Some of these titles strike me as some of the best recent examples of culinary literature as produced by the most familiar/best-selling and talented living authors who write about food, with an emphasis placed on those still active in their professions. / After all, Epicurious is forged by Condé-Nast which produces magazines you're supposed to throw away after you've been informed, entertained and tempted to purchase new, fashionable consumer goods--like books. / And while it's true that food literature is a growing field, isn't there more that chefs "ought" to read by dead authors? Primary texts from long ago for the sake of historical perspective?
Thanks, Pontormo -- I was thinking along some of those lines, then saw your posting.
No reflection on the specific books on that list, many good -- but I guess it shouldn't be surprising when commercial publications recommend mainly recent best-sellers and classics permanently in print. Individuals do too, because those books are so well known. That leaves the question of where to find recommendations of food books by authors who are
not on TV and
don't have cheeses or metaphors named after them. This thread has some.
Also, this thread is about books for chefs. I can think of several books fitting Pontormo's and my criteria above, but for general readers -- many of them have already appeared in earlier threads on this site. Not being a chef leaves me less clear what's appropriate for them.
... In the interest of being truly representative, though, I'd add at least one fine work of fiction in which food plays a central role.
Does "fine" fiction exclude modern humor classics like the wicked
Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, Nan and Ivan Lyons, 1976, with its unforgettable beginning and quotable lines (movie version, 1978), or the lighter
Monsieur Pamplemousse by Michael Bond (1986)?
