This evocative, educational, insightful and inspiring memoir was a joy to read.

“Chef Peter Hoffman is the curious cook’s cook. As the former chef/owner of Savoy and Back Forty restaurants, he trail-blazed farm-to-table cooking in New York City. His opinion pieces have been published in the New York Times, Edible Manhattan, and Food & Wine. Hoffman served on the boards of the Greenmar­ket and Chefs Collaborative and is a Slow Food NYC Snailblazer award recipient” according to publisher Abrams Press.

Disclosure: I received a media sample of this book from publisher, Abrams Press. I received no compensation for this post, and all opinions presented are my own.

In this memoir, which is organized in synchrony with the seasons commencing in Spring, Hoffman shares the trials, tribulations and triumphs of his life’s journey that lead to him opening Savoy in 1990. Underpinned by the proposition that food could be cooked in a socially and environmentally thoughtful way, Savoy was a first mover in the New York farm-to-table restaurant scene. He later opened the first of two locations of Back Forty in 2007 in the Savoy space.

Each chapter offers vivid, sensual details of Hoffman’s connection to a particular ingredient (and not all ingredients are food).

One doesn’t expect to find cultural, historical, scientific and ethnobotanical topics like race, class, colonialism, modern refrigeration and botanical provenance seamlessly interwoven in a compelling memoir, but that’s what Hoffman does.

I very much enjoyed and appreciated Hoffman’s willingness to “peel back the layers” related to both food and his personal experiences.

It was an eye-opening and fascinating read for me.

The chapters entitled Maple Syrup, Calçots, and Pietro’s Canestrinos di Great Jones Street inspired me to try a few recipes at the end of those chapters – The Back Forty, Romesco Sauce, and Pasta Alla Norma respectively.

I selected these particular chapters because the recipes were relatively easy to execute, with seasonal ingredients that I mostly on hand.

The Back Forty

In this chapter the author discusses how abolitionists regarded maple syrup production as a way to obtain sugar without participating the the slave trade (which relied on slaves toiling in sugar cane fields and boiling houses under harsh conditions and high mortality rates), while also explaining how sap from maple trees is turned in to maple syrup (the labor is called ‘sugaring”).

Additionally, he introduced the concept of terroir as it relates to maple trees. As a wine lover, I found this particularly interesting.

After reading this utterly fascinating chapter I was inspired to make a “The Back Forty”. It’s a delicious twist on the classic whiskey sour that uses maple for the sweetener and Tennessee whiskey.

It was an immensely popular drink at his Back Forty West restaurant, which he closed in 2016 to work this food memoir and deepen his relationships with his beloved food activist community.

Romesco Sauce

Community is a recurring theme in the book. The chapter on calçots recounts how an event he attended in Spain inspired him to host communal gatherings at his Savoy restaurant in NY. The event was held in the Catalan region of Spain, and is called a calçotada. It’s a annual festival centered around eating char-grilled spring onions known as calçots, which are served up with copious amounts of grilled meat, sausages and red wine. Inspired by Hoffman’s mouth-watering story-telling, I was inspired to (for the first time) grill leeks (a satisfactory substitute for calçots). I also grilled some lamb lollipops topped with homemade Romesco using the recipe at the end of the chapter. We washed it down with a wonderful Crianza from Cune.

Talk about good eatin’!

Pasta Alla Norma

Did you know that wild tomatoes originated in Ecuador and Peru? Or that they were domesticated in Mexico, by the Aztecs before being Spanish explorer Cortés brought seed to Europe in the 16th century?

I certainly didn’t.

This chapter covers all manner of tomatoes, including the Canestrino tomato which is local to Lucca, Italy.

Hoffman recounts his experience growing this tomato on his rooftop (thus, the moniker “Canestrino de Great Jones Street) which he considers the flavor king for sauces and paste.

Growing your own is a way of not being entangled in the clutches of the corporate farming system, where tomatoes are selected for qualities I do not share: uniform size, red even color, durability for transnational shipping, and sadly with little regard to taste

Peter Hoffman

I didn’t have any Canestrino tomatoes (but you can bet I’ll be buying some seeds), but I did have plenty of Hillbilly heirloom tomatoes. I used those to make the Pasta Alla Norma.

My wife, who loves all things eggplant, raved about the sauce for days!

of a locavore chef’s trials, tribulations and triumphs, with the chronicles of a locavore and early NYC farm-to-table pioneer, who has spent a lifetime in restaurants. But Hoffman does just that and more in this evocative, educational, insightful and inspiring memoir.

Conclusion

This evocative, educational, insightful and inspiring memoir was a joy to read. It’s essential reading whether you’re a farm-to-fork enthusiast or, if you’re like me, and you’ve not given much thought to that journey. Very highly recommended!

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