Heirloom: Time-Honored Techniques, Nourishing Traditions, and Modern Recipes

by Sarah Owens, Ngoc Minh Ngo (Contributor)

Where cooking and baking traditions meet contemporary flavors—120 deeply nourishing, seasonal recipes and a guide to the plants and traditional preserving techniques that inspire them.

Sarah Owens is a horticulturalist, baker and a cook with an insatiable curiosity for global food traditions. Her reverence for plants fuels her passion for bringing out their best flavors in the kitchen. In Heirloom she presents ingredient-focused cooking and bread baking that emphasizes sourcing quality ingredients and relies on traditional techniques that extend the use of in-season produce and fresh food.

Organized into two parts, you'll discover the building blocks for inspired food. Part One explores traditional preservation techniques from fermenting and pickling to dehydrating, working with sourdough, and making broth, butter, yogurt, and whey. Part Two becomes a full expression of ingredients and recipes that are nourishing, flavorful, and satisfying. With recipes that layer flavors in rich and unique ways and that reflect the seasons, the dishes here are comforting, surprising, and give a feeling of abundance. Heirloom is a personal book that shares Owens' unique perspectives and stories on food.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Cooking, Reference, Food and Drink

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 24, 2019

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was absolutely gorgeous, full of drool-inducing food photos and lovely food descriptions. However, it was WAY over my head in terms of many of the recipes (for example, complicated sourdough starters that you need an entirely different book by Owens to make), and I question the "locavore" label on some of them (pomegranates and kumquats are delicious but are definitely NOT local here in Colorado, and likely not in Brooklyn either). I was also hoping for more details on "heirloom" preservation techniques. In the end, this is definitely more of an "ideas" book than a "use" book for me, and likely for you too, unless you're a serious foodie or chef.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the Introduction and Part One Preserving Traditions I was super excited about this book. The author talks about the importance of heirloom, not just what you might think of heirloom vegetables, but heirloom as a way of preparing food based on time-honored traditional ways. In Part One she covers various ways to preserve food - fermentation, pickling, freezing, dehydrating, etc. and gives several recipes for stocks, vinegars, etc. But, once she got into the actual recipes there just weren't that many I wanted to try. She encourages using heirloom grains, which could be hard to source and would take time to learn to use, and not everyone can do that. I really thought that this cookbook would be right up my alley and that I would find lots of recipes I wanted to try, but there just weren't that many I want to try. The cookbook is beautiful and I agree with her food philosophy, but just wasn't as excited about it after reading through it.

[Jillian Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was beautiful, but not completely for me. The title made me think it would be more about utilizing one's garden for fresh, healthy recipes (which is definitely a part of it), but I was turned off by such a huge focus on fermentation and preservation. The title, HEIRLOOM, made me think of Heirloom tomatoes, so that's what I was expecting the main focus to be.

If you are person who loves canning, growing, and all things natural, this is DEFINITELY a MUST READ. The photos are gorgeous and enticing. The detail Owens goes into to describe various techniques for preservation of homegrown food is very in-depth. It is educational and aesthetically pleasing. Even though this book wasn't particularly up my alley, I would still be happy to keep it on my coffee table or in my kitchen as inspiration and motivation towards a natural, healthier way of consuming what we grow.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a deeply personal and richly informative cookbook that encompasses a wide variety of fermentation and preserving techniques, as well as myriad heirloom grains, fruits, and vegetables.

The cookbook is essentially divided into three sections: basic techniques, seasonal recipes, appendices. The basic techniques section is further subdivided into fruits and vegetables; animal products; and grains. Making a basic table loaf, creating a sourdough starter, making vinegar, pickling vegetables, rendering lard, and making jams and jellies are just some of the techniques covered by this section. Additionally this section has “mother” recipes that are relied on by and/or referred to in the seasonal recipes section. The seasonal recipes are initially grouped by season of the year, and then further subdivided by type - breads and grains; savory; sweets and beverages. Each recipe was quite well-written. The introductions to the recipes discussed the uniqueness of the ingredients, offered some tips to its preparation, and/or provided insight into the recipes’ origins. The ingredients list was written in both metric weights and appropriate imperial measurements and was presented in order of use. The recipe instructions were written in paragraph form; the longer recipes had subtitles for the main steps. Sporadically in between the recipes were short essays about the unique ingredients used, such as ground cherries, amaranth, nightshades, and einkorn.

Without having any exposure to the author’s two previous cookbooks - Sourdough and Toast and Jam - it feels like some of the material may be cut and paste from those books. Especially certain bread recipes (which feel inconsistent with the rest of the book) and the glossary (which is comprised of exclusively bread-related terms). It felt like a good portion of the recipes used unobtainable ingredients, even though the Resources section of the appendices listed three or four pages of sources.

Almost every recipe was illustrated with beautiful full-page full-color photography. The majority of the photography was of the various ingredients or of the finished product, rather than of the process(es) used in the recipe. Overall, the photographs were useful in both identifying unusual ingredients and in understanding the look and feel of the finished result.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have yet to prepare any of the recipes from this book, although I have marked several of the jams and liqueurs to try in the near future. When I do prepare recipes from this book, I will update this review with the results.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is stunningly gorgeous: one you'll want to cook from as well as keep on your coffee table or kitchen table to flip through. Even on the Kindle the pictures are vibrant and alluring. Sarah Owens' writing style is inviting and warm, calling the reader in to a place where 'heirloom' is another word for 'home'. I would not be surprised to see this book competing for and winning many awards this year, as it is a cut above most other cookbooks from cover to cover: from the images to the breadth of recipes to the layout of the recipes themselves.

Owens writes for a moderately competent cook: while she does not define every single cooking move or tool, she includes plant profiles and does contextualize ingredients, such as taro, with which she assumes home cooks might not be familiar.

Heirloom begins with chapters on 1/preservation and 2/heirloom grains and flours, including methods and recipes for both. The book is then organized by season; some ingredients may not be available where the reader lives and for those she usually includes substitutes in the headnote. Several recipes do reference one another, though even when one must make two recipes to create a meal, much of the 'cooking' time is passive (for example, waiting for bread to rise). Ingredients are listed in both metric and imperial measurements, which means both my sister-in-law (a professional baker) and I (an at-home baker) can comfortably read and carry out the instructions, which are clearly written and easy to follow.

Every aspect of this cookbook is carefully considered. One that I especially loved is that image captions are tips for the ingredient or recipe, and might read (this is not from the book): Tomatoes pair well with a variety of vinegars--in winter use an intensely flavored 4% acidity balsamic; in summer use the lighter white balsamic.

Recipes I'm excited to try include Beluga Lentil Curry & it's component Ginger Peanut Garlic Paste, Sweet Potato Peanut Hummus, and Green Tomato and Eggplant Shakshuka.

I was provided an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

[Becky R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid gardener, canner, and person with food sensitivities, this book really has been perfect. Much of what this book deals in involves using produce in pickling methods, preserving, and making sourdough. The author is a botanist and has previously written a book on sourdough bread-making. Both of these interests come shining through in this cookbook/how-to.

I really loved the pictures in this cookbooks, along with the amazing information included in the book. Some of the recipes I might not make, but I love the philosophy behind this book and the healthy, self-reliance included in this kind of work with food.

[Dania Ellingson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd classify Heirloom as part-memoir, part-recipe book. While this is often the case with recipe writers and disseminators (as evidenced by the "Skip to Recipe" button common on food blogs), I actually read this book more for the memoir than the recipes. Given that I read it on Libby, I didn't have time to try all the recipes out (though I did make note of some for future reference), but I really enjoyed her light reflections on family, culture, connection, health, and the role that heirloom food ingredients plays at the intersection of them all. Overall an enjoyable read—I look forward to trying out some recipes!

[Becca Nark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful pages and writing BUT for many these recipes will be nearly impossible. I will use this book more as inspiration. Harder to source ingredients examples: whole eikorn flour, purple barley, ground cherries, queen annes lace, jujube dates, emmer flour, puntarelle, hakurei turnips, gooseberries, dandelion greens, etc.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book for the cook who is interested in fermentation. The photography was beautiful - I enjoyed flipping through this book. A great gift idea for those who love to be innovative in the kitchen.

Thank you, NetGalley and Roost Books for this digital ARC.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to basics with this book and I'm totally here for it!
I love learning new cooking methods that are focused on cooking from scratch and meals that be can be done a slow way. I truly enjoyed this book and would not hold back from sharing this fabulous book with a friend!

[Courtnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been written from the soul. Alot of research has been done to complete the feel that this book gives. I love that this book has so much meaning behind it and love the idea of keeping things just the way they are and going back to the roots of why and how. Just beautiful.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you’ve never heard of eating local, this cookbook might have some new ideas but these recipes are not ones I am compelled to make. Unusual ingredients, with a southern flair, but not all that appetizing.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! My mouth watered at the colorful and flavorful recipes, many I have never heard of. Highly recommended

[Brittnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful book! I loved the recipes for if you are wanting to start to be more homestead. I learned so much about food!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous book, but almost none of the recipes/ingredients are accessible to most home cooks

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an EXCELLENT book and VERY well researched. I am SO happy I was introduced to it. I love cookbooks and love cooking. I throughly enjoyed the illustrations, the recipes, and learning about the various foods and techniques used to prepare them. The author is a fount of knowledge.

I was impressed by how much she knew and how much time she took to share her knowledge with the reader. Oftentimes I find that authors of cookbooks share their inspiration for a recipe or their cultural background, or even some expertise. But the level of research and expertise in this book is unfounded. Kudos to both the author, the publisher, and to the photographer who took the pictures. Unbelievable!

[Doreen Prentiss Gabriellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heirloom by Sarah Owens is a welcome and unique way of preserving taste by using heirloom plants and heirloom methods. The book looks at the preparation of food through cooking slowly and using heirloom ingredients. Ms Owens uses traditional ingredients like vegetables, meats, grains and dairy. The recipes use fermentation, soaking and extended cooking. The reasoning behind the return to the heirloom is a return to health and a more nourishing way to look at food.
The book is lengthy and massively informative. The first part of the book is preserving traditions which includes salts, vinegars, jams and jellies, broths, and dehydration. The next part of this chapter is the recipes that are based upon the preserving mentioned previously. The second half of the book is divided into the four seasons and what items are bountiful in each.
This is an extremely and insightful book. Well worth the read if you wish to restore or maintain your health as well as learning about the heirloom way to prepare food.