Missouri has a diverse offering of delicious cuisines from indigenous peoples, as well as from German immigrants and descendants of enslaved Africans. Because of Missouri’s unique climate, cattle and crops, traditional dishes have a special twist that you can only find within the state — 70 of those recipes are shared in a new cookbook, “Missouri Comfort: Recipes, Places, and Food Traditions in the Show-Me State.”
The cookbook, published by Reedy Press, combines chef Mathew Unger’s recipes with history and culture distilled by food writer Porsche Moran-Murphy. The two collaborated on the book, which includes decades of foodie and restaurant experience that beginner cooks and seasoned chefs can appreciate.
“The core of the entire book is that every recipe touches Missouri — it was grown here, a recipe from here, or maybe brought here [from abroad] and morphed into a new recipe because of what we have to offer in Missouri,” Unger said. “There’s chapters on ethnicities … and there’s a lot of food that’s grown here that we use in recipes whether it be soybeans, corn or morel mushrooms. Then there are the recipes that were created here: barbecue from Kansas City or this side of the state, toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake and pork steaks.”
Though Moran-Murphy has written about food for years, working on “Missouri Comfort” was an opportunity to eat signature Missouri meals for the first time.
“I have had the great honor of actually trying the recipes from Mathew. I got to try the burnt ends and he has a grilled Caesar salad that was amazing. I’d never had that before, I’d never even heard of that, and it was so good,” she said.
Moran-Murphy added that she’s excited to try Unger’s dishes in her own kitchen and hopes that readers will do the same. “I’m really looking forward to working on some of these over the holiday season, like the bourbon bread pudding, that would be great for Thanksgiving or Christmas.”
For more on “Missouri Comfort” and the recipes co-authors Mathew Unger and Porsche Moran-Murphy are most excited about, including their recommendations on beer, wines and spirits, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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