Over the past two days, I've listed some of Mark Twain's favorite foods, from Bluepoint oysters to a wealth of fresh garden produce to raccoon. The first day was cautionary, focusing on foods that have vanished, perhaps forever; the second was more hopeful, and included dishes that contemporary Americans can still enjoy.
But while writing Twain's Feast, I came to understand more powerfully than before that restoring our classic foods is an active process. It takes focus, and imagination, and energy, all of which I saw in the people working to restore the plants and animals that were once at the heart of American cuisine. So today's post is aspirational--a way of prompting thoughts about what can be done to bring back some of the diverse abundance that Twain took for granted.
