diverse recipes.
The book is further enhanced by drawings of historic buildings, vintage kitchen utensils and foods.

This is a very interesting approach that combines recipes with the stories behind them, and, since it is set in the Ancient City of St. Augustine,Florida, there is inevitably some history in the stories (and, since St. Augustine is a bit of a tourist trap, there are a few tall tales as well.) The illustrations are particularly nice. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings pioneered this genre in her 'Cross Creek Cookery" more than half a century ago, and I predict this volume will end up side-by-side with it on many bookshelves.

Educational and entertaining, enticing to attempt recipes, and well worth the purchase. I plan to give copies to my friends as gifts.