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Apparently I have too much time on my hands, as I went back through the thread and listed all the books mentioned. I did NOT have enough time on my hands to correct capitalization, but did try to eliminate duplicates and fix spelling where it was obvious. I removed "the" from titles, but not 'a' or 'an'. Just didn't seem right. I have it in a table format, which smushes title and author together when I cut and paste. Sorry about that. If you know a fix, do tell. Where there is a specialty that is not obvious from the title and was mentioned by the poster, it follows the author. Here's the list to date, alphabetically by title: Title Author subject Anything by: Amanda Hesser Bryanna Clark Grogan vegan Chris Schlesinger Damon Lee Fowler Southern Escoffier James Beard Jamie Oliver Joel Robuchon John Thorne Laurie Colwin Lidia Bastianich Maida Heatter Martinez Vera Cruz Michael Fields Mollie Katzen Nigel Slater Patricia Quintana Mexican Paula Wolfert Pierre Franey Simon Hopkinson Trilling Oaxaca 60 Minute Chef Pierre Franey 60-Minute Gourmet Pierre Franey A Book of Middle Eastern Food Claudia Roden A Bowl of Red Frank Tolbert chili A Commonsense Guide to Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables Elizabeth Schnieder a fresh look at saucing foods deidre davis A New Way to Cook Sally Schneider A Real American Breakfast Jamison & Jamison a return to cooking with eric ripert A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen Jack Bishop Advanced Professional Pastry Chef Bo Frieburg Amuse-Bouche Tramonto An Ocean of Flavor: the Japanese Way with Fish and Seafood Elizabeth Andoh Any New York Times Cookbook Appetite Nigel Slater At Home with Japanese Cooking Elizabeth Andoh Balthazar Barbeque Bible Steven Raichlen Barefoot Contessa Best American Recipes edited Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens Best Recipe Cooks Illustrated Big Fat Duck Big Flavor Jim Foebel Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie Bill Neal Southern baking Bistro Cooking Patrica Wells Bistro Cuisine Patricia Wells Bittersweet Alice Medrich Book of Jewish Food Claudia Roden Book of Middle Eastern Cooking Claudia Roden book on Catalan cooking Colman Andrews Bread Bakers Apprentice Peter Reinhart Bread Bible But the Crackling Is Superb: An Anthology on Food and Drink by Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society Cake Bible Rose Levy Beranbaum Campanile cookbook Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. Italian Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret Colman Andrews Charlie Trotter Cooks At Home Chesapeake Bay Cooking John Shields Chez Nous (Passion for Provence reissued name) Lydie Marshall Chez Panisse Cooking Chez Panisse Vegetables China Moon Cookbook Chinese Gastronomy Hsiang-Ju Lin, Tsuifeng Lin Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts Alice Medrich Christmas Delia Smith CIA's Book of Soups Classic Cuisine of Italian Jews Edda Servi Machlin Classic Home Desserts Sax Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking Sahni Classic Pasta Giuliano Hazan Complete Asian Cookbook Charmaine Solomon Complete French Cooking Course Complete Illustrated Cookery Course Delia Smith Complete Meat Cookbook Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly Complete Technique Jacques Pepin Cookies and Brownies Alice Medrich's Cookies Unlimited Nick Malgieri Cooking at the Merchant House Shaun Hill Cooking from New England Jasper White Cooking Light Cooking of South-West France Paula Wolfert Cooking with Claudine cooking with Daniel Boulud Cooking with David Burke of the Park Avenue Cafe David Burke Cooking with the Seasons Jean-Louis Pallidin Cook's Bible Cordon Bleu Cook's Companion Stephanie Alexander Cook's Illustrated annuals Cookwise Shirley Corriher Cotton Country Collection Junior Charity League of Monroe 1972 Southern Country Weekends Lee Bailey Craft of Cooking Tom Colicchio Creole Feast Burton and Lombard Cucina Simpatica Killeen and Germon Cuisine Economique Jacques Pepin Culinary Artistry Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, Cuisine Du Terroir Celine Vence Dakshin, a book of Southeastern vegetarian cuisine. Dear Francesca Mary Contini Desert Island Cookbook: Lulu's Provencal Table Dessert Bible Christopher Kimball Doubleday Cookbook Early French cookery: Sources, history, original recipes and modern adaptations Eleanor Scully medieval food El Bulli Elegant Taste of Thailand: Cha Am Cuisine Pinyo Srisawat Elements of Taste Gray Kunz Escoffier Cook Book. Essentials of Classical Italian Cuisine Marcella Hazan Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook Ruth Van Waerebeek-Gonzalez Family food Heston Blumenthal Fannie Farmer Baking Book Marion Cunningham Fannie farmer Boston cooking school cookbook Feasts for All Seasons Roy Andre De Groot Fields of Greens Fish and Shellfish Peterson Flatbreads and Flavours Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid Flavors of France Alain Ducasse Food From My Heart Zarela Martinez Mexican Food of Southern Italy Carlo Middione Foods and Wines of Spain Penelope Casas Forever Summer Nigella Four Seasons Cookery Book Margaret Costa French Country Cooking Elizabeth David French Kitchen Joanne Harris French Laundry Thomas Keller French Market Joanne Harris French Provincial Cooking Elizabeth David French Regional Cooking Anne Willian Fresh & Fast Marie Simmons Frog Commissary Cookbook Steven Poses Frozen Desserts Francisco Migoya Gear for Your Kitchen Alton Brown Gift of Southern Cooking Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis Gloria's Gourmet Low-Fat Muffins Good Cook series Time Life Good Housekeeping's Cookery Book Goose Fat and Garlic Jeanne Strang Gotham Bar & Grill Cookbook Alfred Portale Grand Livre de Cuisine d’Alain Ducasse Green on Greens Burt Green Greens Deborah Madison Grit Cookbook Southern vegetarian Harry’s Bar Cookbook Heart of Sicily Anna Tasca Lanza High Flavor, Low Fat Steven Raichlen Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking John Martin Taylor Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Throughout the Ages Hot Sour Salty Sweet How to be a Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson (for baking) How to Cook and Eat in Chinese How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman How to Eat Nigella Lawson How to Play with your Food Penn and Teller How to Read a French Fry Russ Parson Hungarian Cookbook Susan Derecskey I'm Just here for the Food Alton Brown In Madeline's Kitchen Madeline Kamen Intercourses, an Aphrodisiac Cookbook Italian American Cooking Lidia Bastianich Italian Food Elizabeth David Italian Regional Cooking Ada Boni James Beard cookbooks James Beards American Cookery Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art Shizuo Tsuji Jessie Marie DeBoth Cookbook for All Occasions joslin diabetes gourmet cookbook Joy of Cooking Joy of Cooking Just Desserts Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Science Howard Hillman Kitchen Sessions Charlie Trotter La cucina essentiale - Stefano Cavallini La Retertoire de la Cuisine Saulnier La Varenne Pratique Anne Willan Larousse Gastronomique Le Cordon Blue textbook Le Repertoire de la Cuisine Louis Saulnier Lidia's Italian Table, Lidia Bastianich Looney Spoons Has some really good low fat stuff Lord Krishna's Cuisine Yamuna Devi Louisiana Real and Rustic. Emeril Lagasse Cajun ma gastronomie fernand point Making of a Chef Madeleine Kamman Marie Clare" cookbooks Mastering the Art of French Cooking Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Pastry Bruce Henry and Paul Bugal Mediterranean Paula Wolfert Mediterranean Cooking Elizabeth David Mediterranean Feast Clifford Wright Mediterranean Seafood Alan Davidson Mediterranean Vegetables Clifford Wright Mexico One Plate at a Time Rick Bayless Minimalist Cooks at Home Mark Bittman Moosewood Moro My Gastronomy Nico Ladenis Naked Chef Jamie Oliver New Joy of Cooking New Making of a Cook Madeline Kammen New Orleans Cookbook Richard & Rima Collin New Professional Chef CIA New Way to Cook New York Times Cookbook Craig Claiborne New York Times Cookbook New York Times Menu Cookbook Nico Nico Ladenis Noodle, Terry Durack North Atlantic Seafood Alan Davidson Nose to Tail Eating Fergus Henderson old fashioned cookbook jan mcbride carlton On Food and Cooking Harold McGee Oxford Companion to Food Passionate Vegetarian Crescent Dragonwagon Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life Patisserie Roux Brothers Perfect Cakes Nick Malgieri Pies and Tarts Martha Stewart Prawn Cocktail Years Simon Hopkinson Professional Chef Culinary Institute of America Professional Pastry Chef Bo Frieburg Real Fast Food Nigel Slater Real Food Nigel Slater Real Stew Clifford Wright Regional Italian and American Home Cooking Nika Hazelton Return to Cooking Eric Ripert & Mark Ruhlman Rhubarb and Black Pudding Paul Heatcote River Cottage Cookbook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall River Roads Junior League Book Creole Roast Chicken and Other Stories Simon Hopkinson Roasting Barbara Kafka Sacramental Magic in a Smalltown Cafe Brother Juniper sauces james Peterson Science of Cooking Peter Barham seafood recipes from local waters Jacqueline Pell Tuttle Seattle Kitchen. Tom Douglas Secret Ingredients Michael Roberts Sichuan Cooking Fuchsia Dunlop Silver Palate Cookbook Simple French Food Richard Olney Simple Italian Food Mario Batali Simple to Spectacular Jean-Georges Vongerichten & Mark Bittman Simply French, Patricia Wells introduces the cuisine of Joel Robuchon Patricia Wells Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, Paula Wolfert Sophie’s Kitchen and Sunshine Food Sophie Grigson Sophie's Table Sophie Grigson Soup, Beautiful Soup Felipe Rojas-Lombardi Southern Sideboards Junior League Book Southern Southwest Tastes Ellen Brown Southwestern Vegetarian Stephan Pyles Spice Cookbook Splendid Cooking Splendid Table Lynne Rossetto Kasper Sunshine Food Sophie Grigson Taste of Country Cooking Edna Lewis Tetsuya Tetsuya Wakuda Thai Food David Thompson The Best of the Best of (state) American Regional – by state Thrill of the Grill Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby through the seasons Joel Robuchon Town and Country Cookbook James Villas Trattoria Patricia Wells Trattoria Cooking Biba Caggiono Under Pressure Thomas Keller Union Square Café Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Deborah Madison Vegetarian Cooking of the East Madhur Jaffrey Village Baker Joe Ortiz Village Baker's Wife Gayle and Joe Ortiz Way to Cook Julia Child When French Women Cook Madeleine Kamman White Heat Marco Pierre White Wild Food from Land & Sea Marco Pierre White Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest Cory Schreiber Working Girl Must Eat Hazel Young World Vegetarian Madhur Jaffrey Zuni Cafe Cookbook Judy Rodgers edited to work on formatting

Hey!!!! I got my comment posted on the "the moment" blog. I have always maintained--and still do-- that it is the media; the publishers, the editors, and the TV editors who simply refuse to acknowledge the existance of the scale. If an e-mail/snail mail campain won't work, perhaps invite them (media) on this site as a guest to "support their views" on why they don't include weight measurements? Say, Chris Kimball? Don't get me wrong, I like the man and his magazine, love the food science, effort, and research that goes into each edition. Just want to ask the man, "Why measuring cups?" Kinda like wearing rubber boots with a $5000.00 Hugo Boss suit, somehow it just doesn't seem right......

Sign me up! Tried the link to themoment.blo, but couldn't access it. Tried(unsusccesfully) to comment on Chris Kimball's blog where comments are accepted, but that didn't pan out either. I have, in the past, e-mailed and snail-mailed editors of "Fine Cooking", " Cook's Ill", "Pastry and Baking N.A." and "Gourmet". Only P&BNA has replied to me.

just wondering as i have not been to DiF. Kimball might have other reasons for chosing NYC that have nothing to do with pizza. Who would want a 'free' trip to New Haven? Visit Yale? well a week of Pepe's might be worth is. Its true the wood-coal-oven makes a huge difference if not too smokey. I and i guess Pepe's has expanded to several other CT spots. Pizza is like the Perfect Cup: the same taster can tell the difference one to the other.

this is a narrow topic, as Im hoping someone has been to both establishments or one or the other. I have not been to DiFara's and only know about it as recently on Test Kichen, Kimball went there to taste NYC thin crust and raved about it. K is a tricky guy. So if you have been to both, what do you think? been to one? the other? my view is that Pepe's cant be beat and does not even get close to other 'fine' parlors ive been to: White Clam pizza, and Bacon pizza I die for. Pepe's

I sometimes wonder if cookbooks that don't "work" for certain people don't result from the vagaries of imperfect communication? In my case, even though I love Cooks Illustrated, I found Chris Kimball's The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook totally useless. I also had trouble with a disportionate number of the recipes in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. I don't think the recipes were poorly written or inadequately tested though. I just think some styles of writing don't connect with certain reader's comprehension. This is true in other types of writing, and in spoken language for that matter, so I can't see why it couldn't be the case with cook books? SB (Forgot to order this book! My Amazon Wish List must have dropped it?)

Like someone said before, I'm not sure if I replied to this in the past or not. Love: Bourdain - brash, truthful, and credible (a big thing in my book). Watching him turned me on to offal and the lovely, beautiful Fergus Henderson. Without Bourdain, I might never have tasted livers, sweetbreads, or other organs. Okay and so I have a huge crush too. He could feed me fermented shark fin anytime. Bayless - reminds me of the "White Rabbit" from Alice in Wonderland. I've learned more about mexican food from his PBS show than I ever thought possible. Now, without a knowledge of Spanish, I can go into a Mexican restaurant and recognize the names and know what the contents likely are of many of the dishes. Florence - for a purely aesthetic reason (although what he makes doesn't usually look half bad). And he had a couple of Thanksgiving recipes in an old issue of Gourmet that were pretty good. Chiarello- great tips (though I'm scared to put a pinch of Vitamin C in my pesto). And I love when he does a "cook off" with Jan (from New Orleans). He is enthusiastic without being annoying. Kimball - and the rest of the "From America's Test Kitchen" gang. So nerdy, at times too nerdy, makes me feel cool - plus I'm a science nerd at heart. Which brings me to... Brown - Alton's schtick can go a little to far sometimes, but I loved "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" growing up and his show is like an extension of that. That said, I don't like his cookbooks too much, but I love the culinary history of a dish in his show and any time Shirley Corriher shows up on screen in an awesome moment. I'm indifferent about: Rachael Ray - without her show, my sister might never have started cooking from scratch and my niece and nephew might not have wanted to help out in the kitchen. She made many of the things previously thought of by my sister as "too difficult" easier. Granted, she is not my cup of tea (or shot of Jaeger), but she has her audience and I respect that. Giada - I can take her or leave her. Can't stand her cookbooks. Paula - entertaining, but can get on my nerves. I don't think I've ever made a single one of her recipes and I have no desire to visit The Lady and Sons. Dislikes: Ina- pretentious, her fake laugh gets on my nerves. And her amount of butter, sugar and sour cream rivals that of Paula Deen - and she has nowhere near the likability. Emeril - I have some of the same things to say about him as Rachael. He's getting people to try things they might not otherwise try...but even my sister go sick of his schtick. Sandra Lee- Who makes (okay opens the bottle of Prego and adds jarred minced garlic) tomato sauce in a white Juicy Couture velour jump suit? She's an assembler, not a cook. Covering a store bought angel food cake in whipped topping and canned mandarin oranges does not a dessert make. But sometimes I sit and watch, it's like a train wreck you can't look away from. Plus she looks like a reject from "The Real Housewives of Orange County." Shannon (I just realized that all the ones I like are males, I think this means I need to find a single chef to hook up with. Wait, wait, I do like Martha Stewart, but then again, that is a chick with some balls).

January 18, 2006... From today's Chicago Tribune - Good Eating section: A passion for cheese...Robin Mather Jenkins profiles Leslie Cooperband and her husband, Wes Jarrell, owners of Illinois' first licensed farmstead goat cheese dairy, Prairie Fruits, in Champaign, IL. What do women want?...Bill Daley reports on what the wine industry is doing to draw in the sought-after female demographic. Papaya...Donna Pierce with useful guide. Credit where it's due...food editor Carol Mighton Haddix with a brief review of Fields of Plenty by Michael Ableman. Orange supremes add elegant touch...in his weekly Prep School feature, James P. DeWan provides tips on how process citrus fruit -- especially oranges -- like the pros. ===== From today's Chicago Sun Times - Food section: On day off, tester king can relax...Sandy Thorn Clark spends some time with Cooks Illustrated's founder Christopher Kimball who was in town to promote his new book, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Recipes hold time in a box...Leslie Baldacci reports on how a search through her own recipe collection actually led to the discovery of once-forgotten food memories. Sectioning citrus to create elegant supremes...apparently Orange Supremes are hot this week. Margaret Maples files the Sun-Times' take on these little beauties. Tastings around town...Celeste Busk previews upcoming events at Wine Expressions, Va Pensiero, West Town Tavern, Le Francais, and Karma Restaurant. Coast to coast...Among other upcoming events, Denise I. O'Neal previews Tru's annual Chef's Dinner Series which will kick off 2006 with a benefit dinner for Common Threads. ===== From today's Daily Herald - Food section: "Desperate" ladies keep recipes within the budget...food editor Deborah Pankey blurbs the newest cookbook from the "Desperation Dinners" team, previews a Naperville appearance by Rick Bayless scheduled for later this week and congratulates a Mount Prospect woman who's been selected to compete in the 42nd Pillsbury Bake-Off, which will take place in Orlando, Florida next month. Food and wine classes...a comprehensive listing of upcoming area food events, tastings and classes; broken out by day. ===== Congrats to our friends over at LTH Forums, whose Great Neighborhood Restaurant Awards received a very nice mention in this week's installment of Chicago Magazine's Dish. Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby also deliver the exciting news that Sam's Wines' much-anticipated Highland Park location is scheduled to open in March. ===== =R= <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some Chicago media outlets, which do not 'go to press' on Wednesday mornings, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

Maybe it was Christopher Kimball done stole yer saffron, man.

There are some cookbooks authors who I just can't relate to. I know they're good cooks and writers, but something about their recipes just doesn't work for me. Although I'm a fairly adept baker, some recipes from James Beard's Beard on Bread just don't turn out right even after repeated attempts. Other selections from the same book have become staples in my repertoire though, so I keep the book with the offending recipes crossed out. On the other hand, I found Chris Kimball's The Yellow Farm House Cookbook to be near totally unuseable. And I bought it because I'd always had good luck with recipes from Cooks Illustrated? I gave the book away, with a warning, but the person I gave it to likes it. I suppose there's a parallel to other types of literature, or even face to face communication. There are plenty of people who I'm sure are interesting and intelligent that I just can't communicate with. SB

My PBS station doesn't carry the show. Although I'm not a real big fan of Chris Kimball, I'd watch anyway. SB (Just wait until their next fund drive! )

You are quite right on this one, Toliver .. it is a terrific deal! Many thanks! As far as finding things on eGullet, if memory serves me correctly, you can find anything here! ← Thanks for the compliment! My search attempts kept faltering. I wonder if there's something about the name of the show that sends the search engine off the deep end. As much as people either love or hate Christopher Kimball and his bow ties, I would have thought such a discussion would have already existed. I was disappointed to see them dedicate a show to a low calorie cheesecake this last weekend. It's like making a tofu T-bone ...what's the point?

How true, Miss Rachel. And I'm proud to say that my parents, daughter and son-in-law continue to explore the far-away and exotic on their own tables, as do we. People who love to eat, and to cook are -- cue sappy music -- the luckiest people in the world. Especially if they are the earth's lucky: people with access to food at all, let alone the prosperity and time to experiment and lick the beaters and run out for that frivolous indespensible ingredient. What luxury, what occasion for Thanksgiving! To continue on the theme of cross-cultural Thanksgivings... My daughter and son-in-law spent Thanksgiving with his parents in Louisville. His mother, Pham Nguyen, is a magnificent cook, a genius of the Viet kitchen. But still, around noon last Thursday I got a phone call from my daughter. I heard SIL tapping away on his laptop in the background, searching recipe sites. "John's Mom has made a turkey, but she doesn't know the sides. How does this dressing recipe sound? Is this how you make cranberry sauce? " I dispensed motherly advice, and heard back today -- the dressing and sauce were wonderful, and they extended themselves to sweet potatoes and green bean casserole (Christopher Kimball's version.) With Pham's Vietnamese starters and soups, it must have been quite a meal. Can we really bring about World Peace and Understanding around the dinner table? Sweet to think so.

Gastronomica Magazine Fall 2005 • Volume 5 Number 4 Cover Un pan mas | Juan Hidalgo A photo of a small round loaf of bread caught in an old-fashioned wooden rat trap. The wood base has a cartoon rodent logo with the tail attached to the ending of the word "Jaguar" written in script. The trap lacks a trigger mechanism, which would render it useless in reality, but I suppose that's what makes this art? from the editor | Dara Goldstein A short report from the editor, Ms Goldstein, on her trip to Berlin to chair a panel on "Food Trends as a Marker of National Identity in Post-Soviet Europe" at the Seventh World Congress of the International Council for Central European Studies. borborygmus Rumblings from the World of Food A Letter to the Editor concerning an article in a previous issue concerning the Hogarth etching Gin Street and it's companion piece Beer Street, a short piece on Disney corp's decision to yield to pressure to remove sharks fin soup from it's menu, a report on a puveyor of "slow fast food" in Oregon, and a report from the Berry Health Benefits Symposium on the impact of berry consumption on various aspects of chronic disease and aging. orts and scantlings Boning Up on Language | Mark Morton Musings upon the use of food words in everyday language, including examples such as "butter up", "top banana", "goose" and, of course, "where's the beef". Amusing, and perhaps suggestive of many similarly themed eGullet threads? feast for the eye download this article Fruits and Vegetables as Sexual Metaphor in Late Renaissance Rome | John Varriano Personally, I'm a bit weary of all the food/sex-porn metaphors. Some of the examples provided here, in both description and graphic representation, are indeed quite "graphic". poem fatted | Peter O'Leary Poetry analysis isn't my forte, but I liked the line, "A candle's smoking point describes each animals uses: oils, fuels. (no, it doesn't rhyme with anything, or have meter either) memoir Envy's Sweet Origin | Karen Pepper Sort of a regular magazine feature. Authors describe the early awakenings of their interest in food as something more than mere sustenance. In this instance Ms Pepper also brings reading and writing about food and cooking into play. in memoriam Fulton Street Fish Market | Maria Finn Dominguez A little inside information about the operation of New York's famous marketplace and some of it's colorful characters, with several good color photos. seasons Small Round Things | Chitrita Banerji An interesting article about the role several small fruits and berries play in orthodox Bengali Hindu religion and culture. illustration Where Beauty Resides | Jenny Kimball Three digital prints on silk of "Salt", "Garlic Skin" and Oyster Mushroom". technology Focus on the Fridge | Margaret B. Blackman Sort of the popular history of home refrigeration, including the ubiquitous magnets and the practice of using the door to display family photos. investigations A Short History of MSG: Good Science, Bad Science, and Taste Cultures | Jordan Sand Scientific and cultural perspectives on the use of MSG, complete with one and one-half pages of foot notes. A little too much for me. Alexis Soyer's Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations | April Bullock Another fairly lenghty piece, (ten pages), on a effort to establish an enormous dining establishment in London by a French immigrant chef, Alexis Soyer, who seems to have been the Emeril Lagasse of the day. Excerpts from Punch, the timeless British humor magazine, about the project were among the most interesting parts. The Symposium project, which ended up a financial failure, reminded me of today's cities' attempts to construct expensive edifices for sports teams. {Most of you reading this already understand that Gastronomica isn't exactly the kind of light reading matter you might take on a trip into the bathroom. Most issues have at least a few articles I just can't get through, for whatever reason. I'll try and provide some idea what they might be about, but would welcome assistance from other readers more familiar with the subject matter. - SB} classics The Satyrica Concluded | Andrew Dalby As I was just saying, some articles I just don't get. I'll be the first to admit that my education in the real "Classics" is deficient, which no doubt hampered my efforts to read this. I gather the author took it upon himself to write his own ending to the Latin novel The Satyrica, and, I assume, did a fine job, since the magazine's editors decided to buy and print it? But for twelve pages, two of which are foot notes, I drew a blank. lives A Taste for Menus: Henry Voigt Touches History | Jeanne Schinto On a lighter note, this is the story of a menu collection, complete with pictures of a few examples. Menus aren't usually considered literature, but as the author points out, they often tell stories and provide us with an unusual insight into a time or place. Just picking out a few menus in the collection from a list provided; the Boston Light Infantry Association, Parker House, Boston, 1863, the Vasar College "Thanksgiving", Poughkeepsie, New York, 1894, the Cotton Club, Harlem, 1934, the Hotel Algonquin, New York, 1938, and the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, 1955/ archive Frightening the Game | Charles Perry Brief discussion of the effect of premortem stress on the flavor of meat; wild game in particular. The authour cites both 6th and 10th Century Persian and Arab texts and Modern food science writer Harold McGee on the subject. interview Critter Cuisine: An Interview with Al and Mary Ann Clayton | Vivian Patterson One of three photos which accompany this interview is a hollowed out armadillo used to hold dip for a fruit platter. Another pictures Snake and Eggs, and the third a Tadpole Soup. Once again, "zoom", right over my head. community The MacDowell Recipe | Ted Weesner, Jr. The artist colony in New Hampshire has housed luminaries of American culture since its founding in 1904, including Thorten WIlder, Willa Cather, Aaron Copeland, Leonard Bernstein and Meridith Monk. How food and eating play a role in the functioning of the facility is examined, including a recipe for MacDowell Colony Whoopee Pie. working on the food chain Kamut: A New Old Grain | Gordon Sacks The future of an ancient grain. My Cousin Bob's wife is an agricultural economist. Maybe she would find this interesting, but it was too agricultural and economic for me. personal history Opa! Belly Dancing and Greek Barrel Wine | DeAnna Putnam Yes, Greeks like to drink wine and watch Belly Dancing, I already knew this, having seen Anthony Quinn in "Zorba the Greek". chef's page AKWA: Commercializing Creativity | Will Goldfarb I believe The author of this article is an eGullet reader. He emailed me about this story, asking what I thought, but I'm afraid I don't feel qualified to render an opinion. The organization referred to, the AKWA, resembles a philosophical movement of sorts. I hope either the author, or another reader, will attempt to enlighten me. I did, however, enjoy the picture of the hundred dollar bill stuck up with Bandaids! review essays Keeping a Good House | Leni Sorensen Pomp and Circumstance | Jason Sholl the bookshelf Books in Review {I can't see the point of my reviewing reviews, unless I'm already familiar with the subject of the original review, or have some particular insight into one of the subject works. Neither is the case in either the essays or books covered in this issue. I would like to point out that book reviews comprise 12-15 pages of each issue, and cover an eclectic selection of releases related to food. I've purchased several books over the years as a result of first reading about them here. - SB} lagniappe The Porcineograph The back page is typically something unusual and/or thought provoking. This issue it consists of an 1800's style map of the United States superimposed over the outline of a pig, with hog related drawings as the map borders. It's quite clever, although I doubt if residents of Oregon will be pleased to see what portion of pig anatomy their State represents?

I admire what they do and enjoy reading/watching how they get to their destination but I have to say none of the food looks all the great. I've only seen the show a handful of times but I wasn't moved to cook after viewing. Their chili looked like a leaden disaster to me. I think it's very Yankee-style cooking, which is interesting but it doesn't seem very passionate. ha ha, yankee. . that's exactly what i think sometimes (especially the episode where they were doing tacos and quesadilla's). not to mention kimball's droll style of talking. i enjoy watching ATK for technique and reasons why one should or shouldn't doing something, but their actual recipes don't really sound all that enticing (their butternut squash soup really didn't look or sound appetizing). ← ATK seems to be about doing basic dishes in the best manner to get the best results, in their opinion. They shine when it comes to technique and measurement. Just don't look for anything ground-breaking on that show in the terms of dishes. As for I would have used the word "condescending" but I understand your point.

I admire what they do and enjoy reading/watching how they get to their destination but I have to say none of the food looks all the great. I've only seen the show a handful of times but I wasn't moved to cook after viewing. Their chili looked like a leaden disaster to me. I think it's very Yankee-style cooking, which is interesting but it doesn't seem very passionate. ha ha, yankee. . that's exactly what i think sometimes (especially the episode where they were doing tacos and quesadilla's). not to mention kimball's droll style of talking. i enjoy watching ATK for technique and reasons why one should or shouldn't doing something, but their actual recipes don't really sound all that enticing (their butternut squash soup really didn't look or sound appetizing).

Okay, I officially give up. Years back, when FoodTV was in its infancy, I made the decision to hate Rachael Ray. Her laugh annoyed me to death; her little witticisms drove me insane; her recipes appeared to be utterly lackluster and downright vile at times. She had a cutesypoo refrigerator. And then, suddenly, she was everywhere. So why is it now, years later, that it irks me -- nay, drives me crazy -- when self-proclaimed food experts treat the woman with vicious discontent, putting in print in major American newspapers their clear level of hatred for this woman who, like it or not, has gotten her audience (which changes, demographically, day-to-day) to cook again. I'm not talking about pro foodies, but real Ma and Pa Kettles of the world, who would rather eat at Denny's then boil water for themselves. Sure, she is annoying as a deep splinter, but she has a certain appeal to a certain group, and I, for one, applaud her for that. While I'm busy hating her, of course. On 9/14, a Connecticut-based features writer put pen to paper and wrote one of the most vicious, scathing, foul pieces about Ms. Ray and the general state of FoodTV ever produced; in 12 paragraphs, we are meant to understand why this fellow hates her guts, only he can't quite explain it clearly. He goes on to pan (naturally) Emeril, calls Chris Kimball a "fussy, uptight know-it-all who appears to be in serious need of sexual healing;" (what exactly does that mean?); and informs us that Ina Garten's recipes are wonderful but he wants to "very badly slap [her] across the face hard." Okay, so the guy clearly hates the medium. But why the viciousness...? At least when Bourdain referred to these folks as "bobbleheads" he had the class not to name names. I'm honestly curious about what ya'all have to say.....

I like having a "theme" to my wine parties. You can use: - Country/region of wine origin - Wine type (zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, pinot grigio, etc.) - Winery My personal favorite is by wine type so you can compare across brands, but I sometimes use the other formats in recognition of the fact that some people don't like every wine type (I do) and may be disappointed to find that the "wine of the evening" is not one they'll drink. I think I'd let the purchaser of the wine provide the matching cheese. In my crowd, the cheese is not overly analyzed. Just have fun. Good luck! Laurie Kimball Madeira Beach, FL

Having read through these posts for the first time only last evening, I have to say I find this the most fascinating thread that members are contributing to this week. I was about to contribute until I came upon Rinsewind's observations concerning the young men and women she teaches. I can vouch for the same. In any moment of cultural transformation, we are bound to witness extremes. As boys grow up with the expectation that they may play multiple roles in their adult lives, some of them are going to want to learn how to cook for reasons beyond seducing the man or woman they fancy. We already are fully aware that the aggressive masculine antics of Iron John--and let's hope, the kinder, gentler presence of a Jacques Pepin or Christopher Kimball--have influenced children who see these as role models for themselves or their future mates. (Come on, no smirking, please. Some of us do develop pangs for wiry guys in glasses.) In turn, now women are studying a broader range of disciplines and preparing for professions their grandmothers would not or could not pursue. Some will associate cooking with domesticity and recall that even though their mothers never changed their last name or stopped working when they married, they were the ones who cooked. Hence, no matter how creative and fulfilling cooking may be, it is a gender-specific role that they are going to avoid. When they marry lawyers, become presidents and have a fax machine as well as two little children playing on the third floor of their Brooklyn brownstones, they're not going to go all the way down to the kitchen in the basement to pull things out of the fridge at 7:30 when they get home. They're going to reach into the drawer with all the take-out menus. If they do not marry or are not legally able to in most of the United States, they still may prefer to devote their time to other pursuits. I think I have used this example in a thread Busboy initiated elsewhere, but, I still am haunted by the advice a successful female professor offered one of her female doctoral students: don't learn to cook and don't learn to drive. That way, when you're a young faculty member no one's going to ask you to host dinners or pick up guests of your department at the airport, so you can work on your publications instead. We may be far sufficiently far away from the notion of "barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen" or even more sobering, this reminder of the German past: CLICK for some of the youngest members of egullet to fail to recognize just how much cooking retains a complicated, emotionally fraught role in gender politics. (I find it interesting that in the German phrase, the kitchen takes preeminence over children and church.) Now, by using the word "complicated" I am referring to the fact that things are not all one-sided. One of the ground-breaking articles in feminist scholarship that I have taught is "Quilts: The Great American Art," which Patricia Mainardi published in The Feminist Art Journal (Winter 1973) before it became widely anthologized. The author argued against the inherent bias of a question Germaine Greer had raised before her: "Why are there no great female artists?" Mainardi claimed that our culture has long placed greatest value on the artistic production of men such as Michelangelo or even Jean Broc in establishing the categories of "Fine Arts" and "minor arts." No matter how stunning, intricate or expertly crafted, quilts were deemed minor arts because they were made by women, often collectively, for the private versus public sphere, neither for profit nor prestige, hence, largely anonymously. Now all of these terms are important: gender, private space, economics and individual fame. I am going to return to economics shortly. First, I would like to say I find the article useful for understanding why the domestic achievements of women in kitchens have been so under-valued. It took someone like James Beard, a rather large male authority figure, to draw to our attention the value of nineteenth-century women such as Mrs. Elizabeth H. Putnam in first recording and publishing the recipes of home cooks in the United States. Laura Shapiro, among others, are now researching and writing about women in their kitchens to add a new perspective on American history, and not just culinary history. Of course, we all are very familiar with the fact that cooking to please her beloved husband was the way that Julia Child became Julia Child, and paved the way for female cooks to become celebrity chefs as well as pioneers in transforming the ways men and women eat in the United States. So, the relationship between women and cooking in this country, at least, is rather complicated. See Carole Counihane, Around the Tuscan Table, for one perspective of this issue in a different part of the world. I had no intention of writing this much. There is a lot I left out, really, in the paragraphs above. This is by no means a neatly prepared rhetorical argument; I am writing down what occurs to me as I write. However, I would like to summarize (honest) what I thought would be my principal point concerning economics. Go back and look at that compelling image of Mr. Ramsay with a rhinestone-encrusted "F" on his tongue and see what Carrot Top and others have had to say about it. This thread is so fascinating because it is about cultural transformations that go beyond gender. We gripe about and yammer on and on about celebrity chefs here at egullet, men and women alike. What I would like to point out is that Mr. Ramsay and his proudly non-Oxbridge accent have been propelled into the world of the powerful by the good graces of his PROFESSIONAL culinary skills, i.e. what he does for money. Now here is where I have not worked out the argument fully, so pick it apart or fill in the gaps if you have the patience to read this far. Yet Patricia Mainardi's article seems relevant to me here too. Michelangelo was a major force in transferring the status of painters and sculptors and architects from the base level of mere craftsmen or manual laborers to the elevated realm of the intellectual that led to the modern notion of "artistic genius." He was able to do so because he was a man hired by powerful men who admired and recognized his skill and he moved in their circles where he got paid a decent amount of money. Maybe Ramsay had diamond-encrusted diaper pins; I don't know. However, the lout is well compensated for his hard work and talents and may have moved up the social ladder as he gained professional stature and a publicist. Capitalism rewards the professional cook and media celebrity in new ways these days and we don't quite have a handle on what this means yet. When he criticizes women who do not make the effort in their kitchens that he does in his, he is speaking about women who do not gain what he gains from cooking. Basta. Enough. Edited to correct just about everything. I will add that this was being written before reading the latest exchanges of this afternoon.

Yes, again. I personally wasn't thinking of a book. There are books of published bibliography & established Italian encyclopediae on regional cuisine.* There are scholars who study food history, whether in anthropology or history departments, and I am sure that faculty at cooking schools, authors, chefs, etc. spend a great deal of time and effort on their own collections and files. There's the USIG and perhaps they'll have full-time faculty in endowed chairs one day along with archivists. I was hoping that this might be a different way to collaborate on a regional forum and it might be a good new way to take advantage of eGullet's international membership....perhaps attract even more. The suggestion was casual and meant first to see if there was any interest. So far only three of us have piped up. It's also a good way to exploit one advantage that an internet site has over publications. Bibliographies that appear as publications become quickly out-dated. Here, that problem doesn't exist. Another thing I thought would be an advantage here is that we could establish a model that is superior to library practices in the United States where books are distinguished from periodical literature and placed in separate databases. There's one Italian library that I like in particular because its catalog organizes all publications together, whether they're books, articles or contributions to an anthology edited by someone else. So, for example, if Mario Batali contributed his own chapter on umami (umani? what's the word?) to a book edited by Christopher Kimball, a recipe to Silver Spoon and was the subject of a piece in Gourmet, all of these items would appear along with his own cookbooks if someone used his name as a search term. BUT: The one disadvantage of eGullet that I see right now is that these threads are not databases, so we don't have the advantage that librarians have with their ability to establish a nice system in which entries can added in a uniform, organized manner. You're right to raise the possibility of utter chaos. Nor would I wish to create more work for you and Alberto. I'd be happy to help out on the project, strictly as an amateur/home cook...IF there is interest....though I suspect some of us are lurking and don't want to say anything until something more is established. Since eGullet is U.S. based and English is the language used here, I'd suggest that text written by members ought to be in English, i.e., commentaries, and so forth. However, it would be a shame--and rather ridiculous--to exclude books in Italian...or German, French, ecclesiastical Latin or Arabic for that matter. It would be good to take advantage of the variety of local resources we might have. I have the LOC here, others may be in Manhattan, Cambridge, Hyde Park, Bari, Heidleberg... I was thinking very, very modestly, excited by the idea...but I find your cautionary remarks extremely important because it would be good to be organized from the beginning just in case other members become interested. It might become popular in other regional forums, too. What do you all think? Too much? *The aha! rests in the accessibility of these resources to those who don't read Italian. However, the burgeoning number of new cookbooks published in English kind of fill in the gaps in that many are well-researched and include Italian sources in their bibliographies. One of the many great things that Kevin's blog has demonstrated is that we no longer rely on books about Italian cooking as one monolithic entity, so those with bibliographies tend to have very specialized entries even if they're not comprehensive and devoted exclusively to published books. Well, I meant to log in just to check the Pastry & Baking forum. Please feel free to send a PM, though it would be nice if anyone with any sort of interest would make his or her presence felt here first. Librarians, registrars, curators, archivists or software engineers especially welcome.

FYI Paula Wolfert teaches you how to make Pom Molasses in her Eastern Med cookbook. That's why I have a jar in the refrigerator door. A little goes a long way and it does make a difference. Great with ground lamb, etc. Christopher Kimball, on the other hand, in extolling the virtues of learning how to develop a repertoire of simple dishes one can easily master and make oneself, used P.M. as an example of a frou, frou ingredient that is utterly beyond his New England sensibilities of basic, nourishing, good food.

I've subscribed to both the magazine and web site for some time and enjoy both, though I've stopped reading Kimball's editorials. I refer to the web site frequently for recipes and find it much more convenient than searching through old magazines. My main complaint is their repackaging of material from the magazine and America's Test Kitchen TV show into assorted books and marketing efforts and their constant marketing hype. I ordered one of the Test Kitchen books a couple of years ago. The next year, they automatically sent me the new edition. I was really angry because I didn't like the first one but kept it anyway. Now I had to call them, explain that I received something I didn't order, and return it. They were very nice, but it was a waste of time. And have you seen their new magazine, Cook's Country? I've received about 3 "trial" issues without asking for them. It's a straight imitation of "Taste of Home" magazine, which I never even heard of until I moved to a rural area. The CI version is just as tacky as the original.

I'm inclined to agree with Kape. The good folks at CI are completely absurd caricatures of themselves, but that is part of their appeal. Mr. Kimball’s editorials (especially the latest one) are rambling, disjointed, monologues that don’t really serve to make the magazine seem “in touch” with the readers. The little pencil drawings that show us how use kitchen tongs to get a box of cereal off a high shelf are completely useless. The staff takes an incredibly pretentiousness to a new level when badmouthing the recipes/ingredients they rejected. When I 1st started reading CI I was scared to make a batch of cookies (I’m not even sure that it was cookies) because I could find the brand of chocolate chips they recommended and I was terrified of using any chips that they had maligned. Why keep buying the magazine? They test everything obsessively. All of the complaints leveled against CI are on target, but we must admit they are much more through in their analysis than other food magazines. Often Cooking Light (which I also enjoy) will publish recipes that need more than an little adjustment to get them right. If you have never prepared a certain culinary staple before, they will give you the step-by-step to get it right the first time. P.S. has anyone tried the chicken-pot-pie in the most recent issue?

Oh, I dunno. "Nosh" just doesn't seem to be a word that fits Chris Kimball at all. I appreciate a lot of things about the magazine. Their testing goes a long way in teaching me how foods behave when you do this, and when you do that, etc. I've made several of their recipes, and while I've always felt the end product was very good, I've also usually felt that the amount of time each recipe demanded was too much. A vegetable casserole shouldn't take 3-4 hours, with much of that time going into prep. Also, as has already been mentioned, I was pretty ticked off when I realized that purchasing a subscription to the magazine did not include access to their website. I mean really. And the tone of the magazine used to drive me up a wall, but now it just gives me a chuckle. I don't think I'll renew my subscription when this one lapses.

If you're in the area, Brookline Village T stop, Chris Kimball has been known to nosh at Matt Murphy's on Harvard St, about a block up from Station St. He had a lamb sandwich, my wife reported. Fabulous Irish breakfast there. I used to obsess about getting the latest issue of CI, but I do think they tend to recycle topics and I didn't spend the money on the current issue, but I may change my mind come payday. In general I do like the mag, and the show, and the recipes, I refer to them constantly, but I could never work with Chris Kimball. He would sneak his hand onto something I was working on once too often and ooops, sorry about the cut there, fella. I used to work for a guy who got fired by him. Said they had a difference of opinion on how to run the company.