Best Food Writing 2006 Published

[moosnsqrl]

I just picked up the latest edition of this series (begun in 2000). Included are writings from the usual suspects (Reichl, Bourdain, Bruni, Steingarten, G Hamilton, et al.) and, I am pleased to note, a selection from Kansas City's weekly, The Pitch, restaurant reviewer Charles Ferruzza.

See Marlowe & Co. website for a synopsis.

[McAuliflower]

I just picked up the latest edition of this series (begun in 2000).  Included are writings from the usual suspects (Reichl, Bourdain, Bruni, Steingarten, G Hamilton, et al.) and, I am pleased to note, a selection from Kansas City's weekly, The Pitch, restaurant reviewer Charles Ferruzza.

See Marlowe & Co. website for a synopsis.

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Any food bloggers included?

[heyjude]

Please, see mamster's blog www.rootsandgrubs.com

[alacarte]

Got my copy!

Where last year's edition celebrated blogs and online writing, this year it feels like more excerpts from books than in previous editions. Not so much online writing/blogs, and a good mix of magazine & newspaper pieces.

[Carolyn Tillie]

From the Amazon site:

From Publishers Weekly

In this excellent collection, Hughes brings together an eclectic mix of writing by restaurant reviewers, chefs, food writers and food lovers that succeeds in connecting distinctly different writing styles with a common thread of respect for and fascination with eating. Hughes separates the essays according to such themes as "The Food Chain," "Home Cooking," "Someone's in the Kitchen" and "The Restaurant Biz," and culls from publications as well-known as Bon Appétit to the lesser-known enRoute. The pieces range from technical ("The Blowtorch Gourmet" by Par Chris Johns) to intensely personal (Floyd Skloot's "Jambon Dreams"). In "Mama's House," Jason Sheehan cruises the streets of Denver in search of "Mama," a Ghanaian refugee who operates a kitchen out of her home, cooking at all times of the day for whoever shows up on her doorstep. Frank Bruni, the New York Times's dining critic, gets a look at how the other half lives in his humorous and humble "My Week as a Waiter." Other standout pieces include "A Mentor Named Misty" by Gabrielle Hamilton, and "The Egg Men" by Burkhard Bilger, which explores the cavernous kitchens of the Las Vegas hotel industry. (Nov.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

Best Food Writing 2006 assembles, for its seventh year, the most exceptional writing from the past year’s books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and Web sites. Included are the best writers on everything from celebrated chefs to the travails of the home cook, from food sourcing at the greenmarket to equipping one’s kitchen, from erudite culinary history to food-inspired memoirs. Like past collections, the 2006 round-up will include pieces from food-writing stars such as Robb Walsh, Ruth Reichl, Thomas McNamee, John Thorne, Calvin Trillin, Amanda Hesser, Colman Andrews, Jason Epstein, and Jeffrey Steingarten. Opinionated, evocative, nostalgic, brash, thought-provoking, and sometimes just plain funny, it’s a tasty sampler to dip into time and again, whether you’re in the mood for caviar — or hot dogs.

[Carrot Top]

I'm wondering if anyone has read this, this year. I didn't, but am curious as to what those who did read it might think of individual pieces or of the collection chosen for 2006 in general . . .

[Carrot Top]

Bumping this topic up again. Am hoping that someone has had a chance to peruse this volume and share their thoughts and feelings on the authors and pieces included . . .

[moosnsqrl]

Bumping this topic up again. Am hoping that someone has had a chance to peruse this volume and share their thoughts and feelings on the authors and pieces included . . .

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Funny, I just picked this up again yesterday after a long absence. I read some short pieces:

Mei Chin's "My Life with Rice" (published in Saveur) which describes an Asian's dysfunctional relationship with a grain that is supposed to be innately sacred to her.

Floyd Skloot's "Jambon Dreams" (from Boulevard), examining his life-long love/hate relationship with food and how it evokes memories good and bad as he struggles to overcome various physical ailments, some hereditary.

"Chef's Homemade Secret" (Cleveland Plain-Dealer) in which Laura Taxel is tapped in the grocery to give a crash course on making pasta sauce from scratch.

"Macaroni and Lots of Cheese" (NYT) by Julia Moskin on a quest for the ultimate comfort food (including quotes from our own Marlena Spieler).

Kim Severson's "The Pilgrims Didn't Brine" (NYT) looks for the quickest, easiest yet best turkey methodology.

Henry Alford's "It Takes a Tough Man to Make Tender Tofu" (Food & Wine) is another "quest for" story in which the author tries to duplicate the rhapsodic tofu at En Japanese Brasserie.

I found the last one entertaining, the second compelling and the rest well-written if not life-changing.