Chef Tyler Anderson cooks up some raccoon for Audible recording of ‘Twain’s Feast’

A new recording from Audible spotlights Connecticut history, with the help of a few celebrities — including a “Top Chef.”

“Twain’s Feast,” an audiobook starring actor Nick Offerman based on the 2011 book by Andy Beahrs, is now available (free for Audible members during November, and $8.95 for nonmembers.) Audible describes the project as “a rollicking information-packed journey.”

“With the help of a chef and some friends, Nick Offerman presents the story of Twain’s life through the lens of eight of Mark Twain’s favorite foods. As we explore these foods’ role in Samuel Clemens’ life, we also discover a surprising culinary and ecological history of America.”

The chef? Connecticut’s own Tyler Anderson, of Simsbury’s Millwright’s Restaurant, West Hartford’s The Cook and the Bear and Hartford’s Porrón & Piña. A portion of the production was recorded at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, featuring the audio from a dinner party that Offerman hosted for Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy, actress Wanda Sykes, professor Christina Greer, and Beahrs. Anderson, a contestant on the 15th season of “Top Chef” in 2017, prepared the meal, featuring a selection of Twain’s favorite foods (with now-unusual courses like confit sheepshead and smoked raccoon.)

“I’ve concocted a lot of interesting dishes in my life, but this dinner forced me to redefine my notion of traditional American cuisine,” Anderson said in a statement.

Anderson is cooking at the Twain House’s “Twain’s Feast” fundraising gala at Hartford’s Goodwin Hotel on Nov. 3, again preparing some of the food items listed in Beahrs’ book. Tickets are $275 at marktwainhouse.org.

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