Foods of Long Island Cookbook New York

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Description: In the spirit of American regional cookbooks, here is a superb book inspired by Long Island's vast selection of foods. All these foods -- from ducks to strawberries -- are available to any cook, in any city. 

As much a reading book as a cookbook (there are over 250 recipes), Foods of Long Island celebrates the bounty and variety of homegrown food and wine, and the farmers, fishermen, and vintners who produce it. Only 120 miles long, and taking in its sweep the largely residential western areas, out to the farms and to the resort villages along the East End, the Island offers much to tempt anyone who cares about good food. 

Well-known and praised far beyond the Long Island shores are the estimable Long Island duck, which roasts to juicy perfection; sweet Peconic Bay scallops and briny oysters; and the ubiquitous Long Island potatoes with their honest, earthy flavor. In addition to what has been considered the stock-in-trade of Long Island fare, the variety of the produce is impressive: sweet corn and Sugar Snap peas; asparagus, cauliflower, and fennel; vine- ripened tomatoes galore; cantaloupes, Cranshaws, and watermelons; and an abundance of fruits such as grapes, peaches, strawberries, and raspberries. 

Consider, too, the tremendous range of Long Island fish and shellfish -- the flavorful and versatile bluefish, porgies, and weakfish, which can be stuffed with lobster, or braised with vegetables in a simple broth. Particularly suited to Long Island's waters are clams, from cherry-stones to littlenecks and steamers. Ways to serve them forth are endless -- whether baked on the half shell in a bed of chopped hazelnuts, garlic, and parsley, or in a traditional Long Island clam pie. Scallops (in season six months of the year) have a delicious taste when offered in a seviche, quickly sauteed in butter, or napped in a sauce of saffron and tomatoes. No less tasty are oysters -- eaten with just a spritz of lemon juice, or fried -- and mussels, quickly steamed in white wine and butter. 

Desserts, as always, have appeal, and the case is amply illustrated here -- strawberries dipped in chocolate or made into sorbet, pumpkin-date tone, and three special kinds of cheesecake. There are lovely fruit tarts in spun caramel "cages" for special occasions, and a homestyle apple pie or carrot cake for family and friends. 

Peggy Katalinich, food editor at Newsday, talked with farmers on Long Island; she rose at dawn to go out on fishing boats; and she visited the local vineyards. The stories she heard, and the remarkable variety of foods she learned about are all found here -- from the saga of a family-run oyster business spanning two generations, to why Long Island fruit farmers find New Yorkers a fickle bunch. 

This marvelous book, peppered with essays about the farming and fishing industries, and how-to tips on everything from shucking oysters to boning a duck, offers the reader the plentiful, well-tended bounty of Long Island. 

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Condition: Good condition.