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Sometimes the pleasure of a cookbook comes not just from the food you make, but the stories behind the recipes. Have you ever "read" a cookbook, and enjoyed the sheer fun of reading it, even if you didn't make any of the recipes? If so , these books are for you!
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Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship, with Recipes
by Amanda Hesser
Published 2003 by W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 039305196X
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In her wonderful debut cookbook, The Cook and the Gardener, Hesser, a food reporter for the New York Times, followed a year in the life of the kitchen garden at Chateau du Fey in Burgundy, where she worked as a cook. Hesser created four seasons of exquisitely simple recipes that inspired readers to consider the life of the land. More than that, however, she chronicled the gentle, patient way she earned the trust of the crusty, tradition-bound gardener, Monsieur Milbert. Now Hesser attempts to adapt the same organizing strategy to her roughly yearlong courtship of the handsome and talented Mr. Latte, aka New Yorker writer Tad Friend. Weaving recipes within her narrative, she presents a Sex and the City tale with dining and food subbing for sex. Readers join her as she jets to Rome and Spain, or enjoys New York dinner parties with the likes of Tama Janowitz or a crowd of stylish young urban achievers, culminating in Hesser's own wonderful engagement party and wedding.
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The Cook and the Gardener: A Year of Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside
by Amanda Hesser
Published 1999 by W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0393046680
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Jacket Notes:
A unique blend of stylish cookbook and earthy garden story, "The Cook and the Gardener" is a collection of 250 recipes derived from a centuries-old French kitchen garden. "A seasonal tribute to the symbiotic relationship between a chef and her provider of ingredients". -- "Austin Chronicle". 40 illustrations.
REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 02/01/1999
Readers who have been pining for a new literary cookbook need look no further. The cook of the title is the author, a staff reporter for the "Dining In/Dining Out" section of the New York Times. The gardener is a crusty, irascible French country gardener of considerable age and vast experience. Hesser met M. Milbert when she began cooking for Anne Willan, founder of the cooking school La Varenne, at Willan's estate in Burgundy, France, where Milbert and his wife were caretakers, a job they took on after selling their small farm. With respect and grace, Hesser describes her encounters with Milbert in his domain, the estate's one-acre garden, tracing four seasons' worth of interwoven gardening and cooking. Hesser's recipes follow the traditional French country techniques and are neither fussy nor marked by shortcuts. Seamlessly including basics in the introductions to the seasons, Hesser delivers a solid grounding for beginning cooks as well; or at least for those whose interest is in preparing food with fresh ingredients (and who don't need to learn how to cook broccoli, which apparently Milbert didn't grow). Hesser's voice, as she carefully earns Milbert's trust, becoming finally in his words, la petite jardiniere, is as sure and convincing as is her hand in the kitchen. Cooks who pick from Hesser's 200 month-by-month recipes will easily imagine themselves at least momentarily transported to the French countryside.
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Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of French Cooking
by Julie Powell
Published 2005 by Little Brown and Company
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 031610969X
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Jacket Notes:
Julie Powell needs something to break the monotony of her life. So, she invents a deranged assignment: She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and cook all 524 recipes in the span of just one year.
REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 06/13/2005
Powell became an Internet celebrity with her 2004 blog chronicling her yearlong odyssey of cooking every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. A frustrated secretary in New York City, Powell embarked on "the Julie/Julia project" to find a sense of direction, and both the cooking and the writing quickly became all-consuming. Some passages in the book are taken verbatim from the blog, but Powell expands on her experience and gives generous background about her personal life: her doting husband, wacky friends, evil co-workers. She also includes some comments from her "bleaders" (blog readers), who formed an enthusiastic support base. Powell never met Julia Child (who died last year), but the venerable chef's spirit is present throughout, and Powell imaginatively reconstructs episodes from Child's life in the 1940s. Her writing is feisty and unrestrained, especially as she details killing lobsters, tackling marrowbones and cooking late into the night. Occasionally the diarist instinct overwhelms the generally tight structure and Powell goes on unrelated tangents, but her voice is endearing enough that readers will quickly forgive such lapses. Both home cooks and devotees of Bridget Jones-style dishing will be caught up in Powell's funny, sharp-tongued but generous writing.
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The World in My Kitchen: The Adventures of a (Mostly) French Woman in America
by Colette Rossant
Published 2006 by Atria Books
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0743490282
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Jacket Notes:
"We are on our way to Le Havre. The train is going so fast that the landscape is all but a blur. From time to time, I can see a farm in the mist surrounded by a sea of green fields. I am excited but also scared. It is 1955, and we are on our way to New York."
So begins the marvelous journey of Colette Rossant, just married to an American architect and about to leave France for a new life in the heart of New York City. At first, Colette finds Americans' manners to be as mystifying as their cuisine, but before long, she discovers the myriad charms of her adopted country. Between taking on an astoundingly diverse series of jobs, raising four children, and renovating a Soho town house, Colette develops her own flair for food -- and for superb food writing. In this spirited and deliciously entertaining memoir, Colette shares the unforgettable stories of her forty tumultuous years at the heart of American and international cuisine.
Charming, indomitable, endlessly curious and adventurous, Colette Rossant inspires us to savor every meal -- and every day. With a wonderful array ofmouth-watering recipes, "The World in My Kitchen" is an irresistible celebration of family, food, and life.
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Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life
by Michael Lee West
Published 2000 by HarperCollins Publishers
Paperback, English. ISBN: 0060984422
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Jacket Notes:
From the author of "Crazy Ladies" comes a jambalaya of treasured family recipes as well as a recounting of her trials and tribulations as a Southern woman who became an accidental gourmet.
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On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town
by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Published 2002 by Broadway Books
Paperback, English. ISBN: 0767904559
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Jacket Notes:
Susan Loomis arrived in Paris twenty years ago with little more than a student loan and the contents of a suitcase to sustain her. But what began then as an apprenticeship at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine evolved into a lifelong immersion in French cuisine and culture, culminating in permanent residency in 1994. "On Rue Tatin chronicles her journey to an ancient little street in Louviers, one of Normandy's most picturesque towns.
With lyrical prose and wry candor, Loomis recalls the miraculous restoration that she and her husband performed on the dilapidated convent they chose for their new residence. As its ochre and azure floor tiles emerged, challenges outside the dwelling mounted. From squatters to a surly priest next door, along with a close-knit community wary of outsiders, Loomis tackled the social challenges head-on, through persistent dialogue-and baking.
"On Rue Tatin includes delicious recipes that evoke the essence of this region, such as Apple and Thyme Tart, Duck Breast with Cider, and Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard. Transporting readers to a world where tradition is cherished, "On Rue Tatin provides a touching glimpse of the camaraderie, exquisite food, and simple pleasures of daily life in a truly glorious corner of Normandy.
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A Well-Seasoned Appetite: Recipes from an American Kitchen
by Molly O'Neil
Published 1995 by Viking Books
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 067085574X
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REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 05/22/1995
"The dishes of spring are sprightly, bold in a quiet key, unreconciled, too young to know any better... Think of dinner as a kick. Think of being young and in love. You will then produce fresh and gentle flavors.'' The grandiosity (and prolixity) of the writing might lead a reader to conclude that O'Neill is a weekend poet instead of an accomplished cook and New York Times Magazine food columnist. Those who can look past both her prose and her silly defense of seasonal fare (her argument for favoring seasonal ingredients is based on aesthetics, not common sense or economy) will find a cornucopia of somewhat trendy recipes, grouped by season. Dishes range from the exotic (e.g., for summer, a Korean barbecue marinade, with ingredients including ginger, papaya, pineapple juice and sesame oil, or blue hubbard squash in a squash-and-maple-syrup pie) to the streamlined (basic steamed lobsters or Soft-shell Crabs Sauteed in Brown Butter). Ingredients can be costly (four cups of sliced fresh morels in Chicken with Morels, Fava Beans and Spring Potatoes, to serve four) and directions presume some expertise, but reasonably well-heeled, well-schooled cooks will likely enjoy dipping into this idiosyncratic collection.
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The Man Who Ate Everything
by Jeffrey Steingarten
Published 1998 by Vintage Books USA
Paperback, English. ISBN: 0375702024
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Jacket Notes: Winner of the Julia Child Book Award; A James Beard Book Award Finalist
When Jeffrey Steingarten was appointed food critic for Vogue, he systematically set out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimchi, lard, Greek cuisine, and blue food. He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is "fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad." In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called "dinner."
Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic--and hilarious--defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed with offbeat erudition and recipes so good they ought to be illegal, The Man Who Ate Everything is a gift for anyone who loves food.
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French Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris
by Harriet Welty Rochefort
Published 2001 by Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0312261497
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REVIEW: Booklist
Harriet Welty Rochefort grew up in Iowa, but she has lived in France for the last thirty years. In French Fried , her second volume recounting the vicissitudes of daily life among the French, she brings her well-developed sense of humor to bear on topics such as the French waiter in all his professional hauteur, the Gallic passion for organ meats, and the new culture of the hypermarket. This single-destination source for everything from fine foods to stereos to running shoes has transformed the way many French do their customary daily shopping. Rochefort's recounting of wine-tastings with Alain Ducasse's sommelier puts good wine service in sound perspective. Mark Knoblauch, Booklist Copyright © American Library Association.
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What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
by Robert L. Wolke
Published 2002 by W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0393011836
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Jacket Notes:
Organized into basic categories for easy reference, this book contains more than 130 lucid explanations of kitchen phenomena, debunking some widely held myths about foods and cooking. 20 illustrations.
REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 05/06/2002
Wolke, longtime professor of chemistry and author of the Washington Post column Food 101, turns his hand to a Cecil Adams style compendium of questions and answers on food chemistry. Is there really a difference between supermarket and sea salt? How is sugar made? Should cooks avoid aluminum pans? Interspersed throughout Wolke's accessible and humorous answers to these and other mysteries are recipes demonstrating scientific principles. There is gravy that avoids lumps and grease; Portuguese Poached Meringue that demonstrates cream of tartar at work; and juicy Salt-Seared Burgers. Wolke is good at demystifying advertisers' half-truths, showing, for example, that sea salt is not necessarily better than regular salt for those watching sodium intake. While the book isn't encyclopedic, Wolke's topics run the gamut: one chapter tackles Those Mysterious Microwaves; elsewhere readers learn about the burning of alcohol and are privy to a rant on the U.S. measuring system. With its zest for the truth, this book will help cooks learn how to make more intelligent choices.
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What Einstein Told His Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science
by Robert L. Wolke
Published 2005 by W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0393058697
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Jacket Notes:
In this sequel to "What Einstein Told His Cook," the scientist in the kitchen reveals more about what makes food tick. 20 illustrations.
REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 03/07/2005
Wolke (What Einstein Told His Cook) again brings hard science and corny humor to bear on the most basic of human needs: food. Whether defining the chemical makeup of the artificial flavor in chocolate or exploring the vagaries of scallop farming, Wolke plunges into the science of gastronomy with lan. Using questions gathered from readers of his Washington Post column, he covers the gamut from why tea turns cloudy in the refrigerator (cooling precipitates tiny particles of tannins) to what "mechanically separated beef" is (meat that's been "forced at high pressure through a kind of sieve"). Each question serves as a springboard to a rigorous analysis of food and its preparation and to humorous and bitter ruminations on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation; explorations of the folk history of food cultivation; and expansive descriptions of various world cuisines. Interspersed throughout are mouth-watering recipes written by Wolke's wife, restaurant critic and culinary journalist Marlene Parrish.
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Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship
by Sharon Boorstin
Published 2002 by ReganBooks
Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0060012838
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REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 03/25/2002
Noted food writer Boorstin was cleaning out her desk one day when she came across a notebook of recipes she'd collected as a newlywed in the late 1960s. Each recipe brought back memories of the women who'd shared it with her and the friendships that resulted. Boorstin threads these recipes for dishes such as Mireille's Halibut in Champagne and Ina's Brownies through her memoir, tracing the evolution of her friendships with women through the years, from her 1950s suburban Seattle childhood (the "Age of Innocence and Frozen Marshmallows") to the days of "women's lib" and the psychotherapy-saturated '70s, when Boorstin marries, has a daughter and begins documenting the California restaurant revolution for magazines such as Bon App tit. Boorstin shares painful memories as well her sister's mental breakdown, her own broken engagement. As her daughter grows up and parental pressures ease, Boorstin begins to develop cherished relationships with women independent of her family. "When it comes right down to it," Boorstin writes, "a woman really is the sum of all the friends she has had in her life." The result is a charming homage to women's camaraderie. Although perhaps not as penetrating as M.F.K. Fisher's writings nor as sparkling as Laurie Colwin's, there are still treasures to be found in this likeable baby boomer memoir.
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