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Twain's Feast
Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens | Andrew Beahrs
One young food writer's search for America's lost wild foods, from New Orleans croakers to Illinois Prairie hen, with Mark Twain as his guide. In the winter of 1879, Mark Twain paused during a tour of Europe to compose a fantasy menu of the American dishes he missed the most. He was desperately sick of European hotel cooking, and his menu, made up of some eighty regional specialties, was a true love letter to American food: Lake Trout, from Tahoe. Hot biscuits, Southern style. Canvasback-duck, from Baltimore. Black-bass, from the Mississippi. When food writer Andrew Beahrs first read Twain's menu in the classic work A Tramp Abroad, he noticed the dishes were regional in the truest sense of the word-drawn fresh from grasslands, woods, and waters in a time before railroads had dissolved the culinary lines between Hannibal, Missouri, and San Francisco. These dishes were all local, all wild, and all, Beahrs feared, had been lost in the shift to industrialized food. In Twain's Feast, Beahrs sets out to discover whether eight of these forgotten regional specialties can still be found on American tables, tracing Twain's footsteps as he goes. Twain's menu, it turns out, was also a memoir and a map. The dishes he yearned for were all connected to cherished moments in his life-from the New Orleans croakers he loved as a young man on the Mississippi to the maple syrup he savored in Connecticut, with his family, during his final, lonely years. Tracking Twain's foods leads Beahrs from the dwindling prairie of rural Illinois to a six-hundred-pound coon supper in Arkansas to the biggest native oyster reef in San Francisco Bay. He finds pockets of the country where Twain's favorite foods still exist or where intrepid farmers, fishermen, and conservationists are trying to bring them back. In Twain's Feast, he reminds us what we've lost as these wild foods have disappeared from our tables, and what we stand to gain from their return. Weaving together passages from Twain's famous works and Beahrs's own adventures, Twain's Feast takes us on a journey into America's past, to a time when foods taken fresh from grasslands, woods, and waters were at the heart of American cooking.
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JenReadsAlot
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Pickpick

I never would have listened to this if it wasn't for Nick Offerman! Enjoyable for this time of year.

emz711 Omg! I do a scan of things he's narrates but only in Libby. Guess I need to check audible 12mo
JenReadsAlot @emz711 I just love him! 12mo
35 likes2 comments
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Jnnlb
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Mehso-so

A lot of research went into this book but was a slow read

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freyaheart
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I love Nick Offerman as a narrator.

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kgriffith
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#audiocooking the fishes I didn‘t get around to last night.

Kaye Really liked this. Lots of interesting info in such a short audio. 6y
kgriffith @kaye I agree. Have you read The Cooking Gene? Similar in premise but much broader, deeper, and more personal in scope and presentation. I found it to be thoroughly engaging. 6y
Kaye No, I‘d never heard of that. Thanks for mentioning it. I‘m heading to Amazon to give it a look 👀 6y
36 likes3 comments
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brandybear22
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Really appreciate the discourse on attain, as we know him and in context, with an intelligent discussion around “coon-hunting” and southern white culture. Also to consider what southern culture was pre and post civil war, and what was appropriated and what was assimilated.

And whether Twain was racist, based on the language he chose, or whether he was really quite brilliant in understanding race. And America. I‘m leaning toward the latter.

saresmoore I‘m always hopeful it‘s the latter, but Twain‘s language sure is jarring to read. 6y
brandybear22 @saresmoore Indeed. If it were written today, it would be a completely different context, and the stories wouldn‘t matter. If we went back and changed the language, they wouldn‘t really make the points that are intended. His work is very time specific, and perhaps more adult than we ascribe. 6y
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Julsmarshall
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Interesting, a tasty little treat about Twain‘s favorite foods, their origins and geography. Nice on audio, I could listen to Nick Offerman all day long! This was free on audible when I downloaded, may still be, worth checking! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Based on Mark Twain‘s extensive favorite foods list, this audio documentary provides a brief glimpse at American culinary history, discussing many regional cuisines and imparting socioeconomic insight as to why many dishes no longer exist. It‘s also a snapshot of Twain‘s life, his writing, and an ever-changing America. This Audible Original is narrated by massive Twain fan Nick Offerman and food journalist Andrew Beahrs. Very enjoyable!

Kimberlone Can‘t wait to listen to this one too! 6y
Reviewsbylola This sounds really cool! 6y
britt_brooke @Kimberlone @Reviewsbylola It was a quick, super enjoyable listen! 6y
113 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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britt_brooke
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▶️🎧

Enjoying this immensely so far!

Kimberlone I downloaded this one too But haven‘t started listening yet! Two of my loves combined :) 6y
britt_brooke @Kimberlone Yes! And I‘ve realized for the millionth time that I need to read more Twain. I‘ve only read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer (though multiple times). I want Nick Offerman to narrate my life! 6y
Kimberlone @britt_brooke I recommended Life on the Mississippi and 6y
britt_brooke @Kimberlone Thanks! I have Life on the Mississippi on my kindle and stacked the other one. 6y
89 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Julsmarshall
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Audio quilting! Making a T-shirt quilt for my son 😄 shh! It‘s a secret! #audioquilting #makingmerry

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Tkgbjenn1
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Pickpick

A review of the Audible version. Advertised as a discovery of who Twain was by the food he ate. It is much more. It‘s an Americana Travelogue. A bio-pic. A local history lesson. A environmental plea. More of a podcast that a strait reading of a book. I found it interesting.

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josie281
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This is really a fantastic and intriguing look at Mark Twain, food, and culture. Perfect to audiobook & cook for tomorrow!
Not the tagged book as this is an #audibleoriginal

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BlameJennyJane
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I love this book even more than before. Love Twain. Love Offerman. Love food.

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BkClubCare
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Listening to this while driving through Hannibal Missouri!

21 likes2 stack adds
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BlameJennyJane
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Has anyone else checked out Twain‘s Feast on Audible? It is a fascinating examination of Mark Twain- his food, cultural influence, and writings... and the relevance of those things today. It sounded incredibly boring but I love Nick Offerman and he is never boring, so I gave it a shot. Love!

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Christine
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I have recommended or gifted this to so many friends and family! It is funny, super engaging, and perfection for foodies or Twain fans. #FunFridayPhoto

DebinHawaii I read this a couple of years ago for my virtual foodie book club. It's a fun book! 👍😀 8y
Christine @DebinHawaii Virtual foodie book club? Fun!! 8y
31 likes2 stack adds2 comments