The Magic of Fire: Hearth Cooking: One Hundred Recipes for the Fireplace or Campfire
The Magic of Fire Cooking on the Open Hearth by William Rubel The open hearth is where American colonials baked their beans, English families took their tea, French country families prepared their pot au feu, and Italian mothers stirred their polenta. THE MAGIC OF FIRE explores both the techniques of hearth cooking and the poetry of hearth and flame through the ages. The recipe collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the past with authentic renditions of Brisket Baked under Ashes, Pot Roast, String-Roasted Turkey, Stockfish Stew, Chocolat Ancienne, and Tarte Tatin. With its evocative and erudite narrative and extraordinary paintings by master realist Ian Everard, THE MAGIC OF FIRE is the definitive … More >>
4.5
The Magic of Fire: Hearth Cooking: One Hundred Recipes for the Fireplace or Campfire
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It is a great looking book, but that’s where everything good about it ends. The book is big and has great animation but it’s not really about cooking. Granted, it has recipes but nothing particular stands out. Also, it skips a fundamental step, FIRE. What is the best way to set it up, best wood to use, how to manage it?
I was disappointed.
Rating: 1 / 5
I volunteer at a Historic Site on weekends. Lately I took training there on hearth cooking, as one of their buildings is a 1840′s era kitchen where all cooking was done in a fireplace. I went searching for recipes for this type of cooking. Although this book is not focused on historic recipes only, it does turn out to be a wealth of information on this method of cooking. The descriptions are very well done, the paintings and sketches are simply wonderful and the recipes will keep a person busy for a very long time. This book would be “the best” I would recommend for anyone wanting to do hearth cooking.
Rating: 5 / 5
As a cook I like being able to step away from the stove, the variation of cooking with different “media”, the experimentation. I never imagined that I could make anything other than barbeque over an open fire but Rubel’s receipes and instructions are so clear and assuring that I surprise myself with every meal I’ve made. The recipes are outstanding! The paintings by Ian Everard are gorgeous. The actual writings, history and presentation make a beautiful package. In addition to buying a cookbook you are also buying an art book. Leave this one out before dinner for the guests to see.
Rating: 5 / 5
The Magic of Fire is that rare coffee-table sized book — it’s the one you are going to use for more than just drooling over the pretty pictures. (Mind you, the pictures are quite droolworthy.) Rubel carefully describes the techniques of hearth cookery, and then provides a number of recipes to practice upon. Tantalizing glimpses of how fire is and has been used around the world add more spice. A must read for anyone who loves traditional foods, or even just the warmth of a good fire. I recently took my copy with me to the mountains, just because I’d have a chance to play with a campfire, something I can’t do at home, and found myself looking at the fire in whole new ways.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is written by a man who thoroughly understands his subject. The well-produced, beautiful book will take you from being the owner of a fireplace (or, for that matter, any contained open fire) and make you into an accomplished open-fire cook. Rubel shows clearly that open-hearth cooking is not only an old-fashioned way to cook, but a method which offers unparalleled control of the cooking process, sufficient to entice those without any interest in its history. Having lived for 5 years “in 1867″ in a one-room apartment on Boston’s Beacon Hill, lighting by candle and oil and heating and cooking on an open, Rumford fireplace, I think I can offer a unique perspective on Mr. Rubel’s methods and practice. Buy this book–you will not regret it!
Rating: 5 / 5