Kitchen Scientist and America's Cook
November 1, 2023
A Bostonian revolutionizes the recipe world. Fannie Farmer (1857-1915) grew up helping in the kitchen, as most girls did at the time. She learned to love cooking, and when polio left her with a limp that prevented her from attending college, she devoted herself fully to cooking. She developed methods based on precision measurements--a groundbreaking concept at a time when most recipes called for "a suspicion of nutmeg" or "as many yolks as may be necessary." She became a teacher and later principal at the Boston Cooking School and wrote a cookbook (still in print years later). Deborah Hopkinson's Fannie in the Kitchen (2004), illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, focused on Farmer's life before cooking school; Smith, by contrast, spends more time on her subsequent professional life. The prose is peppered with rich cooking imagery and includes two workable, though not simple, recipes--for popovers and angel food cake. Reagan's engaging watercolor and digital illustrations convey a sense of Fannie's world; quotations from her writings are interspersed. Most people shown present white, like Fannie, but there are Black faces among her cooking school classmates, students, audiences, and customers for her books. In the backmatter, Smith carefully notes that some scenes about Fannie's early life are based on speculation, due to lack of available information. Delectable! (more about Fannie Farmer, resources, timeline, bibliography, photos, picture credits) (Picture-book biography. 7-10)
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
December 1, 2023
Grades 2-4 Head into the kitchen with fabulous, but maybe not famous, Fannie Farmer, who gets the picture-book biography treatment in this well-researched, lightly told, and evocatively illustrated recounting of her story. From her early years wary of "dashes" and "pinches" and "goodly amounts" of butter to her bout with polio that put her life on a different track, this biography of Farmer provides the basic outlines of her life but primarily focuses it through the lens of the changes she brought about in cooking, rather than on her every experience. As we follow her to Boston Cooking School, the vintage-style illustrations help transport the reader through time. This is an excellent introduction to a woman who's probably unknown to most but whose work has impacted all, but the real star of this show is the extensive, detailed back matter: an endnote with further information on topics covered in the book, suggested reads and watch lists, and a multipage time line. This is a strong addition to library and school shelves with possible curricular tie-ins.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from March 29, 2024
K-Gr 4-The writing in this book beautifully spells out the problem home cooks faced with recipes back in Fannie Farmer's day: "Both in books and out loud, the instructions were often cloudier than clam chowder." Bakers were told to add a "suspicion of nutmeg," or "as many yolks of eggs as may be necessary." Farmer had a scientific mind. After a bout with polio, and her plans to go to college dashed, she came up with a new plan, because "Her passion for cooking and baking rose up like a seven-layer cake!" At the Boston Cooking School, where she started as a student and ultimately became a teacher, Farmer intuitively understood the value of precision and consistency. In fact, "Fannie thought cooking for a family was serious business. It involved planning and budgeting, health, and nutrition." She wanted the same result every time, and so her teachings include measuring ingredients, set baking times, and more. Although the colorful and sprightly illustrations use a style that seems aimed at younger readers, older children will love the fact that the publisher of her book, the meticulously rewritten Boston Cooking School's cookbook, didn't think it would sell much; Farmer paid for the printing so that she could keep most of the profits, too. Savvy! A fabulous book. Back matter includes a time line, Farmer's books, a bibliography, further resources such as books and television shows, author's note, and two recipes. VERDICT She didn't invent measuring cups, but she "influenced" the sales of them; this book rightfully bestows hall of fame status to a woman who insisted on accuracy when it came to getting success-not waste-from a recipe every time. For the biography shelves.-Ginnie Abbott
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