Endangered Eating

A New York Times Book Review Editors ChoiceA Food & Wine Best Book of the YearAn Eater Best Food BookA thoughtful, compelling read about whyfood traditions matter and are worth preserving. Bettina Makalintal, EaterAmerican food traditions are in danger of being lost. How do we save them?Apples, a common New England crop, have been called the United States' "e;most endangered food."e; The iconic Texas Longhorn cattle is categorized at "e;critical"e; risk for extinction. Unique date palms, found nowhere else on the planet, grow in Californias Coachella Valleybut the family farms that caretake them are shutting down. Apples, cattle, datesthese are foods that carry significant cultural weight. But theyre disappearing.In Endangered Eating, culinary historian Sarah Lohman draws inspiration from the Ark of Taste, a list compiled by Slow Food International that catalogues important regional foods. Lohman travels the country learning about the distinct ingredients at risk of being lost. Readers follow Lohman to Hawaii, as she walks alongside farmers to learn the stories behind heirloom sugarcane. In the Navajo Nation, she assists in the traditional butchering of a Navajo Churro ram. Lohman heads to the Upper Midwest, to harvest wild rice; to the Pacific Northwest, to spend a day wild salmon reefnet fishing; to the Gulf Coast, to devour gumbo made thick and green with fil powder; and to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, to taste Americas oldest peanutlong thought to be extinct. Lohman learns from those who love these rare ingredients: shepherds, fishers, and farmers; scientists, historians, and activists. And she tries her hand at raising these crops and preparing these dishes. Each chapter includes two recipes, so readers can be a part of saving these ingredients by purchasing and preparing them.Animated by stories yet grounded in historical research, Endangered Eating gives readers the tools to support community food organizations and producers that work to preserve local culinary traditions and rare, cherished foodsbefore its too late.