The Salem Chamber of Commerce has published its first cookbook just in time for the holidays! Salem’s Cookin’ features a compilation of recipes from local chefs, bakers, brewers, and celebrities as well as historical context, stories, and snippets of Salem history. There are recipes from the past and present, and chapters on beverages and cocktails as well as appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
Some of our favorite, and as yet untested, recipes include Senator Joan Lovely’s Veggie Bean Chili, Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Bisque from the Hawthorne Hotel, and Bake Chickens in Winter, which is a historic recipe that has been interpreted for the cookbook by The House of the Seven Gables.
The introduction to Salem’s Cookin’ was written by Karen Scalia, founder of Salem Food Tours. It is a love letter to the Salem’s history and its contemporary culinary scene. Salem has, “a history worth exploring and tasting,” says Karen. And we agree!
The cookbook is dedicated to Chef Giovanni Graziani of Caffe Graziani, and Steve Nelson, Executive Chef of the Hawthorne Hotel, both of whose memory lives on in their recipes and our memories of the meals they have prepared for us.
A percentage of the proceeds from sales of the cookbook will be donated to The Salem Pantry, an organization that has distributed food in Salem since 1991. During COVID-19, the Pantry has distributed food to more than 2,000 different Salem households.
Salem’s Cookin’ can be purchased from the Salem Chamber of Commerce, Wicked Good Books, and Pamplemousse. Salem Spice has created a gift basket with the cookbook and ingredients to make the recipes they provided to the book, including Chipotle Honey Rub Sheet Pan Dinner.
Tune into the Destination Salem radio show on November 27 at 9:30 AM (or the podcast after!) to hear Salem Chamber director Rinus Oosthoek, assistant director Jeff Swartz, and Karen Scalia talk about how Salem’s Cookin‘!
