Revel in the fun of cooking with live fire. This hot collection from food historian and archaeologist Paula Marcoux includes more than 100 fire-cooked recipes that range from cheese on a stick to roasted rabbit and naan bread. Marcoux’s straightforward instructions and inspired musings on cooking with fire are paired with mouthwatering photographs that will have you building primitive bread ovens and turning pork on a homemade spit. Gather all your friends around a fire and start the feast.  

Paula Marcoux is a food historian who lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts; she has worked professionally as an archaeologist, cook, and bread-oven builder. She is the food editor of Edible South Shore magazine, writes on food history topics for popular and academic audiences, and consults with museums, film producers, and publishers. She also gives regular workshops on natural leavening, historic baking, and wood-fired cooking. Her web site is www.themagnificentleaven.com.

Chapter 1            A Fire and a Stick

Back to Basics – Getting Started: Roasting on a Stick – Toasting Cheese – Roasting in Ashes and Coals – Baking Bread under the Ashes

Chapter 2            A Few Simple Tools

Spit Roasting – How to Make an Efficient and Pleasant Roasting Hearth – The Spit – Roast on a String – Cooking on Skewers – The Grill – The Schwenker – The Plank – Searing with a Hot Iron

Chapter 3            Pots and Pans

The Griddle in All Its Guises – Cakes on the Griddle – Tortillas -- Griddled Breads of Northwestern Europe – British Griddle Breads – Other Things to Cook on the Griddle – The Griddle on Steroids: The Argentine Infiernillo – Pots over Fire – The Clay Pot – Iron Pots and Pans – Shallow Frying – Deep Frying – Baking Bread in a Cast-Iron Pot

Chapter 4            More Gear

The Tannur, the Furnace, and the Potager – The Cast-Iron Cookstove – Smoke – Barbeque, Two Ways

Chapter 5            Retained Heat

Underground Inspiration from around the World – The Earth Oven: Cooking in a Hole in the Ground – The Masonry Oven – Building a Basic Wood-Fired Oven – Getting Ready to Bake – Heating an Oven – Cooking with an Oven Full of Fire – Getting Ready for Pizza – Using Retained Heat – The Cooling Curve – Bread for the Wood-Fired Oven – Natural Leavening for Your Wood-Fired Bread – Natural Leavening Q & A – Overnight Cooking Traditions – Overnight in a New England Brick Oven

Resources, References, and Details

Acknowledgements

Index