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How to Cook a Moose
An award-winning novelist’s account of the unexpected fulfillment she found in New England, living, loving, cooking, and eating “at the end of the world.”
In this exuberant, unabashedly gourmand-esque follow-up to Blue Plate Special, Christensen celebrates the land, food, and people of Maine. The state became her home after she and her partner, Brendan, decided to leave a beloved New Hampshire farmhouse owned by the Fitzgerald family and buy a house of their own. They settled in the quietly cosmopolitan city of Portland, where they discovered restaurants that, in their excellence and diversity, rivaled those in larger cities like New York. As she got to know actual Mainers, Christensen also found herself appreciating their unpretentiousness and rugged individualism, and she admired their “quiet work ethic…that is somehow never puritanical or self-righteous, as well as the lack of judgment, the mind-your-own-business attitude, and the fierce pride of place.” This was especially true where food was concerned. Despite the state’s short growing seasons and long winters, Mainers took pride in keeping their food—whether from the land or sea—local and in season. Christensen’s interest in her new home and, in particular, its cooking traditions led her to explore Maine history and learn the personal stories of the chefs, fishermen, hunters, and farmers who wrested plenty from the rocky soil and fierce ocean. Her enthusiasm for her adopted home and its ethos of sustainability is as abundant as the lovingly crafted descriptions of stunning landscapes and mouthwatering meals—the recipes for which Christensen includes in the book—she and her partner prepared together in their kitchen. The heartbreak and personal drama that characterized Blue Plate Special is absent in this book. Christensen is eating well, in love, and radiating the “quiet internal daily joy of living in a culture based on authenticity and integrity.”
In this exuberant, unabashedly gourmand-esque follow-up to Blue Plate Special, Christensen celebrates the land, food, and people of Maine. The state became her home after she and her partner, Brendan, decided to leave a beloved New Hampshire farmhouse owned by the Fitzgerald family and buy a house of their own. They settled in the quietly cosmopolitan city of Portland, where they discovered restaurants that, in their excellence and diversity, rivaled those in larger cities like New York. As she got to know actual Mainers, Christensen also found herself appreciating their unpretentiousness and rugged individualism, and she admired their “quiet work ethic…that is somehow never puritanical or self-righteous, as well as the lack of judgment, the mind-your-own-business attitude, and the fierce pride of place.” This was especially true where food was concerned. Despite the state’s short growing seasons and long winters, Mainers took pride in keeping their food—whether from the land or sea—local and in season. Christensen’s interest in her new home and, in particular, its cooking traditions led her to explore Maine history and learn the personal stories of the chefs, fishermen, hunters, and farmers who wrested plenty from the rocky soil and fierce ocean. Her enthusiasm for her adopted home and its ethos of sustainability is as abundant as the lovingly crafted descriptions of stunning landscapes and mouthwatering meals—the recipes for which Christensen includes in the book—she and her partner prepared together in their kitchen. The heartbreak and personal drama that characterized Blue Plate Special is absent in this book. Christensen is eating well, in love, and radiating the “quiet internal daily joy of living in a culture based on authenticity and integrity.”
298 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 2015
27 people are currently reading
606 people want to read
About the author
Kate Christensen
19 books427 followersKATE CHRISTENSEN is the author of eleven novels, most recently The Arizona Triangle (as Sydney Graves) and Good Company. She has also published two food-centric memoirs. Her fourth novel, The Great Man, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Her stories, reviews, and essays have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. She lives in northern New Mexico with her husband and their two dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
February 9, 2017
One of my favorite places on earth is Portland, Maine. If it weren’t for the winters, which are a dealbreaker, I would have figured out a way to be living in Portland, Maine, right now. Well, maybe not. I’d miss my family. But still, if you write a book that’s essentially a paean to all the ways Portland, Maine, is excellent, or at least all the food-related ways Portland, Maine, is excellent, I am here for it. I am here for you, Kate Christensen. I’m picking up what you’re putting down.
How to Cook a Moose is a memoir of Christensen and her partner Brendan’s permanent move from Brooklyn to New England. Initially the couple lives in Brendan’s family’s farmhouse in New Hampshire, but for various reasons they can’t use that house as their permanent residence, so they eventually buy a place of their own in Portland. As the title indicates, this, like Christensen’s Blue Plate Special, is a foodie memoir, but otherwise the two books are not very alike. Blue Plate Special was more of a writer’s coming-of-age story that used food and travel as a framework rather than a centerpiece. How to Cook a Moose, in contrast, is definitely centered on food and somewhat less personal; you get the sense that many of Christensen’s demons have been vanquished and she’s found the place where she belongs.
There were many things about How to Cook a Moose I totally loved: learning about the food culture in Portland, for instance—its restaurant scene, organic family farms, and food co-ops; learning about the various foods Maine is famous for and the efforts to keep them sustainably sourced; and of course reading about Christensen’s own efforts in the kitchen, complete with recipes. But not every element of the book worked for me—in some chapters Christensen reports on families and groups involved in various farms and restaurants in Maine, and how you feel about these chapters really depends on how you feel about the people being profiled. Toward the end of the book, Christensen writes about a couple who keep a giant greenhouse in Maine, and she was clearly quite enamored of them; I, on the other hand, thought they were super annoying and couldn’t wait for the chapter to be over. The dreamy spell Christensen attempted to cast was thus successful only part of the time, at least for this reader.
Also exasperating was the disjointed feel of the book—skipping from Christensen’s personal experiences (definitely my favorite parts) to the aforementioned profiles to interviews to glorified restaurant reviews. I was confused by this odd (lack of) structure, until it dawned on me that most of the material was taken from Christensen’s blog. I was a little surprised and disappointed to realize she’d fallen victim to the same casual structure of so many blogs-turned-books; after all, Christensen has written many other books—she knows how to make it all hang together. Unfortunately, that skill is not so much on display here.
This disjointedness might’ve inclined me to give this book a middling three stars, but fortunately, no matter where the book takes her, Christensen’s actual writing is still excellent: focused, entertaining, eloquent. That, plus the delightful story of how she came to publish the book (included in an introduction by her editor), and of course the Portland factor, are enough to bump this book up to four stars for me. I would really, really love to read more nonfiction by Christensen, but I hope it’s in a somewhat more unified form than the one she takes in How to Cook a Moose.
How to Cook a Moose is a memoir of Christensen and her partner Brendan’s permanent move from Brooklyn to New England. Initially the couple lives in Brendan’s family’s farmhouse in New Hampshire, but for various reasons they can’t use that house as their permanent residence, so they eventually buy a place of their own in Portland. As the title indicates, this, like Christensen’s Blue Plate Special, is a foodie memoir, but otherwise the two books are not very alike. Blue Plate Special was more of a writer’s coming-of-age story that used food and travel as a framework rather than a centerpiece. How to Cook a Moose, in contrast, is definitely centered on food and somewhat less personal; you get the sense that many of Christensen’s demons have been vanquished and she’s found the place where she belongs.
There were many things about How to Cook a Moose I totally loved: learning about the food culture in Portland, for instance—its restaurant scene, organic family farms, and food co-ops; learning about the various foods Maine is famous for and the efforts to keep them sustainably sourced; and of course reading about Christensen’s own efforts in the kitchen, complete with recipes. But not every element of the book worked for me—in some chapters Christensen reports on families and groups involved in various farms and restaurants in Maine, and how you feel about these chapters really depends on how you feel about the people being profiled. Toward the end of the book, Christensen writes about a couple who keep a giant greenhouse in Maine, and she was clearly quite enamored of them; I, on the other hand, thought they were super annoying and couldn’t wait for the chapter to be over. The dreamy spell Christensen attempted to cast was thus successful only part of the time, at least for this reader.
Also exasperating was the disjointed feel of the book—skipping from Christensen’s personal experiences (definitely my favorite parts) to the aforementioned profiles to interviews to glorified restaurant reviews. I was confused by this odd (lack of) structure, until it dawned on me that most of the material was taken from Christensen’s blog. I was a little surprised and disappointed to realize she’d fallen victim to the same casual structure of so many blogs-turned-books; after all, Christensen has written many other books—she knows how to make it all hang together. Unfortunately, that skill is not so much on display here.
This disjointedness might’ve inclined me to give this book a middling three stars, but fortunately, no matter where the book takes her, Christensen’s actual writing is still excellent: focused, entertaining, eloquent. That, plus the delightful story of how she came to publish the book (included in an introduction by her editor), and of course the Portland factor, are enough to bump this book up to four stars for me. I would really, really love to read more nonfiction by Christensen, but I hope it’s in a somewhat more unified form than the one she takes in How to Cook a Moose.
December 30, 2015
I picked this up as I like her fiction writing and have spent a lot of time in Maine. When she writes about her dog and the woods the writing achieves expectations. However, it was a self-righteous screed. While it's her decision to be gluten free, the fact that a restaurant makes this part of the menu doesn't in and of itself make it superior food. I also found the contrast between the I-am-so-holy-and-proud-to-support-eating-local and the fact that she routinely shops at Whole Foods hysterical (in fact, I think Whole Foods may have sponsored the book it was mentioned so often). First, at Whole Foods they routinely carry items that have been carried long distances, and the increased carbon footprint probably negates the lack of fertilizer used (am pretty sure organic bananas don't grow in Maine in the winter); there are local food coops where she could shop and support local growers much more effectively. Second, there is nothing that brings the economic disparity of Maine "natives" and "flatlands" into greater light than the image of a second home owning person doing all her grocery shopping at Whole Foods, where things cost twice as much as the Hannaford Market.
February 5, 2020
2016 Reading Challenge: A food memoir/a book that takes place in my home state.
Boy, this book was a close one... I came VERY close to quitting at about page 40. This is a memoir about the author moving from Brooklyn to Portland, Maine, and is supposed to be an ode to Maine, its people, and its food. However, the first chapters of the book really felt more like an ode to how cool and hip the author was for moving to the "rustic" coastal town of Portland, where she and her boyfriend ate and cooked food much fancier than anything regular Mainers would eat. (All while mocking the hipsters "from away" attempting to emulate the Maine lifestyle, apparently oblivious to being guilty of this very thing herself.) The recipes included in the text, such as Buckwheat Blini with Crème Fraiche and Salmon Roe, don't really seem to come anywhere close to traditional Maine dishes. It was all too pretentious and self congratulatory (at one point she mentions, in parenthesis, that her grocery bags are reusable cloth ones. Good for you?), and I couldn't handle the descriptions of the sumptuous meals she and her writer friends made for themselves. And I got pretty sick of hearing how much she enjoyed the local ingredients....and then gives a recipe that includes very-not-local ingredients like mango.
Anyway, the solution to this book was a simple one: just skip the parts where the author talks about herself, her boyfriend, and her yuppie friends. The author is a good writer, and the chapters about OTHER people (like the woman who started The Holy Donut or the other woman who opened The Lost Kitchen) were very interesting, as were the parts about Maine history and Maine in general. The chapter about Maine's changing season was spot on. I finished the book fairly quickly after that simply by skimming over parts where I saw a lot of "I" and "we".
If you're looking for a book about traditional Maine food, this isn't it. She might give a history on a certain food in Maine (lobster, for instance) but then instead of giving a traditional recipe, she gives a fancy version that few locals would ever make (I've never even heard of Lobster Thermidor, which is apparently a French cuisine thing....but not a Maine-French-Canadian thing as far as I'm aware).
If this weren't a memoir, and was instead just a book about the up-and-coming local food and restaurant movement in Maine, then it would be a four star book. The personal focus really dragged this book down for me, and for those parts I give one star. Average that out and round down for the fact that the author "doesn't like desserts" (WTF?) and I give this book two stars. As the ode to Maine food that this was touted as, I say it fell far short. This book may appeal to other yuppie types "from away" who view Maine as a pristine vacationland, but local Mainers (especially those not in the top income bracket) won't be as enchanted.
Not recommended.
Boy, this book was a close one... I came VERY close to quitting at about page 40. This is a memoir about the author moving from Brooklyn to Portland, Maine, and is supposed to be an ode to Maine, its people, and its food. However, the first chapters of the book really felt more like an ode to how cool and hip the author was for moving to the "rustic" coastal town of Portland, where she and her boyfriend ate and cooked food much fancier than anything regular Mainers would eat. (All while mocking the hipsters "from away" attempting to emulate the Maine lifestyle, apparently oblivious to being guilty of this very thing herself.) The recipes included in the text, such as Buckwheat Blini with Crème Fraiche and Salmon Roe, don't really seem to come anywhere close to traditional Maine dishes. It was all too pretentious and self congratulatory (at one point she mentions, in parenthesis, that her grocery bags are reusable cloth ones. Good for you?), and I couldn't handle the descriptions of the sumptuous meals she and her writer friends made for themselves. And I got pretty sick of hearing how much she enjoyed the local ingredients....and then gives a recipe that includes very-not-local ingredients like mango.
Anyway, the solution to this book was a simple one: just skip the parts where the author talks about herself, her boyfriend, and her yuppie friends. The author is a good writer, and the chapters about OTHER people (like the woman who started The Holy Donut or the other woman who opened The Lost Kitchen) were very interesting, as were the parts about Maine history and Maine in general. The chapter about Maine's changing season was spot on. I finished the book fairly quickly after that simply by skimming over parts where I saw a lot of "I" and "we".
If you're looking for a book about traditional Maine food, this isn't it. She might give a history on a certain food in Maine (lobster, for instance) but then instead of giving a traditional recipe, she gives a fancy version that few locals would ever make (I've never even heard of Lobster Thermidor, which is apparently a French cuisine thing....but not a Maine-French-Canadian thing as far as I'm aware).
If this weren't a memoir, and was instead just a book about the up-and-coming local food and restaurant movement in Maine, then it would be a four star book. The personal focus really dragged this book down for me, and for those parts I give one star. Average that out and round down for the fact that the author "doesn't like desserts" (WTF?) and I give this book two stars. As the ode to Maine food that this was touted as, I say it fell far short. This book may appeal to other yuppie types "from away" who view Maine as a pristine vacationland, but local Mainers (especially those not in the top income bracket) won't be as enchanted.
Not recommended.
Read
September 22, 2015While many people know that Christensen is an amazing novelist, they may not be as familiar with another of her roles: that of foodie. Christensen is a huge fan of cooking and food - she was on the literary episode of Top Chef! - and she has combined her love food and writing into anther great memoir, inspired by the slow-food movement and her move to Maine and New Hampshire. Using the ingredients and the sights around her, she spins great tales and original recipes. I am a big admirer of Christensen, and highly recommend attending one of her readings if you get a chance. She's magical!
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Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/category/all-the-...
October 16, 2015
Forgive me the horrible pun, but I devoured this book. It is, without question, one of the best food/life memoirs I’ve read and I mourned the ending. It’s a love story, really–love for food, love for Maine, and love for her post-divorce romantic partner that she describes this way: “Even if I say something oblique and out of the blue, he takes a leap of willing and curious comprehension toward me, and I do the same for him. When I’m angry, I say so. When I want something, I ask for it. When I’m overwhelmed with adoration of him, which happens a lot, he reciprocates unhesitatingly, and he’s often overwhelmed, himself. I’m humbly grateful to be able to love another person so fully and wholly, without being blocked or stymied, without having to suppress any part of myself. This is all so basic and simple, I can’t believe it’s so rare.”
Christensen has a beautiful writing style, lyrical and descriptive–so much so that you feel the chill of the New Hampshire winter and can almost taste the oysters that she describes as “the most sexual culinary experience in the world.” After leaving the hustle and bustle of New York, she falls in love with the wild coast of Maine. Aside from a few personal chapters, she also visits a Maine-based biodynamic farm, many excellent restaurants, and discusses Maine food staples (lobster, potatoes, beans) in their own separate chapters. There are delicious-sounding recipes scattered unobtrusively throughout, and that’s in addition to the simple, but amazing, meals that she and her boyfriend cook together in their cabin or renovated Portland home.
I loved this book. I loved everything about it. Weirdly, it also made me homesick. Maine was often the stopping-off point for our regular trips to Nova Scotia, and the local cuisine in Nova Scotia is similar to the dishes Christensen described. I could smell the air, feel the cold, damp wind, taste the fish cooked over a fire with potatoes and onions. If you want (or need) a book to lift your spirits, this one will do very well.
Christensen has a beautiful writing style, lyrical and descriptive–so much so that you feel the chill of the New Hampshire winter and can almost taste the oysters that she describes as “the most sexual culinary experience in the world.” After leaving the hustle and bustle of New York, she falls in love with the wild coast of Maine. Aside from a few personal chapters, she also visits a Maine-based biodynamic farm, many excellent restaurants, and discusses Maine food staples (lobster, potatoes, beans) in their own separate chapters. There are delicious-sounding recipes scattered unobtrusively throughout, and that’s in addition to the simple, but amazing, meals that she and her boyfriend cook together in their cabin or renovated Portland home.
I loved this book. I loved everything about it. Weirdly, it also made me homesick. Maine was often the stopping-off point for our regular trips to Nova Scotia, and the local cuisine in Nova Scotia is similar to the dishes Christensen described. I could smell the air, feel the cold, damp wind, taste the fish cooked over a fire with potatoes and onions. If you want (or need) a book to lift your spirits, this one will do very well.
August 5, 2016
Loved this!
February 10, 2021
I picked up this book at a used book sale because it met a criterion for a reading challenge I'm working through -- a book with an animal in its title -- and because I'd heard good things about it. This is supposed to be a culinary memoir. At first, I was charmed by her unabashed love for her Maine life. I'm a Mainer and I love living here too. But it began to wear thin about a third of the way in. She's too quick to generalize about all things Maine; the compliments ring false when they're spread around so freely. I wasn't that interested in her recipes either, even though I love to cook. I don't think Christensen is an especially talented or creative cook; why try her recipes? The book is at its best when introducing people who are doing interesting things in the state or providing historical or scientific context. But otherwise, if I had any sense I would have put this down without finishing it.
August 15, 2023
I've had this book on my shelf ever since I moved to Maine. I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I learned so much about the place I live - from someone who is "from away" like me. It's incredible how much food can inform a state's identity and culture. Mouthwatering scenes where the author and her husband are simply cooking fresh food from farms nearby, eating out at restaurants in Portland, exploring the sea via boat and then eating what they caught. It's a magical tasting tour of a beautiful, authentic, wild state.
August 10, 2017
Wanted to love this book - I love cooking and the state of Maine. The author seems like she's constantly trying to reassure you she's not an asshole -- when she can't shop at the farm market, it's only at Whole Foods! She leaves her dog in the car, but the windows are down and there's a sea breeze! -- which makes her seem like an even bigger asshole. Finished it, but skimmed over some parts because I just couldn't take the pretentious tone.
November 20, 2015
The title alone made me want to read this book. I lived in Alaska for ten years and have eaten moose more times that I can count in many, many different ways. Add the fact that the book is all about Maine, one of my very favorite states, I couldn't wait to begin!
This is definitely more of a memoir than cookbook, which is what I normally review, but fun all the same. However, the liberal sprinkling of vulgarity kind of put me off the book for awhile, and dropped my rating.
As I mainly review actual cookbooks, I do want to focus somewhat on the recipes. Barbara Damrosch's Chicken Stew with Horseradish Cream is excellent even without the cream. This is the kind of rich soup you want to make when the family is sick, or it's cold outside and you want that warming, comfort food. It calls for the solids and the broth to be served separately, but it was easier with my family dynamic just to keep them combined. As we're finally (here in Tennessee) moving into colder weather, New England Fish Soup is on my "to make" list. It's hard to see where this recipe could go wrong!
Now I really enjoy moose meat, but I'm going to give the Jellied Moose Nose a pass. Some recipes are historical and can be very interesting (see the Mock Turtle Soup recipe that involves boiling a calf's head!), but some make you want to try them such as the Brown Bread recipe that's from the Old Yankee Cookbook.
The book itself is interesting, showing a slice of Maine life. I absolutely busted up laughing out loud at the author's description of her reaction the first time she saw a moose. Anyone who has seen a moose up close and personal (trust me, I have!) will get a good laugh out of the way she described it. I love the bits of history both of the food and the state itself.
If you don't mind sprinkles of profanity, this is a great book. The writing is good, the history fascinating and the recipes mostly delicious. If scattered F words ruin it for you, then you might want to give this one a pass.
I received a copy of this book from Islandport Press for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is definitely more of a memoir than cookbook, which is what I normally review, but fun all the same. However, the liberal sprinkling of vulgarity kind of put me off the book for awhile, and dropped my rating.
As I mainly review actual cookbooks, I do want to focus somewhat on the recipes. Barbara Damrosch's Chicken Stew with Horseradish Cream is excellent even without the cream. This is the kind of rich soup you want to make when the family is sick, or it's cold outside and you want that warming, comfort food. It calls for the solids and the broth to be served separately, but it was easier with my family dynamic just to keep them combined. As we're finally (here in Tennessee) moving into colder weather, New England Fish Soup is on my "to make" list. It's hard to see where this recipe could go wrong!
Now I really enjoy moose meat, but I'm going to give the Jellied Moose Nose a pass. Some recipes are historical and can be very interesting (see the Mock Turtle Soup recipe that involves boiling a calf's head!), but some make you want to try them such as the Brown Bread recipe that's from the Old Yankee Cookbook.
The book itself is interesting, showing a slice of Maine life. I absolutely busted up laughing out loud at the author's description of her reaction the first time she saw a moose. Anyone who has seen a moose up close and personal (trust me, I have!) will get a good laugh out of the way she described it. I love the bits of history both of the food and the state itself.
If you don't mind sprinkles of profanity, this is a great book. The writing is good, the history fascinating and the recipes mostly delicious. If scattered F words ruin it for you, then you might want to give this one a pass.
I received a copy of this book from Islandport Press for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 3, 2015
The state slogan for Maine is "The Way Life Should Be", and in this lively book, Kate Christensen affirms her love for her adopted home state through the food, the people, and the culture. In a land where winters can be harsh and work tough to come by, Christensen visits and befriends the people who live off the land and find abundance - lobsterman, moose hunters, farmers young and old, foragers - and takes inspiration from their scrappy, DIY, homegrown approach to crafting a good life. Deeply resistant to food snobbery and frills, and committed to an ethical investigation of the question "How should we eat in times like these?" Christensen celebrates through recipes and stories, the flavors and dishes of a place that has come to represent to her the essence of authenticity.
November 17, 2015
I really enjoyed many aspects of this book. I loved reading Christensen's thoughtful and thorough research into the history of Maine, of lobsters, of moose, of clambakes and Native Americans and so much more.
One thing that pulled me (continually) out of this book, however, were the author's many proclamations of her gluten-free needs. It's BS to eviscerate a restaurant for leaving breadcrumbs in your gluten-free dish, or express the absolute peril of being assigned to make biscuits at your volunteer job, then in the next chapter say you ate a chef's delicious bread because, "fuck it". Bleh.
One thing that pulled me (continually) out of this book, however, were the author's many proclamations of her gluten-free needs. It's BS to eviscerate a restaurant for leaving breadcrumbs in your gluten-free dish, or express the absolute peril of being assigned to make biscuits at your volunteer job, then in the next chapter say you ate a chef's delicious bread because, "fuck it". Bleh.
August 25, 2016
I put this down, finally, about 2/3 of the way through. It's a decent enough foodie memoir, and Christensen writes beautifully in spots, but I got tired of the pretentiousness. I connected right away to the falling in love with Portland thread, as I'm a recent Portland transplant who fell in love immediately, too. And I enjoyed the bits that explored the history and ecology of certain native foods -- lobsters, blueberries, mushrooms, moose. I just tired of the snootiness...which may just be a marker of this genre, not really the author's fault. I would like to check out Christensen's fiction.
Read
August 21, 2020(3.5 stars) I really enjoyed this until the last twenty-ish pages, which seemed to just kind of fizzle out. But Kate Christensen is a wonderful writer and really shines when she writes about food. I definitely preferred BLUE PLATE SPECIAL, in large part because it felt more cohesive, but I did like this book.
January 7, 2017
I loved the history about Maine, but found the author tedious.
April 30, 2020
My daughter brought me back this book after her trip to Maine this past fall. I really wasn't sure what to expect. It starts out with a good bit of Maine history and then lends itself into the exploration of Maine by Kate and her then boyfriend. She left New York for a break and found happiness in Maine. I found it very interesting. I learned many things about the state and many other aspects of the state. I also enjoyed the relationship of Kate and her boyfriend, as well as her culinary adventures. Since reading this book, I've found myself in conversations and relating something I either learned from reading her book or found interesting to interject into a conversation. And finally, just the other night, a restaurant Kate wrote about in Freedom, Maine will be featured on the new Magnolia channel coming soon! I was so excited when Jo Gaines said the name! I already had felt as if I had been there!
Nice read if you like learning more about a state and cooking, however, this book is so much more. I only usually read at night, thus the length of time it took to read it. :)
Nice read if you like learning more about a state and cooking, however, this book is so much more. I only usually read at night, thus the length of time it took to read it. :)
January 9, 2018
This memoir is a pleasing stew: the pleasures of the seasons, descriptions of farming (both land and sea) in Maine, foraging for blueberries, mushrooms, and tapping for maple syrup, the farm to table movement, the best donuts in Portland, the pleasures of those New England staples--baked potatoes and the bean pot, and a brief introduction to a half dozen farmers who are passionate about their work and who eat well.
But above all this is a book about the joy of food (with a scattering of recipes that I immediately wanted to try). Although I don't eat shell fish, the pleasure that freshly harvested lobster, clams, and oysters brought to the author made me want them too. And yes, there are recipes for moose, including moose muffle which I would be delighted to try if ever given the opportunity.
But above all this is a book about the joy of food (with a scattering of recipes that I immediately wanted to try). Although I don't eat shell fish, the pleasure that freshly harvested lobster, clams, and oysters brought to the author made me want them too. And yes, there are recipes for moose, including moose muffle which I would be delighted to try if ever given the opportunity.
November 25, 2018
This is a lovely book. I love Maine and totally romanticize it but also would love to give a winter there a try. As I was reading it, I would say out loud to my husband "moose tacos" and "moose stroganoff" and after a bit, he realized I meant moose meat, not chocolate mousse.
I got this book from the library but would like to own it for the recipes. She highlights mostly women farmers and shop owners, so that was another really great part of the book.
My only small complaint is that the author is gluten free and mentions it a lot, especially when she is running down New York City. I'm not sure why she or any of the people at Doubleday didn't think to check out the menu of the assumed gluten free Korean restaurant before they decided to go, but it's not really the restaurant's job to cater to your self-diagnosed food issue.
I got this book from the library but would like to own it for the recipes. She highlights mostly women farmers and shop owners, so that was another really great part of the book.
My only small complaint is that the author is gluten free and mentions it a lot, especially when she is running down New York City. I'm not sure why she or any of the people at Doubleday didn't think to check out the menu of the assumed gluten free Korean restaurant before they decided to go, but it's not really the restaurant's job to cater to your self-diagnosed food issue.
May 29, 2018
When I was 10 I became obsessed with Maine. Weird child, I know. I read everything I could about it and even wrote to a sweet woman who owned a hunting/fishing lodge on Moosehead Lake. She humored my oddness and wrote back/forth for about a year. I even convinced my mom to let me plan a family trip to Maine. As long as we tied in college visits to make it education she agreed. I’ve been there a few time over the years and it is magical. I still read anything I come across and this book was right up my alley. A Maine cooking memoir filled with adventure, history, and delicious recipes. I devoured this book and loved every moment.
August 1, 2017
How to Cook a Moose: A Culinary Memoir by Kate Christensen (Islandport Press 2015) (Biography). Much like the most entertaining cookbook I've ever read (The Haphazard Gourmet), this volume consists of a narrative filled with personal stories and New England history which is interspersed with an occasional mouth-watering recipe. I copied several to try myself; I can't wait to test her recipe for "Classic New England Oyster Dressing." When all is said and done, this is less recipe book and more memoir. My rating: 7/10, finished 7/31/17.
February 26, 2018
This book is the story of culture, place and family told through the lens of food. The second half of this book floated the whole thing for me. Each chapter profiles a particular Maine food or human-behind-the-amazing-food, and although it reads like an anthology of feature essays at some points, the author's experience stitches everything together nicely. I found myself Pinterest-ing things like "brown bread in a can" and "lobster thermidor"... the subject matter totally captured my interest. I felt pretty lukewarm during the first half of the book, but I'm glad I stuck it out to the end.
October 14, 2021
I wanted to like this book. I was excited about the idea behind this book, being a native Mainer. However, I don’t think this author was the best person to write it. Not being native to Maine, and then moving to Portland, this is not an accurate depiction of Maine. While she does add in some conversations with real Mainers, a lot of her take is still through the restaurant perspective of Maine, not actual Mainers and how we really hunt, live, and eat, as the title would imply. This book was truly disappointing to me.
February 23, 2019
Part memoir and part fan club for food. Kate dishes (haha) details of her and her partner, Brendan's, move to Portland, Maine. She searches for the local food and tastes. She includes recipes. But more than anything I want to just follow her around and eat where she has eaten. (maybe she should have included a map so I could just do an eating tour of Maine)
It did get a little tedious when she kept stressing her and Brendan's age difference. I was fine with her telling us once.
It did get a little tedious when she kept stressing her and Brendan's age difference. I was fine with her telling us once.
April 15, 2024
This beautifully written memoir reads like a love letter to Maine. As a native Mainer, I’m not sure I’ve ever read a more accurate description of our unique and wonderful culture. Although there are only a handful of recipes here that I would choose to try, Christensen hits on most of the important food categories. Curiously, she no longer lives here, and I haven’t been able to find out why. Regardless, I am grateful for her honest and very readable tribute to our great state.
October 15, 2017
It is a very interesting premise, and I enjoyed about half of the book. Since I don't have any ties to Maine, and I am not particularly a "foodie", it didn't really hold my interest. It is wonderfully written, I didn't dislike it, I just chose not to invest the time necessary to read the entire book.
February 26, 2018
Kate is likable for a gluten-free, "elite/grass-root dichotomy" foodie. Easy reading & nice description of place. (I even wrote down 1 recipe) Not my usual fare: reading-wise OR food-wise, which made it all the more interesting. She seems very happy with her life in Maine & it was nice of her to share.
March 20, 2020
I read about Ms Christensen in a book on memoirists. This book gives a short history of Maine’s cuisine (though it has a great bibliography) interspersed with Ms Christensen’s immersion into life in Portland, ME. She discusses the very active farm to table trends in Maine along with descriptions of many of the cooks, chefs, farmers, and fishermen she’s met along the way. I enjoyed it.
December 23, 2020
I had to force myself to finish this one. Yes, it is a memoir, but it is pretty self-centered and goes on an on about sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is alive and well in lots of places. Most people who support it don't wax poetic about shopping at Whole Foods.
October 4, 2021
For some reason (not planned) I’ve been reading books by Maine authors. Makes me want to go there sometime. I really enjoyed this book. It has food, location and interesting people. She is a very descriptive writer which makes it a pleasure to read. Read Blue Plate Special first.
June 22, 2017
Strangely, loved this book. Couldn't put it down and have been looking for a similar book ever since.
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