Taste, Memory: Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, and Why They Matter

by David Buchanan

Taste, Memory traces the experiences of modern-day explorers who rediscover culturally rich forgotten foods and return them to our tables for all to experience and savor. In Taste, Memory author David Buchanan explores questions fundamental to the future of food and farming. How can we strike a balance between preserving the past, maintaining valuable agricultural and culinary traditions, and looking ahead to breed new plants? What place does a cantankerous old pear or too-delicate strawberry deserve in our gardens, farms, and markets? To what extent should growers value efficiency and uniformity over matters of taste, ecology, or regional identity? While living in Washington State in the early nineties, Buchanan learned about the heritage food movement and began growing fruit trees, grains, and vegetables. After moving home to New England, however, he left behind his plant collection and for several years stopped gardening. In 2005, inspired by the revival of interest in regional food and culinary traditions, Buchanan borrowed a few rows of growing space at a farm near his home in Portland, Maine, where he resumed collecting. By 2012 he had expanded to two acres, started a nursery and small business, and discovered creative ways to preserve rare foods. In Taste, Memory Buchanan shares stories of slightly obsessive urban gardeners, preservationists, environmentalists, farmers, and passionate cooks, and weaves anecdotes of his personal journey with profiles of leaders in the movement to defend agricultural biodiversity. Taste, Memory begins and ends with a simple that a healthy food system depends on matching diverse plants and animals to the demands of land and climate. In this sense of place lies the true meaning of local food.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, History, Food History, Food and Drink, Food Writing, Cooking

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book I’ve added a few new varieties to my grow wish list.

[Cissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

While we can get out-of-season produce throughout the year... most of it is lacking in flavor, chosen as it has been for consistency or output and sturdiness for shipping, rather than flavor.

This book is a passionate call to change that, mostly by buying and growing locally and seasonally. It's not only good for flavor, it's good for health and for the community.

I know reading this has given me the final impetus to re-work our front yard to make it more productive!

Buchanan's writing is engaging and informative, as he is involved in "plant collecting" via saving seeds and propagating heritage fruit trees, and finding ways to make this passion work both practically and profitably- at least enough to keep doing it! He branches off into all linds of other co-operative enterprises, such as fermenting ciders from heritage apples, making smoothies from historic strawberries that are too delicate to bring to market unfrozen, and other interesting spins on conventional market gardening.

I also appreciated his community-building exercises in creative scrounging, which seem to end in win-win situations all around.

Oddly, for someone who is enamored of growing antique fruit trees from scratch, he seems to have a somewhat short attention span for his various enterprises... but he does make it work, and the sheer quantity of ideas is intriguing.

Highly recommended for people interested in alternative forms of agriculture, especially involving heritage and heirloom species.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taste, Memory: Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, and Why They Matter by David Buchanan was an introspective read regarding fruit and vegetable varieties that are reaching the point of extinction. Buchanan describes to readers the process of his gardening techniques, journey to obtain heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties, and even tells how supermarkets have had a large part in the loss of these varieties. I personally thought that, while some aspects of this book were intriguing, overall the book was a bit bland (just like supermarket apples!) and could’ve been structured in a more comprehensive manner for the story to flow better and be easier for the reader to follow.

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

For my tastes this book was dry as toast. David Buchanan is too wordy and writes his story in a random order which caused me to I struggle to understand the time line of his life. I was looking for a good "food" related book and found a memoir of a man who lived a large portion of his life undirected with a vague notion that he wanted to be a "farmer". Real farmers would laugh at his journey. Certainly there are is a lot of good information in this book, but the book is a tough read. With the help of a better writer this story might have been made into an enjoyable tale.

[John Sayles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about the importance of food history, diversity, and preservation. I’ve owned a copy for years (belated thanks to whoever gave it to me) but was finally inspired to read it after a recent visit to David Buchanan’s latest endeavor, Portersfield Cider, in nearly Pownal, ME. Some friends, my wife, and I had a great time in the tasting room, sampling remarkable hard cider varieties, paired with crackers and regional cheeses, and chatting with David about his work. Good stuff, and highly recommended to anyone in the southern ME region looking for a unique local food experience.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally had to stop reading this book. After almost a week I had only read 3 chapters because I just could not get into it. I thought it would be really interesting since it's about trying to preserve heritage plants/foods that face the risk of becoming extinct in our mono-culture food world. Not to say this author doesn't know his stuff about heritage plants, but I just couldn't make myself keep reading it.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first met the author of this book, David Buchanan, at a lecture he gave at Harvard in 2010 about the hundreds of sorts of heritage apples growing in Maine. This is a beautiful book, a love story between a New England gardener and thoughtfully, sustainably grown food that is (and long may it remain) a fundamental part of the warp and weft of place and culture.

One of my life goals is to own agricultural land in order to incorporate land husbandry into my day to day lifestyle. I, like the author of this book, am a reluctant city dweller. He mentions a resource called FarmLink, managed by Maine Farmland Trust that greatly subsidizes the purchase of agriculturally zoned land provided it continue to be used for agriculture. I will look into the same sorts of resources in Massachusetts.

Some of my favorite quotes:

--"Although there can be drawbacks to the commercial approach, the nonprofit world has its constraints, too. Every project needs sustainable funding, and compromise is part of the game, whether relying on donations and grants, or sales and marketing. In my experience the nonprofit world can at times lack accountability, and overhype achievements to draw donors. Friends who run food businesses like bakeries, wineries, and market gardens engage in a fair exchange of valuable products and appreciative customers. There's integrity in that." pg. 127

--"This becomes my new direction: collecting rare foods and creating value-added products that depend on their best characteristics and exceptional flavor . . . When I occasionally have to substitute other commercially purchased frozen strawberries, it's striking how flavorless they seem in comparison." pg. 199

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the writing style engaging as the writer embarks on this agricultural journey to preserve heirloom varieties.

Maybe I'm biased because I know some of the names dropped in this book, and I am a Maine native, but halfway through, I ran to get a highlighter to go back and mark up the varieties mentioned. Some of them are growing in my family's orchard (my father and grandfather were very excited to grow obscure apples native to Maine). There are some vacant spots in the orchard that I hope I can fill with the varieties I don't have.

Moral of the story: this book has inspired me to keep growing forgotten or wayward varieties. And also, I want to visit his small batch cider place, to sample the brews, but also to meet him and hope he can identify an ancient pear on my property.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was, to put it mildly, "not to my taste." It bears virtually no resemblance to its title, or the praise heaped upon it by several authors I respect. If you're an Alice Waters or Eliot Coleman fan, you will probably love it. It's a personal narrative of one hipster's journey to make plant collecting profitable. His role model for preserving native species is based on respect for the University of Minnesota (proprietary) approach to plant breeding-- using capitalism to save lost species. The problem is, he seems laser-focused on profitability rather than taste or memory. The actual research related by this book would fit in a ten page pamphlet.

[Bernard Lavallée · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't what I was hoping for. With the title and description, I thought this book would be more about old fruit varieties and forgotten foods. Maybe half of it was, but the remaining is the story of a farmer in search of a place to grow and sell these foods.

[Vagabond · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of foods and where taste has gone

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, and inspiring.

[Kim Zinkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Share with friends and fellow gardeners.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at lost and now rare varieties. found the style of writing difficult to follow.

[Lily C · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a gardener, heritage seed saver or orchardist you will love this book . Those of you who love to read about pursuit of passions to the nth degree will love this as well .What a stunning revelation this author has this as his first book. David is a wonderful writer his passion and obsession with fine details are self evident. Written in a beautiful voice of love for all these subjects this book is very unique and cannot be forever into a specific category .
This book was so wonderful and his passion for seed saving, antique apple trees and community food based programs was a pleasure to read about .It encouraged me to use my gardening school to grow and lead a corporate garden project for food for local food pantry. David please keep writing. My love of apple trees started as a child on my Grandfathers land where an old crab apple tree stood. My Grandfather would laugh and tell me I was going to get a stomach ache from eating those crab apples. I now stare at old gnarled trees in the woods and outer regions of my WI city wondering what mysteries lay beneath their bark. I highly recommend this book to gardeners foodies and nature lovers. I reread few books but I give copies of this to all my friends and I know i will reread this one .

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buchanan is under no illusion that we can somehow revert back to romantic agrarian lifestyles of days past. Instead he suggests that we must find new ways to promote and save old varieties. I greatly appreciated his approach for finding modern uses of old heirloom varieties, while also recognizing that some forgotten fruits simply don't have a place in our markets anymore. Many food authors fail to recognize that coming up with a more sustainable and wholesome local food system requires many methods and combinations of production- small scale, large scale, growing old persnickety heirlooms as well as solid staples that we can rely on. As he says "[his] goal is to create the best plant collection for this particular time and place, not develop an isolated museum of curiosities."

Overall a great read that really delves into the importance of heirlooms and forgotten foods in today's current food system without romanticizing food systems of the past like so many other authors do. Buchanan is very honest about the difficulties of operating food-based business while navigating whether producing food in rural/urban areas is better.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This engagingingly well written book is a non pretentious telling of the authors search to find his place in the local food movement. He writes in a refreshingly humble way. He is searching for a way to care for endangered foods, for the regional food traditions of New England, and make at least a small living from his labor of love. Especially the second half of book was really interesting as he detailed his varied efforts to find his own place in the food culture of Portland, Mane. His reflections on being committed to the stability of living, working and eating in the limits, and indeed in the terrior, of his native New England were inspirational and deeply heartfelt. His book, and especially the last two thirds of it, is an attractive and inspiring vision of what we could all do to a greater or lesser extent to participate in the artfull and endlessly interesting process of growing, preparing and eating food.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buchanan's passionate pursuit of heritage foods, and his dream of self sufficiency in rural Maine. Preservation of seeds and crops that must be grown annually or lost forever. In the day, Maine extension services narrowed recommendations to apple growers for only a couple varieties for best economy! Loved the writing of apples, so many different kinds, each so different. Had me going to the grocery with the largest selection and most beautiful fruit to taste each variety. Wouldn't have happened without people like Buchanan who refuse to settle, refuse to compromise. Wonder what he's doing now.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and have a running list of people I will recommend it to. The strange histories behind fruits and vegetables were fascinating and reminded me of how much I liked the food anthropologist on Alton Brown's Good Eats. Buchanan's outlook on gardening and collecting heirloom varieties is practical but inspiring. I was dying to taste some of the rare apple varieties he described as I was reading and am wondering how I can get my hands on some unpasteurized cider this year.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be one of my favorite books of all-time. It is a manifesto of slow food, food writing, and America. Buchanan's passion, wit, and wisdom seep through the page and it's really what makes this book. It feels like an epic. It's almost all summary, but that gives it the power to go everywhere in its two-hundred so pages. It's never just about an apple, or a squash, or an individual, it's always fucking connected to everything and it's glorious. I need some time to digest. Genius read.

[Suzanne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Buchanan's life work is preserving heritage fruits and vegetables, particularly those that may have a place in today's markets. Apples are his thing and he makes the case for his obsession in this fascinating book. This is a whole new world for me and I thoroughly enjoyed diving in. A bonus: he's a Mainer and farms in the town north of mine. I love reading about what's happening in my neighborhood. Buchanan writes about people and places I've heard about; now I know lots more.

[Kathy]

I heard the author of this book interviewed on NPR and rushed home to put it in my GoodReads "Want To Read" category. The interview was fascinating and can probably be accessed through the NPR archives. Can't wait to read the book!

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir written with impressive grace, it steers clear of pretension while celebrating careful observation, hard work and collaboration. Anyone who enjoyed Pollan's Botany of Desire would absolutely love this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational!

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food for thought. Well written. A wonderful gift for anyone interested in the decline of local fruit and vegetable variety and gardening.

[Susan]

Pretty good. It makes you think about where food comes from and the need for diversity.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A manifesto for American terroir

[Chad Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrrific book for those that are passionate about heirloom species and preserving fruits and veggies that actually taste good!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well written and insightful. I love books that inspire me to think outside the box and have beautiful descriptions like this one.