Among the contributors was Chief Michael Touchstone, who appeared on NBC's 10! Show last week, cooking those salmon and asparagus dishes. (Those and other recipes from firehouses nationwide are in the Hallmark cookbook, which can be downloaded free of charge at Hallmarkchannel.com. It will not be sold in stores.)
Touchstone, a paramedic who leads emergency medical services training at the department's Fire Training Academy, says there's a good reason food is tightly woven into the firefighting culture.
"The person you're sitting next to may be the person who will have your back when you're out on a fire call," Touchstone says. "You want to know and trust that person because your life depends on it."
Philadelphia firefighters are assigned to work units called platoons, and each platoon, comprising about 11 men and women, works the same weekly shift (two days, two nights in a row) for an extended period so it becomes a tight team.
Not to diminish the role of police officers, but their situation is different, Touchstone says.
"They're in cars, driving around . . . and they can go out of service on a lunch break sometimes."
Not so for firefighters.
Once the shift starts, they're glued. Like it or not, they're going to eat in the firehouse. And it is far less expensive to cook in than order out.
Besides, by sharing meals, the platoon acts and feels like a family. That's the point.
"The fire department is like a family," Touchstone says. "You spend more time with the people in the house than your real family."
Meals play the same role at the firehouse as in a classic American family, Touchstone says.
"That time together gives you a strong foundation to build on a group. Traditions develop and grow. The bond that happens around the kitchen table is our strength."
