The odds are good you’ve never experienced a book quite like Myra Kornfeld’s latest offering.
Kornfeld and Stepehen Massimilla have co-authored the new release “Cooking with the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry and Literary Fare.”
Now available through Tupelo Press, the book is a compelling literary hybrid that combines recipes from Kornfeld (author of titles including “The Voluptuous Vegan” and “The Healthy Hedonist”) with poetry and essays by Massimilla, a writer and critic who teaches at Columbia University and the New School.
“I was always coming up with new dishes, writing recipes, writing about food, and Stephen is always coming up with new poems and writing about poetry,” said Kornfeld. “Then it occurred to us that these interests were really complementary. In a way, a true cook is already a poet of sorts, and it takes a poet to cook up really interesting, vibrant ways to write about food.
“So we realized that poems and recipes had a lot in common, and we started to think, ‘Maybe we should write this book together so it can be about a marriage between recipes and poetry, the synergy that happens between the two.’ ”
Kornfeld’s 150 recipes in “Cooking with the Muse” place a strong emphasis on seasonal cooking, with plenty of reliance on fresh ingredients. She said in recent years she’s seen chefs embrace those sorts of ingredients in a very big way.
“I think finally people are starting to get sick of some tepid tomato that’s flown in (from) a million miles away, that has no flavor, after they’ve compared it with something that they got locally or grew in their own backyard or (bought at) a green market,” she said. “So I think that’s fueled it. Plus another thing is there are a lot more green markets happening around the country, and people are introduced to interesting varieties of food more than they might see in their local supermarket.”
For an example of the new book at its best, look to the summertime section dedicated to chilled watermelon soup. Along with the recipe, Kornfeld and Massimilla present writings from Sylvia Plath, Mark Twain and Allen Ginsberg, each reflecting on different aspects of the watermelon.
“That recipe is simplicity itself, so it really relies on good watermelon and good tomatoes, and then it just has a few supporting flavors that really bring out everything,” Kornfeld said.
“And then the poetry, when you think about the Mark Twain entry or Sylvia Plath or Allen Ginsberg or any of them, it just makes the cooking experience so much richer when you have that supporting it. I know it does for me, and that’s why it was such an interesting, true collaboration that I had with Steven on this. I’ve never looked at food the same way after spending years with this project.”
COOKING WITH THE MUSE: A SUMPTUOUS GATHERING OF SEASONAL RECIPES, CULINARY POETRY AND LITERARY FARE
BY: Myra Kornfeld and Stephen Massimilla
INFO: $39.95, now available from Tupelo Press, cookingwiththemuse.com
IN PERSON: Myra Kornfeld will appear for a book signing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, at the National Gourmet Institute, 48 W. 21st St., New York City, free admission, 212-645-5170 or naturalgourmetinstitute.com.
AND: Stephen Massimilla and Myra Kornfeld will appear at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at Bowery Poetry, 308 Bowery, New York City. Tickets are $10 and $35 with the book in advance or $15 and $40 with the book at the door. www.bowerypoetry.com.