Detroit's Delectable Past: Two Centuries of Frog Legs, Pigeon Pie and Drugstore Whiskey

by Bill Loomis

Join local food aficionado Bill Loomis on a look back at the appetites, tastes, kitchens, parties, holidays and everyday meals that defined eating in Detroit, from the earliest days as a French village to the start of the twentieth century. Whether it's at a frontier farmers' market, a Victorian twelve-course children's birthday party replete with tongue sandwiches or a five-cent-lunch diner, food is a main ingredient in a community's identity and history. While showcasing favorite fare of the day, this book also explores historic foodways--how locals fished the Detroit River, banished flies from kitchens without screens and harvested frog legs with miniscule shotguns. Wedding feasts, pioneer grub, cooking classes and the thriftless '20s are all on the menu, too.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2012

Reviews

[Steve Hanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A smorgasbord of culinary tidbits (very) loosely connected to the history of Detroit. An unusual and uneven buffet of occasionally “delectable” morsels that doesn’t come together as a well composed meal.

[Sandy D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun but a little disjointed culinary history. I never realized how much the French influenced Detroit, even in the 1800's.

The pigeon pie was mostly from passenger pigeons. The frog legs were from bullfrogs that weighed about 9 lbs. - almost twice as big as your average chicken.

[Kathi Maciejewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read.