The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother by Jeff Smith

The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother Reviews

• 
  Steven Peterson

  I never really watched The Frugal Gourmet when he was featured on Public TV. However, I recently received my copy of Jeff Smith's "The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother." What a fascinating concept and what a nice set of recipes!
  
  Smith begins by laying out the methodology of this book (Page 2): "We have traveled all over this great nation eating with immigrants, many of them grandmas, who know that it is terribly important to retain those characteristics of our immigrant ancestry, characteristics that will help us remember who we are." Hence, we have a cook book with a small set of recipes from many countries, from Armenia to the Basque region of Spain to Ethiopia to Jamaica to Ireland to Korea to Lebanon and through Yugoslavia (countries are in alphabetical order). I just received the book and have not had a chance to try out any recipes. But there are a number that I already find tempting and expect to begin trying these out soon!
  
  The first part of the book is a standard discussion of cooking tools needed, a glossary of ingredients and condiments, and an essay on the immigrant experience. But it's the recipes that are the heart of this book. Let's take a look at a few examples.
  
  Armenian Stuffed Meatballs. Ooh. This looks like some work, but it seems scrumptious! A meatball within a meatball. The inner meatball is made from ground lamb (or beef), onions, green bell paper, parsley, pine nuts, paprika, mint leaves, and a set of spices. After cooking these and rolling small meatballs, one makes the outer meatball, with a different set of ingredients.
  
  From Ethiopia, Lamb and Cardamom. Some onions, a couple Ethiopian sauces (recipes included in this section), lamb, cumin, cardamom seeds, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. Once one has assembled the ingredients this looks pretty straightforward--and tasty!
  
  A Lebanese dish, Baked Lamb Kibbe. Boneless leg of lamb, butter, pine nuts, onion, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper. Sautee the lamb in butter, and then assemble Kibbe (recipe on the preceding page), and move ahead. Again, a recipe that really sounds delicious.
  
  And so on. It's fun just to skim recipes from different countries and enjoy contemplating what each would taste like! The book ends with a quotation from the author (Page 574): "The point of this book is simple. If we do not understand our ancestral table, I doubt that we can understand our history." Maybe a bit overstated, but that sums up the author's philosophy in this volume. Worth taking a look at!
  
• 
  Redsteve

  This is probably the first real cookbook I owned (which likely explains why my copy is falling apart, covered with horrific stains and packing tape, and infused with enough aerated cooking oil to make it a code violation to have it within 6’ of the stove). Our Immigrant Ancestors is an excellent collection of recipes (combined with a bit of national/cultural history) for a large number of cultures – from the fairly common, at least in the cooking sense, (e.g. German, Mexican, Irish, Indian) to the fairly obscure (e.g. Cambodian, Welsh, Latvian, Basque, Armenian). The sections themselves are split between the more well-known cultural standards and lesser known favorites. Describing this book as “immigrant” rather than “international” is appropriate as Smith often includes changes that immigrant communities made to their traditional dishes, adapting to include local (U.S.) ingredients. The recipes themselves are excellent, not too complicated for relatively inexperienced cooks, but not in any way “dumbed down”. Due to the large number of cultures represented in this book, the author was obviously not going to be able to include a wide range of recipes in each section, but I think he struck a good balance between “representative” dishes and ones that he found especially interesting/tasty.
• 
  Lisa (Harmonybites)

  Boy, does this date me, but I can remember when the Frugal Gourmet was a popular cooking show on Public Television. I like the variety of his international cookbook. It doesn't just have the usual suspects such as German, Indian, Irish, Japanese, Mexican, Russian, Thai but Armenian, Basque, Cambodian, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Puerto Rican, etc. A fun book to read and to cook from.
• 
  Fredrick Danysh

  The different ethic groups coming to America brought their own culinary styles with them which they then modified for local conditions. This is a collection from Jeff Smith's cooking show and represent several cultures.
• 
  Mike Stopka

  Very good book with good recipes. Also talks a bit about each of the different cultures that made up the US.
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  David

  Have read for years off and on.
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  Shane C

  the book is so entertaining
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  Charles

  Excellent book, lots of great recipes.
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  GardenSinger

  I love this book. I love Jeff Smith's writing style and the thoughtful, heart-felt details he shares with the readers about his own experiences with different recipes and the people surrounding them. He shows us that great old traditional recipes from around the world can be made simply in today's busy world. The intro is wonderful to read and read again. There are also great section on kitchen hints, equipment, cooking methods and terms, ingredients, and such. The illustrations are wonderful even though they don't really portray the actual recipes. This book is about family history, culture, and keeping those fabulous cooking traditions alive for future generations. Hence, "Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother" is the perfect theme.
• 
  Abbie

  This book was most interesting to me as a history of how America's diet evolved as a result of the influence of poor (mostly European) immigrants to America. Over and over, things that were eaten because they were cheapest (lamb, lobster) later became delicacies unaffordable to the people who introduced them. It's got some great stories and anecdotes. Also wonderful are the Frug's recipes, which introduce a lot of new ideas and flavors to your repertoire without forcing you to hunt out arcane ingredients.
• 
  Saleris

  I really like the book, but, I'd have liked the book a bit more if it was in a trade paperback size, giving the recipes room around the margins so notes could be made.
  It hit a note or two, having a grandmother that liked to cook her native Sicilian and also Czech/Austro-Hungarian food (from her mother-in-law who worked for a family that travelled all over Austro-Hungaria) but never had any real recipes.
  
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  Stephanie

  Some true recipe gems are in this book. It was a very helpful resource as I planned our traditional "ethnic extraction" Christmas dinner. But, there are many other recipes that look like they would be a tasty adventure to try out. This is not just a cookbook because the recipes and the stories behind the recipes really define America as a delicious and "true melting pot."
• 
  Jerry

  As an introduction to melting pot—a term he dislikes—cuisines, this is a great book. After reading through it I have several recipes bookmarked, from yellow rice and German onion pie to rice pudding and eggplant salad.
• 
  Scott Andrews

  Another year, another read. Still like this one. Overly simplified recipes, but useful as a starting place to dive deeper in a variety of cuisines. But, french bread for a Cuban sandwich? Or making Injera with club soda? Come on, now.
• 
  Ian

  I like this guy. The recipes he puts in his books are pretty dern good. This is a smattering of decent world cuisine, and is a great stepping off point for the Betty Crocker crowd.
• 
  Liz

  I own all his cook--this is my least favorite.
• 
  Martine

  Excellent cookbook
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  Terri Wilson

  A lot of recipes. A little too overwhelming. It would be a great book for a student project that involved cooking something from a specific region or culture.
• 
  Liliana F

  Excellent
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  Yaaresse

  I know all about the accusations and legal issues, but Jeff Smith's cookbooks are still some of the best for the beginner cook ever written. The recipes are solid and hold up over time.
• 
  Joseph Ferroni

  good book for those of us who love to cook
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  Mary

  I have cooked a few of these recipes and they have all been great. One of my go-to recipe books.