THE COOKBOOK TEST #0042: ITHACA FARMERS MARKET

INSTALLMENT #0042 (PAID) MARKET FORCES / BRASS TACKS / BRING ON THE SKRIMPS / PLATO'S CORNBREAD

Dear Subscribers,

If you grew up (as I did) in a town with a really killer farmer's market, you know how much the market itself feels like home. Walking the Madison, Wisconsin farmer's market always felt a little bit like taking a stroll through paradise. The state capitol building, one of the biggest and most glorious-looking in the country, looms beneficently over vendors cheerfully selling fruit, veggies, world-class cheese, bratwurst, pastries, and so forth. The occasional gaggle of peaceful protesters or pamphleteers give the whole scene a Norman Rockwell-like halo of civic engagement. Families pull their kids in wagons, and the atmosphere is part supermarket, part street fair.

The farmer's market is also, it should be noted, pretty killer for home cooks, chefs, and restaurants, and it's significant part of the reason that the quality of life in Madison has been rated "Absurdly High" for many many decades. Memories of walking around that market with my parents, buying whole combs of honey and sweet corn and whatever else happened to catch our eyes, are among the happiest of my childhood. (And if you've never had Midwestern sweet corn in season, you've missed out on one of the great culinary wonders of the world - it's off-the-charts terrific.)

So in that regard, reading the ITHACA FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK is like going home. Also like going home: This thing is just absolutely stuffed-to-overflowing with highbrow and middlebrow quotes and references from literature and the arts - everything from Kingsley Amis to A.A. Milne to M.F.K. Fisher and beyond. Madison had that same sort of "world-class university surrounded by farm country" vibe, so this cookbook is definitely an echo of what I grew up with (cheerfully condescending book learning in casual dress enjoying seasonal produce in a somehow rustic-yet-urban setting.) You might not care for the combination, but to me it's a fast-track to nostalgia.

at your service,

James

ITHACA FARMERS MARKET: A SEASONAL GUIDE AND COOKBOOK CELEBRATING THE MARKET'S FIRST 50 YEARS
BY MICHAEL TURBACK AND IZZY LECEK
NORTH COUNTRY BOOKS | 2024 | $30

As befits the subject matter, the Ithaca Farmers Market Cookbook is a collection of fairly plainspoken, homespun, easy-to-execute recipes larded with literary references and the occasional tingle of sophistication - corn on the cob with parsley-garlic butter and mixed root vegetable hash, sure, but also Heirloom Tomato Pico de Gallo and Sauteed Komatsuna with Bacon [1]. And sure, there are deviled eggs, but they're deviled DUCK eggs. The book is also chock-a-block with reasonably promising looking cocktail concepts. 

The recipes, I have to say, are written just the way I like it: Clear and brief. Instructions are no nonsense and well-organized, ingredient lists are fairly short and to-the-point without much faffery or ornamentation. Most of the recipes tediously state which specific farmers market vendor you're supposed to use (Cayuta Sun Farm bacon, Crosswinds Creamery milk, etc.) which I guess could be useful or interesting to the books core demographic but does not add a lot of value from an Upper Midwestern (or just plain non-Upstate New Yorkish) perspective. Nitpick, though, and not even a criticism; I'm sure the book's core demo of farmers market vendors and customers appreciates all the shout-outs.

BRING ON THE SKRIMPS

While I don't necessarily associate grilled shrimp with Upstate New York, I'm not from that part of the world and I don't really want to judge or launch an investigation. Grilled Shrimp with Green Cocktail Sauce caught my eye for the overall ease of the recipe (something typical of the Ithaca Farmers Market Cookbook, mostly to its credit) and the potential flavor impact of the dipping sauce.

Conclusion: This is a delicious recipe. Served it at a cookout, the shrimp got mowed down like crazy.

Part of its success, it must be said, is that if you cook shrimp on a charcoal grill, they become goddamn delicious. There's something about seafood and hot coals that is pure culinary magic - more so, even, than burgers, or steak, or even perhaps (and I feel weird typing this out) bratwurst.