Edible Reads Summer 2018
Long-time (and Eddy Award-Winning) Edible Cape Cod Contributor John F. Carafoli is an intrepid food writer. When he finds a restaurant meal delicious he will seek out the chef, ask for the recipe and recreate the dish at home. While this sounds like a relatively straightforward process, those of us who have ever struggled with what my husband calls the “chef-to-English translation” know better. Chefs are notorious for not working from written recipes, instead crafting dishes based on instinct, inclination and training, while tasting and fine tuning as they go. Even when you are successful in obtaining a recipe from a chef, typically the quantities listed are for more servings than the average person would make at home. In his latest book Great Food Finds Cape Cod, Carafoli works his way from the canal to the tip, wrangling recipes from some of the Cape’s top chefs (as well as bakers, chocolatiers, farmers, fishmongers and food and libation artisans) and rendering them into accessible, easy-to-follow instructions for the home cook. An avid shellfisher, Carafoli showcases recipes that highlight local fin and shellfish. Yes, there are recipes for favorites like clam chowder and fish & chips, but there are also more sophisticated dishes like Lobster Strudel, Oyster Tartar with Huckleback Caviar, and Corn Nut Encrusted Sea Scallops. Accompanying photographs by Francine Zaslow and Manx Taki Magyar will have you rushing to the market for ingredients to make Lobster Trap’s Crab Cakes or to the phone to make a reservation for dinner. Published by Globe Pequot, 2018.
Annie B. Copps, food writer, cooking teacher and former chef, takes a more traditional approach to serving up the region’s classic recipes in her charmingly illustrated cookbook A Little Taste of Cape Cod. The 30-plus recipes span from cocktails and appetizers to desserts and baked goods and the main events in between. They emphasize local foods from the land and surrounding seafood-filled waters (Stuffed Quahogs, Fried Clam Roll, Lobster Bisque), and honor some of the many people who have lived here and influenced the Cape’s culture: Wampanoag Native Americans, Portuguese, Irish, Italian, Brazilian and Jamaican (Portuguese Kale and Sausage Soup, Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Rice and Beans, Feijoada). The recipes have old-school roots, but many feature a new twist on ingredients or techniques. You’ll find a recipe for Summer Wind, a refreshing cocktail made with 40 beach rose petals and blueberry-flavored vodka; Baby Back Ribs with Cranberry Barbecue Sauce, and Pan- Seared Scallops with Avocado and Salsa. The book’s compact size makes it perfect for tucking in your suitcase for your Cape Cod vacation. Illustrations by Courtney Jentzen. Published by Bluestreak Books, 2018.
If you’ve ever been among the early morning crowds that fill the fields and their baskets at the U-pick blueberry farm (open until picked out, or 10 am) on Route 134 in East Dennis, then you will delight in Out in Blue Fields: A Year at Hokum Rock Blueberry Farm. Written by conservationist Stephen Spear, whose family has farmed the land since 1973, and journalist Janice Riley, it chronicles a year of cultivating blueberries in a series of essays accentuated by Riley’s stunning photographs. As Speers discovered, starting a blueberry farm is a long-term, expensive investment; it can take up to eight years after planting to begin to make a profit. Fortunately for us, he stuck with it and for the past 15 summers has welcomed the picking public to Hokum Rock Blueberry Farm. The long-term future of the farm is unknown, as Speers sold it to the town of Dennis in 2001, retaining the right to farm as long as he wanted, with exclusive use under a life estate. That fact should make us treasure this unique Cape operation all the more. The book also includes a brief history of farming on Cape Cod, some great tips about growing your own blueberry plants, and a baker’s dozen blueberry recipes, including everyone’s favorite Hokum Rock Farm’s Blueberry Buckle. Published by Schiffer Publishing, 2018.
