Cookbooks as Gateways to the World and Your Local Market

Reader Contribution by Jennifer Nemec
Published on April 2, 2009
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I’m not that into cooking (as you can read in my potato salad and Thanksgiving dinner posts). I can do it if I have to. I have actually had days when I’ve enjoyed the process, but these are few and far between. Finding the time to go to the store (because I never have the right stuff in my house) and then prepare everything, well, I find that difficult. So, imagine my surprise to find myself reading a cookbook.

I was visiting my parents, and my mom (who seems to be involved in all my cooking stories) had rediscovered an old favorite and had discovered a couple of new ones in the bargain. Herald Press and the Mennonite Central Committee have a collection of lovely cookbooks that are being sold as “World Community Cookbooks.”

The first and oldest is the More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. Originally published in 1976, this book was an early entry in the caring for the world while eating better, improving nutrition and saving money category. My mother has a very well-worn copy in her kitchen. Our editor-in-chief, KC, walked by my desk and picked up the 25th anniversary edition from my desk. She hugged it close and said, “I learned so much about cooking from this cookbook. It brings back so many memories.” It does for me as well. When I look at the cover, I can see and smell the kitchen where mom cooked when I was younger. KC mentioned one of her favorite recipes involved enchiladas.

The next in the series is Extending the Table: Recipes and stories from Argentina to Zambia in the spirit of More-with-Less by Joetta Handrich Schlabach. First published in 1991, it begins with a map showing where the stories and recipes come from. It is a joy to read, with recipes from Ginger Tea as made in the Dominican Republic to Groundnut Stew from Ghana to Saudi Arabian Chicken Stew. And all the recipes have stories.

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