Nostalgia, regional pride, taste buds imprinted in childhood: for whatever reason, Midwesterners have a passion for their victuals. From the my-corn-is-sweeter-than-your corn boast to reverent musings on family Thanksgivings, the 30 essays (with recipes) by writers from the heartland in Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie will spark memories among readers across the country.
Peggy Wolff's selections serve as a geography primer. What's "in season" determines the menu, including "fair food" in the summer. When the crops and livestock are on display, the deep fried treats (often on a stick) are abundant. Twinkies, in all their melted gooey-ness, star in John Markus's "Thrill Food," while for Lorna Landvik, the Minnesota State Fair offers 12 days of "fair perfume, the smell of food, heady with top notes of grease and spun sugar." For Indianapolis native Melanie Benjamin, the roar of Indy 500 engines and the consumption of traditional summer foods, including apple butter and fried biscuits, are intertwined.
Pie--cherry, rhubarb, lemon meringue--figures prominently in the collection, from Wisconsin sour cherry land to the Missouri Ozarks, but Sue Hubbell's pie quest led her to Oklahoma, where she was advised, "You're in cobbler country now, Ma'am."
Some of the authors feel a spiritual relationship with food: Robert Olmstead is "transcended" by Cincinnati five-way chili; Jacqueline Mitchard is sure there is "Corn in Heaven," and Jon Yates claims he found "pork tenderloin nirvana" along the Indiana/Illinois/Iowa corridor. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, bookseller, Book Passage, San Francisco