American Terroir : Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields.

ISBN:

9781608194599

Title:

Author:

Jacobsen, Rowan.

Personal Author:

Jacobsen, Rowan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (274 pages)

Contents:

Cover -- Title Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- In the Church of the North Woods -- The Fresh Young Thing -- Eat Me -- Mother Nature's Little Black Book -- Spud Island -- Little Truths -- That Totten Smell -- Fat of the Land -- The Taste of Vigor -- The Farm Girl and the Pole Dancer -- The Whisperer in Darkness -- The Blood of the Gods -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on the Author -- Add Card -- Copyright.

Local Note:

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2021. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.

Subject Term:

Gastronomy.

Food crops.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view book

Publication Date:

2012

Publication Information:

New York :

Bloomsbury Publishing USA,

2012.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
641.013	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ON-DEMAND	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Why does honey from the tupelo-lined banks of the Apalachicola River have a kick of cinnamon unlike any other? Why is salmon from Alaska's Yukon River the richest in the world? Why does one underground cave in Greensboro, Vermont, produce many of the country's most intense cheeses?The answer is terroir (tare-WAHR), the "taste of place." Originally used by the French to describe the way local conditions such as soil and climate affect the flavor of a wine, terroir has been little understood (and often mispronounced) by Americans, until now. For those who have embraced the local food movement, American Terroir will share the best of America's bounty and explain why place matters. It will be the first guide to the "flavor landscapes" of some of our most iconic foods, including apples, honey, maple syrup, coffee, oysters, salmon, wild mushrooms, wine, cheese, and chocolate. With equally iconic recipes by the author and important local chefs, and a complete resource section for finding place-specific foods, American Terroir is the perfect companion for any self-respecting locavore.

Author Notes

Rowan Jacobsen writes about food, the environment, and the connections between the two. His work has appeared in the Art of Eating, the New York Times, Wild Earth, Wondertime, Culture & Travel, NPR.org, and elsewhere. He is the author of A Geography of Oysters, which was nominated for both an IACP and a James Beard award, Fruitless Fall, and The Living Shore. He lives in rural Vermont with his wife and son.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Terroir, a French term usually associated with wine, is what James Beard Award-winning author Jacobsen (Fruitless Fall) defines as "foods that are what they are because of where they come from." In a dozen informative and often funny essays spanning breakfast to dinner, Jacobsen deploys an open mind as he travels across North America and Mexico to demystify such curiosities as why the Yakima Valley in eastern Washington State produces a superior apple, how the red earth and algae-filled waters of Prince Edward Island in Canada conspire to create the delicious terroir-driven local dish of mussels and fries, and what makes chocolate "our most complex food." In each case, the answer is ecological and involves the specific interplay of biological, chemical, and geological factors that make an environment and, in turn, its food unique. To underscore that thought, each essay ends with recipes and a resource list. Throughout, Jacobsen cites fellow food writers, including Richard Manning, Michael Pollan, and Hugh Johnson. But beyond issues of slow food and sustainability, Jacobsen's affable, nerdy DIY spirit (he brewed his own mead for his wedding) challenges readers to rethink their relationship to food. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

The belief that individual plots of land can produce significant differences in crops has become an obsession for contemporary gastronomes. Terroir, a French word initially referring to vineyards, now applies to virtually every agricultural product: animal, vegetable, and mineral. Restaurant menus promote their kitchens' offerings with names of local farms, and consumers demand orthodoxy in sourcing of everything from steak to succotash to salt. Jacobsen documents some of North America's best growing places and producers. He describes apiculture and honeys in Florida and Arizona. He discovers the best avocados in Mexico's Michoacán. He finds superior cheeses and maple syrup in Vermont. Northeast Canada yields both mussels and mushrooms. And Jacobsen sources the world's most esteemed coffee beans from the mountains of Panama. In his travels to these far-flung farms, Jacobsen shows that it is as much farmers' dedication to their profession that counts as the soil itself.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review

The growing terroir (literally "terrain") food movement concerns, according to Jacobsen, "foods that are what they are because of where they come from." One of LJ's Top Ten Books of 2010 (LJ 12/10), this book of essays explores why particular areas are known for particular foods-Why is Vermont maple syrup so good?-with recipes. (LJ 7/10) (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.