COOKBOOK REVIEW: Damn Fine Cherry Pie by Lindsey Bowden

Shane | 30 January 2017 | Reply

COOKBOOK REVIEW: Damn Fine Cherry Pie by Lindsey Bowden

Hachette Australia
November 2016
Hardcover, $39.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Cooking

8/10

It may be an unauthorised collection, but this volume of recipes inspired by the wonderful food which served as such a distraction on David Lynch’s sometimes-wacky, sometimes-cerebral, always-interesting series Twin Peaks.

To her credit Lindsey Bowen presents Damn Fine Cherry Pie as a firm homage, rather than a cash-in of any sort, and the results are uniformly excellent and enticing.

From Breakfasts to the Diner, Pastries to Family Dining, and the Black Lodge Supper Club to Desserts & Cocktails, Bowen pitches the book spot on for Twin Peaks obsessives (as she surely is).

The photography is enigmatic, there are quirks around every corner (such as the Diner Jukebox collection, Twin Peaks-inspired Ludo and even a Twin Peaks manicure and how to tie a cherry stem knot like Audrey Horne), and the food… well the food is gloriously simple, yet thoroughly mouthwatering.

Maple Ham Pancakes may not seem special, yet wait until you taste the prefect balance of flavours. Blueberry Whoopie Pies, Coffee Percolator Trout, Norwegian Meatballs & Gravy, Leland Palmer’s Roasted Buffalo Joint, Bubblegum Ice Cream and, yes, Shelly Johnson’s Cherry Pie (Damn fine!) – more than 100 recipes mentioned and inspired by in the classic TV series, and every one a winner.

Damn Fine Cherry Pie is a must for any Twin Peaks fan, but it also works as a stand-alone slice of backwoods American culinary history – and just in time for the show’s return later this year!