The Portlandia Cookbook: Cook Like a Local

by Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel

The companion cookbook to the hit show Portlandia by the Emmy-nominated stars and writers Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, with 50 delicious recipes for every food lover, freegan, organic farmer, and food truck diehard. Food plays a very special role in Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s award-winning satire Portlandia and now you can cook the dishes that define the show, from cult-raised chicken and Stu’s stews to pickled veggies and foraged green salads. Complete with full-color finished food photographs and illustrations, humorous stories and sidebars from the loveable food-obsessed Portlandia characters (such as Mr. Mayor, Peter and Nance, and Colin the chicken), and advice on how to choose a bed and breakfast and behave at a communal table, this is a funny cookbook—with serious recipes—for anyone who loves food. And yes, the chicken’s local.

Genres: Cookbooks, Humor, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Reference

299 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2014

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/



Don’t worry. You’ll soon find out : )



YES WE CAN! Well, we can with the help of The Portlandia Cookbook. Seriously, it does teach you how to pickle things. I lucked out and scored a free copy of this cookbook, but I had been planning on spending some of my Christmas cash on purchasing it for myself. (Santa apparently thought I didn’t deserve a copy under my tree on Christmas morning. Well, F*&% YOU, SANTA! I got one anyway.)

I love Portlandia and I love fun cookbooks. Let’s all get real here – if you need to look up a recipe it takes but a button click on your smartphone to find whatever your heart desires. If I’m going to drop $25 on a cookbook, it either better make the dinner for me or at least make me chuckle. This one has the added bonus of making me think of the deliciousness which is the “Pullout King” . . . .



Ermahgerd I lurv Jerff Goldblurm!!!!!!



So I was expecting a giggle or two, but what I wasn’t expecting was edible food . . .



Like REALLY edible food . . .



I mean, look at this thing . . .



Serve it up with 3 pounds of French fries and it could be the star of an episode of Man vs. Food!

When you’re done with dinner, they even teach you how to make a gorgeous apple pie . . .



That’s almost too pretty to eat . . . I said almost. Now slap a couple scoops of French vanilla on that bitch and watch me nom nom nom.

And if everything else fails, you know what to do . . .



That’s right! Put a bird on that mother*&^%$ . . .



Recommended to the three other people who watch Portlandia : )

ARC provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review

[Jason Koivu · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is a real cookbook?" was my reaction when I popped open The Portlandia Cookbook: Cook Like a Local.

I shouldn't have been surprised since it says so in the title, but I guess I was hoping for a wall-to-wall laugh fest in the form of a silly self-parody of the television show's eccentric characters and their maniacal passion for sustainable, organic, locally-sourced food (don't get me wrong, these are all good things).

The first episode of Portlandlia contains a skit in which a couple go out for a meal and proceed to hound the waitress for impossible-to-know information about the chicken they're maybe about to eat. (Colin is the chicken's name, btw.) The skit starts in the mundane, enters the odd, and ends in the absurd. Kind of like the real life story arc of the sustainable, organic, locally-sourced food movement. God damn humans can't just do things right. They've always got to push it too far. Why can't we just stop at good, natural, chemical-free food like great grandma used to make? No, now we have to name the rutabaga and cater to the needs of its superego. Stop making everything so precious and artisanal!!!...god... My wife and I are in Portland right now and just down the street from us is this place: Artisan Dentist Lab. Seriously?

What I'm saying is, the people are making a mockery of a good thing. That's why I like Portlandia. It's making a mockery of the people.

When I saw Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein had made a cookbook based on the show, I leapt on it!...and got it for my wife for her birthday. I know, I know, it smacks a little of this:



Hey, she loves the show and her b-day was on the day before we drove up to Portland. Come on! Okay, yeah I know, I'm a horrible husband. But our 10 year anniversary is coming and I'm going to make it up to her!



Lol, oh mercy! She'll love it, because it's funny AND it's true!

Okay, okay, back to the book. I almost forgot I came here to review this thing...

The Portlandia Cookbook is very well laid out. You get a little of the funny mixed in between the legitimate recipes in a nice balance all the way through.



Seriously, these are real recipes and there's no f-ing around with them. All the funny is kept outside the parameters of the ingredients and instructions, so you can confidently make yourself some Marion Berry Pancakes, Korean Short Rib Stew, Mr Mayor's Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Babysitter's Mac & Cheese, Cacao Bark, a real Blood Mary (those come with celery...celery, damn it!), and more.

For fans of the show, the recipes mentioned above will sound familiar. Having seen every episode, I was expecting more recognizable dishes. But Portlandia isn't a bloody cooking show, so they've fleshed out the book with food that is at least related to things seen in skits or what the characters would probably come up with.

Little asides through out the book are written up "in character" and they weren't that funny. It's really just a nod to something you've seen on the show. I don't think I so much as even sniff-laughed once. If you like the show, this might raise a nostalgic smile, but don't expect hilarity. Actually, I'm starting to regret buying this for my wife, because now she wants me to make some of this stuff (CACAO!). Oh, how delicious the irony...

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the only cookbook I've read cover to cover. Recommended for super fans of the show. So far made one recipe and came out delish.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful treasure trove for serious fans of the show, with thoughtful recipes designed to appeal to Portland food lovers and stoners alike.

Yes, you will see plenty of recipes** featuring Colin the chicken. Maybe two loveable characters will appear throughout reminding us to, "Put...an....egg...on...it"! Will we get to meet the infamous, Craig? Behind those crazy guac tacs? Doug and Claire will give you one more reason to stay on the couch, though: Nacho Cheese Popcorn.

You may be tempted to stop here, and buy a copy simply as a knickknack. But you would be wrong in so doing, friend. Very wrong. As a Portland native, myself, I can tell you that only two to three recipes do not appeal to me. The others, all look fantastic, tasty, and surprisingly easy to do--think America's Test Kitchen if a young, west-coast, flannel-wearing Christopher Kimball knew about Sleater-Kinney.

So far I've only tried Mr. Mayor's Jerk Chicken and the Nacho Cheese Popcorn (obvs!) but you bet I'll get to Puree Home Comp-Onion this fall, the Korean BBQ will be perfect for the Super Bowl...the list goes on. Excited to have a funny cookbook to add to my selection.

**recipes in the book are attributed to real Portland chefs (is the wings recipe a Pok-Pok derivative?) as well as anonymous individuals who make delicious food at home.

[Lynnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the show Portlandia & looking for an extension of that humor, this book is great fun.

Since I actually read cookbooks for the recipes, I have to give it 2 stars as there just wasn't much in there that I found interesting or new. Bottom line, fans of the show will enjoy it in all its quirky glory but fans of cookbooks might not.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

WANTWANTWANTWANTWANTWANTWANT.....

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! I love my P-town.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not just recipes - which are real, by the way; it's also pictures and fun. Great read! Enjoyed it!

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few sketch comedy shows I can think of lean so heavily into culinary themes and food than Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s 2010s series Portlandia, from “we can pickle that” to Colin the chicken, to an entire episode devoted to waiting in line for brunch (along with a quest for authentic marionberries for filming said brunch). It was still surprising to me how useful I’ve found the show’s official cookbook.

The Portlandia Cookbook basically bundles in a lot of the show’s jokes along with some pretty cookable recipes, in a way that seems to work (depending on how funny you find the show, of course). Whether opting to “put an egg on it” for recipes that could be improved by being topped with a fried egg to riffing on one-off jokes like the Mayor of Portland’s favorite greasy spoon special "Cup of Joe, Side of Dough," I think just about every episode is referenced. I’m not sure who put these recipes together, but the production is slick and appetizing, and the recipes I’ve tried have been great, though only a little vegetarian friendly, unfortunately. My favorite recipe has been the adult babysitter’s mac and cheese, which is just the kind of comfort food I've been craving these days.

I write about some other fun pop culture tie in cookbooks in in the Pop Culture Cooking entry of Harris' Tome Corner!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Portlandia, and this is a great tie-in featuring the characters and recipes they might cook up. I enjoyed the humor, and the recipes are real. They just aren't that accessible, or something that you'd look to make everyday. So, I'd approach this more as a fan must-read. If you like the show, check this out and it will make your day. You may get a few dinner and snack ideas from it. If you're really looking for a cookbook, there's too much show-specific content and it probably won't be worth your while.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like "Portlandia A Guide For Visitors", I just skimmed this cookbook, although I did find one recipe for mac and cheese that looks really good, but I probably won't make it. Some of the other recipes looked pretty good as well but overall this book is just a tie in to the show "Portlandia ". That being said, if you've seen the show you'll probably appreciate this book more because it does have some funny stuff in it. Not a great book by any means but like I said some of the recipes looked interesting.

[Johanna Haas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This cookbook is a miss. It attempts to mix humor with food - but I cannot tell if the recipes are real or not. Many of them look disgusting, but some look earnest, and I can't tell which would actually work if I made them. Then the jokes are all terribly recycled and presented from such a mish-mash of characters from the show, that I cannot keep straight whose voice I am reading. I wanted to like this book, but it seems to have missed its aim by attempting too many things at once.

[Donna Hutt Stapfer Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and clever

There is nothing wrong with a cookbook that makes you laugh. Nothing. If it makes you smile before considering 'hey, that might taste pretty good,' all the better.

[Kathryn Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes and of course so funny. Loved it.

[Student with Prime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean if you love the show, this book is a well crafted treat. I like that they included the usual characters in relation to the dishes. Super cute!

[Ardys Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good recipes but a bit too much goofiness for me.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky like the show but with some keeper recipes!

[Julie B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, nutty, like the show.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only found two recipes out of this that I would actually make - the pickles and the tortilla soup - so I will try those two.

[Farrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I’d really love Portland (what foodie wouldn’t love a food town?!), perhaps even despite the fact that hipsters supposedly run wild there. I like the idea of getting local ingredients whenever possible, and despite never having seen an episode of this show, I was already laughing by the time I finished reading through the descriptions on the “contributors” to the cookbook.

As a food enthusiast, the recipes in here are awesome, and the gorgeous food photography makes my mouth water. I am by no means an amazing chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like experimenting in my kitchen whenever possible. The recipes are not frighteningly complicated, and most, if not all of them, seem completely doable. Their stuffed date recipe served as inspiration for me, and I tweaked it in accordance to my dietary preferences and what I already had in my kitchen; the results were fantastic.

As a Seventh-Day Adventist, I don’t eat bacon (there are a number of recipes that include bacon), but I’m a fan of ingredient substitutions wherever necessary, and there are definitely enough recipes in here that I feel like I’m not missing out on anything. Although I liked the concept of the food map they had that listed out the different places covered by region, I feel like a table of contents for the actual recipes would have been rather helpful. Not the end of the world though!

I read this mostly as a cookbook vs. a humor book, but I did enjoy the little blurbs and asides that accompany most of the recipes. They had me snickering, and I feel like I should perhaps add Portlandia to my neverending list of shows to watch. There are a bunch of recipes in here that sound completely amazing (e.g. Korean Short Rib Stew, Kale & Quinoa Bowl with Tofu & Mushrooms…they even have a recipe that includes durian–a definite first!), and I can’t wait to try them out! (Especially the Grilled Fruit Summer Rolls with Passionfruit Dipping Sauce. My life is complete.)

[Marissa Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out this review and others on my website!

4.5 Stars
Recommended to 15&up

REACTION:
The book is fun and beautifully laid out in colorful, glossy pages. There are a lot of humorous breaks between recipes. The recipes themselves are pretty easy to follow with minimal “baker terms” (except the Fruit Semifreddo, but that may just be challenging to make), so I think this book will be understandable for most inexperienced cooks like myself.

CRITIQUE:
This is a bit confusing to read if you are unfamiliar with the parody TV show Portlandia. At first, I was confused because I did not understand the humor, and had not heard of the show. After looking it up and watching en episode, the cookbook made more sense, and I understood some of the less “serious” business. I feel that those who have not heard of the show may come into the cookbook with slightly higher expectations from the recipes, but I was still able to enjoy The Portlandia Cookbook.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I find this to be more of an entertaining, nice-pictures cookbook than a true investment in cooking. There are some good recipes, and it makes for a fun cookbook, but it is not a must-have. However, do not get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading through The Portlandia Cookbook. And I do recommend it!

DISCLAIMER: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books (a.k.a. Random House) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I've only watched about three episodes of the show, but I was still easily able to recognize characters and their quirky mannerisms in the book. If I had never seen the show I would definitely been a lot more lost. While there are recipes (this is a cookbook after all), there are also many anecdotal sidebars, tips, and stories that refer back to the show and characters. I was hoping that there would be more vegan or vegetarian options, but alas, I believe there was only two or three vegan recipes, not including drinks (but plenty of vegetarian options). I actually was impressed with how good some of the recipes sound. I thought this would be mainly a humorous book, with cooking thrown in as a joke, but there are some pretty damn legit recipes in here. I have bookmarked: kale and quinoa bowl with tofu and mushrooms, tomatoes and snap peas with roasted corn chile dressing, and the tortilla espanola. The pictures looked heavenly and the recipes didn't look overly complicated so I think they are definitely worth a try.


After reading this book, I definitely want to start watching the show again, this book was laugh out loud funny! Unfortunately, only fans of the show or people who live in Portland will really get all the jokes, but as long as you're one of those two you will definitely love this humorous cookbook!

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recipes and food tips from characters on the IFC show Portlandia, including Mr. Mayor's recipe for jerk chicken (remember, he played bass with a reggae band) and a variation on making tea from Candace of the Women and Women First bookstore.

There are discussions of different methods of food preparation, from cooking in your own kitchen to using a firepit to patronizing restaurants, coffee shops, or even dumpsters. Other miscellaneous things find their way in here, including a map of coffee shop locations in Portland, diagrams of pretzels designed by the Artisanal Knots guy, a barrista's manifesto, as well as Colin's dossier (if you don't know about Colin, you should check it out on Youtube or something: to me, that sketch, more than anything else, is why a book like this makes sense). Each chapter (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, drinks) is introduced by Fred and Carrie.

A complaint, though. While there is environmental consciousness in the book's advocacy for such things as eating locally and reducing waste, there is not a lot of nutritional consciousness. For instance, if there were any vegan or gluten-free recipes here, they were not marked as such, and you'd have to work that out for yourself by reading the ingredients. Also, the recipes do not come with the "nutrition facts" that tell you how many calories of protein, fat, sodium, etc. you are getting from any of the dishes.

Acquired Dec 25, 2015
Gift from Jenn

[Yonasan Aryeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you cook like a local? Do you use organic free-range homegrown chicken? No? Why, then, you are either missing out on a delicacy or avoiding a chicken-based cult located on the West Coast. Based off the popular television show, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, with the help of Jonathan Krisel, bring you the official companion to *Portlandia*. That's right, folks - it's *The Portlandia Cookbook*. Not only is the chicken in the recipes woodland-raised, heritage breed that has been feed a diet of sheep's milk, soy, and hazelnuts, but the recipes themselves are inspired by the show and altogether make for an excellent cookbook (assuming you are a fan of the show, that is).

There are five categories that you can find your selection: small plates, main courses, desserts, drinks, and brunch. That's right...brunch. Each page is decorated with special touches from Fred and Carrie, and brings the television show to life. Being a Portlander myself, I can attest that not only is the show an accurate portrayal of the city, but the recipes are precisely what could be found at a locally owned and operated joint. Bon appetite!

Disclosure: I was contracted to write an honest review in exchange for a reviewer copy of the product. The opinions stated in this review are solely my own.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We regularly welcome the gang from Portlandia into our home, so why not into our kitchen as well?

The Portlandia Cookbook: Cook Like a Local is packed with the characters from the TV show, but with the added benefit of some really tasty sounding recipes, even from the gutter rats. Some of the regular bits are represented as well (and yes, the recipe for Marionberry Pancakes from Fisherman's Porch does sound worth the wait in line). Even if you've not seen the show, or like the style of humor, the recipes still look worthwhile. I've easily got a half dozen to try, and even now have a name for "that thing you do with shrimp and feta cheese" which I didn't before. As a coffee geek, I also loved the map of Portland's Best Coffee Shops (a map of the city with coffeecup icons spread just about all over the city) and the Coffee Shop Manifesto, of which I am guilty of several.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for bringing this cookbook both to my attention and my door. It was an entertaining read, and I look forward to trying some of the dishes.

Rounded up from 3.5, since I like Fred and Carrie so much (and Jonathan, by extension, since he's one of the writers of the show.)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not your average cookbook! Admittedly I did not try any of the recipes in this cookbook but it was a great read filled with humor and inside jokes alongside the recipes. My favorite was dumpster divers dinner party guide! The book does have genuine recipes like an egg nestled in a hole of a grilled cheese sandwich but is also peppered with outrageous characters from the show and special where to find ingredients hints. Even those who don't watch the show will enjoy the book. I received this book as part of the blogging for books program.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this mainly to read the captions and inserts that refer to episodes of the TV show. It was pretty much exactly what I expected in a good way. I could hear all of the various Portlandia characters reading the pages to me. I'm not sure how many of the recipes I would actually try out, but a couple did seem interesting, and again, that wasn't really my primary reason for wanting to peruse this book anyway. I do think I will have to try to make a banana daquiri. ("It takes two bananas...") And maybe the cornmeal marionberry pancakes.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and tongue-in-cheek, this would make a great gift for Portland-ites who don't take themselves seriously, fans of the show Portlandia (I am one), or cooking aficionados (or someone who is all three). Easily half the recipes seem unduly fussy and full of ingredients I just can't get without taking out a bank loan, although the pickling recipe seems easy if you are into pickling stuff. If someone wanted to cook from this and serve it to me, I wouldn't turn the meal down, because they look delicious.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Portlandia (the show and the real place, which is eerily like the show) so it was a given that I would read the cookbook. As one would expect, there is a lot of humor throughout the book. One might not expect good recipes. However, every one I tried was pretty darn good. My two favorites were the Smokey Bacon Pizza Bianca and Cup of Joe, Side of Dough. The latter is a rich cream scone filled with Nutella and bananas. Oh boy, it's good. If you get the book just for that one recipe, you won't regret it.