Pike Place Market Cookbook: Recipes, Anecdotes and Personalities from Seattle's Renowned Public Market [Paperback]

Braiden Rex-Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

Visited by nine million people each year, Pike Place Market is Seattle's most beloved attraction. The Pike Place Market Cookbook is a guide to shopping for and learning about the incredible range of foods available at the Market. The cookbook introduces newcomers and long-time Market fans to the community of people who know, prepare, sell, and serve the foods of the Northwest.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Transplanted to Seattle from Dallas, Rex-Johnson fell in love with his new home's marvelous seven-acre market, "part meat, fish and produce market; part breathtaking panorama of water, mountains and sky; part vaudeville show." The recipes, contributed by the merchants, farmers and restaurateurs who work in the Pike Place Market, are a lively mix. As befits an establishment selling some of the freshest, most succulent vegetables and fruits available anywhere, the vegetarian entrees and side dishes are particularly inviting. Adding the herb lovage, with its hints of celery and cardamon, to spanakopita is a fine spin on a traditional favorite. Panini brutti ("ugly sandwiches") of grilled eggplant, zucchini, mozzarella and bell pepper, would make a greatly satisfying summertime lunch. The author stresses local products (chicken with Washington State Merlot and Chuckar Cherry Company dried Bing cherries), but substitutions can easily be made. Among the seafood entrees is the appealing grilled salmon with roasted hazelnut butter. However, for creamed Dungeness crabmeat omelet, why list margarine as an alternative to butter when the recipe already contains two cups of half-and-half and five eggs? Overall, though, there is much here to appeal to all cooks.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Seattle's Pike Place Market, one of the oldest public markets in the country, has a national reputation; it's one of the showcases of the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. Rex-Johnson, a recent market convert, spent a year interviewing the people who work at the market, from food sellers to restaurateurs, and collecting their favorite recipes. The result is a lively and appealing work filled with enticing recipes (many of them ethnic specialties, reflecting the diversity of Seattle's population): Chicken with Cherry-Wine Sauce from the Chukar Cherry Company, Caponata from Lombrici's Organic Farm, Roast King Salmon with Pinot Noir Mustard Sauce from Cafe Sophie. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books; First edition. edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912365528
• ISBN-13: 978-0912365527
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,395,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Braiden Rex-Johnson is the Seattle-based author of seven books, including Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining: The People, Places, Food, and Drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia (Wiley, 2007); the Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2005); and the Pike Place Market Cookbook (Sasquatch Books, 2003). She serves as food-and-wine-pairing columnist for Wine Press Northwest, and is a regular contributor to the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Seattle Area Travelogue/Cookbook, July 31, 2003

By 

Margaret Martindale "Marty Martindale" (LARGO, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pike Place Market Cookbook: Recipes, Anecdotes, and Personalities from Seattle's Renowned Public Market (Paperback)

7/24/2003

PIKE PLACE MARKET COOKBOOK:
Recipes, Anecdotes and Personalities from
Seattle's Renowned Public Market
By Braiden Rex-Johnson
Foreward by Tom Douglas

Rex-Johnson puts the reader well into the middle of the frenzy and color-filled mealtimes at Pike Market. She readily lines out signature dishes, menu rotations and histories of those sharing the fruits of their wares and labors. She captures the many faces of the Market, which she describes as "Part meat, fish, and produce market; part breathtaking panorama of water, mountains, and sky; part vaudeville show; part arts and crafts extravaganza; and part slice of nitty-gritty street life." Pike Place Market is the most visited landmark in the Pacific Northwest. One cannot buy a ticket to anything like this!

This 96-year-old mecca has a colorful history, and was almost torn down to make way for "urban renewal" in the early 1970s. More recently, Rex-Johnson tells how in 1997, The Market Basket CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program reinvigorated the farmer population and helped save the Market's farm-fresh food resources.

Each of the nine food sections in the cookbook is headed with a handy preview. The Entrée page reflects such diversity as Irish Stew, Zaire Chicken Curry, Korean Beef Bulgogi, Rouladen (Germany), Pancit Bihon and Mechado (the Philippines), and New Mexico Tamales.

These are just some of the stops she makes:

~ Chef Charles Ramseyer, of Ray's Boathouse, shares his simple, yet elegant appetizer, Scallop Terrine, along with chef's tips for perfect preparation.

~ From Sosio's Produce comes Microwave Mozzarella Vegetable Pie. This is a simple, health-filled dish of Japanese eggplants, sweet peppers, onion, spice blend and mozzarella cheese. Mic this in 10 short minutes. Even quicker is their Cheesy Tomatoes, baked in the oven.

~ The simple Pea Pullao from The Souk is a spicy, vegetable-rice dish. The cookbook cross-references this dish with Marketspice's Chicken Masala (page 86) and Café Campagne's Lamb Burgers and Balsamic Onions, Roasted Peppers and Aioli (page 98).

~ A backgrounder on the Pike Place Market Creamery features Nancy Nipples, the proprietress and self-described "Head Milk Maid" of this now-famed institution. Learn about "aracauna" eggs.

~ From Alm Hill Gardens comes another fresh pea dish--Raspberry Snap Peas--made with raspberry vinegar and toasted sesame seeds. The handy Techniques section, page 203, refreshes your memory on toasting seeds and nuts.

~ From Chicken Valley comes an unusual Northwest Chicken Stir-Fry. It contains the usual stir-fry basics plus hazelnuts, spinach and dried cherries, plumped. Meet the owner and learn of the restaurant's background and their take on all feathered-food sources. Rabbits, too.

~ On the bread scene Nancie Brecher, teacher of cuisine to thousands of Seattleites, shares her Fresh Dill Beer Bread, an unusual accompaniment.

~ From Tim's Fine Berries, a recipe combines raspberries, brown sugar, raisins, apricots, citrus juice, zest, onion and toasted almonds for a lip-smacking Red Raspberry Chutney.

~ On the dessert track, find a recipe for Chilled Strawberry Soup from Northwest food expert Sharon Kramis. Guests will enthuse over this berry, banana and pineapple fruited gazpacho.

~ From Mech Apiaries comes a Sour Cream Cranberry Pie, a tart, yet creamy treat.

~ You will feel quite quenched and close to Danny McCullem of Danny's Wonder Freeze, after Rex-Johnson introduces you to his concept. His "Real" New York Egg Cream, is a gem in the heart of Seattle, a simple drink which is a lot method.

The Pike Place Market Cookbook has excellent Appendixes: Techniques, Produce Availability Chart, Mail-order Information and a comprehensive index. Rex-Johnson's book is part cookbook and part intriguing Seattle travelogue.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful read about the Pike Place Market, June 20, 2003

By 

Martha L. Marino - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pike Place Market Cookbook: Recipes, Anecdotes, and Personalities from Seattle's Renowned Public Market (Paperback)

(From Take 5 newsletter)
Braiden Rex-Johnson's revised edition of the Pike Place Market Cookbook is a delightful read about the Market's colorful vendors and includes delicious recipes from shopkeepers, restauranteurs and local chefs. Rex-Johonson's first edition was published in 1992, and a decade-plus later nearly a third of the businesses featured in the original book have changed hands. She describes current vendors from the fishmongers to French bakery, smokehouse to spice shop, berry vendor to brewery. Among her 130 appetizer-to-dessert recipes are 60 new recipes and 70 of the best from her previous book. The Pike Place Market is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike - this book will guide readers to the many tucked-away shops and cafes, and its recipes will prompt a shopping list for the next trip.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great update to a terrific cookbook, June 4, 2003

By 

Andrew Perdue "Wine writer" (Richland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pike Place Market Cookbook: Recipes, Anecdotes, and Personalities from Seattle's Renowned Public Market (Paperback)

(From Wine Press Northwest magazine)

Braiden Rex-Johnson's newest offering is her second edition of the best-selling Pike Place Market Cookbook.

Rex-Johnson, a Wine Press Northwest columnist, published the first Cookbook a decade ago, and it's been wildly popular with residents and tourists alike.

Like the first edition, the completely revised version is loaded with recipes by and features on vendors and chefs, and it beautifully captures what a special and magical place the Pike Place Market is in the Pacific Northwest.

If you own the original Cookbook, you'll thoroughly enjoy the revised edition, and if you never picked up the first version, this will become a treasured part of your cookbook collection.