By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The city of Boston holds many treasures that can go unnoticed, and one of the is food. Clara Silverstein, a Boston-based cookbook author, wants to share that with the people of Westwood at the Westwood Public Library (WPL) on Monday night. With the second edition of her book “The Boston Chef’s Table,” her aim is not only to share delicious recipes, but to educate others about their origins.
Silverstein opened her author talk with a slideshow, after sharing she had met some of the attendants earlier that week at a cooking class on Greek food. As she put it, she is always learning new ways to cook. With a master’s degree in history from University of Massachusetts Boston, her passion lies in food history. She shared the historical significance of local food, specifically corn, cranberries, and squash! Some of that history stretches back to the time of the puritans. The Native Americans taught them how to grow and harvest corn and squash, and one of the first images that come to mind when thinking of Massachusetts is the famed cranberry bogs. Of course there is also seafood, with clams and oysters and the famed cods of Cape Cod, and maple syrup from neighboring states also influenced historical meals because of sugar taxes.
Silverstein even brought up why Boston is called “Beantown.” When the puritans came to the new country, they were following a strict branch of Christianity. To avoid working on the Sabbath, they would make a large batch of molasses baked beans on Saturday to eat the next day. Not to mention the Tea Party Museum, where you can sample the teas they threw in the harbor.
“The Boston Chef’s Table” collects recipes from Boston chefs and that use Massachusetts local ingredients to make a cookbook and tourist book in one. It has stunning pictures of Boston dispersed in its pages and hidden gems like the Boston Public Marker. There is also a page on Julia Childe, who got her start as a famed television chef on our own WGBH.
The recipes are in sections consisting of appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, entrees which include seafood, poultry, meat, vegetarian and side dishes, and deserts. There is something for everyone in this book from the novice chefs to the sweet lovers, or those searching for a good spot to eat in the city, complete with mouth watering images of dishes you will be dying to try for yourself.
It is more than just a cookbook; it is a love letter to Boston and its rich history. If that interests you, look for “The Boston Chef’s Table” wherever books are sold, or check it out from your local library.
