You don’t need to leave Maine to enjoy cooking around the world

Do you like Italian food? Mexican? Chinese? How about French, Peruvian, or Norwegian? Recipes from all of these countries, and more, are in Sandy and Michael Jubinsky’s wonderful book: No Passports Required – Cooking Around the World in Maine, published by Maine Authors Publishing.

After Michael retired, he and Sandy opened the Stone Turtle Baking and Cooking School in Lyman, Maine. Sandy has extensive experience as a pastry chef, food taster, bakery manager, and food columnist.
I love the concept in this book. Each chapter starts with a Maine town named for another country, and then provides interesting stories and recipes for that country’s cuisine.

And boy, did this book make me hungry! From the smoked fish pate in Denmark to the Mussels Napolitano of Naples, and the Swedish meatballs to Poland’s Babci’s Pierogi to Mexico’s Blueberry Margarita and Chocolate Chili Banana Quesadillas, to China’s Peekytoe Crab Rangoon, I drooled all the way through the book.

And then I came to the Maine section with everything from beans baked in the ground (appropriately titled Bean Hole Suppah) to Whoopie Pies and Blueberry Cake – Yup, all my favorite Maine food is here, along with some new ones, including Moxie Barbecue Sauce. And of course, they include Tourtiere Pie.

I actually helped convince the legislature to designate the whoopie pie as our “state treat.”

After finishing reading the book, I hustled it over to Linda, with suggestions for recipes she should check out. Thank you Sandy and Michael!

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.