An acclaimed chef offers a historically informed cookbook that will change how you think about Midwestern cuisine. Celebrated chef Paul Fehribach has made his name serving up some of the most thoughtful and authentic regional southern cooking—not in the South, but in Chicago at Big Jones. But over the last several years, he has been looking to his Indiana roots in the kitchen, while digging deep into the archives to document and record the history and changing foodways of the Midwest. Fehribach is as painstaking with his historical research as he is with his culinary execution. In Midwestern Food, he focuses not only on the past and present of Midwestern foodways but on the diverse cultural migrations from the Ohio River Valley north- and westward that have informed them. Drawing on a range of little-explored sources, he traces the influence of several heritages, especially German, and debunks many culinary myths along the way. The book is also full of Fehribach’s delicious recipes informed by history and family alike, such as his grandfather's favorite watermelon rind pickles; sorghum-pecan sticky rolls; Detroit-style coney sauce; Duck and manoomin hotdish;  pawpaw chiffon pie; strawberry pretzel gelatin salad (!); and he breaks the code to the most famous Midwestern pizza and BBQ styles you can easily reproduce at home. But it is more than just a cookbook, weaving together historical analysis and personal memoir with profiles of the chefs, purveyors, and farmers who make up the food networks of the region. The result is a mouth-watering and surprising Midwestern feast from farm to plate. Flyover this !   “Deeply researched and including recipes and profiles of people who call the Midwest home, this book reads like a scholarly text and a call for the food world to recognize the Midwest as a powerhouse culinary region.” ― Food and Wine, Best Food Books of 2023 "With more than 100 recipes from across the region (some his own, others adapted from old cookbooks) and the fascinating histories behind them, including Fehribach’s family stories,  Midwestern Food  is part memoir, part history textbook, and lucky for us, part cookbook. . . . Though some dismiss the Midwest and its cuisine as boring, Fehribach’s book proves it’s anything but." ― Bon Appetit, Best Cookbooks of 2023 “Ambitious, personal, and deeply researched, Mr. Fehribach’s beguiling opus is sure to attract controversy, not only over what dishes he includes and excludes but also over his definition of the Midwest’s boundaries and which regions within them warrant his focus. The area is so vast and diverse that even its residents don’t always agree whether they should identify as Midwestern, but navigating this geographic and culinary opacity with a guide as knowledgeable as Mr. Fehribach is an indisputable delight. . . . [A]s an addition to the conversation of what has and will make Midwestern food important, this volume is a welcome and generous contribution.” ― Wall Street Journal "Fehribach applies his penchant for painstaking historical research and vivid recollection to his roots in Indiana, as well as broader foodways throughout the Midwest. Personal, historical, and practical, the book touches on family and regional histories, as well as recipes like Detroit-style coney sauce, sorghum-pecan sticky rolls, and pawpaw chiffon pie." ― Eater, Best New Chicago Cookbooks 2023 “Fehribach dispels dismissive notions of the Midwest as a land of just meat and potatoes, processed foods, and casseroles (although he does include recipes for some, like the Thanksgiving staple green bean casserole or a Native American twist on hotdish.) . . . Fehribach’s goal: to argue that Midwestern food, so often scoffed at or ignored, is a legitimate and valuable cuisine.” -- Daniel Hautzinger ― WTTW “In Midwestern Food , Big Jones chef Paul Fehribach digs through centuries-old cookbooks and community publications to explore Midwest culinary practices and how immigration has shaped the way people eat, and he includes recipes for the dishes he writes about.” ― Chicago Magazine “Well beyond a collection of recipes, Midwestern Food is an ambitious history of modern Midwestern foodways that developed over the past two centuries when people from many different cultures descended upon this part of the continent to create better lives for themselves.” ― New City " Midwestern Food  by Paul Fehribach is more than just a cookbook — the recipes are great, but stay for the Midwest history that comes alive in the author’s discussions of various ethnic groups, including indigenous peoples and European immigrants, whose contributions and struggles tell the backstory of local foodways and cuisine. The author’s anecdotes, storytelling and solid research provide entertaining insights into our region's food cultures." ― Columbia Daily Tribune "It’s as much a collection of recipes as it is a tour through our region’s food history. . . . By celebrating th