Cooking the Books
With Laurie Allmann
A cookbook is an invitation; at it’s most basic, an invitation to try an unfamiliar ingredient, learn a new skill, or a new approach to an old favorite. In the ones I like best—like all books I like best—it is also an invitation to a story, with personal reflections and insights on history, landscape, culture, traditions. In other words, there is life in the pages.
This series, Cooking the Books, is about the experience of accepting that invitation: not as a chef or expert, but as a home cook.
Blog
The Book of Greens and The St. Paul Farmers Market Cookbook
With garden season in full swing, this month I’m digging into two cookbooks that focus on produce.
"Hot Sour Salty Sweet" and "Mangoes & Curry Leaves"
Taken collectively—or even individually—the geographic scope of these cookbooks is hilariously ambitious.
Cooking the Books: In BiBi’s Kitchen & Soo Fariista
The best cookbooks are an invitation to a story, with personal reflections and insights on history, landscape, culture, and traditions.
Podcast
Cooking the Books: A Taste of the St. Paul farmers Market
Here is an audio taste featuring some of the sounds and voices of the St. Paul Farmers Market.
Cooking the Books: May Yia Lee
Twin Cities-area organic farmer May Yia Lee shares her personal story and her ideas about the connections between culture, health and food.
Cooking the Books: Hamdi Ahmed of Soo Fariista/Come Sit Down
Audio story, featuring Hamdi Ahmed of "Soo Fariista: Come Sit Down" and a recipe for Somali sweet flatbread. Produced by Laurie Allmann.
