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Cookbooks &/or food-related ones released 2010 (ish)


rgruby

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Some recent non-cookbook food reading:

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is a fun tour of the World of Chinese Restaurants, deserving its bestseller status. Save the Deli is mostly a continental tour of Jewish delis, but has a solid 4 chapters of good-read history. McGee recently released Keys to Good Cooking, which I don't have yet, but hey, it's McGee!

The Fuzzy Chef

www.fuzzychef.org

Think globally, eat globally

San Francisco

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McGee recently released Keys to Good Cooking, which I don't have yet, but hey, it's McGee!

I looked through the McGee book recently in a bookshop and was quite disappointed. As much as I like his "On Food and Cooking" his new book is just a very dumped down version which hardly includes any interesting or new information if you haven't just started cooking for the first time.

Edited by Honkman (log)
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McGee recently released Keys to Good Cooking, which I don't have yet, but hey, it's McGee!

I looked through the McGee book recently in a bookshop and was quite disappointed. As much as I like his "On Food and Cooking" his new book is just a very dumped down version which hardly includes any interesting or new information if you haven't just started cooking for the first time.

I have to agree. If you're intending to get his new book, it is best that you browse through it first before deciding. And if you already have "On Food and Cooking", you'll be sorely disappointed as I was when I ordered the book before going through a copy of it.

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I ordered Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen after reading Snadra's post. As I am interested in doing things the traditional way, I think it will be interesting reading. It should arrive today.

What kind of forgotten skills does it address? For example, does it discuss or give directions for properly preparing a chicken from feathers and feet? I would find that quite useful. I usually get my chickens post-feathers, but including feet and head. I have not yet found a useful method for properly butchering the bird down to a roastable form. Mainly I just flail at it with my cleaver until it fits in the pan, but there's gotta be a better way.

No Dorie love for me this Christmas, Amazon "sellers" won't ship it to China, and Chapters.ca is a non-starter as well. I'm looking at going to Singapore at CNY just to hit the bookstores.

A surprising amount of forgotten skills are in the book including introductory cheese making and charcuterie, gardening, poultry keeping, and yes, killing and butchering poultry.

Re buying your books: have you tried book depository (either uk or us site)? We use booko.com.au to find the best prices to Australia and bookdepository is almost always cheapest and they claim to deliver worldwide.

ETA: Andie I hope you like the book! Your skills and knowledge are lightyears beyond mine, but it might hopefully yield some new ideas or methods for you. I just find it quite beautiful to browse through - it makes Ireland inviting!

Edited by Snadra (log)
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Thanks for the tip, Snadra! Sadly, China's not on their delivery list, either. That's okay, though, as the consolatory trip to Singapore I'm planning is looking a lot more likely.

I'll put that book on my shopping list as it sounds right up my alley.

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I ordered Darina Allen's book after Snadra's post and I received it the next day from Amazon. It is a lovely gentle cookbook, and I am enjoying reading it. While I won't slaughter pigs, or defeather chickens I will cook from it. And as Snadra says it is lovely to know there is a country in the world where people still cook the traditional way!

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i would like a recommendation for a cookbook as a Christmas gift for my mother. i am someone with a pretty serious collection myself, but the parameters here are a bit confounding. i apologize for all the criteria i am about to list.

she is in her early 60s, a widow, and recently convinced to switch to a healthier diet - low-carb, gluten-free. she cooked for our family as we children grew up, but struggles to find the energy to "cook for one."

she also does not enjoy spicy food or esoteric "ethnic" food.

she watches Rachel Ray on TV and asked for Ray's new "look and cook" book for Christmas. I got it, but cringed the whole time. way too much crappy carbohydrate, and lots of the flavors aren't even really what my Mom enjoys.

but there must be a better cook who has published a book like this. i learned to cook from Cook's Illustrated and Mark Bittman myself, but she needs more pictures and less story.

so i'm looking for a manageable-sized tome that has:

- lots of photos

- basic techniques

- not a lot of esoteric ingredients

- American focus in terms of flavor focus

- not vegetarian or vegan

- bonus would be with a low-carb focus but that might be too much to ask.

I looked at "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" but that's not right either.

i know that's a tall order... any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

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Mig, I can't vouch from personal experience, but my parents (in their 70s) really like the series of "1-2-3" cookbooks by Rozanne Gold, a Bon Appetit contributor. These books are based on the premise that all you need is 3 ingredients + pantry staples. You can see the whole line-up on Amazon here. Like your mother, they also like to stick with standard American fare, simply prepared. These books seem to have enough recipes of that genre to make them happy, and they simply ignore the others--though I have offered to stock their pantry with the more "exotic" ingredients. They own "Cooking 1-2-3" and the "Low Carb 1-2-3" and use them both often. I can't remember if there are photos.

As for 2010 releases, she's gotten some good reviews for her new cookbook, Radically Simple, which goes beyond the 3 ingredient formula but also sounds relatively straightforward--though maybe beyond the standard American fare your parents (and mine) are comfortable with.


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mig - I would second LindaK on Rozanne Gold's books. Someone else to look at is Ellie Krieger - she has a couple of cookbooks So Easy and The Food You Crave. Both health-focused but also good recipes.

On the topic of great new books published this year, I disagree with janeer who thought this was a dry year. There haven't been a lot of glossy chefs' books, apart from Noma, but in terms of great books for home cooks it has been a stellar year. Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan, One Big Table by Molly O'Neill, and The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser are all huge tomes with very cookable recipes. Other books full of recipes you want to cook rather than just read are Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis, In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark, Tender II by Nigel Slater. Lots of good baking and desserts books too - Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz, Flour by Joanne Chang, Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito and Sarabeth's Bakery by Sarabeth Levine.

Jane Kelly

Co-founder of Eat Your Books

www.eatyourbooks.com

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I also ordered Young's "Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge" for myself for Christmas. My only book with stir fry recipes was an ancient paperback that came for free with a West Bend electric work, maybe 30 years ago. That wok is in a junk pile somewhere but the book lives on... I thought Young's book would have some more challenging and interesting recipes. I'll post next week if I can fit in a few tries.

*****

"Did you see what Julia Child did to that chicken?" ... Howard Borden on "Bob Newhart"

*****

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