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American Terroir

Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields
by Rowan Jacobsen
American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Sept. 2010. c.272p. illus. maps. ISBN 978-1-59691-648-7. $25. COOKING
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The terroir (literally "terrain") food movement has been gaining momentum not just as a reaction to the failings of the industrial food system but because homogenization dilutes ingredients' focal identities so much that we no longer feel a relationship with our environments. As Jacobsen (A Geography of Oysters) discusses apples in Yakima, WA, varietal honey in Florida, Yukon River salmon, forest foraging in Quebec, and the bean-to-bar breakdown of chocolate in Chiapas, Mexico, he encourages us to rebel against the meaninglessness of sprawl and returns our sense of self by offering context. Food isn't just food, and for Americans whose connections to the land aren't necessarily rooted in ancestry, the story of each ingredient reestablishes a relationship central to knowing who we are.
VERDICT Jacobsen eases readers into discussions of chemistry, history, geography, and gastronomy with cavalier charm and worldly wit, but his knack for cutting to the core restores exoticism to our backyard. Inspirational and highly engaging.
Reviewed by Ben Malczewski, Ypsilanti Dist. Lib., MI , Jul 01, 2010
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