'Pittsburgh On Your Plate': Manor woman's cookbook draws on local culinary influences

Joanne Niehl’s first cookbook, self-published for a family reunion, drew almost exclusively on recipes from her family. It also got her reminiscing about the memories behind the meals.

“We called it ‘Down the House,’ because, when we were growing up, we’d always head to the family house in Braddock on Sundays, and everyone would say, ‘We’re goin’ down the house,’ ” said Niehl, who grew up in Wilkins Township and lives in Manor.

The recent loss of her parents and brother also had Niehl thinking about fond memories.

“When you lose a sibling, all kinds of things start coming back to you,” she said. “Especially things I’d remember from going ‘down the house’ on Camp Avenue.”

Niehl began collecting more recipes, and combined those with essays about different facets of Pittsburgh life to create “Pittsburgh On Your Plate,” 175 dishes that chronicle the various ethnic influences on the region’s cuisine.

“I started by writing about memories from exploring that big house in Braddock, and the smells of Italian cooking that filled it up, and I just kept writing,” Niehl said. “I expanded to Pittsburgh houses, Pittsburgh sports and all those types of things.”

Niehl once again drew on unique and locally-connected dishes created by friends and family for the new cookbook.

“I had a friend with this great pumpkin fudge recipe that I asked to include,” she said. “Those are the kind of recipes I like — the stuff you wouldn’t necessarily think about, but it works.”

Niehl recalled a church potluck where she ate a Polish cabbage roll unlike any she’d tasted before.

“I asked my cousin about them, and she said her mother-in-law puts applesauce in with the meat for her cabbage rolls,” she said. “Those are the little things, things you won’t see on the Food Network, just someone’s grandmother saying, ‘Hey, this is the way we do it because it tastes better.’ ”

She also discovered that, sometimes, family recipes require a little editorial massaging.

“My grandmother’s recipe for pasta e fagioli called for ‘a glass of water’ as the measurement for what to heat on the stovetop,” Niehl said with a laugh. “The publisher told me I’d need to change that to some sort of actual measurement, but that’s the thing about some of the old Italian cooking — there isn’t always a lot of measuring.”

Niehl worked with Page Publishing to create the book.

“It was a very good experience. They helped me do things I couldn’t have done on my own to make it more of a book, and they helped me with some marketing,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful journey.”

“Pittsburgh on Your Plate” is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Google Play Store, as well as at Completely Booked in Monroeville.