My Key West Kitchen

Book excerpt: Award-winning chef Norman Van Aken has been cooking in Florida for 40 years. My Key West Kitchen is his love letter to Key West, where he first found the passion to cook, and where the unique cultural makeup of the island influenced his cuisine today. Follow Chef Van Aken as he strolls through Key West, reminiscing and re-creating dishes from "little joints" and restaurants both past and present. Norman includes recipes for his own take of the first foods and drinks he experienced in Key West and how they seemed "different than ordinary American fare," from the Sunday Fish Fry at Capt. Tony's to the Rib Sandwich and Dark & Stormy from the Bahama Village Elk's Club. Norman also focuses on the home cooking of Key West, whether it's "Yard Bird" Fricasse with Collard Greens and Pot Likker from the Tropical American South, Plaintain Soup from the Spanish Caribbean, or Nassau Grouper in Banana Leaves with Coconut "Run Down" from the British Caribbean. The colorful stories behind the recipes make My Key West Kitchen essential reading both in and out of the kitchen.