Home cooking is the new black. Maybe it's the Great Recession or Iron Chef marathons on the Food Network, but It seems that more and more people are staying in and trying their hand at home-cooked meals. If you happen to be one of those budding cooks, you might want to add Jam Today: A Diary of Cooking with What You've Got by Northwest author Tod Davies to your collection of cookbooks and kitchen guides.
Jam Today isn't a traditional cookbook. Sure the book is divided into sections like Eating Alone, Cooking for Friends, Fish, and Eggs and Mushrooms, but the foods tend to cross over from one chapter to another. I think eggs appear in each chapter; it's like Davies's version of a little black dress. While Davies includes recipes in each chapter she also discusses what led her to these specific recipes and how she altered the recipe. LikeThe 100 Mile Diet or Julia & Julia, the book has a conversational tone. It is almost like Davies is in the kitchen with you with a glass of wine in one hand and a grill pan in the other.
What I liked best about the book was how frank Davies was with everything. She doesn't shy away from meat, despite the fact her beloved husband is a vegetarian. She's also not afraid to "cook by the seat of her pants" or accidentally screw a recipe up. In fact, she often doesn't even follow the recipe, instead trying her own versions and substituting ingredients. Sometimes she's not so successful, like the time she tried using six ounces of goat, blue, and Asiago cheese in a pasta dish instead of the 10 ounces of Gorgonzola that Nigel Slater recommended. When Davies screws it up she kind of shrugs her shoulders and laughs and goes about eating the dish anyways.
My biggest gripe with Jame Today is the lack of pictures. I'm of the camp that cookbooks should include photos of the dishes so that amateur cooks have a general idea of what the recipe is supposed to look like. Davies didn't include photos because her philosophy is that the readers should create the meal that they have in their own head heart, not recreate what she did. She says,
I'm trying to support the idea that everyone should cook and eat what they have and what they like...They have their own reasons for making dinner, and their own ingredients, and their own likes and dislikes...What this dinner is about is this moment in time.
If you like to cook with your heart and not afraid to experiment, Jam Today : A Diary of Cooking wih What You've Got is worth checking out. And if you're a big fan of cooking with beer, eating local, and savoring meals this book is a must. As a bonius, Davies has included all of the cookbooks from her bookshelf at the end of the book.
Tod Davies will be at the University Book Store (U-District) on Wednesday, September 16th at 7pm, will to read from Jam Today and discuss the delights and challenges of beginning a small, fiercely independent press in such economic times. On Thursday, September 17th at 5pm, she will do a reading at Pilot Books on Capitol Hill.
Jam Today is available from Exterminating Angel Press. For more information, go here.
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