Full Moon Feasts

Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, by chef Jessica Prentice, is a different kind of local food book. Based on the lunar cycles of the year, each chapter focuses on the celebratory foods traditionally associated with each month of the year. For example, according to the book, we have the sap moon in early spring, followed by the egg moon, the milk moon, the fat moon, and the mead moon. The recipes featured in each chapter focus on these ingredients, offering different ways to showcase them in a meal. The recipes are tasty, but they're only part of what this interesting book has to offer. The heart of each chapter is an informative discussion of traditional food practices relating to the month and its theme, discussing how and why certain foods were eaten at each time of year. This book may not be suitable for vegetarians, since it heavily features animal products including meats. However, there are some recipes here for almost anyone, and you may find the discussions interesting even if you would prefer to substitute other ingredients in your own full moon feasts. If you happen to be in the Bay Area, also check out Three Stone Hearth, a localvore community kitchen that features actual full moon feasts in cooperation with Jessica Prentice. (These meals have been temporarily suspended while the kitchen moves its operations, but are scheduled to resume in later 2009.)