Like to Cook? Join the Club!
Libraries are Learning to Nourish the Taste Buds as Well as the Mind
These are happy meal times for home cooks in search of food adventures. We all have quick access to tempting recipes on the web but publishers continue to print cookbooks, from the self-promoting (Cooking with Coolio; rapper Coolio) to the sublime (The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook; Deb Perelman). According to Publishers Weekly the top 10 cookbooks in 2017 had combined sales of more than 1.75 million copies, an 8% increase over the year before.
Jessica D’Avanza, community services librarian for the Barrington Public Library, says cookbooks are still popular because they are culinary eye-candy. “They’re like picture books for adults. They nourish your body and your brain.” And they tell stories; good cookbook writers explain a cuisine’s origins, and how it evolved and spread through different cultures.
Jessica, known around the state as the cookbook librarian, started one of the first library cookbook clubs in Rhode Island in 2015. “I wanted to lead a group on something I’m passionate about.” To her surprise and delight, Barrington’s “Reading in the Kitchen” club grew quickly and is now capped at 30 members. Other librarians like Nancy Nadeau of the North Kingstown library introduced a cookbook club about the same time, when she worked at the Kingston library.
Jessica has even gotten inquiries on how to start a club from libraries in New Canaan, CT, and Niceville, a town in the Florida panhandle. With Jessica and Nancy as cheerleader coordinators, cookbook clubs have sprouted in about 14 libraries around the state. They use a Google spreadsheet, SignUpGenius.com and e-mail to make sure clubs don’t schedule the same cookbook for the same month. That insures there are enough copies for the cooks to borrow through Rhode Island’s OSL, the system that allows statewide book borrow ing from any member library. “After all, not every library is going to buy, say, a Scandinavian cookbook,” says Jessica.
Once a club has selected a book, chef or cooking theme, members email the librarian on which dish they will prepare and she draws up the menu. “I don’t like to tell people what to make,” says Program Librarian Britta Obertello, who now organizes the monthly meetings of the Kingston club, A Readable Feast. “Sometimes we have a lot of desserts,” she admits. Unfortunately, the day of a recent meeting was Britta’s birthday and no one brought dessert … or cake. It was a delicious meal, though, with local dishes from Linda Beaulieu’s title, Providence and Rhode Island Chef ’s Table and Rhode Island Recipes by Lydia Walshin and Jennifer Leal.
The Kingston club has about 16 active members, most between the ages of 40 and 70, They like to try cuisines not easily found in Rhode Island from books like Morocco: A Culinary Journey and Quiches, Kugels and Couscous, a book on French-Jewish cooking.
Shirley Kenyon joined A Readable Feast because she lives alone. “When you cook for one, you tend to make quick, simple dishes. This gives me a chance to try other things.” Member Hugh McCracken likes the challenge of cooking something new once a month. As soon as everyone arrives the food is set out buffet style and, because the smells are irresistible, members quickly tuck into the semi-serious business of tasting and trying. The dinner is followed by short reviews as the home cooks describe the problems and adjustments they made to their recipes. Karen Stein of Kingston confessed that she didn’t use the Del’s Lemonade called for in the recipe, Vegan Linguine with Asparagus and Red Peppers, from Rhode Island Recipes. “And it was a little skimpy on the capers, so I added more.”
Rich Franks of Narragansett made the Clams Chili from Linda Beaulieu’s book. “I have no idea why it’s called chili,” he said of the recipe. It didn’t matter; the dish was infused with a briny clam flavor and loaded with quahogs. He chose to serve the chili over pasta, as the recipe suggested.
In Barrington a few nights later, 22 women, one man and 6-year-old Ozzie Waugh (he helped his mom prepare the Buffalo deviled eggs) sat at a long table covered in brown paper with a centerpiece of sunflowers and set with proper china and silverware, “because this food is too good to eat off paper plates.” Eighteen entrées and three desserts from three Moosewood cookbooks provided lots of tasty dishes but the vegetarian cookbooks received mixed reviews.
“I would make this again,” said Lynn Puckett of her stuffed poblano peppers. “My kitchen smelled wonderful.” But Kate McPherson thinks a recipe for chickpea brownies is a waste of good chocolate. And she claims that the Moosewood cookbooks don’t have enough zucchini recipes and she always has an abundance.
But Kate loves the club: “I come here and 20 moms cook for me.” Lynn agrees: “I wanted to join a group of people who like to talk about food.”
Kelvin Misiurski chose to prepare the Ricotta Gnocchi with Mondo Bizarro Sauce because of its name. He joined because he loves to cook and eat and he’s surprised that more men don’t join the Barrington club.
The Barrington cooks range in age from their 30s to 94-year-old Peggy Saurwein, who brings amazing dishes from her senior housing kitchen. The members sometimes go out to dinner together and share information about new restaurants they’ve tried. In mid- August, A Readable Feast celebrated its third year with a special dinner in the field of The Barrington Farm School.
Across the bay in North Kingstown, 12 to 20 members come together on the second Monday of the month to share food, cooking and shopping tips and their opinions of the recipes they prepared. Most members range in age from their 50s to 70s, says Outreach Coordinator Nancy Nadeau. “Most of them are real foodies.” But one woman joined because her husband was the family cook. When he died, she had to relearn some kitchen skills. Meeting new people was an added bonus.
At the July meeting, Lucy Christie’s announcement that she made the Mussel Bisque was followed by a chorus of “Oooohs” from her fellow cooks. Obviously pleased, she said, “Well, I guess I’ll make it again.” That successful dish was from the New England Open House Cookbook by Sarah Leah Chase.
Most club members are not fans of books by celebrity chefs because their recipes aren’t scaled to family-sized quantities or require exotic ingredients that get left at the back of the cupboard. Members of Book Bites, the North Kingstown club, didn’t like the format of the best-selling Pioneer Woman cookbooks from the popular TV show— too many step-by-step photos for this group of experienced home cooks. Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year is an autobiography with some recipes, and the Barrington Club thought it was too whiney, meant for an audience of the rich and privileged.
Despite occasional flubs, cookbook club members are enthusiastic about the food and fellowship that comes with the monthly potlucks. “I’ve never left a meeting without knowing more than when I came in,” said Magi Green of Barrington. Fellow member Kate McPherson agrees. “If the recipe is a disaster, at least you’ve got a great story to tell.”
If your local library doesn’t have a cookbook club, check nearby towns. There is one within a comfortable car or public transportation distance in every part of our state.
