The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope
By Jose Andres, World Central Kitchen and others
World Humanitarian Organizations/Cookbook
Clarkson Potter
September 2023
In 2017, Puerto Rico reeled from the effects of Hurricane Maria. In the forefront of rescue efforts were chefs who raced to feed their people. Other volunteers soon appeared to help, then many others.
This was the first rescue effort assisted by the world-renowned World Central Kitchen, but the thinking and hoping behind the organization goes back further. In 2010, Jose Andres was becoming well known as a chef and restauranteur. That also was the year he won the Vilcek Prize, which honors someone in arts and humanities. Andres was the second chef to win the $50,000 prize; the first was Marcus Samuelsson.
He and his wife decided to put every cent into creating a new nonprofit organization to change the world through the power of food. (This funding philosophy extends to the WCK Cookbook. Author proceeds will be used to support WCK emergency response efforts.)
The book is more than a compilation of recipes (although they make for delicious reading). It is an expression of the Jose Andres philosophy of the power of food to show caring, a history of the organization, and stories of individuals at disaster sites from around the world who have contributed to the cause and recipes to this volume. Also, the recipes are more than a list of ingredients and curt instructions. There is information about the foods, how to scale the recipes up for a crowd (most are for four-six people) and dissertations on preparation techniques.
The recipes range from Firefighter Chili and Yazzie's Sage and Agave Braised Bison to Karla's Creamy Curry Pasta and Ukrainian Borsch, from Pesto Aioli Breakfast Sandos and Mrs. Obama's Breakfast Tacos to Brooke's Carrot Farro Salad and Purple Sweet Potato Haupia Bars.
The purpose of World Central Kitchen, according to its founding papers, is "to provide food for vulnerable people, to support local agriculture, and to promote environmentally sustainable cooking fuels and technologies."
Or, as Stephen Colbert puts it in his forward:
... in our darkest hour, often what we need most is companionship, which, to him, literally means "sharing bread." Even in the best of times, while the body may be nourished by bread, the spirit is nourished by love.
Or, as Chef Andres writes in his introduction:
“... Sometimes the simple act of caring is the most important thing we can do.”
These forms of nourishments are shown in the way the cookbook is organized, by the stated values of the organization.
Empathy: "The recipes in this chapter embody warmth and love; these are recipes that take time."
Urgency: "The food here is for people on the move."
Adaptation: Figure something out with what you have (AKA Anthony Bourdain's System D).
Hope: "We must always be looking over the horizon, finding a place that still has light and love."
Community: "Everywhere we go, is community."
Resilience: "... to help rebuild food systems to withstand future shocks."
Joy: Sweets and cocktails
Chef Andres adapted a line from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, changing it from "Whenever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there" to "Whenever there's a fight so hungry people may eat, we'll be there." Or, to be it more concisely, "build longer tables instead of higher walls.”