The Harvey House Cookbook: Memories of Dining along the Santa Fe Railroad
George H. Foster & Peter C. Weiglin
ISBN: 1563520338
A combination capsule-history and cookbook, with facts and recipes from Harvey House rail stops.
Read Fall 2016
I think I would have enjoyed the book a bit more if it were simply a history of the Harvey Houses, but I do think people will be interested in the recipes. I would have rather seen more of the menus and the organizational documents (if any of them survive) but I know I'm a bit weird compared to most people.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book was the layout: each very short nonfiction section was sandwiched in between the larger chapters of recipes, and thus it was hard to create any sort of narrative momentum. It made the history sections seem disjointed and fragmentary, which, when dealing with a portion of history that has perhaps not been recorded as well as it might have been, isn't really the optimal impression to leave.
Other than that, the nonfiction information presented was clear, chronological, decently-organized, and topical. I think the recipes either seem painfully normal, or strangely dated, but as I don't cook, I have no basis for informing whether they're good or useful for modern cooks.
An interesting donation that showed up at random and fulfilled a passive sort of interest I've had for a while in the concept of the Harvey Girls, so I was very glad to see it.
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