Cape Cod is a great place to visit – Upper, Mid, Lower and Outer Cape – not forgetting the two islands Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
The region produces amazing seafood – think lobsters, for a start. And if you want to know how to cook a lobster look no further than page 168 of the Cape Cod Cookbook. But this engaging cookbook deals with more than cooking lobsters.
Included are recipes such as crab cakes, slow roasted pulled pork, Boston baked beans, chorizo and chickpea soup, saffron and lemon chicken, almond and poppy seed bread, apple pie, blue cheese dressing and limoncello. OK some of them might not have originated from Cape Cod, or even America but this is a cookbook celebrating family and friends in the kitchen, cooking up as the authors say ‘something new and beautiful’ from their recipes.
The authors are two sisters – Kelly Moss and Michael Aviles who grew up in Cape Cod. Michael married a chef, Philip Aviles, and they own and run a collection of Southwestern restaurants there called Masa. Kelly, on the other hand lives in London. In 2003 as a result of a motor accident she was left quadriplegic. Undeterred she has discovered a passion for water colour painting and being in the kitchen ‘bossing people around’. She and her sister obviously make a great team with proceeds from the book being donated to Spinal Research – a charity funding medical research into paralysis caused by a broken back or neck.
There are some terrific sounding recipes with some delightful illustrations, including a number showing the beauty of Cape Cod itself. And we loved the quotable quotes that preface many of the recipes.
Cape Cod Cookbook – Best Recipes from Best Friends. Kelly Ballo Moss and Michael Ballo Aviles. ISBN: 978-0-615-67633-3. £18.50. Available from www.amazon.com for the United States and www.amazon.co.uk for Europe; or from Daunt Books shops in London and Books for Cooks shop in Notting Hill, London. For large orders please contact Kelly at mommymoss@yahoo.com or Michael at missmichaelb@yahoo.com