Dr. Nathan C. Crook

It may not be Paris, France, but folks
who call the “Great Black Swamp” home have to admit, they eat pretty well.From the apple butter that Grand
Rapids produces each October, to the chicken paprikash and pierogies at church festivals in Rossford and
Toledo, it’s pretty mouth-watering fare.Bowling Green resident and author Dr. Nathan C. Crook has written an
all-encompassing book on past and present food traditions in northwest Ohio, northeast Indiana and
southeastern Michigan — the area known to the early settlers as the Great Black Swamp.The History Press is
introducing the new title: “A Culinary History of the Great Black Swamp: Buckeye Candy, Bratwurst, &
Apple Butter,” which hits shelves Nov. 19.“I’ve interviewed people from all over” to get their input on
ethnic festivals, home cooking and the way certain foods have come to define the communities where we
reside, said Crook, who is currently a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor of English and
agricultural communication at Ohio State University’s agricultural campus in Wooster, on the northern end of
Ohio’s Amish Country.Coming from northern Utah, originally, and having lived mostly in the Southwest until
moving to Bowling Green to work on his Ph.D. in American Cultural Studies at BGSU, Crook discovered
something Wood County’s own natives don’t always realize.Certain dishes we take for granted are exotic or
even nonexistent in other parts of the country.Take, for starters, buckeyes.“I didn’t have any idea what a
buckeye was,” Crook adds. He’s not even talking about the chocolate-covered peanut butter candy that has
become a mainstay of area candy shops and home kitchens at the holidays or before the OSU-Michigan football
game. No, he’s referring to the item that falls from a buckeye tree.“I was over at the (Bowling Green)
recycling center” and — in an area for the collection of twigs, leaves and such — saw a posted sign: “No
Buckeyes allowed.”Sometime later, “I was up to The Andersons and saw a tub of Marsha’s Buckeye candies.”Only
later did he first see the fallen seeds from a local buckeye tree and make the connection.Further research
has revealed recipes for Buckeye brownies or Buckeye bark or any number of other Buckeye dessert items, but
what they must all have in common is “that color combination, that flavor combination. If you change it to
chocolate and caramel, for example, that’s not a Buckeye.”

The cover of ‘A Culinary History of the Great Black Swamp’.

Well, of course, we all know that. But the folks in Utah, Oregon
and New Mexico probably don’t.Here’s another example of the Black Swamp’s claim to culinary uniqueness:
sauerkraut balls.While a Ph.D. candidate, Crook worked under Bowling Green’s Dr. Lucy Long as coordinator
for the Center for Food and Culture which Long founded.“Melissa Hill was an undergraduate student who worked
for me and for Lucy. Melissa’s (Ohio) family would make their own homemade sauerkraut” and she was the
source of a great recipe for sauerkraut balls.“They don’t have sauerkraut out west. It’s extremely rare,”
Crook says, so of course nobody he grew up with had ever tasted sauerkraut balls.With Hirzel’s of
Northwood-Pemberville producing SilverFleece sauerkraut, in healthy competition with Fremont’s Snow Floss
brand, we come by the fried appetizer honestly.Crook opens his book by telling how the terrain of the Great
Black Swamp helped to define what culinary traditions would develop here.The cultural and physical landscape
of the Great Black Swamp is a monument to the hardship and perseverance of the people who drained and
settled the region, he notes.“They transformed densely forested wetlands into one of the most productive
agricultural areas in the nation. Commercial crops of corn, soy, tomatoes and wheat are dominant in the
fertile loam of this part of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. However, each immigrant group calling this place
home brought its own culinary traditions — from pickled eggs to peanut butter pie.”With a foreword by Long,
his mentor, Crook’s 178-page volume goes on to explore the history, culture and representative cuisines that
make eating here “a unique and memorable experience.”Among the many recipes in the book are some your
ancestors lived on, like fried corn, and others your own grandmother and mother probably served on a regular
basis — reliables such as homemade shredded chicken sandwich, beer bread, homemade vanilla pudding and the
aforementioned chicken paprikash from the region’s eastern European immigrants.Crook acquired his pierogi
recipe from John and Marge Michalak, whom he met at the LaGrange Street Polish Festival in east Toledo.
“They have been involved with the festival for years.”For Crook, his wife and their two daughters, going to
church and ethnic festivals “was one of the cheapest ways to get to know the area” when they first moved
here, in 2004. “That’s when I started to find there were some phenomenal foods in the area, you just had to
go look for it.”He examines the German, Hungarian, Polish and Mexican-American foodways, as well as
Lebanese, “which is grounded in Italian.”Crook lovingly describes the “incredibly romantic” tradition of
maple production, centered around the Seneca County Maple Festival.He has his own short list of
under-appreciated area “gems,” including the Snavely Family Sugar Shack in Republic; Frobose Butcher Shop in
Pemberville; and Takacs’ Market in East Toledo’s Birmingham neighborhood, behind Tony Packo’s.Heading that
list is The BratWorks in Bucyrus. “It is, in my opinion, the best bratwurst I’ve ever tasted, hands down.
And I’ve eaten sausages all over, including internationally. Dean Fagan is an artist.”The book also includes
a treasure trove of extremely local photos, including “Will Oswald holding up a hog’s head at Roger Shope’s
(annual) hog roast” in Bowling Green.The paperback, priced at $19.99, will be available at local stores and
online at www.historypress.net. It retails as an e-book via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple’s
ibookstore, Kobo & Overdrive.

Sauerkraut Balls3 pounds loose bratwurst
sausage or hamburger1 quart sauerkraut, chopped fine1 cup minced onion2 cloves garlic, minced1 or 2
tablespoons butter½ can beef broth1 tablespoon minced parsley5 tablespoons flour, plus ¼ to ½ cup for
dredging32 ounces vegetable oil for frying3 eggs½ cup water¼ to ½ cup bread crumbsBrown bratwurst,
sauerkraut, onion and garlic in butter until meat is gray. Drain well. Add beef broth, parsley and flour.
Continue to heat until mixture begins to thicken. Pour on a cookie sheet to cool. May refrigerate to speed
up process. Cool until very thick and easy to roll. Roll into golf ball–size balls. Heat oil to 375 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and water. In a shallow bowl, pour additional flour, and in a separate
shallow bowl, pour bread crumbs. Roll each ball in flour and then dip in egg wash. Roll in bread crumbs to
coat. Add to hot oil. Deep fry until brown. Then remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or a
drying rack to cool.

Pierogi2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough½
teaspoon salt1 large egg, beaten½ cup sour cream, plus extra to serve with the pierogi¼ cup butter, softened
and cut into small pieces, plus 2 tablespoonsFilling of your choice½ onion, chopped1 cup applesauce
(optional)Dough directionsTo prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt and then add the
beaten egg. Add the sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its
stickiness (about 5 to 7 minutes). A food processor with a dough hook works well for this, but be careful
not to overbeat. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes or overnight; the dough can
be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Each batch of dough makes about 12 to 15 pierogies, depending
on size.Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured board or countertop until it is an ¹?8
inch thick. Cut dough into circles (2 inches for small pierogies and 3 to 3½ for large pierogies) with a
cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about 1 tablespoon) on each dough round and
fold the dough over, forming a semicircle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.Boil the
pierogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8 to 10
minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry. Sauté onion in butter in a large pan until soft. Then, add
pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. Serve with a side of cold applesauce or sour cream.