Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland and Labrador

In this atmospheric debut collection, Charles, chef of Raymonds restaurant in St. John’s in Newfoundland, serves up 160 recipes while exploring the history, sense of community, and culinary quirks of the region. “Who could say no to a kid with fresh cod tongues,” he ponders, looking back to his youthful days of selling the snack to tourists; his grown-up uses for the abundant fish include blackened cod liver mousse and crispy cod chitlins. Moose, it turns out, were not introduced to Newfoundland until 1904, but they merit their own gamey chapter with entries such as moose cheeks and smoked moose tongue pastrami. The 120 stark, crisp full-page photographs by John Cullem present minimalist plated entrees. Though confit wild black duck, grilled liver, and chanterelle porridge sounds like a feast, the photo reveals it to be the smallest of duck legs aside a forkful of each of its accompaniments. Ingredients lists are unhelpfully stuck tight to the inner margins of the instruction pages, with the instructions themselves crammed at the bottom of each page, creating glacial fjords of white space above. The recipes may be solid, but this is a better fit for the coffee table than the kitchen counter. (May)