Any time capsule created by Vinalhaveners to mark this first decade of the twenty-first century would have to include
a copy of the new cookbook compiled by the island’s Friends of the Library as a fundraiser for the library’s new addition. The book is titled Vinalhaven Island Cooking. Reading through it, I wondered: as time passes, what will the book reveal to a future generation of Vinalhaveners about this particular one? The question made me consider the book as a relic, and myself a kind of cultural anthropologist. What indeed do these recipes say, in a larger sense, about life on the island now, and how that might differ from a future reality?
The largest chapter, as might be expected, is its “Seafood” section. The emphasis is on locally obtained, fresh seafood: lobsters, crab, mussels, clams, shrimp, mackerel and scallops. But other fish are included as well: cod, hake, halibut, haddock, tuna, salmon, swordfish, sole. In that imagined time capsule, will some footnote indicate that the contents of the second list were, in the first decade of the new century, no longer local or plentiful? That salmon more typically came from farms, and that many of those species were considered endangered? In the future, will even more varieties of seafood have disappeared from our waters and our menus? Will Vinalhaven and lobster still be thought of as synonymous?
Some of the recipes for this book are from outstanding cooks and restaurants no longer in business. There’s Rusty Warren, former chef of The Sands, sorely missed. And Laura Hamilton, from The Sand Dollar, and Lonnie Morton from The Harbor Gawker. The Bell Buoy, Nighthawk and Sea Breeze have entries as well.
That Hall of Fame of island eateries reminded me of another: Burrito Bill’s. During the eighties, it added Latino food to the island’s culinary landscape. There is no such community established on Vinalhaven, but there have been a few native Spanish-speakers briefly working on the island in recent years — Costa Ricans and Guatemalans come to mind. Will Vinalhaven eventually reflect the country’s population changes and come to include more diverse ethnic groups, more people of color, more people for whom English is a second language? The era of quarrying and stonecutting certainly put a multicultural face on Vinalhaven before. Is another such face in Vinalhaven’s future? Will Spanish become the language studied in Vinalhaven’s school, rather than French?
While the book shares secrets of some notable chefs, the point is not that the great food of Vinalhaven has been in its restaurants, but in its kitchens in general. And what, one might ask in future decades, were the most commonly used ingredients in that cooking? A look at the recipes reveals some popular favorites. Mayonnaise is high on the list. Butter. Light or heavy cream. Half and half. Bacon and salt pork. Eggs. Sugar, salt. Will a future generation be astonished at that, or perhaps envious those were ingredients one could still embrace and enjoy despite some of their known health risks?
Only a handful of men contributed recipes to this volume. Among the young people of the island — I’m thinking of my own children’s generation of twentysomethings — there is a circuit of potluck dinner and theme parties. In the particular scene I’m aware of, both males and females contribute home-cooked dishes for their communal meals. Is this a generation that has benefited from a less rigid definition of gender roles and cultural stereotypes? Will the young men cooking now continue to do so? Will a cookbook issued in the future have as many men as women contributing favorite recipes?
What might augur well for good eating on Vinalhaven is that, as far as this cookbook indicates, fresh ingredients and home cooking from scratch are still heavily in favor on the island. Will Vinalhaveners in the future be able to boast that? Will island gardens, orchards and farm animals take on more, or less, importance? Will microwave cooking and prepared foods replace more traditional, time-consuming methods? Will traditions focused on food — bean suppers, the Lions Club lobster night, booths at the Fourth of July, spaghetti dinners, pizza feeds, chowder tastings — still play that same central role in the community? According to the testimony of Vinalhaven Island Cooking, eating well seems to be as much about sustenance of the spirit as assuaging the appetite. Whatever the island’s kitchens, cuisines, and cooks look like in the future, I especially hope that particular descriptor stays operant and edifying for many years to come.
The cookbook is available through Friends of the Vinalhaven Public Library, P.O. Box 223, Vinalhaven ME 04863, for $16.25, which includes postage.
When she’s not at an undisclosed location, Tina Cohen is writing on Vinalhaven.