Paging through cookbooks that reflect our regional cooking, I am struck by several words that reflect the meals found on many home dinner tables: thrift, comfort, homespun, practical. And tradition, of course.
Perhaps this cooking speaks in the language of Midwesterners themselves.
"When I started researching 'Savoring the Seasons,' trying to get shy people to talk about themselves and their food was tough," said Beth Dooley, author of several books on local cooking.
"Take old Jim Kwitchak. He hunted mushrooms, shot game, made sausage, smoked his fish in a gizmo rigged from a busted refrigerator. He presented me with a homemade loaf of his sourdough rye, and I asked if he had memories of his mom's cooking. He answered simply, 'My mother made bread and we ate it. Period.'
"By contrast, my relatives in Georgia brag about their collards and BBQ," said Dooley. "The Italians and Greeks I grew up with in New Jersey argued endlessly about who had the best lasagna, risotto and spanakopita."
Think of Midwestern food as the quintessential American farm cooking, Dooley suggested. "It's simple, generous, fresh and seasonal, more so than in other states," she said. And it is directed by the weather. "Winter demands hot soups and stews, whether or not you're going outdoors," she said.
Amy Thielen agrees. She's the author of "The New Midwestern Table" and host of the Food Network show "Heartland Table."
"When I go back into old American cookbooks, I find a lot of curiosity and respect for Midwestern food," she said. "This is where you looked to find the really rustic, campfire, cast-iron, land-based American cooking. Mushroom hunting, grouse hunting, deer hunting, Dutch oven cookery, wood-stove cookery. These things were all associated with the Midwest.
