- Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer
- The Book of Lost Recipes: The Best Signature Dishes from Historic Restaurants Rediscovered by Jaya Saxena
- A Taste of Columbus – Favorite House Recipes from Over Thirty of Central Ohio’s Leading Restaurants by Beth and David Chilcoat
- The North Market Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from Columbus, Ohio’s Historic Public Market by Michael Turbak
- Tasting Ohio: Favorite Recipes from the Buckeye State by Sara Bir
- The Columbus Food Truck Cookbook by Renee Casteel Cook and Tiffany Harelik
Behind A Taste of Columbus
“Neither of us were especially talented
in the kitchen.”It may not be what you’d expect to hear from the author of A Taste of Columbus, but Beth Chilcoat insists this fact was an important part of the book’s pitch.
Beth and her husband, David, moved from Pittsburgh to Columbus in 1970 to start an organization called Young Life. In 1978, friend, artist and calligraphist Cindy Kusmer suggested they put together a book of recipes from popular Ohio restaurants. The idea was that the couple would gather the recipes and prepare each one themselves in order to determine which ones were feasible for the typical at-home chef.
“The book was such a hit we could hardly keep it in the bookstores,” Beth says.
A Taste of Columbus actually had many contributing partners. Besides the Chilcoats and Kusmer, there was Beth’s daughter in-law, Katy, local calligrapher Mark Sisson and Beth’s mother in-law.
A great deal of research went into the making of the book. The team polled their friends on their favorite restaurant dishes, then ordered each one. They requested recipes and would test them out in their own kitchen as many times as it took to ensure they were done right.
“We were really quite young at the time and were really surprised when we were taken seriously,” Beth says. “We even met a very helpful young chef named Cameron Mitchell, who graciously shared recipes with us in all five volumes.”
As more volumes were published, the Chilcoats were encouraged to appear on news shows.
“My husband, who loved food but truly wasn’t much of a cook, didn’t have a shy bone in his body,” she says. “He volunteered to do one of the live cooking shows we were asked to do.”
Beth made sure to measure out all the ingredients, and David would add them in the correct order.
“I remember watching him on TV,” she says. “Though he’d never made the dish, he ad-libbed its assembly with great panache!”
All the recipes contained in the A Taste of Columbus books are unique.
“I think the best thing about Columbus food is that I don’t find a commonality,” Beth says. “We are a city with such diverse communities. We have the blessing of authentic dishes from all over the world.”
“We even met a very helpful young chef named Cameron Mitchell, who graciously shared recipes with us in all five volumes.”
She loves to eat in those smaller restaurants with owners who serve their mom’s prized dishes or family recipes.
Though there are many to choose from, Beth points to one of her all-time favorite recipes that she still makes (“whenever I’m not counting calories!”). The Plain Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake from Katzinger’s Delicatessen, appearing in Volume V, is a staple in her kitchen.
“There’s nothing ‘just plain’ about this cake,” she says.
The first three volumes of A Taste of Columbus are out of print, but a limited number of copies of IV and V remain. Orders can be sent to Corban Production, 1227 Kilham Ct., Columbus, Ohio 43235 at $19.95 each.
Beth resides in Columbus and has a few favorite places to dine.
“I love to dine at Akai Hana, Amul India, Cameron’s, the North Market, J. Gilbert’s and many others,” she says. “I have loved it here, so have never left.”
In 2003, David was diagnosed with ALS. In his final years, he kept an online journal where he commented on his spiritual growth even as he was physically diminishing. People all around the world flocked to his weekly entries until he died.
In 2009, Beth published Nobody Tells A Dying Guy to Shut Up, the heart of David’s journal entries. The book is an account of his bravery, kindness, humor and faith.
Mallory Arnold is an editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
