Food Related Books

[maxmillan]

I'm presently reading James Haller's "Vie de France" and I absolutely love it. His writing is poetic and I like his non-formula way of expressing recipes and methods.

I have read Robb Walsh's "Are You Really Going to Eat That?" and love his humour and perfectionism in pursuit for the "best of".

I'm starting Victoria Abbott Riccardi's, "Untangling My Chopsticks" as well.

What books have eGulleteers read that are not cookbooks but, rather, an adventure in food? And why did you like/not like the book?

[Gifted Gourmet]

What books have eGulleteers read that are not cookbooks but, rather, an adventure in food?  And why did you like/not like the book?

Recently finished "Fried Butter" by Abe Opincar ....sensory and pleasurable reminiscences and highly recommend!

"Rosemary and Bitter Oranges" by Patrizia Chen which I thoroughly devoured for its vivid descriptions, humor and sentiment, a glimpse of the kitchen where the author grew up in Livorno, Italy.

"Choice Cuts" by Mark Kurlansky, a most enjoyable, highly readable anthology of food writing from around the world. Described most appropriately by one reviewer as "an eclectic feast for food nerds" .

Edited May 3, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[kpurvis]

I'm in the middle of "CandyFreak," by Steve Almond, and I'm loving it. Picture David Sedaris on a sugar high.

[markk]

What books have eGulleteers read that are not cookbooks but, rather, an adventure in food? And why did you like/not like the book?

I thoroughly enjoyed Jacques Pepin's "The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen" - it's written with great humor and for great enjoyment.

[marlena spieler]

I LOVE Adventures in Food (I think there are two volumes) , a collection of short stories about food and food situations, edited by richard sterling who also does many of the lonely planet foods of the world series. seriously good writing, seriously enticing prose, seriously interesting situations.....

Marlena

[enrevanche]

"The Art of Eating," by M.F.K. Fisher. Just stunning. Of exceptional historical interest, and some of the best writing and philosophizing about good cooking I've ever read.

[SethG]

You might want to check here.

I don't know if this is mentioned in that other thread, but I've been reading The Taste of America, by John and Karen Hess. It's a polemical masterpiece from the 1970s. Much has changed since they wrote this call to arms against the food status quo, and many readers may grow tired (as I did) of the authors' doctrinaire rejection of any bread containing sugar and any sauce containing flour. But the early chapters record the history of the previously unsung glories of the colonial American kitchen, and the depressing decline in American eating caused by industrialization and misguided pseudo-science. The authors also demolish the "gourmet" food experts of the Seventies, making James Beard and Craig Claiborne, in particular, look like fools.

I've just gobbled this book up in the past week. I may have made it sound solemn, but it's actually filled with wit. I recommend it highly.

[Carolyn Tillie]

While in Monterey over the weekend, I stumbled on A Meal Observed by Andrew Todhunter.

He claims to not be a "foodie" but he wormed his way into a stage at Taillevent and then subsequently ate a meal which is thus chronicled.

[lala]

If you want to read a book that's rude and funny as hell, check out the Mssr. Pamplemousse series by Michael Bond. He wrote the Paddington bear books, then must have gone crazy after being so cute, and written the Pamplemousse books. Mr. P is a food critic for an illustrious French food guide. As he travels France with his trusty dog, Pommes Frites to sample the foods of 4 star restaurants, he always gets mixed up in mysteries. You have to appreciate that certain English crude, direct and sexual humor, but I think they're just hysterical. Good for a sunny afternoon.

[rlm]

It's more related to liquid lunches, but "Drinking, Smoking, and Screwing (Great Writers on Good Times)" is a fantastic read (with the usual suspects like Bukowski, Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken).

Picked up "Offbeat Food" by Alan Ridenour in a bargain bin. Any food book that mentions Cibo Matto, Luis Bunuel, Andy Warhol, and the exploding guy from Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" is a must-read for me.

"Love by the Glass" by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher. A romantic story about how they met and how wine is so entwined with their lives.

Jeffrey Steingarten's two collections, of course, since he is so witty.

Bourdain's books since he is so punk-rock.

"American Pie" by Pascale le Draoulec, since I've always dreamed of going on a pie journey like this (having grown up on old-school diner pie).

I don't remember the exact posts, but I recall seeing recommendations on egullet for Toby Cecchini's "Cosmopolitan" and the "New Great American Writer's Cookbook" (edited by Dean Faulkner Wells) and had to pick them up. THANKS! Both are gems.

[Comfort Me]

Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me, by M.F.K. Fisher. So powerful, I had to put it down more than once. Excerpted from Fisher's journals and including a couple of her short stories, it mainly deals with her life with Dillwyn Parish (Tim), also refered to as Chebrex in some of her writings. Parish had a terribly painful, incurable disease -- she wrote so honestly, so heartbreakingly about it and his desire to commit suicide, a person couldn't help but cry.

[maxmillan]

I've taken notes on all the books you've read. Thanks. This will give me lots to read for the rest of the year. Also, I am presently reading "Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America" by Harvey Levenstein. I found this in a bargain bin and find it quite interesting.

[mags]

I'd highly, HIGHLY recommend Laura Shapiro's "Perfection Salad," even though in description -- it's essentially a social history of the development of "home economics" in the U.S. from the mid-19th century through the 1930s or so -- it will sound like a crashing bore. She talks a lot about food symbolism (pastries and sweets were thought to be "feminine," for instance, and associated with a certain spiritual purity to which women were imagined to have greater access), about the relationship between early feminism and the "professionalization" of cooking, about the desire to control both food and appetite that's exemplified in certain kinds of serving arrangements (coralling that "messy" stew, for example, in a tidy ring of mashed potato). It's really quite wonderful, and I've actually read it twice. Recently reissued in trade paperback.

[skiplombardi]

I just finished The Fourth Star by Leslie Brenner. Frankly, I was disappointed. It's a chronicle of a year she spent observing every facet of Restaurant Daniel, but in my opinion, it could have been about any restaurant in America.

For me, it really lacked the passion and intensity that must go on in such an incredible place.

When she writes (and I'm paraphrasing) "Fire two foie gras," "I need two sea bass, and two pree fee veal," that could be going on in any kitchen in any restaurant unless you know how good Daniel is in the first place.

And, of course, she admits that she finished her observations before Daniel got the fourth star, but there was nothing in her writing that--if I hadn't known the place first--would have led me to believe that Daniel deserved even three stars.

Great suggestions above, though. I'm looking forward to reading a bunch of the stuff I've seen so far.

Best regards,

Skip Lombardi

http://www.skiplombardi.com

[SKinCA]

I'd recommend another "American Pie", this one by Peter Rinehart. It's about his search for the perfect pizza.

He has a wonderful knack of putting into words all the things I feel about food but cannot express.

It's both a cookbook and a memoir. Absolutely fantastic.

[David Leite]

I'm in the middle of "CandyFreak," by Steve Almond, and I'm loving it. Picture David Sedaris on a sugar high.

Me, too, and I'm loving it. Reading it gives me a sugar itch, which is probably why I'm barreling through it.

[andiesenji]

Hi David,

Since it carries your recommendation I will have to get it.

AndieP

[andiesenji]

I'd recommend another "American Pie", this one by Peter Rinehart. It's about his search for the perfect pizza.

He has a wonderful knack of putting into words all the things I feel about food but cannot express.

It's both a cookbook and a memoir. Absolutely fantastic.

Yes indeed, Peter has produced yet another masterpiece.

Many of my fellow members on the Bread-Baker's digest participated in testing the recipes in this book, as they did in the prior book The Bread-Baker's Apprentice.

I didn't have time to take part, but I did get it as soon as it was available.

He has been so nice about signing and sending his books directly.

I must confess that I cooked a lot of pizza as I was reading the book.

[andiesenji]

I know that it has been out for a few years but I recently re-read Ruth Reichl's "Tender At The Bone: Growing Up At The Table".

I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading the book (bringing some odd looks from strangers) in fits and starts, usually when I was waiting for an appointment somewhere.

I have been meaning to get the sequal, "Comfort Me With Apples" which begins when she became a restaurant critic.

The problem being that when I am ordering books I don't remember about this one and when I recall this one I am not where I can order it.

[andiesenji]

"The Art of Eating," by M.F.K. Fisher. Just stunning. Of exceptional historical interest, and some of the best writing and philosophizing about good cooking I've ever read.

All of her books are wonderful - Is yours the 50th anniversary edition?

In 1974 she was introduced to me but at the time I did not realize who she was. She was introduced to my party at Chez Panisse simply as Mary Frances. I had read With Bold Knife and Fork shortly before and earlier had read The Art of Eating and How To Cook A Wolf.

Some time later, as my friends and I were returning to the hotel where we were attending a conference, someone said, "Oh my God! I just realized that was M.F.K. Fisher."

We all felt a bit chagrined. It was a conference for women writers. I wasn't a writer but was attending with a friend who did not want to go alone.

[Suzanne F]

Andie -- as you may notice if you read everything here , I have a lot of issues with Ruth Reichl and her two books of "memoir." And I'm not the only one who is bothered by her journastic moral lapses of making stuff up. Her recipes are good, but take everything else she says with a rock of salt.

[markk]

If you want to read a book that's rude and funny as hell, check out the Mssr. Pamplemousse series by Michael Bond. He wrote the Paddington bear books, then must have gone crazy after being so cute, and written the Pamplemousse books. Mr. P is a food critic for an illustrious French food guide. As he travels France with his trusty dog, Pommes Frites to sample the foods of 4 star restaurants, he always gets mixed up in mysteries. You have to appreciate that certain English crude, direct and sexual humor, but I think they're just hysterical. Good for a sunny afternoon.

I second the recommendation !!!!!

The Monsieur Pamplemousse series is absolutely wonderful. A suggestion, though: start with the first one in the series "Monsieur Pamplemousse: A Gastonomic Mystery" and work your way through them.

I've bought tons of them for friends. They're always available on half.com for around a dollar, and they're a must.

[David Leite]

Hi David,

Since it carries your recommendation I will have to get it.

AndieP

Hi AndieP,

Yep, it's worth a gander. The book is just bent enough, and he's just obsessive enough, to keep a smile on my face. I'm going to mention it on my site at the next update.

Hey Suzanne, refresh my memory: How do you (singular and/or plural) know Reichl was making stuff up? I'm sure there's a thread here, but a long day's journey in the car has left me brain dead.

[andiesenji]

Andie -- as you may notice if you read everything here , I have a lot of issues with Ruth Reichl and her two books of "memoir." And I'm not the only one who is bothered by her journastic moral lapses of making stuff up. Her recipes are good, but take everything else she says with a rock of salt.

When I first bought the book, perhaps 5 years ago, there were a fair number of reviews of the book by people who were well acquainted with the author. As I recall, most noted that she seemed to have no fear of revealing intimate details about her quirky or downright odd family, friends and her own quirks.

There have been many writers who enhanced their "mystique" by stretching credibility in their writing, (Hemmingway for instance) but sometimes it is done simply because it makes the story more interesting.

On a brighter note:

I also want to mention the book by Carol Drinkwater, The Olive Farm.

No so much revolving around food but about her purchase of an olive farm in the south of France and her struggles with the French property laws.

Murphy's law was in full flush.......... If anything could go wrong it did.

If you liked Peter Mayle's books or Frances Mayes book Under the Tuscan Sun, I think you will like this one.

[andiesenji]

I just ordered Candy Freak by Steve Almond

and Bittersweet by Alice Medrich

(Recipes And Tales From A Life In Chocolate)

The latter recommended by a friend.