The Sterns, authors of Roadfood
and other books about America's out-of-the-way, quaint, quirky restaurants, continue their trek across the country with this latest offering. Part traditional chrome and Formica diner, part conventional restaurant (depending on whether you enter from the car park or I-81), the Dutch Kitchen (60 miles northeast of Harrisburg, Pa., in Frackville) offers typical Pennsylvanian cuisine. The restaurant's cooking is bold and filling, consisting of hearty meals to satisfy vigorous appetites and time-honored immigrant dishes. The recipes, which the Sterns gathered from the restaurant's chefs, promote simple, traditional fare with the famous "Dutch" (a possible corruption of "Deutsch," or German) emphasis on the seven sweets and seven sours. Nourishing diner staples like Meatloaf and a beef version of Shepherd's Pie are accompanied by colorful sides like Pickled Eggs, Applesauce Salad and Pennsylvania Dutch Chow-Chow (a relish of assorted pickled vegetables). The authors present the recipes in a plain, no-nonsense manner that assumes a certain knowledge of cooking, as the instructions are sparse almost to the point of paucity. The Sterns also include colorful descriptions of the area and its history, providing a capsule of Americana. This pleasant local cookbook should delight those interested in the German influences on America's culinary history and those with a love for nostalgic heartland favorites. (Mar.)
