Cookbooks published in 2005

[ludja]

El Bulli 2003 and 2004 (in Spanish for now) have been released recently. Here is an egullet discussion on the books: click

[CtznCane]

A book I recentlygot and would recommend highly is "Southern Country Cooking from the Loveless Cafe." Not only are the recipes really good and really simple, the information on the recipes and other background information makes for enjoyable reading as well. The book is by Jane & Michael Stern and is part of a series on regional restaurants.

I'm also looking forward to getting the book Seasoned in the South that Varmint mentioned. I couldn't find it on-line but there was a readers review of that book 2 weeks ago (or 3 as of tomorrow) in the Wednesday food section of the Contra Costa Times.

[ludja]

Not published yet, there are so many interesting books coming out in the next month or so - to name just a few:

Ruhlman's Charcuterie;

...

←

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

by Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polcyn, Thomas Keller

Discussion thread on Charcuterie by Ruhlman, Polcyn and Keller

As helena mentioned, the release is scheduled for the end of November.

[ludja]

From the SF Chronicle Digest, two new cookbook reviews. (articles are available for a week or two)

"The Baker's Tour" by Nick Malgieri

His book "How to Bake" won the 1995 James Beard Award for Best Baking Book. Now the intrepid Malgieri, who has been to 39 countries, has put out his seventh baking book, "A Baker's Tour," featuring recipes from outside the United States.

…

Buying in bulk, he points out, may save money, but not if you overbuy and the food goes stale. Malgieri doesn't insist bakers pick up every piece of equipment that he lists, but he explains how the correct equipment makes a difference in baking.

The book is divided into eight chapters, including breads; yeast-risen cakes and pastries; cookies; pies and tarts; savory pastries; puff pastry, strudel and phyllo dough; and fried pastries. The index contains a list of recipes by country.

"The Best Recipes of the World" by Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman set the bar rather high when he called his tenth cookbook "The Best Recipes in the World." That title elicits strong expectations, which are only partially met.

The award-winning author's recipes wander through most of the major world cuisines, covering traditional ground with recipes for congi and empanadas, as well as venturing into less familiar territory.

Asian and European cuisines garner more than their fair share of Bittman's attention. But recipes become secondary to the wealth of information he provides about ingredients and culture; elements that enable home cooks to make sense of the food they prepare.

[bloviatrix]

I've been loving Get Saucy by Grace Parisi. It's 400 pages of sauces, marinades, rubs, vinaigrettes, chutneys, etc. It's a great tool when you're looking for inspiration.

[Shinboners]

From Australia

"French" by Damien Pignolet (reviewed in the Australia/NZ forum)

"Saha" by Greg and Lucy Malouf - covers Lebanese and Syrian cooking. Very similar in style to the Alford/Duguid cookbooks.

"Mt Italian Heart" by Guy Grossi. Home cooking from the owner/chef of Melbourne's Grossi Florentino.

"Totally Simple Food" by Jill Dupleix - it combines the best of her recent cookbooks into one volume

"Simply Bill" by Bill Granger. More of the same from Bill.

I'll be buying the Malouf book and I'll post a review when I do.

[ludja]

If you haven't already, please check out the LA Times Food Section Digest (2 November 2005).

This week's digest is The Cookbook Issue, filled with various cookbook articles, including one from our fellow eGer and LA Times food columnist Russ Parsons.

Enjoy!

←

For posterity, here is a list of the books reviewed:

"The Arab Table: Recipes and Culinary Traditions" by May S. Bsisu (Morrow, $34.95) traditional cooking and pantries in the Middle East and North Africa

"La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange" by Madame Evelyn Saint-Ange and Paul Aratow (Ten Speed Press, $40) (reissued version of a 1927 French cookbook)

"Dough" by Richard Bertinet (Kyle Cathie Limited, $29.95) by a British cooking teache, Richard Bertinet, with step-by-step color photos and a DVD.

"Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best" by Max McCalman and David Gibbons (Clarkson Potter, $32.50)

“A lavish primer on everyone's new favorite food: how to choose it, how much to buy, where it's from and what makes it great, with seasonal notes and wine pairings. Every cheese gets its own page, with essay and details and a photo you can almost taste.”

Cucina Romana" by Sara Manuelli (Interlink Books , $29.95) combination of ”traditional and innovative” dishes

"How to Cook Italian" by Giuliano Hazan (Scribner, $35) (son of Marcella Hazan)

“Maybe the world didn't need yet another pasta-to-tiramisu primer, but Marcella's son acquits himself by including dishes that don't turn up everywhere, particularly a zucchini casserole and a sausage-stuffed duck.”

"India With Passion: Modern Regional Home Food" by Manju Malhi (Interlink Books, $35) By British food writer's Manju Malhi

"Mangoes & Curry Leaves" by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan, $45) Dishes from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

"Moroccan Modern" by Hassan M'Souli (Interlink Books, $29.95) The author, Hassan M'Souli, is the chef of Out of Africa in Sydney, Australia..

"The New Spanish Table" by Anya von Bremzen (Workman, $22.95, due by Thanksgiving)

“An admirable blending for anyone who finds Ferran Adrià's wizardry (or mad science) a bit daunting and Penelope Casas' classics a little too familiar.”

"The Silver Spoon" (Phaidon Press, $39.95) See link to discussion thread above. (English issue of Italian compendium of recipes, publishes in Italy since the 1950’s).

"True Tuscan" by Cesare Casella (Harper Collins, $24.95) A New York “City chef's "flavors and memories" of his birthplace, heavy on the herbs but without all the cliches. The side notes on history are enlightening.”

[ludja]

There is an egullet thread here discussing the newly released Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

[Richard_D]

If you've not heard of him I'd give Nigel Slater a try, his new book 'The Kitchen Diaries', is a run through what he bought and ate almost every day for a year. If you haven't read his books, they're relaxed and reasonably simple.

If you can't get hold of that then 'Apettite' from a couple of years back is a great book. Few 'instructions' but a really good read.

[ludja]

Thanks for the Nigel Slater recommendation, Richard_D. I've known of his cookbooks for awhile but have yet to check them out.

Here are some other 2005 books:

Giving Thanks : Thanksgiving Recipes and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie (Hardcover) by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver

Here's an egullet discussion.

A new book by noted culinary author and egullet member, Clifford A. Wright (archestratus)

Some Like It Hot: Spicy Favorites from the World's Hot Zones (Hardcover)

Author Cliff Wright has followed the equator in search of authentically spicy dishes, and he recreates them here with Meat-Stuffed Chiles from Peru, Chile Verde from New Mexico, "Tablecloth Stainer" from Oaxaca, Egusi Soup from Nigeria, "Sauce that Dances" from Algeria, Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup from Thailand, "Ants Climbing a Tree" from China, and about 300 more deliciously fiery foods.

link

[ludja]

Three additional restaurant books:

From Austin, Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, by Ravago, Gilliland and Wood

This book also sound intriguing and there is an egullet discussion here.

Published to celebrate the restaurants's three decades of success (in Austin, Texas), "Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art" presents more than one hundred recipes from the restaurant's menus over the years. The selections include many of Fonda San Miguel's signature dishes -- Ceviche Veracruzano; Enchiladas Suizas, an old favorite from Sanborn's department store in Mexico City; Cochinita Pibil and Pescado Tikin Xik, both Yucatan specialities; and Carne Asada, steak sliced and grilled in the traditional Tampico style. From appetizers like mouth-watering Chihuahua-style chile con queso to the cajeta crepes and other delicacies, the home cook can now prepare a delicious assortment of the restaurant's most popular dishes from Mexico's diverse regional cuisines.

link

From The Boulevard and Nancy Oakes in San Francisco:

Boulevard: The Cookbook (Hardcover)

by Nancy Oakes, Pamela Mazzola, Lisa Weiss

In BOULEVARD, Oakes and Mazzola present 75 recipes, each anchored by a favorite main and accessorized with an exuberant collection of irresistible sides, all eminently cookable at home. Consider, for example, Pan-Roasted Wild King Salmon in Cider Sauce with Potato-Bacon-Watercress Cake and Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad; Buttermilk-Brined Fried Little Chickens with Cream Biscuits; and Veal Chops with Porcini and Asiago Cheese Stuffing with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Tomatoes, Pancetta, and Arugula. With every recipe prefaced by the chefs’ wise and unapologetically opinionated cooking notes, BOULEVARD answers the long-running demand for a dialogue with the creative team behind the restaurant ’s enduring popularity.

link

From Suzanne Goin at Lucques in LA

Sunday Suppers at Lucques : Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table (Hardcover)

by Suzanne Goin, Teri Gelber

At Lucques, one of Goin's two Los Angeles restaurants, the Chez Panisse alumna cooks special Sunday fixed-price menus. Whiling away a wintery Sunday evening over Beets and Tangerines with Mint and Orange-Flower Water; Australian Barramundi with Winter Vegetables Bagna Cauda and Toasted Breadcrumbs; or Herb-Roasted Rack of Lamb with Flageolet Gratin, Roasted Radicchio, and Tapenade; and a Gâteau Basque with Armagnac Prunes sounds lovely.

…

Goin's recipes for hearty, vegetable-heavy, Mediterranean-style dishes such as an appetizer of Ragoût of Morels with Crème Fraîche, Soft Herbs, and Toasted Brioche; and First-of-the-Season Succotash Salad with fresh lima beans and watercress are clearly written. But most dishes are all-day affairs: Roman Cherry Tart with Almond Crust and Almond Ice Cream incorporates several components and follows on the heels of either Veal Osso Buco with Saffron Risotto, English Peas, and Pea Shoots, or Halibut with Fingerlings, Fava Beans, Meyer Lemon, and Savory Crème Fraîche.

link

Has anyone checked out the Lucques or Boulevard Book?

[akwa]

gagnaire i believe is a ofive release

to me it shames pretty much all other restaurants for its poetry

[gwilson]

I have Sunday Suppers at Lucques, and I love it. She gives a little talk about ingredients and procedures in the introductions. And the recipes sound delicious. I basically devoured the book in one day. Although, I am a bit biased, because Chef Goin is one of my favorite chefs. But I would still recommend the book, especially if you're a fan of Luques or even A.O.C.

-Greg

[ludja]

Leite's Culinaria just released their choices for the top 20 food and cookbooks of 2005 here.

The newsletter also mentioned that 456 fewer cooking and food books were published in 2005 vs 2004 (according to Amazon). Washoku by Elizabeth Andoh (Ten Speed Press) was chosen the best the cookbook of the year. It is a cookbook on traditional Japanese cooking. Special mention of Stephen Shaw and Turning the Tables too!

Also:

Some outstanding books from 2005 that didn't make the list but are deserving of their own honors: The Cooking of Southwest France by the inimitable Paula Wolfert (Wiley) is our choice for Best Revised/Updated Book.  Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking (Knopf) wins the American Table Award, for best cookbook that features, obviously, American cooking. Steven A. Shaw, of eGullet.org fame, penned his first book this year, Turning the Tables (Morrow), and wins the Insider's Award, which is presented to the book that gives the best behind-the-scenes look at the food world.

Rounding out our picks are fun reads, books that fall into our Stocking Stuffer category: Everything I Ate by Tucker Shaw (Chronicle), Everybody Loves Pizza by Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby (Emmis Books), Pig Perfect by Pete Kaminsky (Hyperion), and Finding Betty Crocker by Susan Marks (Simon & Schuster).

Here are a list of the books. Some have already been discussed and recommended by contributors to this thread and others are new mentions.

Washoku (top choice overall)

by Elizabeth Andoh

(Ten Speed Press)

Vegetable Love

by Barbara Kafka

with Christopher Styler

(Artisan)

The Tender Bar

by J.R. Moehringer

(Hyperion)

The Perfectionist

by Rudolph Chelminski

(Gotham)

Tapas

by José Andres

with Richard Wolfe

(Clarkson Potter)

Sunday Suppers

at Lucques

by Suzanne Goin

with Teri Gelber

(Knopf)

The Silver Spoon

(Phaidon Press)

Robbing the Bees

by Holley Bishop

(Free Press)

Recipes: A Collection for

the Modern Cook

by Susan Spungen

(Morrow)

Nobu Now

by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

(Clarkson Potter)

Molto Italiano

by Mario Batali

(Ecco)

Mexican Everyday

by Rick Bayless

(W.W. Norton)

Baking Handbook

by Martha Stewart

(Clarkson Potter)

Homegrown Pure

and Simple

by Michel Nischan with

Mary Goodbody

(Chronicle)

Julie & Julia

by Julie Powell

(Little, Brown)

Chocolate Chocolate

by Lisa Yockelson

(Wiley)

Cheese

by Max Mccalman and

David Gibbons

(Clarkson Potter)

The Best Recipes

in the World

by Mark Bittman

(Broadway Books)

The All-American

Dessert Book

by Nancy Baggett

(Houghton Mifflin)

Any comments on some of the new mentions?

[Shinboners]

For those who are interested in Lebanese and Syrian food, here's a review of "Saha" by Greg and Lucy Malouf.

People who love the cookbook/travelogues by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid might also be interested in this book.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=79080

And you can find a review of Damien Pignolet's cookbook, "French" here.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=77253

Edited December 5, 2005 by Shinboners (log)

[rancho_gordo]

Any comments on some of the new mentions?

←

I wish they'd make some kind of comment or put the books in context. Even a one sentence description would be nice. A list is almost meaningless and it turns out if you almost made the list, you get more of a write-up in the introduction.

I went a little nuts and bought quite a few books this year and I see a few of them on this list:

The Perfectionist ("fascinating!"- Rancho Gordo)

Tapas ("Really inspiring!" - Rancho Gordo)

The Silver Spoon ("A waste of space!" - Rancho Gordo)

Molto Italiano ("Everything his first two books should have been!"- Rancho Gordo)

Mexican Everyday ("Surprisingly good! An authentic twist on the 30 minute meal fad!" - Rancho Gordo)

Maybe I can get on the covers of the paperback versions!

[JAZ]

Has anyone checked out the Lucques or Boulevard Book?

←

I have the Boulevard book. It's beautiful, and the recipes do sound like you could really make them at home (I haven't tried any of them yet).

I like the fact that the each "reicpe" is for an entire plating -- not that you have to make all the elements, but it gives you an idea of how the restaurant does its presentation. On the other hand, the layout could have been better, given this element. The sub-recipes aren't really broken out completely, and some of the recipes go on for several pages. This means that at the top of the recipe, you have a list of the ingredients for all the sub-recipes, then you get pretty extensive overall notes on the dish (which is a great addition, in my opinion), then you get the instructions for each of the sub-recipes. It's going to mean a lot of page turning while cooking, which is a bother.

I'd still recommend it despite this flaw.

[David Leite]

Rancho Gordo,

Great suggestion, and we'll do that for 2006. It was paticularly hard this year because some of us reviewed one type of book, while others looked at different type of books. (And a lot of the books were late entries.) By the time we settled on the list, it would have taken another week or so to collate it all. And we wanted to post in time for any reader who wanted to pick up a book or two as gifts.

Thanks

David Leite

I wish they'd make some kind of comment or put the books in context. Even a one sentence description would be nice. A list is almost meaningless and it turns out if you almost made the list, you get more of a write-up in the introduction.

I went a little nuts and bought quite a few books this year and I see a few of them on this list:

The Perfectionist ("fascinating!"- Rancho Gordo)

Tapas ("Really inspiring!" - Rancho Gordo)

The Silver Spoon ("A waste of space!" - Rancho Gordo)

Molto Italiano ("Everything his first two books should have been!"- Rancho Gordo)

Mexican Everyday ("Surprisingly good! An authentic twist on the 30 minute meal fad!" - Rancho Gordo)

Maybe I can get on the covers of the paperback versions!

←

[rancho_gordo]

Rancho Gordo,

Great suggestion, and we'll do that for 2006. It was paticularly hard this year because some of us reviewed one type of book, while others looked at different type of books. (And a lot of the books were late entries.) By the time we settled on the list, it would have taken another week or so to collate it all. And we wanted to post in time for any reader who wanted to pick up a book or two as gifts.

You can use my micro reviews if you like!!!!

I'd especially like to hear why you picked certain books like Julie and Julia and The Silver Spoon that I'd made certain assumptions about or wouldn't have put on my own top 20 list.

[David Leite]

I'll comment on Julie & Julia. While there are problems with the book (it occasionally sinks into blogarrhea; Powell comes across at times as a very unlikable narrator, and the pacing flags in spots), the book has a lot going for it. 1.) Powell has a fresh, unique voice. 2.) The concept of the book and blog is patently brilliant. 3.) And how she presents the project (in the book at least, which is hindsight, of course) as a battle ground for working out her issues of turning 30, problems with having children, and her own insecurities and petty meannesses lifts it above the original project and gives it dimension. It ain’t just about cooking—something that really pissed off a lot of fans of her blog, but something I found refreshing. Plus she writes well. I found myself underlining words and phrases and writing them down for future use. (As they say, good writers borrow, great writers steal!)

But stepping outside of the confines of the book, and seeing how it fits into the scope of things, it’s one of the few food blogs/Web sites that have made the transition from Internet to page—and done it successfully. The project, the book, and she are media phenomena. I think she’s part of a cadre of writers, which includes Steven Shaw and others, who are forging a new approach to writing. And I hope that serves as a model for future writers. Powell’s a very bright woman, and although her prose is sometimes shrill, I think she’s someone to watch.

So factoring together the book, the writing, its purpose, how it fits into a larger scheme, as well as into the world of writing as a craft is how it ended up on the list.

David

Rancho Gordo,

Great suggestion, and we'll do that for 2006. It was paticularly hard this year because some of us reviewed one type of book, while others looked at different type of books. (And a lot of the books were late entries.) By the time we settled on the list, it would have taken another week or so to collate it all. And we wanted to post in time for any reader who wanted to pick up a book or two as gifts.

You can use my micro reviews if you like!!!!

I'd especially like to hear why you picked certain books like Julie and Julia and The Silver Spoon that I'd made certain assumptions about or wouldn't have put on my own top 20 list.

←

[ludja]

Thank you for your comments, David Leite. I agree with ranchogordo that some commentary on the picks would be really instructive. In any case, I'm looking forward to looking closer at the books that made your list. We do have comments on a number of them already.

Here is another book that was just mentioned in the SF Chronicle: click

Confessions of a French Baker by Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet (Alfred A. Knopf, 91 pages small-format hardcover, $16.95).

When best-selling author Peter Mayle ("A Year in Provence," etc.) extolled the virtues of Chez Auzet, a bakery in the small Provencal town of Cavaillon, the place became a tourist destination almost overnight. And it wasn't just boules and croissants visitors wanted from Gerard Auzet, the baker-owner of the boulangerie.

They wanted bread lore -- the story of the bakery, of French breads, plus tips and recipes that might allow them to re-create the addictive simple breads back home. The baker had to start giving regular demonstrations. He asked Mayle, who had caused the onslaught, to put it right.

"Confessions of a French Baker" tells the story of Chez Auzet and gives recipes and instructions for a batch of typical Provencal breads. It's a charmer for anybody who loves Provence and/or French country breads -- and that's about everybody.

[ludja]

My Confusing Horoscope just posted about a new cookbook on Cajun cuisine here.

That led me to the Hippocrene publishing site and their list of new 2005 cookbooks here: here.

There is a paragraph with further description of each cookbook at the link.

STIR THE POT: THE REAL HISTORY OF THE CAJUN TABLE

by Marcelle Bienvenue, Carl A. Brasseaux and Ryan A. Brasseaux

POLISH HERITAGE COOKERY, Illustrated and expanded by Robert and Maria Strybel

TASTE OF NEPAL

by Jyoti Pathak

ESTONIAN TASTES AND TRADITIONS by Karin Annus Kärner

CUCINA PIEMONTESE: COOKING FROM ITALY’S PIEDMONT

by Brian Yarvin And Maria Grazia Asselle

SWEET HANDS: ISLAND COOKING FROM TRINIDAD & TOBAGO by Ramin Ganeshram

FARMS AND FOODS OF THE GARDEN STATE A New Jersey Cookbook

by Brian Yarvin

BRAZIL A CULINARY JOURNEY by Cherie Hamilton

A VIETNAMESE KITCHEN TREASURED FAMILY RECIPES by Ha Roda

Recipes and Reminiscences

A PIED NOIR COOKBOOK French Sephardic Cuisine from Algeria by Chantal Clabrough

TASTES OF THE PYRENEES CLASSIC AND MODERN by Marina Chang

Now in paperback

MY MOTHER'S BOLIVIAN KITCHEN by Jose Sanchez-H.

Edited December 9, 2005 by ludja (log)

[ludja]

Mangoes and Curry Leaves by Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid was mentioned earlier in the thread, but here is a link to a egullet discussion of the book: click.

[Lesley C]

I don't think any one has yet mentioned the original new book, BONES by Jennifer McLagan (Harper Collins, 2005). The book was the focus of a NY Times feature just before Halloween.

I read it cover to cover this week and couldn't put it down. It is just the kind of food we need in cold weather. I have marrow bones in my fridge right now soaking in salt water ready for roasting, and I bought lamb shanks to braise in Guiness, ox tails to braise with roast vegetables, and ribs galore.

Any carnivore out there with access to a good butcher should have a look at this book.

[Wendy DeBord]

Admittedly I'm coming in very late on this conversation and have only read this current page..........but I wanted to add my thoughts. First, I'm a huge fan of David Lebovitz!! But I wouldn't agree with his picks on baking books.

Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Y. will be sitting on my shelf gaining dust, unfortunately. I tried several of her brownie/cookie recipes and none were good enough to repeat. They are all very closely related....as in she starts with one basic recipe for brownies and then adds nuts and chocolate chips and that makes it another recipe worthy of it's own title..... most authors would just list variations under the core recipe. It's title is Chocolate Chocolate but it should have been titled Chocolate Cookies and Brownies not as good as Betty Crocker or Pillsbury.

I also wouldn't have choosen Marthas new book, just because if one is a close follower of her/companies work......all those recipes look rather familar to me. I'd swear they all were published in her various magazines previously. I'd give her magazines an award.......I love them. But I bought them once, so I'm not buying a book containing them too.

One book that I think strongly deserves mention is Chocolate Obsession. It's a damn fine book!! I'd label it my favorite of the year. It's got real substance chosen over bulk. It reaches out to advanced confectioners as well as home cooks looking for a great brownie recipe.