Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook [Hardcover]

John Thorne (Author), Matt Lewis Thorne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

Pot on the Fire is the latest collection from "the most enticingly serendipitous voice on the culinary front since Elizabeth David and M.F.K. Fisher" (Connoisseur). As the title suggests, it celebrates -- and, in classic Thorne style, ponders, probes, and scrutinizes -- a lifelong engagement with the elements of cooking, and with elemental cooking from cioppino to kedgeree. John Thorne's curiosity ranges far and wide, from nineteenth-century famine-struck Ireland to the India of the British Raj, from the Tuscan bean pot to the venerable American griddle. Whether on the trail of a mysterious Vietnamese sandwich ("Banh Mi and Me") or "The Best Cookies in the World," whether "Desperately Resisting Risotto" or discovering a new breakfast, Thorne is an erudite and intrepid guide who, in unveiling the gastronomic wonders of the world, also reveals us to ourselves. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How to come up with yet more laudatory adjectives to describe the continuing excellence and inventiveness of America's premier philosopher of food? If the sustained historical reckonings of Thorne's last book, the ambitious Serious Pig, overwhelmed some readers, this one will gladden the hearts of fans of the looser IACP/Julia Child Award-winning Outlaw Cook. Thorne, who has relocated from the northerly reaches of Maine to Northampton, Mass., here abandons his forages into dour Puritan food culture and throws himself joyfully into the pursuit of, among other things, the perfect pizza, the ideal savory breakfast and the quintessential Vietnamese sandwich. As usual, Thorne's exploratory approach to cooking leads to the debunking of much conventional wisdom. He discovers, for example, that risotto, theoretically a finicky dish, is in fact simple and forgiving; that homemade bread, so often coveted in its fresh-baked state, is perhaps more breadlike two days later. "Knowing Nothing about Wine" reveals more in 17 pages about wine drinking (and wine anxiety) in this country than any number of full-length books. Illuminating disquisitions on pot-cooks vs. knife-cooks, the Irish potato famine and the legacy of Richard Olney divert Thorne from practical experimentation, but he always ends up back in the kitchen. Such is his giftDthe ability to range back and forth from armchair to stove top, inspiring cooks and readers alike. (Nov. 14)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Part memoir, part cookbook, part rambling discourse on why we cook things the way we do, the Thornes' (Serious Pig) new book is a change of pace from many recent cookbooks, which put too much stress on ingredients. The authors also emphasize ingredientsDfresh, seasonal, variedDbut in this book at least, technique is paramount. It is technique, they argue, that validates your cooking, that gives you the right to handle quality ingredients in the first place. Consequently, there are chapters on seemingly simple operations, such as boiling plain rice or making toast. Intriguing, insightful, and wide-ranging, this book can also be overly self-indulgent (offering, for example, a whole chapter on what John Thorne likes to eat for breakfast). This is not for the casual cookbook reader. But for people who like to ponder the deeper meaning of food and explore ever better ways of preparing it, there is much matter here. Recommended for larger public libraries and those with good culinary collections.DTom Cooper, Richmond Heights Memorial Lib., MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 407 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press; 1st edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865475644
• ISBN-13: 978-0865475649
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,578,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another treasure by John and Matt Lewis Thorne, November 11, 2001

By 

Lawrence W. Prichard "lj-and-me" (Kent, OH, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook (Paperback)

This most recent compilation of John and Matt Lewis Thorne's Simple Cooking newsletter continues their intelligent, friendly, delicious writing about food and a real life.This book ends with "Last Gleaning," about the final illness of John's father, and the role food and eating played in their sometimes difficult relationship.John Thorne has been compared to MFK Fisher, and there is some validity to the comparison, to an extent. They both write very very good prose, and they both write about hunger other than the visceral. However, there are differences. At times, Fisher's writing seems exclusionary, and Thorne's never does.To clear up a point of potential confusion: "Matt" is a nickname for Martha. They are married. She acts as editor, and does add an occasional essay or aside. Her contributions make a good writer even better.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Distinct Writing in a Distinguished Tradition, April 2, 2004

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B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook (Paperback)

Both currently available books, `Serious Pig' and `Pot on the Fire', by John Thorne and wife Matt Lewis Thorne, are composed of essays cut from the same culinary journalistic cloth, the authors' food letter `Simple Cooking'. These essays as bodies of work do not quite fit any established form of culinary writing. It is certainly not `The Best Recipe' genre followed by the magazine `Cooks Illustrated' and some writers, although there is some element of this point of view. It is not culinary history, since it is so distinctly done from the authors' point of view. There are some essays that taste like memoir or nostalgia, but these serve more as chapters used to set the scene for text dealing with the food. It is certainly not food science a la Shirley Corriher or Alton Brown, although Alton Brown does credit Thorne as one of his biggest influences. In a nutshell, the Thornes simply provide interesting writing about food.

I love intellectual connections, so I was delighted to discover that one of the wellsprings from which John Thorne draws his inspiration is the writing of Richard Olney. This ties up a string of influence from Elizabeth David to Olney to Thorne to Alton Brown, one of the most influential popular voices in culinary journalism. Olney is one of the most intellectual writers on culinary matters writing in English and available in the United States. And, it is clear not only in Thorne's `Simple Food' motto but also in his intellectual point of view that he owes much to Olney.

The first thing which changed my reading Thorne from simple pleasure to respect was his essay on the Italian Panzanella salad, which he describes in great detail and with great attention to what Italians really mean when they make this salad, a combination of tomato, stale bread, red onion, mozzarella, cucumber, basil, and salt and pepper. The subtle intellectual honesty that caught my attention was when Thorne created an adaptation using fresh bread and remained true to the original nomenclature by calling his invention Panzanetta salad. Contrast this to Alton Brown's borrowing the same Panzanella term and applying it to a twist on the BLT sandwich by adding bacon and forgetting the onion and garlic. Not Panzanella at all, I think. Not much to most people, but to a person schooled in the principle that language was something to be respected, I was impressed.

The second thing that caught my attention was the tale of how Thorne fell into the vocation of cooking and culinary journalism. Like so many things, and like myself, it was by accident and necessity. In Thorne's case, it was because he was a dropout with little money who needed to feed himself with as few dollars as possible. If this was the prime mover in his career path, a strong influence seems to be his Maine roots. More than one essay has the feel of Maine's Stephen King writing about food. Popular subjects are his old residences, Maine crops such as potatoes and blueberries, and Maine cuisine featuring the lobster and other seafood, and Maine restaurants. One of my favorite series of essays deals with the origin of chowder. I will never again respect a chowder recipe that does not include some potato or biscuit as a thickening agent. Maine does not monopolize the story. A long series of essays covers Cajun and Creole culinary topics from New Orleans. This is where he proposes the theory that a great cuisine such as the Cajun or Italian cuisine is based on emulating a memory of greatness. I think there is a germ of truth here, but I believe Paula Wolfert offers a much fuller picture in her Morocco book.

The third and most enduring attraction of Thorne's writing is that it is simply entertaining stuff. A writer could provide the recipes on these pages with no explanation or commentary and they would be good recipes, but the writing would be like the food with the salt and pepper left out. Similarly, the history / memoir / commentary would not be nearly as interesting without the instructions for preparing the dishes on which the essays expound. The very best example of a perfect mix of culinary technique with storytelling is the essay on `Perfect Rice'. It all starts with John Thorne's claiming that he makes a pretty good pot of rice, followed by a derisive response from Madame Thorne, who had studied the issue at some length before Sir John touched on the subject early in their joint lives. Thorne proceeds to relate the story of their mutual investigations into making perfect rice. In the process, we learn much about the world's rice varieties and why rices behave like it does. After seeing how much care one can devote to such a simple subject, I mentally demote people like Sara Moulton for posing as a teacher of culinary matters when they confesses to not being able to properly cook a pot of rice.

Both volumes are available in midpriced trade paperback editions with no pictures. It is a sure test of the fact that pictures are not necessary in works on cooking in that I never miss them. A really important addition to books of this type is a list of recipes in addition to the index and table of contents. Both volumes have this important tool. The most telling endorsement of these books is that I am sure I will read them again, cover to cover, and enjoy every minute of it.

A rare treat for foodie readers.

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm finally bored with John Thorne, February 9, 2007

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Hortensia "Sunshine" (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook (Paperback)

I really enjoyed John Thorne's other books, but when I read this one I was bored. He has been publishing for a number of years, and you'd think he would grow and change, expand his awareness, try something new. Instead, I get the feeling his life is shrinking and that he is becoming a miserly, curmudgeonly northeastener who is living a narrow and deprived life out of choice rather than necessity. He moved from a small town to a bigger city, but he hasn't changed much, still the narrow anal focus on the details of simple recipes. Living with him must be mind-numbingly boring. I wonder if his wife ever wants to scream and run out of the house? So obviously my advice is, skip this one and reread one of the earlier ones.