Your food related book favorites?
I love food books. Like Kitchen Confidential, Heat, White Slave... What are some of yours?
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47 Comments:
I also loved Kitchen Confidential and Heat (I find very few food-related books live up to these two). Haven't read White Slave.
Recently, I've been reading:
Fuschia Dunlop's memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper
Jennifer 8. Lee's book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything
And I've been drooling over the Alinea and El Eulli "cookbooks," but those are more coffee-table fodder. I've heard good things about the Le Bernardin one as well.
The Shopsin's cookbook is hilarious.
kathryn at 12:52PM on 01/30/09
I really loved Heat, which you mentioned. Other favorites:
palmsey at 12:54PM on 01/30/09
I enjoyed Paula Deen's "It Ain't All About The Cookin'". I'm definitely going to read Kitchen Confidential and Heat. I find Steingarten pompous and arrogant, so I've resisted reading his books, but that could just be his "Iron Chef Judge" persona. I really cannot stand him on that show.
juliebugsmama at 2:23PM on 01/30/09
@kathryn - I loved "Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper"! It's probably the best book I read in 2008.
I also love Julia Child's "My Life in France" and all three of Ruth Reichl's books. And please, please read A.J. Liebling's "Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris" - a classic!
Junie at 2:35PM on 01/30/09
Definitely the ones by Anthony Bourdain.
Right now I'm reading Trail of Crumbs: quite good!
Also Sapphire and Garlic (or something along those lines) :)
orchidgirl at 2:55PM on 01/30/09
@Junie - totally forgot to mention In Between Meals. I LOVED it. It was one of those books that when I finished it I was sad and didn't want it to end.
simon at 3:01PM on 01/30/09
Comfort me with Apples, by the same author as Sapphire and Garlic, Ruth Reichl. And one of my old favorites, Pass the Polenta, by the aptly named Teresa Lust. Good food writing always gets me in the mood to cook. I must be very suggestable...hmm, maybe I should be reading more dieting sites...
Kiwords at 3:06PM on 01/30/09
Another vote for HEAT; I also love Ruth Reichl and have Sapphire and Garlic (Garlic and Sapphire?) on my to-be-tackled pile. I also really enjoyed Julie and Julia, and have Man Who Ate Everything on another of my to-do piles.
littlestcapy at 3:42PM on 01/30/09
@simon - Isn't Liebling's writing beautiful? And his life was so interesting.
Also, Elizabeth David's "An Omelette and A Glass of Wine" and "Mediterranean Cooking".
Junie at 3:50PM on 01/30/09
Bourdain's and Ruhlman's books are always a good read. Some other ones are:
Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten
The United States of Arugula by David Kamp
Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
Service Included by Kathleen Flinn
brooke29 at 4:01PM on 01/30/09
I loved "My Life in France." But so far my favorite food book of all time is "The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine," by Steven Rinella.
CookiePie at 4:41PM on 01/30/09
I really liked Serve the People: A Stir Fried Journey through China by Jen Lin-Liu.
runnereater at 4:53PM on 01/30/09
@Cookie Pie - I really really want that book!!!
@Junie - Liebling is brilliant. We all owe him so much as "eaters," a term he reluctantly coined (if I remember correctly Liebling preferred "feeders" but his editor, justly I think, thought that was a little gross.)
Also I forgot to mention Omnivore's Dilemma, I want to read Pollan other books, Botany of Desire and Case for Food.
Thank you all! Keep em coming!
simon at 5:13PM on 01/30/09
Fiction:
Down and Out in Paris and London
Stanley Park
Bone in the Throat
Gone Bamboo
Non-Fiction
Ruhlman's "of a Chef" series
Heat
Ruth R.'s books
and of course Kitchen Confidential.
sailordave at 9:52PM on 01/30/09
And also Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour" and "The Nasty Bits".
sailordave at 9:54PM on 01/30/09
Anything by Calvin Trillin - great food travel stuff, "How to Cook a Tart" by Nina Killham-- a great fiction book written by a true food lover- full of romance, humor, satire and murder! "En Provence" is another great food book.
Mark Kurlansky has written some amazing books about different foods and how they've shaped and changed the world we live in ("Cod", "Salt", "The Big Oyster") Great, informative, fascinating reads.
I also like "The Botany of Desire" by M. Pollan
nisung2 at 10:35PM on 01/30/09
"Service Included" is by Phoebe Damrosch -- she details her experience working during the first years of Per Se.
Kathleen Flinn's book is called "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry."
There's a great memoir by a man named Steven Sorrentino titled "Luncheonette" about his stint running his father's luncheonette in New Jersey while his father was recovering from an illness that had left him paralyzed.
The recently published "Waiter Rant" is also very entertaining, as well as "Dirty Sugar Cookies."
And anything by Ruhlman and Bourdain is just a given! :)
BreadAndButtercream at 1:03AM on 01/31/09
I agree with Julia Child's "My Life in France" and Ruch Reichl's books - I loved those!
allyn at 7:30AM on 01/31/09
See I haven't read Bourdains book yet. I have one book from him No reservations, but that is mainly photos of his travels. I want that other book from him. Another one I like to read a James Beard book and tells of all the history of foods ect.
pjracz10 at 12:36PM on 01/31/09
A Goose in Toulouse is wonderful. A trip to remote areas in France & many scents, histories, tastes. Bourdain's are indeed great. Tenth Muse by Judith Jones I recently read & liked. Largely agree with the bulk of comments. I must admit, I am a bit shocked to see NO books from Sandra Lee or R.R.! ; - )
stigcr at 12:53PM on 01/31/09
Miriam's Kitchen by Elizabeth Ehrlich. A month-by-month memoir of a year spent learning to cook (among other things) from Miriam, the author's Holocaust survivor mother-in-law.
I'm now starting Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
overw8 at 12:56PM on 01/31/09
I love the entire series of books by Ruth Reichl - they are so funny, entertaining and contain great recipes.
floridayaya at 1:01PM on 01/31/09
Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, naturally!
Also, like water for chocolate.
Keight at 10:17PM on 01/31/09
Seconds on The Man Who Ate Everything; I picked it up at random in the library one day about 3-4 years ago. Also:
Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out, Steven A. Shaw
The Book of Salt: A Novel, Monique Truong (I've been trying to remember the title for about a week now; good thing I thought to google "Vietnamese cook" "Gertrude Stein" novel – and there's a capsule summary of the plot :))
Gastroanomalies: Questionable Culinary Creations from the Golden Age of American Cookery, James Lileks – includes absolute hilarity about Australian bacon, I mean, baiycun recipes.
The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan. Three of the four plants discussed here are food plants. The other ... well ... is known to stimulate the appetite :)
Food in History, Reay Tannehill
Spice: The History of a Temptation, Jack Turner
gentlyferal at 10:36PM on 01/31/09
MFK's The Gastronomical Me is my absolute favorite. Heat got me eating meat again after seven years of vegetarianism. Cloudy, of course, as well as Pickles to Pittsburg.
marchpane at 10:36PM on 01/31/09
Oh! And I love Haruki Murakami - he's not a food writer but he never forgets to minutely detail the food that his characters are eating. And of course he wrote The Year of Spaghetti, all about spaghetti and loneliness. I love it.
marchpane at 10:40PM on 01/31/09
Speaking of children's books – Gustav the Gourmet Giant, LouAnn Gaeddert.
Loving this thread – some of these titles have landed on my library wish list.
gentlyferal at 11:08PM on 01/31/09
Oh, and while we're at it, James Thurber's The Great Quillow! Lots of lavish detail about the giant's gargantuan appetites.
gentlyferal at 1:18AM on 02/01/09
One of my favorites is 'Diggin' In and Piggin' Out by Roger Welsch. Downright funny and right to the point.
Also 'Slow Smoked Success: Provocative Thoughts on Business, Life and BBQ' by LJ Bentch. Just downright funny !
Ribster at 6:27AM on 02/01/09
"Stealing Buddha's Dinner" by Bich Minh Nguyen
"The Apprentice" by Jacques Pepin
"Something from the Oven" by Laura Shapiro
Anything by John T Edge
"The Perfectionist" Rudolph Chelminski
Nemis at 11:10AM on 02/01/09
I've enjoyed John Thorne's books "Serious Pig", "Pot on the Fire" and "Mouth Wide Open".
GirlintheCurl at 11:21AM on 02/01/09
"choice cuts" edited by mark kurlansky. it's bits and pieces of food writing throughout history, from old (incredibly vague) recipes to essays on food to food-related excerpts from novels.
xxxombie at 12:37PM on 02/01/09
My favorites: United States of arugula
Anything by Reichl
" " Alan Richman
" " Calvin Trillin
" " M.F.K. Fisher
Surprisingly, I detested Gael Greene's book. Don't see it on any of the lists here, either.
bessfour at 12:57PM on 02/01/09
My favorite is the 1988 "Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen" by Laurie Colwin--my parents make the most delicious bread out of this book. And just got the 2008 "Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, The Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate". Am so happy that the Calvin Trillin books were mentioned, too.
anklet at 5:01PM on 02/01/09
"Toast" by Nigel Slater is a wonderful picture of childhood and growing up in 1960s England told through food memories. I don't know if he's known in the US but he's a very popular food writer in UK.
zee at 6:03PM on 02/01/09
@GirlintheCurl - I totally forgot to mention John Thorne! I adore him.
Junie at 1:33PM on 02/02/09
@bessfour - Yeah, I really didn't enjoy her book. It was more about how fabulous she was, and less about food/food-writing.
Junie at 1:34PM on 02/02/09
Wow, what an incredible list! I'm sad to say that I've never even heard of most of these tomes. I am bookmarking this page so I have a handy list of books to read/pick up.
Kitchen Confidential, Cook's Tour, and James Beard's Delights and Prejudices are my humble favorites.
I may catch some flack for this, but, I'm Just Here for the Food opened my eyes to a few things, as I am more of a visual learner.
I've heard Steingarten's book is an excellent read. Shame, since I think he's a bit of an ass lol.
Carnal at 9:23PM on 02/02/09
MFK Fisher a hundred times over.
Also Laurie Colwin (what a loss), and almost all the others. Mr. Meatloaf is a big AJ Liebling fan. Slater is an excellent writer, and I liked reading Nigella long before I saw her photo or heard her voice. I've had the pleasure of Danny Meyer, Bud Trillin and Tony Bourdain in person, so I admit to some prejudice on them. Steingarten's character I can't comment on, but I do appreciate his work, especially his discussion on learning to eat things one dislikes, which I think some people can gain from.
And so many more. I think I learned to eat from books before I sat at an adventurous table.
lemons at 9:43PM on 02/02/09
Great list; I too love Reichl, Child, Trillin, Liebling, Pollan, Steingarten, Bourdain, Julie & Julia, Colwin, Fisher, Slater...I'm excited to check out the ones I haven't heard before.
Here are a few that haven't yet been mentioned:
Best Food Writing series is wonderful, check them out. Another great essay collection is Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant.
Also, if you're a JC lover, Laura Shapiro's biography of Julia Child and Backstage with Julia were interesting.
Molly O'Neill's American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes - very good.
Food blogger love -- Gluten-Free Girl, The Amateur Gourmet, Chocolate & Zucchini, Orangette's A Homemade Life comes out in March!
jbeach at 10:28AM on 02/03/09
I'm do apologize for bumping up an old topic, I just wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks. This thread inspired me to hit Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books to seek out food related books that weren't just packed with informative recipes, but wisdom and wit as well.
What I found was a goldmine: How to Cook a Wolf, The Man Who Ate Everything, Tender at the Bone, Clementine in the Kitchen, and The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.
I'm now on cloud 9 as I giddily face the decision of where to start. A big thanks to Serious Eats and the SE community!
Carnal at 3:51PM on 02/09/09
Also, Strega Nona
Keight at 7:47PM on 02/09/09
I forgot to mention the wonderfully witty Lady Agnes Jekyll's 'Kitchen Essays'. She was a great society hostess who wrote food articles for The Times around the turn of the last century. I found a couple of audio readings here:
http://www.talkingoffood.com/listen/2-audio-content/12-kitchen-essays.html
zee at 8:05AM on 02/11/09
Anything by Bourdain including A Cook's Tour, No Reservations, Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits
Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything
My Life in France by Julia Child, which spawned my appreciation of Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
and Fork It Over by Alan Richman
mayoxqueen at 12:04AM on 02/19/09
@jbeach- I can wait for Orangette's book!
mayoxqueen at 12:11AM on 02/19/09
Laurie Colwin - Home Coojing / More Home Cooking / Gourmet Articles
A. J. Liebling
Delight's & Predjudices - James Beard
My Life in France - Julia Child
The Tenth Muse - Judith Jones
Alice B/ Toklas Cookbook
Elizabeth David - MFK Fisher - JohnThorne - Steingarten
How fortunate we are that these writers, and many others, shared their thoughts with us
suegsf at 1:43AM on 02/19/09
@sailordave~ thanks for the fiction selections. I eat off of the non -fiction and just feel taste somehow from the fiction food novels.
I have many to add to the list...time. Will do later.
dhorst at 6:40AM on 02/19/09