Bite this Book: The Nourished Kitchen

The latest cookbook to take up residence on my kitchen counter is Jennifer McGruther’s The Nourished Kitchen.

With the tagline Farm-to-Table Recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle, Jenny’s is actually a pretty close representation of how I cook for my family on a daily basis: wholesome, nourishing foods, sourced and prepared mindfully, with a nod to old world culinary traditions and techniques. I’m delighted to find new inspiration in The Nourished Kitchen.

The cookbook is a fresh take on unprocessed foods; 160 recipes prettily packaged alongside helpful headnotes and beautiful photographs. It is one I know I will reach for and cook from for many years to come.

Read on for an interview with Jennifer and a chance to win a copy of The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table Recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle.

Q&A with Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen.

1. What is the traditional foods lifestyle? Can you explain for someone who may be hearing this term for the first time?

Traditional Foods are the foods of past generations: whole, unprocessed and prepared with time-honored techniques that maximize the nourishment they contain. They’re the foods you’d enjoy if you sat down at your great-great grandmother’s table. Long-simmered bone broths, whole-grain sourdough breads, vegetables served with plenty of butter, slow-roasted meats, wild-caught fish, organ meats, raw dairy and fermented foods like sauerkraut, milk kefir and kombucha are feature prominently within the traditional foods movement. At its essence, though, are simple, balanced whole foods prepared with time-honored culinary traditions.

2. What is your history in the nourishing food movement?

My journey with traditional foods began when my son, now 8, was about 9 months old. I read Nutritional and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston Price, and found myself fascinated by his research and his insight into traditional diets around the world. In desperate search for community within the broader movement, which was small and fringe at the time, I started Nourished Kitchen as a way to work my way through my own journey and to share recipes with my husband, who was a stay-at-home parent. It’s about this time that my husband and I took on prominent roles within the roots of our farmers market, and we began to grow the traditional foods movement within our own community as well as online through Nourished Kitchen.

Years later, the traditional foods movement has blossomed, and techniques and foods once considered fringe like milk kefir, kombucha, and bone broth are rising in popularity. I’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to take an active role in championing causes related to the traditional foods movement, acting as an advocate for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, the Savory Institute and speaking at the Weston A Price Foundation’s annual conference. I also teach cooking classes and workshops on traditional foods across the country.

3. Your recipes are so seasonal and inspiring; do you have a favourite month for produce and what is your ideal market or garden haul?

That’s tough to answer. At first I think spring because I love those first few greens and strawberries that appear with the new season. As soon as I tire of those, the robust tomatoes and syrupy sweet peaches of summer are ready, and I fall in love again. And so it goes with fall and winter too, where at that very moment I’m in love with what’s fresh: apples, root vegetables and winter squash.

4. You’re a mother, like many of my readers; is there any advice you can give for raising good eaters with a healthy approach to traditional foods and food culture?

When you provide children with a wide variety of wholesome foods from the beginning, they become accustomed to wholesome foods. When you cook at home most of the time, cook whole foods from scratch most of the time, you don’t have to worry about the occasional trip eating out, the occasional birthday party or occasional school treat.

One step to helping kids to develop a healthy relationship with food is to provide them with the opportunity to garden, shop and prepare food at home. These activities inspire children, encouraging their creativity and help them to get excited about healthy foods.

In essence, do the best you can, cook at home when you can, and don’t sweat the occasional treat.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publishers at Ten Speed Press, I have a copy of The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table Recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle to giveaway. (North America only, please)

To enter:

To enter this giveaway leave a comment on this post and tell me something you hope to glean from this cookbook. That’s it!

Giveaway ends Sunday, June 1 at 7:00 AM EST. Good luck to all!