The serious readers who attend the Baltimore Book Festival hunger, of course, for knowledge. But in their quest for intellectual improvement, they don't mind treating their taste buds, sampling something savory or sweet as they listen to learned authors.
So the question posed to a number of cookbook authors who are scheduled to appear at the festival this weekend in downtown Baltimore is, "What's cooking?"
What are they serving on the Food for Thought stage set up on the 600 block of N. Charles St., and why did they pick these particular dishes?
The weekend menu of dishes that the authors will prepare includes everything from mallard salad - a dish Johnny Mo, author of "Rock the Kitchen," is set to fix Friday afternoon - to the whipped cream cake that Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of "Rose's Heavenly Cakes," will serve on Saturday afternoon, to a triple peach milkshake whipped up by Adam Ried, author of "Thoroughly Modern Milkshake," who will appear Sunday afternoon.
When Lourdes Castro, author of "Simply Mexican," steps on the stage Saturday afternoon, she plans to fix crab tostadas.
That dish, she said, is a multitasker. It emphasizes themes of her book - a vital part of any book presentation - and is visually appealing.
"First, it allows me to showcase a number of key Mexican ingredients, jalapeno, tomatillo, cilantro and avocado, that many may not be familiar with," she said via e-mail. "Second, it allows me to talk about corn tortillas and how prevalent and versatile they are in Mexican meals. Finally, the dish is attractive and has fresh, bold flavors."
The dish is also easy to serve to a crowd, a factor that is a big plus when feeding a large gathering.
For Ingrid Hoffmann, author of "Simply Delicioso" and host of the Food Network show of the same name, sauteing shrimp and coating them with a tangy tomatillo sauce Saturday night gives her a chance to pass along one of her favorite cooking tips.
"You have to know your alphabet to cook shrimp," she said from Miami. If the shrimp looks like the letter C, it is properly cooked, she said. If it looks like the letter "O," it is overcooked.
Charles Mattocks said he is fixing frugal fish tacos Sunday afternoon for a simple reason: cost. "It is very easy to make with only a few dollars," said Mattocks, author of "Eat Cheap But Well: The Poor Chef Cookbook."
