Cooks Books

by Juliette Palmer-Frederick

The special nature of the Baltimore book is the Renaissance of the Inner Harbor. The brief history of the area and historic anecdotes appeals to both tourists and residents. There is a warm Americana feel throughout the book. The general theme of the historic recipes dating from the 17th century offer a different approach to present day cooking. The Inner Harbor Cookbook seems to be a timely offering , in view of the upcoming U.S. T.V. series "Colonial Home", and the concern for retaining our historic past. It behoves us to remember what an important role food played in our history. What an abundance of seafood, meats, fruits and vegetables that were cultivated and brought to the hub of commerce which is the Inner Harbor. The banana boats tied up at Pratt St., the sugar boats came to the refinery, the center of trade of the Port that made a City. Although many of the recipes are not in general use, experiment with them, or just browse through the book and enjoy the history, anecdotes and drawings of new or familiar places.

History is Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

The Blue Mountains book is only half concerned with recipes. The rest of this unique little book takes you on a meandering journey through the historical byways of early colonial and later history of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the heart of the World Heritage Park. The recipes the author has collected, cover almost the same time span as the Baltimore book, from early colonial and convict days right up to some of the latest dishes served in a number of Blue Mountains restored contemporary hotels, inns and restaurants. Some of the recipes included in the Blue Mountains book are straight out of Australa's colonial past. Even though the ingredients -though still available- may be a little daunting to latter day cooks, such as calf's foot broth, wild duck, sheep's tongue, and rabbit pie. Most are well-proven dishes that are as popular today as they were when written down by Australia's early settlers, and those visitors who holidayed in or came to live in the Blue Mountains.

These books are available from this site.