MKMT Cookbook Club ~ Canal House Cooking Vol.4
This summer, the MKMT cookbook club will be cooking from Canal House Cooking vol.4 by Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton, veterans of Saveur magazine who now have the pleasure of working together at their atelier devoted to “good ideas and good work relating to the world of food.” Their studio is an old red brick warehouse situated next to a canal, hence the name Canal House.
The way the story goes, the two meet in the morning and over breakfast tell stories of what they cooked for their families the night before. Then they spend the day cooking together and talking about food. Sign me up for that existence, can I be a guest visitor some day?
I first discovered Canal House Cooking Vol.2 last fall at Terrain. The authors were there the week before for a signing. Something about the shiny bronze cover caught my eye so I picked it up and it was love. From the stunning photography to the simple design, to the recipes; all seasonal and completely approachable. I snapped one up and read it cover to cover on the flight home dreaming up grocery lists and dinner party menus. I even made Sister Frances’ Potatoes for Christmas Eve dinner.
Vol. 3 is just as wonderful and when I saw Vol.4 had recently come out I knew it was the perfect cookbook for our next cookbook club. I am already counting the days when the first of my tomatoes will be ready to make the Tomato Tart and plan to get a box of apricots towards the end of the season to make some of Patty Curtain’s Apricot Jam.
The most brilliant part of Canal House Cooking is the publishing. Three volumes are published each year. In addition to being able to buy the books individually, an annual subscription is available. It is genius from managing print runs and costs as well as inventory. Vol.1 is no longer available so I suspect they publish for what they have subscriptions for plus early commitments from key retailers and a few extra then they are sold out which would instantly place a premium on volumes once they are no longer available.
Leave it to the founder of Saveur magazine to implement the magazine subscription model with cookbooks. But enough of the business behind the book… I’m off to find a blood roange to make that Pink Lemonade Granita.
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