The Nourished Kitchen is the ultimate companion to educational cookbooks such as Nourishing Traditions and The Art of Fermentation. While the other books may stress why we need to change our diet and give us tips on how to do it, McGruther offers ways to accomplish this with flair. She brings pizzazz to homesteading with recipes like “Home-cured bacon with fenugreek, mustard seed and maple syrup.”
It is no surprise that the book is published by Ten Speed Press. In 1977, Ten Speed brought flavour and decadence to meat-free diets with the publication of the Moosewood Cookbook, thereby saving many vegetarians from dreary soybean-brown rice casseroles. The Nourished Kitchen is the modern equivalent. The book features “bone broths, fermented vegetables, grass-fed meats, wholesome fats, raw dairy and kombuchas.” And, McGruther makes healthy food taste great.
The book is perfect for people who want to eat local food in a cold climate — recipes feature ingredients that are in season at the same time and many recipes for winter foods. Market gardeners and CSA operators might rely on these recipes to give customers tips on how to use celeriac, radishes, kohlrabi and other under-appreciated vegetables.
Kohlrabi figures largely in Jennifer McGruther’s new book.
The underlying philosophy of the ‘traditional foods lifestyle’ mentioned in the subtitle is the view espoused by the Weston A. Price Foundation. The principles include a focus on whole and minimally processed foods but with a few twists.
- Whole grains and pulses are usually soaked, sprouted or fermented before using. According to the author, “These methods help to deactivate antinutrients, like food phytate, which binds minerals and prevents their absorption, and enzyme inhibitors that can otherwise make grains, beans and lentils difficult to digest.” The book has recipes for delicious breads and hot cross buns, as well as a dozen types of porridge.
- Milk is fermented. Readers will find recipes for yogurt, kefir, clabber, skyr and other products.
- Vegetables are pickled using lactofermentation methods, not vinegar. Learn how to make “vegetable ferments” in general but also find recipes for brine-pickled garlic scapes and more.
- Fat isn’t avoided. Many recipes call for extravirgin olive oil, yet others call for lard.
- Grassfed meat, including offal, is considered to be part of a healthy diet. The book provides valuable recipes and general cooking tips for using offal, including heart, kidneys, liver, bones and chicken feet.
The Nourished Kitchen has a few unusual additions for a homesteading book, such as the chapter on seafood, which includes great recipes for smelts, oysters and clams. There is also information on foraging wild plants and eating wild game. After reading The Nourished Kitchen, you will feel inspired to expand the scope of your diet and cook more food from scratch.
- Janet Wallace