Chatham Cookbook Club

It was James Beard, the famous food writer and chef, who said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” It is Lorna Dzialo, the founder and host of the cookbook club, Reading in the Kitchen, who fosters this idea in the community.

As a voracious reader and food lover, I wanted to know more when I heard about the club, which is based in Chatham and has been meeting monthly at Eldredge Public Library since 2017. A cookbook club is just what the name implies: A gathering of cooking and reading enthusiasts who read a cookbook selection a month, then gather for a potluck, where they share opinions and experiences from cooking various recipes.

Lorna Dzialo, a library staff member, organizes the fun assembly of food fans by creating a reading schedule of cookbooks. She then hosts a potluck-style dinner of recipes from the selected book. Reading in the Kitchen meets the first Tuesday of the month and is supported by Friends of the Eldredge Library. The group started after library director Amy Andreasson attended the New England Library Conference and saw a presentation on new library programs that included a pitch for cookbook clubs, and Dzialo took over from there.

I spoke to Dzialo days before the March meeting; the book for the month was Make it Ahead by Ina Garten. “I try to make sure there is a cookbook copy available from the CLAMS (Cape Libraries Material Sharing) Network for each member.”

Members sign up for recipes a week ahead of the meeting, and Dzialo lets members know if there are duplicates, and suggests alternatives. “I have been extremely lucky. Each month we have very few duplicate choices and usually get a good array of appetizer, main dish and dessert.”

One of the most surprising food experiences the club shared surrounded Indian cooking. The group read At Home with Madhur Jaffrey and Vegetarian India, both by Jaffrey. The group’s expectation was that cooking Indian recipes was going to feel complicated and foreign, but they learned that Indian cooking uses very simple processes and ingredients. “Cooking Indian food was not intimidating at all,” Dzialo said.

One night a member arrived at the club’s potluck so upset because she chose to make Charred Onion Soup and thought it came out terrible. “She was in tears and said it was the worst soup ever,” said Ms. Dzialo. But as the dinner got underway and the soup was served, most people loved it. Food reminds us that we can come together, enjoy a meal and still have different tastes and opinions.

The group read The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime by Ree Drummond. The consensus was that the recipes were enjoyable and the book was well written, but the recipes are so rich and creamy with lots of butter that you probably wouldn’t feed a family every day from this book.

Mark Bittman’s books have been featured more than once: How to Make Everything Fast in May 2017, and Dinner for Everyone this past January. The latter takes 100 iconic dishes and makes each three ways: easy, vegan or perfect for company. They enjoyed Bittman’s book for its clear instructions and easily available ingredients.

Last summer, the group read my cookbook, Meet Me in My Cape Cod Kitchen, and fellow Edible Cape Cod contributor John Carafoli’s Cape Cod Chef’s Table was featured in November.

Since the library temporarily closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has been meeting via Zoom chat so theycan stay connected until they can meet and share food in person again.

Dzialo said other libraries and book clubs have reached out to learn about and adopt the cookbook club model. As we move past the pandemic, perhaps more cookbook clubs will emerge. Now more than ever we could all benefit from sharing the experience of food as our common ground.

Cookbook Club 2019 Book List

January: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Fannie Farmer

February: The website A to Z World Food

March: Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines

April: Milk Street: Tuesday Nights by Christopher Kimball

May: Cook Like A Pro by Ina Garten

June: New England Invite by Kate Bowler; Meet Me in My Cape Cod Kitchen by Linda Maria Steele

July: Summer Hiatus

August: Summer Potluck Various Recipes

September: Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat by Samin Nasrat

October: Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

November: Cape Cod Chef’s Table by John Carafoli

December: The website A to Z World Food’s “Special Occasions”