Synopses & Reviews
With its corn by the acre, beef on the hoof, Quaker Oats, and Kraft Mac nand#8217; Cheese, the Midwest eats pretty well and feeds the nation on the side. But thereand#8217;s more to the midwestern kitchen and palate than the farm food and sizable portions the region is best known for beyond its borders. It is to these heartland specialties, from the heartwarming to the downright weird, that
Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie invites the reader.and#160;
The volume brings to the table an illustrious gathering of thirty midwestern writers with something to say about the gustatory pleasures and peculiarities of the region. In a meditation on comfort food, Elizabeth Berg recalls her auntand#8217;s meatloaf. Stuart Dybek takes us on a school field trip to a slaughtering house, while Peter Sagal grapples with the ethics of patand#233;. Parsing Cincinnati five-way chili, Robert Olmstead digresses into questions of Aztec culture. Harry Mark Petrakis reflects on owning a South Side Chicago lunchroom, while Bonnie Jo Campbell nurses a sweet tooth through a fudge recipe in the Joy of Cooking and Lorna Landvik nibbles her way through the Minnesota State Fair. These are just a sampling of what makes Fried Walleye and Cherry Pieand#8212;with its generous helpings of laughter, culinary confession, and informationand#8212;an irresistible literary feast.
Review
"Inspirational, heartwarming tales of fathers in the kitchen...An engaging collection that should
inspire comfort for the man who cooks while his baby bangs on the pots and pans."--Kirkus Reviews
Saveur
Review
"Throughout the book, what comes across strongest is the authors' love for the joy of providing for
their families in a newly satisfying way. Mario Batali explains it perfectly: 'The best reason to cook,
besides its being delicious and good for you, is that it will automatically make you look good. You'll
look like a hero every day.' It's a wonder, in fact, that we let women in the kitchen at all."--Saveur
Booklist
Review
"Donohue piles his plate high with writers, chefs, artists, and businessmen to serve up this
multi-author work devoted to modern fathers everywhere...Readers won't have any trouble
recognizing which pieces came from professional writers and which from stock-exchange gents, but
they will hungrily anticipate each man-with-a-pan's "signature dish," placed at the end of his chapter,
along with a recipe and a list of some of his favorite cookery books."--Booklist
Library Journal
Review
"This well-organized compilation breaks free from its tidy package with adaptable, exciting recipes like Beer-Can Chicken, Peanut Butter Soup, Carbonara de Zucchine, and Mexican Chocolate Pie. It trades stereotypes for truisms and is all the more authentic for it. Highly recommended."--
Library Journal The Daily Beast
Review
“Its a really great rhyme, so whats not to love? This isnt one of those best-of collections filled with essays that have already been anthologized to death, but an intimate sprinkling of bites and bits put together by John Donohue a New Yorker editor, who says that he does almost all the cooking for his family.”—The Daily Beast The Smithsonian
Review
“Man With a Pan: New Yorker editor John Donahoe offers this collection of essays—and yes, a few recipes—in which notable personalities from author Stephen King to chef Mario Batali open up about their foibles and triumphs in the kitchen. If nothing else, it reinforces the idea that learning how to make meals for loved ones is a wonderful way to provide for ones family.”—The Smithsonian (online) USA Today
Review
“Fathers from chef Mario Batali to novelist Stephen King offer up tips for putting supper on the table.”—USA Today Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
“The book is a clever mixture of food stories from a variety of guys - including Stephen King (with a recipe for Pretty Good Cake, and no one dies) and Bittman himself.”—Philadelphia Inquirer Newsday
Review
“Thirty-four writers share their kitchen war stories and their recipes in this delightful anthology, perfect for any dad who's had to whip up a weekday supper.”—Newsday Daily Candy
Review
“For the thinking man/chef, Man with a Pan is an honest collection of essays and recipes by fathers who cook.”—Daily Candy Epicurious.com
Review
“[A] delightful story collection by men whose professions (may) involve a lot of writing and who all love to cook.”—Epicurious
Entertainment Weekly
Review
“Culinary anecdotes and stories from foodie fathers like chef Mario Batali.”—Entertainment Weekly BookPage
Review
“Donohue cleverly peppers the text with funny, sophisticated cartoons, making Man with a Pan uniquely smart and also very useful. A must-have for kitchen-friendly dads, this volume should reap rewards down the road for family appetites everywhere.”—BookPage New York Times
Review
“A rangy, toothsome, timely…collection of essays by kitchen dads…Man With a Pan contains essays (and recipes) by marquee names including Stephen King — isnt it time he set a scary novel in a Hardees? — and Mario Batali. But the best pieces here, the line-caught beauties, are by people youve probably barely heard of.”—New York Times Largehearted Boy
Review
“Essays [that] are always entertaining... Man with a Pan can be enjoyed for its culinary essays, its recipes, or its cartoons, but taken as a whole is one of the food books of the year.”—Largehearted Boy Wall Street Journal
Review
“An entertaining look at the widening world of dads-in-the-kitchen.”—Wall Street Journal
Review
andquot;Heartland natives will embrace the recipes, if not the remembrances of State Fair corn dogs and Lake Michigan fish boils, German kuchen and tamales eaten on Chicagoandrsquo;s Maxwell Street, a.k.a. andquot;the Ellis Island of the Midwest.andquot;andquot;andmdash;Jenny Rosenstrach, New York Times
Review
"A brilliant collection of Heartland food stories."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"This anthology of essays on the Midwest's best and most unpretentious foods should go a long way toward regaining the respect the heartland's cuisine ought to enjoy."and#8212;Mark Knoblauch, Booklist
Review
andquot;A delectable read, sprinkled with recipes and generous helpings of fun and plenty of food for thought.andquot;andmdash;Graciela Monday, Library Journal
Review
"Thoughtful, addicting."and#8212;Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune
Review
andquot;A nostalgic trip through Middle America.andquot;andmdash;Shelf Awareness
Review
andquot;Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie reads like a feast and roundtrip combined taking in Iowa . . . and skirting the andquot;tan landscapeandquot; of the andquot;Corn Beltandquot;. The books ends in a selection of desserts, allowing Peggy Woolf to reminisce about pie, stuffed with fruits of Wisconsin . . . plucked from the tops of sunbathed trees.andquot;andmdash;Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Look who's making dinner! Twenty-one of our favorite writers and chefs expound upon the joys--and perils--of feeding their families.
Mario Batali's kids gobble up monkfish liver and foie gras. Peter Kaminsky's youngest daughter won't eat anything at all. Mark Bittman reveals the four stages of learning to cook. Stephen King offers tips about what to cook when you don't feel like cooking. And Jim Harrison shows how good food and wine trump expensive cars and houses.
This book celebrates those who toil behind the stove, trying to nourish and please. Their tales are accompanied by more than sixty family-tested recipes, time-saving tips, and cookbook recommendations, as well as New Yorker cartoons. Plus there are interviews with homestyle heroes from all across America--a fireman in Brooklyn, a football coach in Atlanta, and a bond trader in Los Angeles, among others.
What emerges is a book not just about food but about our changing families. It offers a newfound community for any man who proudly dons an apron and inspiration for those who have yet to pick up the spatula.
About the Author
and#160;Peggy Wolff has written on food and food culture for publications including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, and Orlando Sentinel. She is the food editor for REALIZE Magazine.and#160;