Portland: A Food Biography

(Hardback)

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Description

The infant city called The Clearing was a bald patch amid a stuttering wood. The Clearing was no booming metropolis; no destination for gastrotourists; no career-changer for ardent chefs just awkward, palsied steps toward Victorian gentility. In the decades before the remaining trees were scraped from the landscape, Portlands wood was still a verdant breadbasket, overflowing with huckleberries and chanterelles, venison leaping on cloven hoof. Today, Portland is seen as a quaint village populated by trust fund wunderkinds who run food carts each serving something more precious than the last. But Portlands culinary history actually tells a different story: the tales of the salmon-people, the pioneers and immigrants, each struggling to make this strange but inviting land between the Pacific and the Cascades feel like home. The foods that many people associate with Portland are derived from and defined by its history: salmon, berries, hazelnuts and beer. But Portland is more than its ingredients. Portland is an eaters paradise and a cooks playground. Portland is a gustatory wonderland. Full of wry humor and captivating anecdotes, Portland: A Food Biography chronicles the Rose Citys rise from a muddy Wild West village full of fur traders, lumberjacks and neer-do-wells, to a progressive, bustling town of merchants, brewers and oyster parlors, to the critical darling of the national food scene. Heather Arndt Anderson brings to life in lively prose the culinary landscape of Portland, then and now.

Reviews

In this book, the fourth in Ken Albalas 'Big City Food Biographies' series, Portland native Anderson, author of Breakfast, provides a personal and historical narrative of Portlands rich culinary culture. The book begins with the evolution of the regions natural resources, regional Native American foodways, and the rapid invasion of East Coast, midwestern, southern, and immigrant culinary influences. The largest chapter focuses on immigrant neighborhoods and their culinary contributions, with significant attention paid to the history of Portlands Chinatown(s) as well as Jewish, Volga German, and Mexican influences. Other chapters include information on historical restaurants, famous watering holes, and historic cookbooks. Portland natives and newcomers will appreciate the loving attention that Anderson gives to the past. . . .This book will be valuable for culinary historians and a must have for Oregon history collections and culinary collections. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. * CHOICE *
The book is filled with tidbits that foodies will relish.. . .The biggest challenge of writing food history is that sources are spotty and ephemeral: random accounts of travelers, old newspaper ads, memoirs, cookbooks, and trade literature. Anderson makes a significant contribution by retrieving otherwise lost stories and weaving together disparate threads to create this first account of Portlands unique food heritage. While the book does not seek to explicate how that heritage gave rise to todays vibrant food scene, Portland: a Food Biography is an excellent read for locals who want to have a deeper sense of their city and its food traditions, and it will also interest historians seeking to better understand the critical urban hub of Oregons food history. * Oregon Historical Quarterly *
Heather Arndt Andersons latest book, Portland: A Food Biography, connects the history of Portland, Oregon, to changes in its local cuisine through an engaging and humorous narrative. Her book touches on topics familiar to academic historians, such as the environment, first peoples, settlers, immigrants, class, gender, and race, but her work also targets a wider audience. Chapters on markets, restaurants, and breweries, in addition to stories about local personalities and recipes from pioneer cookbooks, make for an accessible history that will appeal to native Portlanders, those interested in local history, and visitors looking for a fun place to go out to eat or drink.... One of the strengths of this book ... is the attention that Anderson gives to the roles that gender, race, and class played in Portlands food history. Andersons focus on how women, racial minorities, and working-class people shaped the history of food in Portland adds an important dimension to our understanding of the citys 'food biography' ... [H]er narrative is entertaining and mostly humorous.... Portland: A Food Biography is a must-read for anyone interested in Portlands food history. * Pacific Northwest Quarterly *
Heather Arndt Anderson has done it again. Portland: A Food Biography is a brilliant book full of history and food. Heather obviously has a passion for food and it comes across very clearly in her book, but thats not all that is here. She uses food, the common denominator for all the residents of the city, as a way in to history. Starting before Portland was a city she tells us about the setting, what grew here and what people ate. The book gives a good feel for Portlands natural setting, its indigenous flora and fauna and the lives that people have lived here in all of the historical eras. It is an exciting way to write history, and it is fun to read. She has written not only the tastiest history of my favorite city, but also the most filling. -- J.D. Chandler, author, Hidden History of Portland, OR and Murder and Mayhem in Portland, OR
From Native American and pioneer food histories to later immigrant traditions Heather Arndt Anderson's deeply-researched book explores Portland's long connection with the bounty of the land. -- Tracy J. Prince, Ph.D., Portland State University
Its a mighty twisty culinary path from wapato wonderland, via boiled wheat mush and crab Louis salad, to Portlands present prominence as a land of lush local liquoring and foodcarts galore. Portland: A Food Biography is a fast and colorful run down that path, and at the end you may be panting for moremore food, more beverages, more time-tinged tales of eating in a bountiful place. -- Richard H. Engeman, historian and author of Eating It Up in Eden: the Oregon Century Farm & Ranch Cookbook and The Oregon Companion: An Historical Gazetteer of the Useful, the Curious, and the Arcane
Food is such a critical part of history. Food and foodways have shaped the destiny of every empire in human history, as much as or more than anything else, and yet the topic is barely glanced at in most history books. In this wonderfully readable, enjoyable and thoroughly researched book, Heather Arndt Anderson fills a great need for local historians in the Pacific Northwest and for those who would like a taste of what life was like at mealtime for their great-great-grandparents. History buffs, genealogists, and foodies all will love this book, both for the fantastic tidbits the author has uncovered in her research and for the sheer pleasure of her writing voice. -- Finn J.D. John, author of Wicked Portland; public historian

Author Bio

Heather Arndt Anderson, a Portland native, is a freelance journalist and food writer. She is the author of Breakfast: A History (AltaMira Press, 2013) and Portland: A Food Biography (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy, 2014). She is presently writing Chilies: A Global History. In a previous life, she was a plant ecologist and blogger. She plays hobby-homesteader in Portland with her husband, son, cats, and chickens.