The Hemingway Cookbook

by Craig Boreth

Ernest Hemingway’s insatiable appetite for life was evident in his writing and was rivaled only by his voracious appetite for good food and drink. The Hemingway Cookbook collects more than 125 recipes from Hemingway’s life and art featuring such unique dishes as Dorado Fillet in Damn Good Sauce, Woodcock Flambé in Armagnac, Campfire Apple Pie, and Fillet of Lion washed down with Campari and Gordon’s Gin or a cool Cuba Libre. The pages are enriched by family photos; dining passages from stories such as A Moveable Feast , The Old Man and the Sea , and A Farewell to Arms ; his short stories; personal correspondence; and even a contribution from his last wife, Mary. Collecting recipes from former Hemingway haunts, period cookbooks, and other sources, this book is an authentic re-creation of the meals that so enriched Hemingway’s literature.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Albus Eugene Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una biografia … culinaria
Il cacciatore. Verso la fine del film, De Niro, al ritorno dal Vietnam e dopo un lungo inseguimento, si trova finalmente il cervo davanti; lo punta, spara ma, volutamente, non lo colpisce. Il cervo lentamente si allontana e De Niro dice “ok”! Come si fa a non tifare per il cervo ed essere solidali con la scelta del cacciatore, ma … ma come si fa?! Bistecca di antilope alcina, anatra arrosto, filetto di leone, Hirschfilet in Wacholderrahmsauce (cervo in salsa di ginepro!) picadillo, beccaccia flambé all’Armagnac, e poi ancora zuppe, legumi, pesce, patate, insalate, dessert, vini, liquori. Insomma pietanze e beveraggi che farebbero la felicità di Pepe Carvalho e … non solo …
Ma chi si aspetta una semplice raccolta di ricette, seppur ‘d’autore’, resterà sorpreso. Si trovano, è vero, circa un centinaio di ricette e vini e liquori che Hemingway ha prediletto nel corso della sua avventurosa vita di scrittore … nomade, ma ognuna è collocata geograficamente e storicamente in un preciso momento della vita dello scrittore. Vengono descritti così i luoghi (l’Harris Bar, l’Hostal Burguete, lo Sloppy Joe’s, …), i commensali (Dos Passos, Fitzgerald, personcine così …), la cornice storica entro cui si inquadra il singolo momento … culinario.
E così, l’elenco di cibi e vini è pretesto per spaziare tra Spagna, Italia, Francia, Austria, Cuba, la Grande Guerra, la guerra civile spagnola, e ancora Parigi, Milano, Venezia, la savana africana, Pamplona, San Sebastián, Key West. E a queste descrizioni fanno da splendido contraltare i brani che Boreth trae dalle opere di Hemingway, Addio alle armi, Il vecchio e il mare, Il giardino dell’Eden, Per chi suona la campana, undsw . A dimostrazione che per le sue opere Hemingway ha attinto a piene mani proprio alla sua esperienza di ... prima mano.
L’insieme dà luogo ad una narrazione dell’amore di Hemingway per la buona cucina e dimostra come i suoi romanzi, i suoi racconti ne abbiano restituito, intatti, il fascino e la … poesia.
«Ho scoperto che c’è della poesia nel cibo, mentre è scomparsa da qualsiasi altra cosa. E finché la digestione me lo permetterà io seguirò la poesia.» [Ernest Hemingway].
Ad ogni buon conto, in attesa del mio primo fucile e del mio primo safari per procurarmi le bistecche di antilope, mi sono dedicato alla preparazione delle divine Pommes de terre à l’huile e delle Kartoffelkroketten. Ma per carità, Ernest non me ne voglia, in queste ultime, niente farina!
[Jan 2015]

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old fashioned cookbooks can be fun to read. The book was published in 1998, but introduces recipes Hemingway & his family either would have made, or recipes for food he wrote about. In the intro, the author (Boreth) writes, "Ernest Hemingway was also a tremendous eater and drinker. For better and worse, he indulged his appetites to the fullest. His books are filled with episodes about food and drink, sometimes spectacular, other times intriguing in their mundane presentation." Boreth has researched those menus from Oak Park IL, Canada, Italy, Paris, Spain, Key West, Cuba, East Africa, and Idaho. There's a special chapter on libations... and we all know Hem could drink, he did nothing small. I do think I'll try his Bloody Mary.

The recipes are quilted together with a mini-biography explaining EW's traveling life, significant characters within, and quotes from his writings to introduces the menus. It's a lovely blending of biography and historical cookbook.

I read this in preparation for a book discussion on "The Paris Wife" and "The Sun Also Rises," but found the rest of the book fascinating as well. I won't make 95% of the recipes in here - it's way too rich or complicated for my taste any more - but the cucumber soup recipe (published in "The 19th Century Historical Centennial Cookbook as "Ernest Hemingway's Cucumber Soup") along with the home-pickled mushrooms (from the Paris section) will provide a couple of worthy dishes. This cookbook was way more fun than I expected it to be, and for me, way more fun than reading anything by Hemingway himself.

[Erin S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, but there was no continuity. It started with foods from Papa's childhood, and jumped all over from there. The recipes presented chronologically would have been an improvement as well as modern adaptations of older recipes so they could be more easily recreated at home. I did like the section with the wine & cocktails however.

[stacy]

campfire apple pie. oh that I were still teaching Big Two-Hearted River...

[Elif · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fun!

English: https://elifthereader.com/books/the-h...
Türkçe: http://kitaplikkedisi.com/kitaplar/he...

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty interesting book with a lot of recipes doubled by interesting moments from Hemingway's life or works. I haven't yet prepared any of the recipes, but I definitively will try some in the future. I saw few that were interesting.

[Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you know the old adage 'whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger," you may want to keep it in mind as you prepare some of these Hemingway feasts."