Let me set this little scenario up for you.
Back on June 15 (yes, of this year) Sketch gave you her recipe for cornbread. Within a few days she got a comment from a woman who had written a recipe book about cornbread. Would Sketch like a free copy of the book? Being a smart cookie Sketch said, Yes m’am, thank you very much. Within a short time the book arrived. Now we get to the good part. Sketch wanted to do a review of this book but Sketch doesn’t like to write reviews. Guess what, I do! Therefore, here is my review of this bodacious book. Well, actually the book isn’t bodacious, the recipes are but you know what I mean. (I can get a little long winded so Sketch may decide to serialize this thing.)
THE CORNBREAD GOSPELS by Crescent Dragonwagon
Workman Publishing 2007
In the not too distant past I ate food prepared by Ms Dragonwagon in her restaurant in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I can’t say that I remember the cornbread specifically but I do know that I enjoyed the food and meeting this very interesting woman while on my trip. She has since moved away from Arkansas but the traditions and roots of a Southern Lady run deep. It is very obvious that Ms Dragonwagon did extensive research on cornmeal and all the scrumptious foods which can be made from this product. She is a powerful advocate for using the stone ground variety only and all the recipes in this book use that more wholesome version of cornmeal. The author states in the book that this project was six years in the making and I can well believe that after reading this book from cover to cover. Here are some of my likes and dislikes.
LIKES:
1. Each recipe comes with personal anecdotes of where she got the recipe, how she has reinvented it (if she has) and how best to prepare the specific recipe. I just loved all the personal stories attached to the recipes. They give the book a very warm, personal feel.
2. The book contains MUCH more than just cornbread recipes. In fact, I think it should have been called The CornMEAL Gospels but that might not appeal to a very wide audience. There are chapters on variations on the cornbread theme, what to serve with cornbread, and cornmeal used in preparing desserts.
3. I have tried four of the recipes and they are GOOD! My husband and I are in the no-sweetners-in-the-cornbread camp. My first recipe trial was of Ms. Dragonwagon’s own Dairy Hollow House Skillet Sizzled Cornbread. I liked it a lot. Husband type immediately tasted the sweetness and that was it for him - no more! The second time I made it I left out the sugar and he ate it as if he would never get enough. I invited two friends over (Hey there Bonnie and June!) and we had a taste testing. I made Jane’s Texas-via-Vermont Mexican Cornbread (fabulous, can I just tell you, fabulous!!) and a vegetarian soup called Uncannily Good Santa Fe Style Quick Green Chile Soup/Stew. The three of us ate until our little bellies were so full we just had to stop. Then everybody took some home and we all had it again the next day. Don’t you just love the names of these recipes? That is what I mean by the book having a warm, personal feeling.
As you can tell, I really recommend this book, BUT….. there were some problems for me.
DISLIKES:
1. There are no pictures in the recipe book, NONE. A big mistake from my point of view. I realize that it would be difficult to show one cornbread recipe variation from another with a photograph but what about cornbread resting beside a plate of one of those wonderful side dishes? Every single recipe didn’t have to be pictured but it needed something to make it more visually attractive. An opportunity missed from my standpoint.
2. This author makes too much to-do about the differences between Northern and Southern cornbread. Truth to tell, I thought the Northern cornbread recipes were not for a product which would be considered a “bread” to be eaten with a meal. Way, way too much sweetner in the ingredients for a Southern girl to try them with a pot of black-eyed peas and ham. Just put the recipes in, regardless of the region of the country. By the time I’m through with this book I may have tried everything in there, who knows?
3. There is a HUGE amount of material and information about cornMEAL in this book. It has been lovingly collected by Ms Dragonwagon over a long period of time. I started off reading it all. Somewhere about page 100 I realized I was ignoring it in favor of getting to the recipes. I found it overwhelming. So very much information.
Would I recommend this cookbook? Absolutely yes, but (and don’t you just know there is always going to be a ..but,) if you are a novice cook, or if you are going to give this book to a novice cook, make sure you remember that there are no picture helpful hints to aid the cook along the way.
This review is just my personal opinion. Everyone who views a book looks at it from their own perspective. Sketch and I have recently entered into a lawsuit over custody of the cookbook. Somebody (Sketch) is going to have to go buy her own copy. Now, get out your well seasoned cast iron skillet and let’s get to cookin’.
Tags: Cornbread
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August 23, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Fifi
Well, Sketch. I got a kick out of seeing my inspiring and thoughtful words in print but therein lies the problem. Did you forget how old I am? Did you forget that I can’t see as well as I once could? Did you even care? Maybe the print font turned out to be just a l-i-t-t-l-e tiny. I wouldn’t have minded if you had serialized the thing and spread it out over the period of a week. You know, with cliffhangers! Will she like the recipe? Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion of…….HOW THE CORNBREAD CRUMBLES.