Best of
Culinary

2008

The Art & Soul of Baking


Cindy Mushet - 2008
    Beautiful photographs and more than 250 easy-to-follow recipes lead you into a world of alluring aromas and light, flaky pastries. Illustrated asides take you step by step through important techniques, from carmelizing sugar to working with croissant dough. Plus, you'll find invaluable information on over 100 ingredients and 50 baker's tools. A true pleasure for anyone who loves to bake.Each selection of the Gourmet Cookbook Club is handpicked and road-tested by the editors of Gourmet magazine, so readers can cook with confidence, knowing the recipes really do deliver. Online at Gourmet Book Club you can find videos of the authors demonstrating recipes, share your thoughts on the cookbooks in the forums, and learn more about each book's topic.BENEFITS: * The ultimate book for bakers.* Professional tips and tricks are made easy for the home baker.* Step-by-step techniques of baking.* 100 photographs, 250 foolproof recipes and variations, and information on over 100 popular baking ingredients and over 50 pieces of baking equipment.Praise for The Art and Soul of Baking..".when a baking book in which the recipes perform as flawlessly as they do in "The Art and Soul of Baking" comes out, we're particularly impressed." --"Gourmet" magazine, October 2008, Cookbook Club selection"If you buy just one new baking book this season, make it this one. ...covers everything from essential equipment...and pantry staples to chapters on savory breads, quick breads, tarts, pies, cookies and cakes.... The recipes are exceedingly detailed and include do-ahead tips, notes on equipment needed, advice on storing the finished treats and suggestions for variations." --Associated Press, September 2008"Mushet's invaluable lessons in ensuring oven accuracy, incorporating butter into dough for layered pastries...and the causes of falling souffles will get novices up to speed.... Those already comfortable with baking will get the most out of the book's 250 recipes, but there are plenty of dishes well within the reach of those new to creme brulee and lemon bar construction, making this a great volume to learn and grow with." --"Publishers Weekly," August 2008"Many elements combine to make a great cookbook, all of which are in "The Art and Soul of Baking." ...the book possesses the singular quality that lifts a cookbook above the rest, and that is the ability to inspire. "The Art and Soul of Baking" inspires." --inmamaskitchen.com

Advanced Bread and Pastry


Michel Suas - 2008
    Balancing a respect for tradition with modern approaches to method and technique, Advanced Bread and Pastry unites appealing presentation and indispensable instruction. It is written to help today's baker respond to the recent evolution of ingredients, products, and presentation. The recipes (called formulas) are based on a variety of classica methods and processes. With this strong foundation of knowledge, a baker or pastry chef can develop further skills, experiment with new ideas, and understand any formula.

Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide


Thomas Keller - 2008
    In this revolutionary new cookbook, Thomas Keller, America's most respected chef, explains why this foolproof technique, which involves cooking at precise temperatures below simmering, yields results that other culinary methods cannot. For the first time, one can achieve short ribs that are meltingly tender even when cooked medium rare. Fish, which has a small window of doneness, is easier to finesse, and shellfish stays succulent no matter how long it's been on the stove. Fruit and vegetables benefit, too, retaining color and flavor while undergoing remarkable transformations in texture. The secret to sous vide is in discovering the precise amount of heat required to achieve the most sublime results. Through years of trial and error, Keller and his chefs de cuisine have blazed the trail to perfection—and they show the way in this collection of never-before-published recipes from his landmark restaurants—The French Laundry in Napa Valley and per se in New York. With an introduction by the eminent food-science writer Harold McGee, and artful photography by Deborah Jones, who photographed Keller's best-selling The French Laundry Cookbook, this book will be a must for every culinary professional and anyone who wants to up the ante and experience food at the highest level.

Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin: A Cookbook


Kenny Shopsin - 2008
    That’s why I came up with the names Ho Cakes and Slutty Cakes. These are extra decadent, but in a way, every pancake is a Ho Cake.” Thus speaks Kenny Shopsin, legendary (and legendarily eccentric, ill-tempered, and lovable) chef and owner of the Greenwich Village restaurant (and institution), Shopsin’s, which has been in existence since 1971.Kenny has finally put together his 900-plus-item menu and his unique philosophy—imagine Elizabeth David crossed with Richard Pryor—to create Eat Me, the most profound and profane cookbook you’ll ever read. His rants—on everything from how the customer is not always right to the art of griddling; from how to run a small, ethical, and humane business to how we all should learn to cook in a Goodnight Moon world where everything you need is already in your own home and head—will leave you stunned or laughing or hungry. Or all of the above.With more than 120 recipes including such perfect comfort foods as High School Hot Turkey Sandwiches, Cuban Bean Polenta Melt, and Cornmeal-Fried Green Tomatoes with Comeback Sauce, plus the best soups, egg dishes, and hamburgers you’ve ever eaten, Eat Me is White Trash Cooking for the twenty-first century, as unforgettable and mind-boggling as its author.

Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes


Jennifer McLagan - 2008
    When scientists theorized a link between saturated fat and heart disease, industry, media, and government joined forces to label fat a greasy killer, best avoided. But according to Jennifer McLagan, not only is our fat phobia overwrought, it also hasn’t benefited us in any way. Instead it has driven us into the arms of trans fats and refined carbohydrates, and fostered punitive, dreary attitudes toward food–that wellspring of life and pleasure. In Fat, McLagan sets out with equal parts passion, scholarship, and appetite to win us back to a healthy relationship with animal fats. She starts by defusing fat’s bad rap, both reminding us of what we already know–that fat is fundamental to the flavor of our food–and enlightening us with the many ways fat (yes, even animal fat) is indispensable to our health. Mostly, though, Fat is about pleasures–the satisfactions of handling good ingredients skillfully, learning the cultural associations of these primal foodstuffs, recollecting and creating personal memories of beloved dishes, and gratifying the palate and the soul with fat’s irreplaceable savor. Fat lavishes the reader with more than 100 recipes from simple to intricate, classic to contemporary, including:• Butter-Poached Scallops• Homemade Butter• Carnitas• Duck Confit• Sautéed Foie Gras with Gingered Vanilla Quince • Prosciutto-Wrapped Halibut with Sage Butter• Steak and Kidney Pie• Lamb Fat and Spinach Chapati• Bacon Spice • Cookies• Salted Butter TartObserving that though we now know everything about olive oil, we may not know what to do with lard or bone marrow, McLagan offers extensive guidance on sourcing, rendering, flavoring, using, and storing animal fats, whether butter or bacon, schmaltz or suet. Stories, lore, quotations, and tips touching on fat’s place in the kitchen and in the larger culture round out this rich and unapologetic celebration of food at its very best.

Jacques Pépin More Fast Food My Way


Jacques Pépin - 2008
    Only Jacques could have come up with dishes so innovative and uncomplicated.“Minute recipes”: Nearly no-cook recipes fit for company: Cured Salmon Morsels, Glazed Sausage BitsSmashing appetizers: Scallop Pancakes, zipped together in a blender (10 minutes)Almost instant soups: Creamy Leek and Mushroom Soup (7 minutes)Fast, festive dinners: Stuffed Pork Fillet on Grape Tomatoes (18 minutes)Stunning desserts: Mini Almond Cakes in Raspberry Sauce (15 minutes)

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook


Heston Blumenthal - 2008
    In this beautiful book, we hear the full story of the meteoric rise of Heston Blumenthal and The Fat Duck, birthplace of snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream, and encounter the passion, perfection and weird science behind the man and the restaurant.

Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse


Kaye Hansen - 2008
    This comprehensive introduction to baking in miniature also provides tips on glazing, icing, and making chocolate decorations and offers details on the equipment you need to get started (including a cake pan chart, so that you can use those mini rose pans, heart pans, and other fun shapes to bake unique creations). The authors are famous for their over-the-top decorations, and they'll take you step-by-step through the process of creating cakes piped and appliqued with bumblebees (white chocolate wings and nonpareil stripes make them irresistible!), blooming roses (or, if you prefer, delicate hydrangeas with lifelike shaded petals), wild meringues (dressed with tiger stripes, zebra stripes, or leopard spots), and spiky dragons (right down to the serpentine tail). The recipes in "Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse "are categorized into three levels: one star for easy, two for intermediate, and three for challenging. So whether you want to start with a charming, super-easy star-shaped mini strawberry shortcake or strive for A Day at the Beach pail-shaped cake, complete with cookie-crumb sand, chocolate shovel, and edible seashells, you'll find a cool confection that fits your skills. If you're not ready for complicated decorating, this book also provides easy presentation ideas to make simple cakes look grander, ensuring the perfect finish to any occasion. Little cakes are as fun to make as they are delicious to eat! After all, who'd turn down a bit-and a bite-of joy in their lives?

Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run


Alton Brown - 2008
    This time, Alton Brown and his motorcycle-mounted crew are off on a thousand-mile, south-to-north journey that follows America’s first “superhighway”—the Mississippi. Starting at the great river’s delta on the Gulf of Mexico and ending up near its headwaters in Minnesota, Alton and buddies travel the heartland’s byways to scout out the very best of roadside food—and to get to know the people who spend their lives preparing and serving it.A companion to the six-part Food Network series airing in fall 2007, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run is a travel diary, photo journal, and, of course, cookbook. Alton’s itinerary includes big-city eateries and small-town chat ’n’ chews, as well as markets, inns, ice cream parlors, museums, barbecue joints—and even an alligator farm.Louisiana-style Grilled Alligator Tail (served simply, with lemon and butter) is one of the book’s forty original road-food recipes. Others include Pecan-Coconut Pie from an Arkansan roadside restaurant; BBQ Pork Ribs in Mississippi that Brown eats over pancakes; Vegetable Borscht from St. Paul’s Russian Tea House; and Fried Catfish from a riverside burg in Illinois. When it comes to America’s foodways and folkways, there’s no better tour guide than Alton Brown.

Cake Love: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch


Warren Brown - 2008
    And he wants you to conquer your fear of flour and learn to love every step of cake baking—including, of course, the step in which you present your made-from-scratch masterpiece to bedazzled, hungry-eyed family and friends. (Not to mention the moment when you yourself get to sample a slice of that lovingly crafted creation.)For Brown, love and baking are inseparable. After all, he abandoned an unrewarding career in law to do the work—baking cakes!—that he finds truly emotionally satisfying. Every page of CakeLove communicates that satisfaction, as well as Brown’s can-do approach to the art of baking. As he asserts, baking cakes isn’t a cakewalk, but it’s not rocket science, either—and getting it right isn’t nearly as hard as you think.Pound cakes, butter cakes, sponge cakes, cupcakes. Glazes, frostings, fillings, meringues. Brown provides all the basics on ingredients, equipment, and techniques, as well as recipes for more than 50 cakes that range from the classic (Chocolate Butter Cake) to the adventurous (“Sassy,” a pound cake made with mango puree and cayenne pepper). The informative step-by-step shots make you want to run to the kitchen and start baking, and the scrumptious color photos of completed cakes look good enough to sink your teeth into.

The Science of Good Food: The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works


David Joachim - 2008
    From Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant in Spain to Homaro Cantu of Moto in Chicago, great chefs combine unexpected textures and flavors with secrets of new cooking techniques in great dishes.This is the first reference to bring the science of food to home cooks and professional chefs alike. Organized from A to Z, this highly readable book has more than 1,800 entries that clearly explain the physical and chemical transformations which govern all food preparation and cooking. Entries vary from agriculture and food safety to animal husbandry and flavor science.Each entry begins with an explanation of the science behind the food, equipment or cooking method. Extensive cross-references encourage the reader to delve more deeply into topics of interest.More than 200 illustrations and photographs help home cooks visualize the basic principles of food science. Also included are 100 recipes that demonstrate those principles, from how deep-frying works to how to keep red cabbage from turning blue.The Science of Good Food provides straightforward explanations of the what, the how and the why of food and cooking, encouraging cooks at all levels to be more confident and creative.

Frozen Desserts


Francisco J. Migoya - 2008
    Introductory chapters include the history and evolution of frozen desserts; ingredients including dairy products, sugars, stabilizers, emulsifiers, fruits, and flavors; and equipment including churning machines, production equipment, and storage and serving containers. Also included are essentials on storage, sanitation, and production and serving techniques. Recipe chapters cover Dairy-Based Frozen Desserts, which include ice cream, gelato, and sherbet; Non-Dairy Desserts, which include sorbet and granites; and Aerated Still-Frozen Desserts, which include parfaits, semi-freddos, and frozen mousses and souffles. Each recipe chapter covers both classic and modern small-batch production techniques, basic formulas, and both basic and advanced base recipes. The final chapter, Finished Items, makes use of these base recipes and shows readers how to produce, plate, garnish, and serve small desserts, plated desserts, frozen cakes, and even frozen accompaniments to savory courses. Recipes are illustrated throughout by full-color beauty photographs. An instructor's manual and companion website are also available for classroom use.

The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional


Glenn Rinsky - 2008
    With the publication of The Pastry Chef's Companion , students and professionals alike no longer have to lose time searching for information and resources. With some 4,800 terms and definitions from around the world plus 10 appendices filled with needed resources, The Pastry Chef's Companion combines the best features of a dictionary and an encyclopedia. In addition to current definitions of every component of pastry, baking and confectionary arts, this book provides important information about the origin and historical background of many of the terms. This one-stop resource is an essential tool for all culinary and baking & pastry students.

On the Line


Eric Ripert - 2008
    How does a 4-star restaurant stay on top for more than two decades? In On the Line, chef Eric Ripert takes readers behind the scenes at Le Bernardin, one of just three New York City restaurants to earn three Michelin stars. Any fan of gourmet dining who ever stole a peek behind a restaurant kitchen's swinging doors will love this unique insider's account, with its interviews, inventory checklists, and fly-on-the-wall dialogue that bring the business of haute cuisine to life. From the sudden death of Le Bernardin's founding chef, Gilbert Le Coze, to Ripert's stressful but triumphant takeover of the kitchen at age 29, the story has plenty of drama. But as Chef Ripert and writer Christine Muhlke reveal, every day is an adventure in a perfectionistic restaurant kitchen. Foodies will love reading about the inner workings of a top restaurant, from how a kitchen is organized to the real cost of the food and the fierce discipline and organization it takes to achieve culinary perfection on the plate almost 150,000 times a year. Meanwhile, Le Bernardin's modern French cuisine, with its emphasis on seafood, comes to life in sophisticated recipes, including Striped Bass with Sweet Corn Puree, Grilled Shishito Peppers, Shaved Smoked Bonito, and Mole Sauce, and Pan-Roasted Cod with Chorizo, Snow Peas, Piquillo Peppers, and Soy-Lime Butter Sauce.

The Wines of Burgundy


Clive Coates - 2008
    This long-awaited work details all the major vintages from 2006 back to 1959 and includes thousands of recent tasting notes of the top wines, useful as a reference for wine pairing and a primer in how to taste wine. All-new chapters on Chablis and Côte Chalonnaise replace the previous volume's domain profiles. Coates, a Master of Wine who has spent much of the last thirty years in Burgundy, France, considers it to be the most exciting, complex, and intractable wine region in the world, its vineyards and wineries the most likely to yield fine wines of elegance and finesse. This coffee table book is an indispensable guide for the amateur sommelier and food and wine professionals alike by an internationally renowned wine expert, writing with his habitual expertise, lucidity, and unequaled firsthand knowledge.

Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue


John Shelton Reed - 2008
    Authoritative, spirited, and opinionated (in the best way), Holy Smoke is a passionate exploration of the lore, recipes, traditions, and people who have helped shape North Carolina's signature slow-food dish. Three barbecue devotees, John Shelton Reed, Dale Volberg Reed, and William McKinney, trace the origins of North Carolina 'cue and the emergence of the heated rivalry between Eastern and Piedmont styles. They provide detailed instructions for cooking barbecue at home, along with recipes for the traditional array of side dishes that should accompany it. The final section of the book presents some of the people who cook barbecue for a living, recording firsthand what experts say about the past and future of North Carolina barbecue.Filled with historic and contemporary photographs showing centuries of North Carolina's barbeculture, as the authors call it, Holy Smoke is one of a kind, offering a comprehensive exploration of the Tar Heel barbecue tradition.

Grow It, Cook It


Deborah Lock - 2008
    More than a cookbook, this innovative book offers a fresh approach to healthy eating by getting children involved in food right from the start. Children will learn that when they eat a carrot, they're biting into a root; salads are made up of leaves; and berries are the fruit and seeds of plants, encouraging an early appreciation of food and its origins. The recipes in the book take the homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs and use a variety of cooking methods and store-bought ingredients to transform them into truly homemade meals. All the "crops" can be grown in pots, so young chefs don't even need a large garden to enjoy Grow It, Cook It.

Baking Artisan Bread: 10 Expert Formulas for Baking Better Bread at Home


Ciril Hitz - 2008
    With step-by-step, photo-illustrated instructions, chef Ciril Hitz shows you how with just 10 formulas you can create more than 30 different breads. After a full exploration of the ingredients, equipment, and techniques of bread baking, move confidently into the kitchen to bake a range of bread types with easy-to-follow recipes for these doughs:BaguetteCiabattaWhole WheatPane FrancesePizzaBagelPain de MieChallahBriocheCroissantOnce you’ve mastered these staples, expand your repertoire with variations on each formula. Baguette dough yields a bouquet of breadsticks, buttery brioche becomes an elegant fruit Danish, challah transforms into delicately flavored orange aniseed wheels, and so on—deliciously. Baking bread is fun, but the fruits of the labor are often copious. Ciril comes to the rescue with some basic recipes that include bread as a main ingredient, including bread crumbs, croutons, bagel chips, French toast, and bread pudding. A second set of extras includes formulas to help make your bread creations sing, with washes and glazes as well as ideas for sweet and savory embellishments to guide your culinary creativity. With simple ingredients and most of the equipment needed already in the kitchen, you’ll be filling your home with the heavenly aroma of baking bread in no time!

The Best of the Best and More, Volume 1


Best of Bridge - 2008
    

Italian Grill


Mario Batali - 2008
    In addition to the eighty recipes and the sixty full-color photographs, Italian Grill includes helpful information on different heat-source options, grilling techniques, and essential equipment. As in Molto Italiano, Batali's distinctive voice provides a historical and cultural perspective as well.Italian Grill features appetizers; pizza and flatbreads; fish and shellfish; poultry; meat; and vegetables. The delicious recipes include Fennel with Sambuca and Grapefruit; Guinea Hen Breasts with Rosemary and Pesto; Baby Octopus with Gigante Beans and Olive-Orange Vinaigrette; and Rosticciana, Italian-Style Ribs.

In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits


Sarah Raven - 2008
    Taking us through the year in six seasonal chunks of two months each, she highlights the best vegetables, fruits, and herbs from each period, throwing in tidbits she’s learned firsthand from her own garden. The more than 250 simple and delicious recipes borrow from different cuisines and include such inventive dishes as Cranberry Bean Hummus; Squid, Pea, and Chorizo Stew; Basil Custard; Zucchini Chutney; Saute of Peas and Lettuce; Penne with Preserved Lemon and Avocado; and Pears Poached in Saffron Syrup. While some recipes are ideal for vegetarians, there are many designed to bring out the best in meat, poultry, and seafood. In Season will inspire a new appreciation of fresh produce and will be an indispensable addition to every serious cook’s shelves.

Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook


Mark Robinson - 2008
    As a matter of fact, a recent article in The New York Times claimed that the izakaya is "starting to shove the sushi bar off its pedestal." While Japan has many guidebooks and cookbooks, this is the first publication in English to delve into every aspect of a unique and vital cornerstone of Japanese food culture.A venue for socializing and an increasingly innovative culinary influence, the izakaya serves mouth-watering and inexpensive small-plate cooking, along with free-flowing drinks. Readers of this essential book will be guided through the different styles of establishments and recipes that make izakaya such relaxing and appealing destinations. At the same time, they will learn to cook many delicious standards and specialties, and discover how to "design" a meal as the evening progresses.Eight Tokyo pubs are introduced, ranging from those that serve the traditional Japanese "comfort foods" such as yakitori (barbequed chicken), to those offering highly innovative creations. Some of them have long histories; some are more recent players on the scene. All are quite familiar to the author, who has chosen them for the variety they represent: from the most venerated downtown pub to the new-style standing bar with French-influenced menu. Mark Robinson includes knowledgeable text on the social and cultural etiquette of visiting izakaya, so the book can used as a guide to entering the potentially daunting world of the pub. Besides the 60 detailed recipes, he also offers descriptions of Japanese ingredients and spices, a guide to the wide varieties of sake and other alcoholic drinks that are served, "how-to" advice on menu ordering, and much more.For the home chef, the hungry gourmet, the food professional, this is more than a cookbook. It is a unique peek at an important and exciting dining and cultural phenomenon.

International Cuisine


Jeremy MacVeigh - 2008
    Written for students and professional culinarians, this book fills the gap between the foundations laid by the introductory textbooks and reality in today's diverse kitchens. Included are sections on the influences that have contributed to the development of each cuisine, foreign culinary terms commonly used, and sub regions found within the cuisines. The chapters are clearly organized providing detailed information about cuisines in an easy to follow manner. International Cuisine provides comprehensive coverage exposing students to major cuisines around the world.

Food: The Chemistry of its Components


Tom P. Coultate - 2008
    With a Foreword written by Heston Blumenthal the book investigates food components which are present in large amounts (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and water) and also those that occur in smaller amounts (colours, flavours, vitamins and preservatives). Food borne toxins, allergens, pesticide residues and other undesirables are also given detailed consideration. Attention is drawn to the nutritional and health significance of food components. This classic text has been extensively rewritten for its 5th edition to bring it right up to date and many new topics have been introduced. Features include: - a "Special Topics" section at the end of each chapter for specialist readers and advanced students - an exhaustive index and the structural formulae of over 500 food components - comprehensive listings of recent, relevant review articles and recommended books for further reading - frequent references to wider issues e.g. the evolutionary significance of lactose intolerance, fava bean consumption in relation to malaria and the legislative status of food additives. Food: The Chemistry of its Components will be of particular interest to students and teachers of food science, nutrition and applied chemistry in universities, colleges and schools. Its accessible style ensures that that anyone with an interest in food issues will find it invaluable. Extracts from reviews of previous editions: "very detailed and readable ... the author is to be congratulated" The British Nutrition Foundation, 1985 "a superb book to have by your side when you read your daily newspaper" New Scientist, 1989 "mandatory reading for food scientists, medical students ... and anyone else who has an interest in the food we eat" The Analyst, 1990 "...filled me with delight, curiosity and wonder. All of the chemistry is very clear and thorough. I heartily recommend it." The Chemical Educator, 1997 "...an invaluable source of information on the chemistry of food. It is clearly written and I can heartily recommend it" Chemistry & Industry, 2004 New, greatly enlarged or totally revised topics include: -Acrylamide -Resistant starch -Pectins -Gellan gum -Glycaemic Index (GI) -The elimination of trans fatty acids -Fractionation of fats and oils -Cocoa butter and chocolate -The casein micelle -Tea, flavonoids and health -Antioxidant vitamins -Soya phytoestrogens -Legume toxins -Pesticide residues -Cow's milk and peanut allergies

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs


Karen Page - 2008
    Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish. Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal.Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is an essential reference for every kitchen.

Eat Your Heart Out: Who Really Decides What Ends Up on Your Plate?


Felicity Lawrence - 2008
    That almost all the processed foods we eat contain the same handful of ingredients?That these handful of ingredients are produced by only a handful of multi-nationals? That some cereals contain more salt per serving than a packet of crisps?That served with milk, sugar and raisins, some cardboard packets have been said to be more nutritious than the cereal they contain? That there are half the number of dairy farms in the UK than there were 10 years ago?That over the same period the turnover of the top 20 global dairy corporations has increased by 60%? That over 60% of all processed foods in Britain contain soya?That the UK government's Committee on the Toxicity of Food judged that eating soya could have hormone-disrupting effects? That in 1970, a hundred grams of an average chicken contained less than 9 grams of fat, but today it contains nearly 23 grams of fat?That the amount of protein in that chicken has fallen by more than 30%? That children aged 4-14 in the UK get 16-17% of their daily calories from processed sugars?That the World Health Organisation's recommended limit is 10%? That industrialised farming uses 50 times more energy than traditional farming?That livestock farming creates greater carbon emissions than all of global transport put together?That some salmon farmers dye their fish?That sugar could be as bad for you as tobacco?That you might have been better off eating butter rather than margarine all along?That industrial processing removes much of the nutritional value of the food it produces?That by changing our diets we could reduce cancers by a third?That corporations are shaping our bodies, our minds and the future of the planet? Eat Your Heat Out explains how big business took control of what we eat – and why so few of us even noticed. Crossing the globe in search of agribusiness's darkest secrets, Felicity Lawrence uncovers some startling facts and stomach-churning figures. Essential reading for anyone who cares about their health and our planet.

The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea


Michael Harney - 2008
    Written by one of the country’s leading tea professionals, The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea is an illuminating resource for tea drinkers interested in developing and refining their palate as well as their understanding of the complex agricultural, historical, and cultural significance of tea. Drawing on his singular experience, Michael Harney masterly explores the full range of teas, revealing how each tea is distinctive, with a taste that derives from a precise combination of cultivation and production techniques, and influenced by the geography as well as its history. These lively profiles of diverse tea varieties—from delicate white tea to aged black puerh tea—include brewing instructions and vivid descriptions of the beverage scent, taste, and appearance; everything you need to become a connoisseur. Tea has long been popular in the United States, but only recently have Americans treated this nuanced beverage with a deeper curiosity, more refined approach, and wider appetite. The Wall Street Journal reports that total U.S. tea sales are nearly four times what they were in 1990, and this growing population of discriminate consumers will celebrate the new vocabulary provided in The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea. Unique in scope, candor, and accessibility, The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea will quickly become the classic reference and staple in the library of every serious tea drinker.

Starting with Ingredients: Baking: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Bake


Aliza Green - 2008
    In this second volume, she shares her in-depth knowledge of baking ingredients. From aged cheeses and alcohols to yeast and yogurt, this ambitious book features 62 chapters, each focusing on a single essential baking ingredient.More than 350 recipes explore each ingredient's history, culture, and uses, demonstrating the broad range of culinary possibilities for each. The recipes are imaginative but accessible, clear, and easy-to-follow. Each chapter's notes reflect Chef Green's many years as a pioneering female chef in Philadelphia, her extensive travels, including a childhood spent living and traveling in places from Mexico to Brazil and Ireland to Israel, and working stints in kitchens from Bologna, Italy, to San Juan, Puerto Rico.Including more than 150 sidebars and other informative sections, Starting with Ingredients: Baking gives readers plenty of tips and facts about how foods look and behave differently in a variety of culinary scenarios.

Sylvia Weinstock's Sensational Cakes


Sylvia Weinstock - 2008
    Her spellbinding cakes have graced the tables—and grabbed the attention—at society weddings, celebrity birthday parties, and inaugural balls. Whether it’s a tower of white roses whose thousands of blossoms have all been painstakingly hand-crafted or an entirely faithful—and entirely edible—facsimile of a treasured heirloom tea set, every Weinstock cake is a work of art. “Never say never” is Weinstock’s response when clients dare her to achieve the impossible: an array of miniature cakes shaped and decorated like Fabergé eggs; cakes that look like cars, cravats, and circus clowns; or a menagerie of fantastic creatures (bunnies, bugs, tigers, terriers, and even an armadillo), all concocted from butter, flour, and sugar. In Sylvia Weinstock’s Sensational Cakes, America’s most famous cake designer gives you an insider’s tour of her world: the fabulous fêtes where her cakes set the scene and the artisanal workshop where she and her assistants bake and embellish the confectionary masterpieces that have made her signature—including her trademark eyeglass logo—so sought after. Best of all, she reveals some of her secrets: recipes for cakes, frostings, and fillings that will make your own guests stand up and applaud.

The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570): L'Arte Et Prudenza d'Un Maestro Cuoco (the Art and Craft of a Master Cook)


Terence Scully - 2008
    1500-1577) was arguably the most famous chef of the Italian Renaissance. He oversaw the preparation of meals for several Cardinals and was such a master of his profession that he became the personal cook for two Popes. At the culmination of his prolific career he compiled the largest cookery treatise of the period to instruct an apprentice on the full craft of fine cuisine, its methods, ingredients, and recipes. Accompanying his book was a set of unique and precious engravings that show the ideal kitchen of his day, its operations and myriad utensils, and are exquisitely reproduced in this volume.Scappi's Opera presents more than one thousand recipes along with menus that comprise up to a hundred dishes, while also commenting on a cook's responsibilities. Scappi also included a fascinating account of a pope's funeral and the complex procedures for feeding the cardinals during the ensuing conclave. His recipes inherit medieval culinary customs, but also anticipate modern Italian cookery with a segment of 230 recipes for pastry of plain and flaky dough (torte, ciambelle, pastizzi, crostate) and pasta (tortellini, tagliatelli, struffoli, ravioli, pizza).Terence Scully presents the first English translation of the work. His aim is to make the recipes and the broad experience of this sophisticated papal cook accessible to a modern English audience interested in the culinary expertise and gastronomic refinement within the most civilized niche of Renaissance society.

The I Don't Know How to Cook Book Mexican: 300 Everyday Easy Mexican Recipes--That Anyone Can Make at Home!


Linda Rodriguez - 2008
    Cooking Mexican meals can be intimidating, but with this cookbook, readers get 300 recipes that are impossible to mess up, like Pineapple, Mango, and Cucumber Salsa, Barbequed Ribs, Mexican Wedding Cake, and more! Whether cooks want to perfect their favorites, prepare a feast for one, or plan a fiesta for friends, this unique cookbook will have readers shouting “vayamos” in no time!

A Year in a Bottle


Sally Wise - 2008
    Imagine an apricot crumble or a summer pudding in the middle of winter. Zesty yet simple raspberry jam to accompany warm scones; tasty pickles, relishes and sauces to complement roasts and add flavour to gravies…'Sally Wise has been a passionate preserver of fruits and vegetables for over three decades. More than just a method to create nutritional food from seasonal produce, preserving is a way of life, a highly addictive hobby, and you too will become hooked.In A Year in a Bottle Sally brings together a mouthwatering collection of more than 100 of her favourite recipes for making your own preserves and conserves. From luscious jellies and jams to delicious pickles and chutneys, this inspiring and practical book makes preserving easy and fun. It includes simple recipes, technical advice and helpful hints to ensure success every time. Best of all, the results can be enjoyed all year round!