From Scratch: Adventures in Harvesting, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging on a Fragile Planet

Actor/author Jon and his son, narrator David Moscow, star of the cable television show From Scratch, synthesize four years of traveling around the world in search of the people, places, plants, and animals that represent complex food systems. Moscow thoughtfully discusses how he developed the idea for a documentary series that traces ingredient sources as an outgrowth of his environmental efforts and his discomfort at being disconnected from the origins of his food. What could be unbearably preachy is made compelling and entertaining by Moscow’s chatty style and obvious curiosity about every experience he encounters. Each chapter begins with a chef and a meal, then examines the meal’s cultural and historical background before setting off to source ingredients and recreate that meal. Listeners are pulled along as he dives for oysters in Croatia, hunts boar in Texas, and searches for dune spinach in South Africa. His sense of how to mix the various elements of food narrative, travelogue, and environmental study keeps the pace brisk but not frantic. The enjoyable final chapter includes an assortment of Moscow’s favorite recipes from his travels.