George Dolese
Firehouse Food
Cooking With San Francisco's Firefighters
Chronicle Books
2003
As a San Francisco firefighter, I can't help but recommend this book. After all, some unknown portion of the proceeds goes to the Surviving Families Fund of IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) Local 798. How can you argue with that? Plus, some buddies of mine have recipes in this tome. Rich Wagner, station and watch mate, contributes Green Curry Salmon (p. 122) and Iron Skillet Scalloped Potatoes (p. 166), neither of which that rat has ever cooked when I've been working. (I bet my chicken in red curry sauce would have been a great addition to the book, but I didn't get around to submitting it.) A fire academy classmate, Mike Guajardo, contributed 5 recipes, all of which my mom loves.
How well firefighters eat is legendary. In the past, I think the legend had more to do with quantity than quality. The tradition was the "door slammer": something you'd throw in the oven and serve an hour or so later. A friend of mine, whose father was a firefighter, said her dad never cooked his own meals; her mom put everything together for him and he'd take it to work with instructions on how long to leave it in the oven at what temperature. A veteran recently said that the appetites of firefighters have changed over the years. In the old days, the shopping list included a chicken per man. Now, when I cook, I plan for only 1/4 chicken per person, plus a few quarters, just in case! At dinner, we generally have a salad, followed by meat, vegetable and starch (rice, potatoes or noodles), and dessert of some kind. Lunch is probably sandwiches & chips, tacos, chicken caesar salad, or linguine with clam sauce and garlic bread.
The average person coming into the fire department can be anywhere from a former latchkey kid, skilled in using the microwave to heat up leftovers or Stouffers dinners, to a professional chef looking for a career change. Whichever class he or she belongs to, the learning curve in the San Francisco Fire Department kitchen is steep due to the diverse cultural backgrounds of the cooks.
Our cooks are our watch mates, who cook on a rotating basis. They are Americans (most of them) with ethnic backgrounds ranging from English and Irish to Greek, Chinese, Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Vietnamese, and many others. On a watch, others on duty besides the cook for the day will usually help put the meals together, and learn in the process.
I've got to tell you that since I've been a firefighter, eating out can often be a disappointing experience. Cooking for maybe 10-20 people allows economies of scale, and a restaurant bill of $40 per person per meal would cover about 8 meals for a firefighter, and is often no better. It's usually all you can eat, too, meaning a certain amount of restraint is in order for people watching their waistlines! Leftovers are important. When you come to work in the morning, the prime destination is the refrigerator where leftovers provide breakfast. Sometimes things are even better the day after than they were when they were set on the dinner table the first time.
So by buying this book, will you find recipes that will feed you like we feed ourselves? For the most part. The recipes have been "adjusted" by the publishers in some cases. If you see garlic in a recipe, you can probably multiply it by 4-10x to arrive at what we'd be eating. This may apply to other spices, too. Otherwise, you'll find tasty and appealing recipes that you can always adapt to your own tastes after trying them out.
I've bought six so far--it makes a great gift! Plus, people who I've given it to have gotten back to me and said they really liked the recipes. We've worn one to tatters at my station.
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