If you’re an eco-minded foodie and are looking to expand your home cookbook collection, be sure not to leave “Grub” off your bookstore shopping list.
Part expose of the modern industrial food industry, part cookbook, “Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen” (2006, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin) was written by Bryant Terry and Anna Lappe (her mother is Frances Moore Lappe, author of the 1970s healthy food bible, “Diet for a Small Planet”).
“Grub” presents the case for whole, natural and unprocessed food in a style that’s informative, readable and anything but dogmatic. Lappe and Terry offer their readers more do’s than don’ts, so their approach toward healthful eating and cooking can be adopted by almost anyone. Prefer a vegetarian lifestyle? That’s OK. Macrobiotic? Fine. Enjoy the occasional steak or slab of ribs? That’ll work, too, as long as you pay attention to where that steak or those ribs came from.
“If you do not have deep-seated ethical issues against eating sustainable dairy, seafood, poultry, beef, or pork occasionally, and if the indulgence makes you feel good, is that act bad?” Terry writes in one section. “If eating a dessert a few times a week puts a smile on your face, is this really a ‘sin’? … Food should move us to a better place.”
After persuasively making the case that our current way of eating is dysfunctional, unhealthful and bad for the environment, Lappe and Terry present a collection of menus for more wholesome eating. The recipes are divided into four sections – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter – with each one focused on the produce in season at that time. Within each section, you’ll find a variety of creative and colorful menus, with names ranging from “Mardi Gras Grub (Phat Tuesday)” to “Grub Latinoamericana!” Sprinkled throughout are also green kitchen tips, reminders about the people we should be grateful to for the food we eat, even recommendations for music to play and wine to drink (if you choose) during “Grub” meals.
And how about the recipes themselves? The ones I’ve sampled so far have been wonderful, especially Mac 4 Cheese (with Leeks), a re-invention of mac-and-cheese for the adult palate that includes rosemary, balsamic vinegar and lightly browned leeks. After trying it once, you’re likely to conclude that bright-orange, processed-cheese variety from the grocery store doesn’t even come close. And that’s the lesson Lappe and Terry are hoping to convey: that real food always tastes best.
