Book excerpt: Pemmican and pickled plums, sauerkraut and salmi of quail, Swedish flatbread and Bohemian kolaches and Danish meat roll, dishes familiar and foods exotic--you'll find them in this cook's tour of the state from Lewis and Clark to the Age of Elegance, for in its cuisine as in its weather Nebraska is a land of variety and extremes. Interspersed with the recipes are descriptions of food preparation and fare which tell us much about how our forebears lived--industriously, ingeniously, and sometimes very well. Although many of the recipes could not be duplicated in today's kitchens, there is plenty here to challenge and stimulate amateur and professional chefs--and plenty of food for thought for social historians.