Day 344: Roasted Parsnips with Pine Nuts
Every once in a lucky while, you find a cookbook that's entirely cookable. And if it's an entirely readable history lesson, too? Foodie Heaven. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark launched the great exploration of the new Lousiana Purchase. The food logistics alone were enormous: there were no Safeways, no Whole Foods along the traverse of the Missouri River. How and what DID they eat? Well and a lot, it turns out, very well and a whole lot. The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark by Mary Gunderson describes the expedition in terms of food, applying what Mary calls paleocuisineology -- bringing history alive through cooking -- to make a history book with recipes. "Welcome to the table of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The dining cloth reaches across the North American continent, circa 1803 to 1806. There is more than enough room for each of us to crowd around. Linger at any point in the journey and a rich food history is at hand, revealing the larger story of the E