Jo Cameron’s cookbook has a variety of traditional Maine recipes along with a few foreign dishes she picked up when her husband Bruce worked as a biochemist in Lebanon and Nigeria. One of those foreign recipes is Mujuddarah, a Lebanese dish with lentils, rice and spicy onions. Her housekeeper introduced the Camerons to the dish, also known as “Esau’s Pottage.” The delicious stew is inspired by the Book of Genesis. The biblical story is based on brothers Esau and Jacob, the sons of Issac and Rebekah. In the Bible verse, Essau traded his birthright to his brother for a bowl of pottage.

Cameron received notification about the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook through an email and decided to submit her imported Mujuddarah recipe. She did not know her recipe was one of the 200 chosen for the cookbook until she was contacted by The Boothbay Register. “I didn’t think it would be selected because it’s a foreign recipe. So it comes as a surprise to me,” she said.

Cameron likes the dish because “it can feed a small army and doesn’t need refrigeration.” Other Lincoln County Bicentennial recipe contributors include Martha Speed of Edgecomb, Hearty Layer Casserole; Michael Pander of Boothbay, Mike’s Famous Damariscove Oatmeal, Raisin, and Chocolate Chip Cookies; Cynthia Palmer Sherman of Damariscotta, Radnor Farm Place Cards; Cherie Scott of Boothbay Harbor, Red Hot Mumbai Spicy Lamb Chili Dog; Democratic Women of Maine in Wiscasset who submitted a recipe for Spruce beer which originally appeared in the 1920 State of Maine Cookbook; and Susan Goodwillie Stedman of Westport Island, Upside Down Apple Pie. 

The cookbook was edited and compiled by married couple Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway who previously compiled and edited a two-volume compilation of recipes from Portland restaurants. They saw a copy of Maine’s 175th anniversary cookbook and inquired if a similar one for the bicentennial was planned. “We reached out to the bicentennial commission, and they encouraged us to compile one,” Schatz said. “So we took their encouragement to heart. We did some initial fundraising, and started asking prominent Mainers to submit recipes.”

Maine Public sent out an email blast to supporters seeking recipes. Maine Library Association displayed flyers in members’ facilities promoting the search. News reports in the state’s daily newspapers and the television program “207” also informed the public. In selecting contributors, the couple considered both the recipes and family stories behind them. “At first, we looked at recipes more than the stories, but almost immediately the stories became the heart of the book,” Schatz said. “We’d wake up in the morning anxious to check new submissions, and literally began crying after reading about memories from cooking with parents and grandparents.”  

Scott is the creator of the Maine to Mumbai website, the state’s first Indian-inspired culinary brand. She recently launched home-style, regional, Indian-simmer sauces based on her family recipes and handmade in small batches in Boothbay. The website also includes a food blog, a podcast and a regional cooking series. Scott learned of the community cookbook from a guest on her podcast who introduced her to Schatz and Hathaway. 

The inspiration for her Red Hot Mumbai Spicy Lamb Chili Dog came one night when her husband made dinner for their son, Justus, who loves Maine red hot dogs. “Guy was ready to heat up a delicious bowl of Indian inspired lamb chili for himself, and since he had made an extra dog for Justus, he decided to ladle some of my Indian Lamb Chili on a red hot for himself, and made a 'Mumbai to Maine' inspired lamb chili dog,” she said. “When Karl Schatz asked me to submit a recipe, I thought, what a perfect submission it would be for the cookbook.”

Pander described his submission as a “basic cookie recipe of flour, baking soda, butter and two eggs.” He believes it was picked due to the story which came with the recipe. Pander and his wife are volunteer relief Damariscove Island caretakers. Each time, they make a double batch of cookies to Damariscove Island for guests and themselves during their shift. In his submission, Pander wrote, “The island is several miles away and transportation may be postponed due to fog or heavy seas. We are confident we could survive quite comfortably if these cookies were the only food we have left.”

Scott was honored with her submission’s inclusion. “I feel so privileged to be a part of the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook. The bicentennial has inspired us all to collaborate and archive Maine's past, present and future food story,” she said. 

Schatz and Hathway reported the cookbook is in its fourth printing and ready for distribution by Dec. 18. It can be bought at Maine bookstores and at Amazon.com. The couple said $2 from each sale is donated to Maine food pantries.