What Is Adirondack Cuisine? Inside Adirondack Appetite with Susi Gott Séguret
Camp Cassoulet made from locally-sourced Adirondack ingredients: Duck, tomatoes, sausages, and white beans.
Is there such a thing as Adirondack cuisine?
It's a surprisingly difficult question to answer. Is it venison and maple syrup? Great Camp elegance? Logging camp breakfasts built to fuel a day in the woods? French influences layered over Indigenous traditions? Or is it something less tangible—a meal shared around a camp table after a day on the trail, where the food tastes just a little better because of where you are and who you're with?
That's exactly the question cookbook author, chef, and Certified Culinary Professional Susi Gott Séguret explores in this episode of ADK Talks.
Her new cookbook, Adirondack Appetite: 150 Recipes for Cabin, Camp & Beyond, isn't simply a collection of recipes. It's an exploration of the people, places, traditions, and memories that have shaped the Adirondack table for generations.
If you've ever wondered why certain meals instantly transport you back to your family camp—or why a plate of fresh corn, wild mushrooms, maple syrup, and lake fish somehow tastes unmistakably Adirondack—this conversation belongs on your playlist.
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Whether you're cooking dinner, driving to camp, or dreaming about your next Adirondack getaway, this conversation is best enjoyed with a cup of coffee—or perhaps a slice of pie.
What you'll hear.
Why "Adirondack cuisine" is more than a list of recipes—it's a way of gathering, celebrating, and living.
How Indigenous traditions, French-Canadian influences, logging camps, and Great Camps all helped shape the region's food culture.
The surprising story behind one of the cookbook's most memorable recipes—and why even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can become an Adirondack tradition.
Why food memories often become place memories, and how a favorite meal can instantly transport us back to camp.
Susi's favorite hidden spot in the Adirondacks and what she'd pack in the perfect picnic basket to enjoy there.
Huckleberries grow in the wild.
More than a cookbook.
Many cookbooks teach readers how to prepare dinner. Adirondack Appetite sets out to answer a much bigger question: What does it actually mean to eat like you're in the Adirondacks?
For Susi, the answer begins with the region itself. A single signature dish doesn't define Adirondack cuisine. Instead, it's shaped by centuries of influences—from Indigenous communities and French-Canadian settlers to logging camps, sporting camps, Great Camps, family cabins, roadside diners, and today's growing network of farms, cheesemakers, maple producers, and artisans.
Throughout the conversation, she describes Adirondack cooking as a blend of rustic practicality and quiet elegance. It's hearty enough to satisfy hungry hikers returning from the trail, yet refined enough to feel perfectly at home on the porch of a Great Camp overlooking the lake.
That balance may be the most authentic definition of Adirondack cuisine yet.
Food is how we remember a place.
One of the most thoughtful moments in the episode has very little to do with recipes.
Wild mushroom risotto uses local ingredients to make a delish and hearty meal.
Susi explains that food is inseparable from memory. Long after a vacation ends, people often remember the meal they shared at camp, the pancakes covered in local maple syrup, the fish cooked over the fire, or the pie cooling on a windowsill.
It's a perspective that resonates well beyond the Adirondacks.
Whether readers grew up spending summers at the family camp, recently bought a second home, or visit every year, meals often become part of the stories they tell about the place they love.
As Jane observes during the conversation, Adirondack food doesn't have to remain frozen in time. Local ingredients can inspire everything from classic camp dinners to globally influenced dishes, allowing traditions to evolve while still honoring the region's history.
A cookbook that captures a lifestyle.
While recipes are naturally at the heart of the book, listeners quickly discover that Adirondack Appetite offers much more.
The cookbook includes reflections on Adirondack history, Great Camps, logging camps, Indigenous influences, maps, mushroom and fern guides, camp songs, entertaining ideas, and even classic camp games. It's as much a celebration of Adirondack life as it is a practical guide for cooking.
That broader vision makes the book especially appealing to people who may never prepare every recipe.
Freshly picked sweet corn grilled on an open fire is one of our favorite Adirondack summer treats.
Instead, it becomes something to browse beside the fireplace, leave on the camp coffee table, or give as a thoughtful gift to someone who loves the Adirondacks.
Campfire cooking to cabin comfort.
Of course, listeners won't leave hungry.
Jane and Steve invite Susi to share several favorite recipes, including dishes inspired by logging camps, lakeside entertaining, and simple meals that even novice cooks can confidently prepare.
One of the episode's recurring themes is accessibility.
While some recipes celebrate wild ingredients and traditional techniques, many are intentionally approachable, encouraging readers to adapt recipes using ingredients available at local grocery stores or farmers' markets. As Susi reminds listeners, cooking isn't about perfection—it's about creating something meaningful to share.
Why this conversation matters.
The Adirondacks have long been celebrated for their mountains, lakes, forests, and outdoor recreation.
Tarte aux pommes (apple tart) is an excellent use of Adirondack apples.
Increasingly, they're becoming known for something else: a vibrant food culture rooted in local farms, craft producers, regional traditions, and creative chefs who are redefining what it means to eat in the North Country.
This episode explores that evolution while honoring the traditions that came before it.
Whether you're planning your next Adirondack getaway, looking for inspiration in your own kitchen, or searching for the perfect gift for the camp owner in your life, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on a region that continues to surprise even longtime visitors.
Most of all, it reminds listeners that some of our strongest connections to a place don't come from the views—they come from the people gathered around the table.
Where to buy Adirondack Appetite.
We know many of your readers will ask where they can find the book, so here are a few easy options to share:
Ask your favorite independent bookstore. If they don't have it in stock, most are happy to order it.
You'll also find it at several Adirondack retailers, including The Old Forge Hardware Store, Charlie John's (Speculator), Hoss's Country Corner (Long Lake), and other local shops. You may also find the book at the fantastic gift shops at Adirondack Experience (the museum on Blue Mountain Lake) and at Tupper Lake’s Wild Center,
Prefer to shop online? It's also available through major booksellers, including Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Penguin Random House.
Listen to the full episode of ADK Talks with Susi Gott Séguret, then subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation about the people, places, food, history, and experiences that make the Adirondacks extraordinary.
And while you're here, don't forget to subscribe to the In Good Taste newsletter for curated Adirondack travel inspiration, restaurant discoveries, upcoming events, and new podcast episodes delivered every week.
When we go to her house for dinner, Susie promised to make us her famous sazerac (using Adirondack-made rye, like the ones from War Cannon Spirits).
Hungry for more?
From award-winning chefs and artisan cheesemakers to local farms, craft distillers, and the people preserving the region's culinary traditions, these ADK Talks episodes celebrate the flavors that make the Adirondacks unique. If this conversation left you hungry for more, these are a great place to continue listening.
Adirondack Harvest and the year-round local food movement.
What does it really mean to eat local in the Adirondacks year-round? From winter markets to drought resilience to the roots of the Harvest Festival, this conversation with Adirondack Harvest covers it all.
Inside Nettle Meadow: Adirondack Artisanal Cheesemaking
Meet Nettle Meadow’s Sheila Flanagan—who traded toxic-tort law for award-winning Adirondack cheese (and the Hitching Post Tavern). This episode is rich, real, and ridiculously delicious.
Inside Paul Smith’s Culinary Program and Adirondack Hospitality
From submarine kitchens to the White House to Paul Smith’s College, Chef Robert Dumas joins ADK Talks to explore Adirondack cuisine, hospitality, and what it really takes to become a chef.
Mountains to Highlands: War Cannon’s Distilling Magic
At War Cannon Spirits, craft distilling meets deep Adirondack and Revolutionary-era history at this Crown Point distillery and tasting room.
Raise a glass at Defiance Hall. →
Ultimate Guide to the Adirondacks
Your insider’s guide to exploring the Adirondacks—where to go, what to eat, and the experiences that make this place unforgettable.
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