I read about food a lot. It is almost an obsession. This ranges from cooking blogs to political news articles to books. And oh, the books. For some reason I can not bear to read them and give them back so I end up owning a ridiculous number of them. This is ok considering how often I reference them- whether it is to find a recipe or to remind myself of a particular fact or tip.
Because of this, and the fact that my food journey essentially began through a book, I decided it would be a good idea for me to occasionally write about books linked to this topic. Today I am writing about Colorado Organic.
Colorado Organic is a beautiful book imagined and photographed by Jennifer Olson and written by Cecily Cullen and Mindy Sink. Though it does contain incredible recipes, I almost hate to stifle the book through the description "cookbook". It is so much more than that. Olson takes us through Colorado, profiling many of our best farms, chefs, ingredients and restaurants along the way.
The tagline of the book is "cooking seasonally, eating locally," and I think that is the best way to describe it. The "chapters" are each of the four seasons and they contain stories and recipes directly pertaining to the foods we can find here at that particular time. In Spring, for example, there is Potager's Trio of Three Green Soups and in fall there is The Kitchen's Almond Tart with Slow Roasted Pears. It is like a mouthwatering local snapshot.
The photography is stunning and the farmer and chef profiles made me feel like I was really getting to know these people and connecting on some level. Everyone profiled is committed to local, seasonal food as well as what they can provide the residents of Colorado.
Part of the reason I love the book so much, and something that made it particularly fun, is that it profiled one of my favorite farms and my very favorite restaurant. The farm is Wisdom's Natural Poultry and is where all of our chicken comes from. They are one of the suppliers of Rocky Plains Meats and once we heard about their commitment to humanely raised, antibiotic and hormone free animals, we were sold. It is the flavor, however, that truly steals the show. Duo is an incredible restaurant in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver. It is a place committed to the simplistic use of local ingredients. Everything I have ever had there has been amazing and something I wish I could replicate, and to me, that speaks volumes. Because they are only a few short minutes from us, we feel a neighborly connection with them and we especially appreciate that their ideals are so close to our own.
The back of Colorado Organic includes a resource guide which references the featured restaurants and farms as well as a list of local farmers markets, orchards, suppliers, and more. It is very helpful and comprehensive guide, one I have used several times.
The book is available at local bookstores as well as through Amazon.com. I highly suggest it for all Colorado eaters out there, and honestly- the recipes would be amazing regardless of where you live.
Colorado Organic
by Jennifer Olson, written by Cecily Cullen and Mindy Sink
Published by Jennifer Olson Photography, LLC
Sounds like a great book. I'll keep my eyes open for it at my library, I'd love to get to know the local farmers in CO :)
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