What are your food-related reads these days?

[Pierogi]

I have been trying to slog my way through "Stand Facing The Stove", which is the biography of Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, the mother/daughter team who gave us "The Joy Of Cooking".

It has taken me 4 weeks to get to page 60. Today I had a doctor's appointment and took another (admittedly brain-candy) book with me. I got up to page 68 before I saw the doctor.

"Stand Facing The Stove" is going back to the library unreaad, I'm afraid. And I rarely just totally bail on a book....

[Special K]

I'm a big fan of culinary mysteries...things with titles like 'Town in a Lobster Stew' and 'Fatally Flaky'. Light and entertaining. Sure, actual literature is a big part of my reading diet, but you can't beat pure escapism.

Oh, Badiane, me too! I call them "snacks," and I freely admit that about every fifth or sixth book I read is a snack, usually on the bus, where I leave them when I've finished. A close cousin to the culinary mystery is the holiday mystery, and it usually contains a lot about food, too. The only culinary mystery author I can't read is Cecile Lamalle - good enough plots, interesting characters and situations, but then out of the blue she'll just throw in some really offensive and vulgar profanity, and I can't for the life of me understand why. Without that language I'd recommend the books to the high school librarian where I work, but with it, no way.

Anyway, I'm going to look for "Town in a Lobster Stew" today, thanks! Does this series include recipes, as a lot of culinary myseries do?

Edited February 2, 2011 by Special K (log)

[Badiane]

Town in a Lobster Stew just came out yesterday...the first book in the series is called Town in a Blueberry Jam. BB Haywood is the author.

I also really like Julia Hyzy's White House Chef series, as well as Laura Childs Cackleberry Club series. I have about 20 different ones on my kindle...you are exactly right when you call them snacks!

[plum tart]

I'm a big fan of culinary mysteries...thinks with titles like 'Town in a Lobster Stew' and 'Fatally Flaky'. Light and entertaining. Sure, actual literature is a big part of my reading diet, but you can't beat pure escapism.

I have just been trying to read Thomas McNamee's book on Alice Waters (it was a gift, I felt compelled to try). I got a third of the way through. I don't like Alice Waters. I don't care who she is or what she's done, I just don't like her. And I feel sorry for her daughter, having that woman as a mother. As my own mother would say, I do believe I would cross the street to avoid her if I saw her coming, if for no other reason than to stop myself from slapping that smug grin off her face.

I thought it was an excellent biography. I understand what you mean about Alice Waters now. Her recent cookbooks are all repeats of earlier material and if I hear about her buying little lettuces one more time I think I will scream. She seems very elitist these days. However back in the 80's the food revolution she engineered (purely by accident I am sure) was wonderful. I still use her desserts cookbook frequently and her pasta, pizza, and panina cookbook all the time. She changed the way our family ate and prepared foods and she did influence the wonderful vegetable and herb gardens I had at one time.

I ate in her restaurant twice, late in August 1986. My daughter and I sat out on a deck outside the upstairs restaurant and lingered over a deliciously simple meal of her trademark goat cheese and tiny lettuces salad, a summerpasta dish of clams, pancetta and little french beans, and a lovely dessert. We lingered in the warm summer sun for an entire afternoon and repeated our pleasure the next day. I felt cossetted by her staff and loved the ambience. It was a lovely restaurant then and I loved everything Alice represented including Pagnol. I will never forget those two days.

[LindaK]

I've been reading a collection of essays called "South Wind Through the Kitchen: the best of Elizabeth David." Some of them I have in her other books, most are new to me. Her beautifully written tales of eating and cooking through France, Italy, and elsewhere in the mediterranean during the 1940s-50s especially have been great escapist anecdotes to the snow and sleet outdoors.

[plum tart]

I've been reading a collection of essays called "South Wind Through the Kitchen: the best of Elizabeth David." Some of them I have in her other books, most are new to me. Her beautifully written tales of eating and cooking through France, Italy, and elsewhere in the mediterranean during the 1940s-50s especially have been great escapist anecdotes to the snow and sleet outdoors.

I love South Wind Through the Kitchen. It is sitting on the shelf above my desk and has been read many times, In fact it represents my favourite kind of food writing - beautiful writing, beautiful real food, prepared, enjoyed and reflected upon with pleasure. And these are stories where the enormous egos of contemporary food writing are absent. Lovely. Thank you for reminding me.

[nakji]

That book sounds lovely. If I ever see it, I'll pick it up.

I got "the Lost Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones from the library - I'm looking forward to reading it. It's a novel about an American food writer in Beijing, profiling a Chinese-American chef.

[plum tart]

That book sounds lovely. If I ever see it, I'll pick it up.

I got "the Lost Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones from the library - I'm looking forward to reading it. It's a novel about an American food writer in Beijing, profiling a Chinese-American chef.

I have read "The Lost Chinese Chef" (in fact I own it) and I enjoyed it very much although not as much as Fuschia Dunlop's memoir.

There are a number of Chinese mystery writers who include Chinese meals and snacks in their mysteries. These aren't food mysteries but the food is always interesting and makes me hungry. If you are interested I can list them (I am at the office and the books are at home)

Donna Leon does the same thing in her Brunetti mysteries set in Venice. Brunetti's wife cooks delectable meals and Brunetti wanders through venice snacking on tremazzini and pastries. Donna Leon finally had to publish a cookbook called Brunetti's cookbook because her readers were demanding recipes. It is a gorgeous cookbook full of all the meals that Paola and other characters prepared. She has included the relevant food descriptions from each mystery so you can revisit the meal. Her food descriptions are wonderful pasta, risotto, branzino, orato etc etc- I read them repeatedly and salivate. I do intend to cook some of the dishes myself in honour of Brunetti.

Apparently when Donna Leon started writing the mysteries she included meals because they are such an important part of Italian life. However, now her readers expect her descriptions of Paola cooking and the family eating in each new novel.

[Kayakado]

I am almost finished "As Always Julia" the letters of Avis Devoto and Julia Child. It is a fascinating glimpse into the 1950s. They discuss recipes but also topics of concern for the times. Julia also gets her intro into the literary world through Avis and her husband's contacts. Fascinating for even someone not interested in Julia's books or cooking.

[plum tart]

I am almost finished "As Always Julia" the letters of Avis Devoto and Julia Child. It is a fascinating glimpse into the 1950s. They discuss recipes but also topics of concern for the times. Julia also gets her intro into the literary world through Avis and her husband's contacts. Fascinating for even someone not interested in Julia's books or cooking.

I own As Always Julia and look forward to reading it shortly.

At the moment I am reading Eat Memory edited by Amanda Hesser. It is a collection of food essays (originally published in the New York Times, I believe) by contemporary authors like Anne Patchett. I am enjoying it very much - some pieces are savagely funny and others, are very moving. All the essays are very well written, an additional treat. The book isn't new; I've owned it for a while but it was buried. I recommend it highly.

[andiesenji]

I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayres' "Lord Peter Wimsey" mysteries, which contain a lot of descriptions of interesting meals.

So I pulled out my copy of The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook to refresh my memory of how some of these were prepared.

There are quite a few "Culinary Mysteries" which have become more popular in recent years and I will be re-reading several of these which I came across while searching for all the Sayres' books.

The next batch is the series by Diane Mott Davidson, as each book contains recipes as well as a good mystery.

[LindaK]

I am almost finished "As Always Julia" the letters of Avis Devoto and Julia Child. It is a fascinating glimpse into the 1950s. They discuss recipes but also topics of concern for the times. Julia also gets her intro into the literary world through Avis and her husband's contacts. Fascinating for even someone not interested in Julia's books or cooking.

Ok, I do need to read this book. The reviews have been good, too.

I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayres' "Lord Peter Wimsey" mysteries, which contain a lot of descriptions of interesting meals.

So I pulled out my copy of The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook to refresh my memory of how some of these were prepared.

I love the series but don't remember the meals at all, except for the memorable scene at high table in "Gaudy Night." What is the cookbook like?

[Kayakado]

The next batch is the series by Diane Mott Davidson, as each book contains recipes as well as a good mystery.

[andiesenji]

Another series like Diane Mott Davidson is Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series. Hannah has a cafe and makes cookies while solving mysteries in her small MN town

I like Joanne's mysteries and her recipes and I've tried several. I've met her a couple of times as she lives in the Valley and I go down to a book shop she frequents. She and her husband are lovely people.

I also enjoy Claudia Bishop's "Hemlock Falls" series, G.A. McKevett's Savannah Reid mysteries and Tamar Myers "Penn Dutch" mysteries.

Edited February 11, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Yajna Patni]

I love Lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy Sayers is one of my favorite writers, and Lord Peter IS fussy about his food!I will have to hunt down the cook book. I also had a fabulous north Californian camping trip along highway one with a pile of Diana Mott Davidson. Death by chocolate? I think was one of them. Great fun!

[Mjx]

I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayres' "Lord Peter Wimsey" mysteries, which contain a lot of descriptions of interesting meals.

So I pulled out my copy of The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook to refresh my memory of how some of these were prepared. . . .

I had no idea one existed! Is is any good? I was just re-reading Sayers's The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club which has this comment of Lord Peter's, which I've always found rather balanced, with regard to the appreciation of food:

Oh, yes – quite alot of things [are beastly]. Birth is beastly – and death – and digestion, if it comes to that. Sometimes when I think of what's happening inside me to a beautiful suprème de sole, with the caviare in boats, and the croûtons and the jolly little twists of potato and all the gadgets – I could cry. But there it is, don't you know?

(p. 239, New English Library paperbacks, 1968)

This kept coming to mind when I was over in the 'Moral Crusade Against Foodies' thread, and I ended up grabbing the book and re-reading it.

A lot of what I read seems to mention food, but I don't know that I could describe it as truly food-related. I do have Dumas' Dictionary of Cuisine sitting on a nearby table, trying to seduce me from the load of work I'm supposed to be doing.

[RAHiggins1]

My wife scored a copy of "Life, on the line" by Grant Atchaz and Nick Kokonas. I got the book yestrday 2-21-11 and already a 3rd into it the next day and I am enjoying it so far . I'm just to where Atchaz has taken the Chef de Cuisine job at Trio. Atchatz comes across as a little over the top on trying to convey his differentness to other contemporaries. I only know one chef personally that he mentions in his book so far and if all of them are described as "Richard Blais" is then I would say his descriptions of others are pretty accurate as well.

How I relate to Atchaz's story so far is that in retrospect, it would seem Atchaz made the decisions early in life that I would have made, had this been my story.

[IowaDee]

I just finished Appetite for America-how visionary businessman Fred Harvey built a railroad hospitality

empire that civilized the Wild West. Loved this book. Basically it is the story of how Harvey built

his business from a single lunch counter to an empire The research and attention to details are amazing.

The author has even included recipes served in the Harvey House restaurants. The author is Stephen

Fried and the book is well worth reading.

[andiesenji]

I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayres' "Lord Peter Wimsey" mysteries, which contain a lot of descriptions of interesting meals.

So I pulled out my copy of The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook to refresh my memory of how some of these were prepared. . . .

I had no idea one existed! Is is any good? I was just re-reading Sayers's The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club which has this comment of Lord Peter's, which I've always found rather balanced, with regard to the appreciation of food:

I'm sorry that I missed this post last week. I hope this helps.

It's out of print but you can find several listed at ABE Books at reasonable prices.

I've had mine since 1984 and it is signed by both authors. It is the first edition published by Ticknor and Fields which was a division of Houghton Mifflin.

As far as I know, there was only one edition.

The wine recommendations are of course dates to 1980 when the book was being written so are well out of date now.

It is fun to read them and imagine........

I've purchased a lot of books from Castle Rock in Las Vegas and they give accurate descriptions.

If all you want is a reading copy, there is no need to spend a lot.

Edited February 22, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I've finally gone back to thoroughly read The Fat Duck Cookbook. I jumped to the recipes and science section as soon as I got the book but never actually read the stuff leading up to the recipe section. I wish I had. Now that I am, it's pretty interesting and has become my nightly pre-sleep read.

[Tri2Cook]

Okay, that went way too fast. Next up, Heston's Fantastical Feasts. I'm more interested in what he has to say than the actual recipes, pretty much the same way I went into the In Search of Perfection books. Should be fun.

[heidih]

I checked out Edible a Celebration of Local Foods from the library yesterday. It is fascinating and heart warming to learn and read about so many community based and sustainable food enterprises. Just on page 61 but I am inspired.

I also purchased One Big Table by Molly O'Neill which says it is 600 regional American recipes but I consider more food lit as it is really about the food stories. I am a sucker for food stories and am enjoying the history.

[daisy17]

Read Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton and Life, On the Line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas this weekend. Highly recommend both. Compelling stories, and Hamilton is an amazing writer.

[mljones99]

I started reading Life, on the Line the other day on the plane ride to my moms house. But, while I was there I found my grandma's old 1943 edition of the Joy of Cooking so I've been distracted by that.

[Alex]

Just finished Beyond the Great Wall, by Alford and Duguid. Valuable not just for the food, but for some insights into modern China.