I wrote this article for the upcoming Highlands Voice. Hope all is well. Love, B
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (adj.) [From the Greek, poetic, world-creating]
1. Belonging to the world; not restricted to any locality, field of activity, or sphere of thought. 2. At
home in any country; without local or national attachments or prejudices. 3. Composed of
elements gathered from all parts of the world.
When each of our three children were left for college in distant states, they asked for only one
cookbook: White Grass Cafe Cross Country Cooking. It was no wonder, since they had grown
up enjoying the little cafe, located at the Whitegrass Ski area in Tucker County , where we live.
They had each tromped on our farm in skis by age two, and had traded cross country skis in as
they grew, advancing lengths at the Whitegrass Ski Shop on the children's ski program, as
steadily as they had advanced grades.
It was not just fond memories that prompted the request however. It was the fine food and
recipes that had been carefully gathered by Laurie Little and Mary Beth Gwyer, the Cafe chefs,
from friends, relatives, guest chefs, distant travels, and imaginative creative experimentation in
the tiny kitchen at the base of Cabin Mountain in Canaan Valley. These recipes became family
favorites in our home, and inspired the birth of other recipes created here, reinforcing our love of
cooking.
One of the beauties of the White Grass Cookbook was the personal acknowledgement of where
the recipes came from, how they were influenced , and how they could be adapted. It is
generous, thoughtful, easy to use, accurate, small, and easily transported, While the
hand sketches are all clearly drawn from local life, the recipes transported us to all corners of the
globe, with purpose and pleasure.
How grateful we all were this winter, when a second book by the same authors, "White Grass
Flavors" appeared hot off the presses. It has the same cosmopolitan flavors and roots, the same
easy to read format, and the same joy for cooking that we grew to love in the first book. From
Wild Mushroom soup, to West Virginia Sushi Rolls, to simple Cinnamon Rolls, Trout in
Champagne Sauce, to Indonesian Grilled Shrimp, this book brings flavors and ingredients from
around the world that are available locally as well, into the home kitchen. And it is all tasty
enough for children and teenagers to be curious and adventuresome about. We haven't had a
recipe that they didn't like yet!
White Grass Flavors embodies what I have always dreamed of and worked toward:
Cosmopolitan Country living. When I moved to Tucker County 30 years ago, at 20 years old,
after having grown up 10 miles from New York City, where my grandparents still lived, and I had
used as my personal playground and growth ground, I wondered how life in rural, mountainous
West Virginia would evolve. To my delight, I have found open minded folks, whose ancestors
settled here generations ago from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The political and environmental
struggles, labor struggles and economic struggles were as vivid as they were in New York,
painted on a different canvas.
We thought we had moved to a distant, remote and provincial region, and in some ways we had.
Yet the movement of the times, the quick growth of technology, and world events have woven us
all closer together. They have created lifelines and love lines to every corner of the world, not just
when tsunami and floods and earthquakes strike, or when sludge dams burst, or forest fires rage,
but when victories of justice, discoveries of woodpeckers, advances in human rights,
environmental protection, and global consciousness seep into the everyday.
Barbara Weaner