Utah Food Book Honored by Association for Mormon Letters With Special Award

“This is the Plate: Utah Food Traditions,” received a special award from the Association for Mormon Letters for its cultural contributions. The book, which included over 60 local authors, was edited by Carol Edison, Eric A. Eliason, Lynne S McNeill and published by University of Utah Press.  

The book details Utah’s eclectic food heritage — not just the infamous green Jell-O, fry sauce, and funeral potatoes, but included chapters from Native American, Latino, Greek, Asian, Polynesian and other minorities whose traditions and restaurants have influenced the local food culture. There are a number of recipes and photos, too.

I donated a chapter on the history of Box Elder’s Famous Fruitway, that farmstand-dotted stretch of road between Willard and Brigham City. Since some of my Deseret News articles were cited as sources for other topics, such as Green Jell-O, taffy-making, funeral potatoes, ice cream and Providence’s Sauerkraut dinner, I’d like to think I helped a bit with some of those chapters too.

What I got from reading (and enjoying!) this book is that Utahns are a bigger melting pot than assumed, and there’s no one style of cooking and eating that “everybody” does the same. Navajo mutton stew, the Greek-inspired pastrami burger, fry bread, artisan chocolate, cheesemaking, backyard gardening, home canning, craft beers, pine nut-gathering, homemade tamales, honey and beekeeping, fishing and wild game, San Pete turkey, Dixie Salad, Postum, Dutch oven cooking, and food storage are just a few of the many topics touched on.

There’s also a list of food and agricultural celebrations, such as Peach Days, Lamb Days, Onion Days and many others.

The editors read selections from This is the Plate at the online AML Conference on June 2. The award was presented at the online awards ceremony on June 5.