Pacific Feast

by Jennifer/ Smith Mac (PHT) Hahn

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Pacific Feast
Hahn, Jennifer/ Smith, Mac (PHT)
Mountaineers Books
Publication 2010/10/15
Number of 223
Binding PAPERBACK
Library of 2010028279

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Nature, Cooking

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a snooty-patootie-foodie book. I am foodie enough to have enjoyed it.

I am eager to try roasted dandelion root to make a coffee-substitute ice-cream. I cannot in good conscience buy coffee beans. And yeah, I judge you if you buy coffee.

If you don't know where to find the local-foodie restaurants in the PNW then this book (having recipes contributed from the chefs at these establishments) will give you all the names you need for a restaurant vacation along the coast from Alaska to California. It almost seems like a recipe showcase (with foraging tips for filler) more than anything else.

The seaweed section entices and excites me but leaves me wanting. I don't feel like I could actually make any of those things (and usually I think I could try ANYTHING!). I guess I just don't feel confident in foraging the seaweed. (My co-op sells a dozen seaweed varities, dried, so I don't suffer from seaweed deprivation, but I wouldn't know Turkish Towel if it showed up on my oar or shore.)

I guess that brings me to my main complaint: This is not a reliable, stand-alone foraging guide. The author by all reports is able to survive with her foraging skills during long kayak trips. Unless she's backpacking quarts of vinegars and oils, and gallons of half-and-half, she isn't making these recipes during those kayak trips! I'm sure it is too much to expect one book to impart all of her knowledge (especially considering the subject matter). Nevertheless I felt this imparted too little. I still feel like "WHERE?! HOW?!" when it comes to finding the sea foods that comprise more than half the book.

If I really wanted to be able to identify and gather seaweed, or urchins, I would seek out other sources.

The book design lacks luster. Recipes are hard to scan. Sections are distinguished not by design but by content: You have to delve into the text to know where you are and what is happening. I expect and accept this from a novel, but not a non-fic reference book.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had the opportunity to go to a Jennifer Hahn talk and book reading of Pacific Feast. She gave us two fast and furious hours of great information and anecdotes about foraging for wild food in our area. She is an energetic and engaging speaker, very self-deprecating and lots of humor. I had also read her book (Spirited Waters) about kayaking from Ketchikan to Bellingham and it was a very good adventure. Plus, I am extremely interested in the subject of foraging and was anxious to hear her talk and to have it in book form. That said, I enjoyed the lecture more than the book although it does include important reference material. Unfortunately, from my point of view, her editor must have directed her to write a recipe book for foodies using foraged food as the reference point. She enlisted the help of well-known chefs and the short essays on finding, preserving and handling the wild food are overshadowed by a bunch of recipes I will never get around to. As a result, Pacific Feast is, effectively, a very short book. I hope that some day she gets to write a field guide with much more detail.

[Wendy Feltham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will continue to be a valuable reference book for me as I explore the fun of foraging here in the Pacific Northwest. I heard Jennifer Hahn speak at an event this spring, and got to taste some of her creations. Her energy and creativity, as well as recipes, are inspiring!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went to one of Jennifer's cooking workshops years ago. Very informative and fun

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Could have used a few more pictures but the recipes seems legit from someone who is a better than average cook like myself.