Best of
Food-Writing

2018

Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want


Ruby Tandoh - 2018
    She will arm you against the fad diets, food crazes and bad science that can make eating guilt-laden and expensive, drawing eating inspiration from influences as diverse as Roald Dahl and Nora Ephron. Filled with straight-talking, sympathetic advice on everything from mental health to recipe ideas and shopping tips, this is a book that clears away the fog, to help you fall back in love with food.

The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma's Table


Rick Bragg - 2018
    She measures in "dabs" and "smidgens" and "tads" and "you know, hon, just some." She cannot be pinned down on how long to bake corn bread ("about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the mysteries of your oven"). Her notion of farm-to-table is a flatbed truck. But she can tell you the secrets to perfect mashed potatoes, corn pudding, redeye gravy, pinto beans and hambone, stewed cabbage, short ribs, chicken and dressing, biscuits and butter rolls. The irresistible stories in this audiobook are of long memory -- many of them pre-date the Civil War, handed down skillet by skillet, from one generation of Braggs to the next. In The Best Cook in the World, Rick Bragg finally preserves his heritage by telling the stories that framed his mother's cooking and education, from childhood into old age.

You and I Eat the Same: On the Countless Ways Food and Cooking Connect Us to One Another


Chris Ying - 2018
    In nineteen thoughtful and engaging essays and stories, You and I Eat the Same explores the ways in which cooking and eating connect us across cultural and political borders, making the case that we should think about cuisine as a collective human effort in which we all benefit from the movement of people, ingredients, and ideas.   An awful lot of attention is paid to the differences and distinctions between us, especially when it comes to food. But the truth is that food is that rare thing that connects all people, slipping past real and imaginary barriers to unify humanity through deliciousness. Don’t believe it? Read on to discover more about the subtle (and not so subtle) bonds created by the ways we eat.  Everybody Wraps Meat in Flatbread: From tacos to dosas to pancakes, bundling meat in an edible wrapper is a global practice.  Much Depends on How You Hold Your Fork: A visit with cultural historian Margaret Visser reveals that there are more similarities between cannibalism and haute cuisine than you might think.  Fried Chicken Is Common Ground: We all share the pleasure of eating crunchy fried birds. Shouldn’t we share the implications as well?  If It Does Well Here, It Belongs Here: Chef René Redzepi champions the culinary value of leaving your comfort zone.  There Is No Such Thing as a Nonethnic Restaurant: Exploring the American fascination with “ethnic” restaurants (and whether a nonethnic cuisine even exists).  Coffee Saves Lives: Arthur Karuletwa recounts the remarkable path he took from Rwanda to Seattle and back again.

How to Eat a Peach: Menus, Stories and Places


Diana Henry - 2018
    Planning a menu is still her favourite part of cooking.Menus can create very different moods; they can take you places, from an afternoon at the seaside in Brittany to a sultry evening eating mezze in Istanbul. They also have to work as a meal that flows and as a group of dishes that the cook can manage without becoming totally stressed. The 24 menus and 100 recipes in this book reflect places Diana loves, and dishes that are real favorites.The menus are introduced with personal essays in Diana's now well-known voice- about places or journeys or particular times and explain the choice of dishes. Each menu is a story in itself, but the recipes can also stand alone.The title of the book refers to how Italians end a meal in the summer, when it's too hot to cook. The host or hostess just puts a bowl of peaches on the table and offers glasses of chilled moscato (or even Marsala). Guests then slice their peach into the glass, before eating the slices and drinking the wine.That says something very important about eating - simplicity and generosity and sometimes not cooking are what it's about.

Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights: A Journey Deeper into Dining Hell


Jay Rayner - 2018
    He is eye-gougingly, bone-crunchingly, teeth-grindingly angry. And admit it, that's why you picked up this book, isn't it?Because you aren't really interested in glorious prose poems celebrating the finest dining experiences known to humanity, are you? You want him to suffer abysmal cooking, preferably at eye-watering prices, so you can gorge on the details and luxuriate in vicarious displeasure.You're in luck. Revel in Jay's misfortune as he is subjected to dreadful meat cookery with animals that died in vain, gravies full of casual violence and service that redefines the word 'incompetent'. He hopes you enjoy reading his reviews of these twenty miserable meals a damn sight more than he didn't enjoy experiencing them.Includes Le Cinq, Beast and Farm Girl Cafe, and a new introduction by the author.

Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine


Edward Lee - 2018
    In a nation of immigrants who bring their own culinary backgrounds to this country, what happens one or even two generations later? What does their cuisine become? It turns into a cuisine uniquely its own and one that Lee argues makes America the most interesting place to eat on earth. Lee illustrates this through his own life story of being a Korean immigrant and a New Yorker and now a Southerner. In Off the Menu, he shows how we each have a unique food memoir that is worthy of exploration. To Lee, recipes are narratives and a conduit to learn about a person, a place, or a point in time. He says that the best way to get to know someone is to eat the food they eat. Each chapter shares a personal tale of growth and self-discovery through the foods Lee eats and the foods of the people he interacts with—whether it’s the Korean budae jjigae of his father or the mustard beer cheese he learns to make from his wife’s German-American family. Each chapter is written in narrative form and punctuated with two recipes to highlight the story, including Green Tea Beignets, Cornbread Pancakes with Rhubarb Jam, and Butternut Squash Schnitzel. Each recipe tells a story, but when taken together, they form the arc of the narrative and contribute to the story we call the new American food.

How to Taste: The Curious Cook's Handbook to Seasoning and Balance, from Umami to Acid and Beyond--with Recipes


Becky Selengut - 2018
    How to Taste outlines the underlying principles of taste, and then takes a deep dive into salt, acid, bitter, sweet, fat, umami, bite (heat), aromatics, and texture. You'll find out how temperature impacts your enjoyment of the dishes you make as does color, alcohol, and more. The handbook goes beyond telling home cooks what ingredients go well together or explaining cooking ratios. You'll learn how to adjust a dish that's too salty or too acidic and how to determine when something might be lacking. It also includes recipes and simple kitchen experiments that illustrate the importance of salt in a dish, or identifies whether you're a supertaster or not. Each recipe and experiment highlights the chapter's main lesson. How to Taste will ultimately help you feel confident about why and how various components of a dish are used to create balance, harmony, and deliciousness.

Cake: A Cookbook


Maira Kalman - 2018
    Filled with Kalman's inimitable illustrations and memories, from chocolate cake on a terrace in Tel Aviv as a child to a gorgeous pink cake enjoyed over Lucretius and Nietzsche in Rome, and sprinkled with seventeen mouthwatering recipes prepared by Scott-Goodman, Cake is a joyful and whimsical celebration of a timeless dessert.

Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class


Luke Barr - 2018
    It's a charming tale of success, scandal, and redemption--complete with an unexpected villain.

The Single Mums' Picnic Club


Jennifer Joyce - 2018
    

The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft


Gary Regan - 2018
    Gary Regan, the "most-read cocktail expert around" (Imbibe), has revised his original tome for the 15th anniversary with new material: many more cocktail recipes--including smart revisions to the originals--and fascinating information on the drink making revival that has popped up in the past decade, confirming once again that this is the only cocktail reference you need.A prolific writer on all things cocktails, Gary Regan and his books have been a huge influence on mixologists and bartenders in America. This brand-new edition fills in the gaps since the book first published, incorporating Regan's special insight on the cocktail revolution from 2000 to the present and a complete overhaul of the recipe section. With Regan's renowned system for categorizing drinks helps bartenders not only to remember drink recipes but also to invent their own, The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition is the original drinks book for both professionals and amateurs alike.

Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes, Through Darkness and Light


Caroline Eden - 2018
    From the Jewish table of Odessa, to meeting the last fisherwoman of Bulgaria and charting the legacies of the White Russian émigrés in Istanbul, Caroline gives readers a unique insight into a part of the world that is both shaded by darkness and illuminated by light.Meticulously researched and documenting unprecedented meetings with remarkable individuals, Black Sea is like no other piece of travel writing. Packed with rich photography and sumptuous food, this biography of a region, its people and its recipes truly breaks new ground.

First, Catch: Study of a Spring Meal


Thom Eagle - 2018
    In Eagle's kitchen, open shelves reveal colorful jars of vegetables pickling over the course of months, and a soffritto of onions, celery, and carrots cook slowly under a watchful gaze in a skillet heavy enough to double as a murder weapon. Eagle has both the sharp eye of a food scientist as he tries to identify the seventeen unique steps of boiling water, as well as of that of a roving food historian as he ponders what the spice silphium tasted like to the Romans, who over-ate it to worldwide extinction. He is a tour guide to the world of ingredients, a culinary explorer, and thoughtful commentator on the ways immigration, technology, and fashion has changed the way we eat. He is also a food philosopher, asking the question: at what stage does cooking begin? Is it when we begin to apply heat or acid to ingredients? Is it when we gather and arrange what we will cook--and perhaps start to salivate? Or does it start even earlier, in the wandering late-morning thought, "What should I eat for lunch?"Irreverent and charming, yet also illuminating and brilliantly researched, First, Catch encourages us to slow down and focus on what it means to cook. With this astonishing and beautiful book, Thom Eagle joins the ranks of great food writers like M.F.K. Fisher, Alice Waters, and Samin Nosrat in offering us inspiration to savor, both in and out of the kitchen.

Extra Helping: Recipes for Caring, Connecting & Building Community One Dish at a Time


Janet Reich Elsbach - 2018
    Extra Helping is for anyone who wants to respond to the challenge of baby announcements, PTO meal chains, and CaringBridge alerts with compassion and creativity; who wants to send something to a niece overcome by finals week or a neighbor who is grieving; who wants to rise above their default setting; and whose limits of time and other resources leave them feeling more confused than inspired. With recipes tailored to meet many of the dietary modifications that illness and recovery (not to mention modern life) often entail, as well as suggestions that range from mailing a kick-ass care package to bringing over a full, hot meal, Extra Helping frames a philosophy of support, a personal identity of tending, a creative and unique-to-you style of saying, "I am here for you"--one delivery at a time. In eight chapters, Extra Helping walks the helpful friend through cooking for people who are dealing with illness, recovery, and loss--or celebrating babies, birthdays, and new homes. Personal stories from the front lines of care, shortcuts for the time-strapped, and sidebars full of tips and embellishments round out a collection of over 60 recipes, aiding readers in developing a style of caregiving all their own.

Wookwan's Korean Temple Food: The Road to the Taste of Enlightenment


Wookwan - 2018
     As the first volume of temple cuisine published in English, Wookwan herself has written an elegant volume that introduces the reader to Korean temple food, including what it means to care for the ingredients at each step of preparation, following the three key principles of cooking temple food, interspersed with her own accounts and tips among the recipes. Korean temple food has been practicing what we now call the farm-to-table concept, using ingredients that are only homegrown or naturally cultivated, combined with an eco-friendly, clean eating mindfulness with a history of over 1700 years. It is also vegetarian cuisine; it does not use any animal products save for some dairy ingredients, nor does it use the five spicy vegetables that are thought to distract the mind; instead, flavors are precisely crafted by thorough understanding of the ingredients and their natural aromas. Temple cuisine holds at its very core a reverence for life, and Wookwan s 41 meticulous recipes embody her philosophy and conscientiousness for nourishing the not only the body, but the soul.

Drinking Distilled: A User's Manual


Jeffrey Morgenthaler - 2018
    Novices will learn how to order a drink, how to drink with the boss, how to drink at the airport, and more. Twelve perfect starter recipes--ranging from a Dry Gin Martini to a Batched Old-Fashioned (perfect for the flask)--plus thirty original illustrations round out this distillation for new enthusiasts.

Shetland: Cooking on the Edge of the World


James Morton - 2018
    

The New Filipino Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from Around the Globe


Jacqueline Chio-Lauri - 2018
    There's a lot of speculation about why Filipino food hasn't taken off the way other Asian cuisines have, but one thing's for sure: there's something for everyone here.Lauded as the next big thing by the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold, Filipino food can be somewhat difficult to define, as it melds indigenous dishes with myriad foreign influences from Chinese and Spanish to South East Asian and even American. And as Filipinos have left their archipelago and set down roots all over the world, it has proven to be a highly adaptable cuisine, lending itself to different diets, preferences, and ingredients.The New Filipino Kitchen collects 30 recipes and stories from expat Filipinos, all of whom have taken their favorite dishes with them, preserving their food memories and, if necessary, tweaking their recipes to work in a new environment or, in the case of some chefs, a more modern context. With contributions from the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, Bocuse d'Or Norway winner Christian Andr� Pettersen, 2015 MasterChef New Zealand runner-up Leo Fernandez, five-time Palanca Award winner and poet Francis Macansantos, and the "Food Buddha" Rodelio Aglibot, this is a multifaceted, nuanced introduction to the world of Filipino food and food culture.

Sundays in Paris: Where to Eat, Drink and Explore in the City of Light on a Sunday


Yasmin Zeinab - 2018
    

Consider the Oyster


M.F.K Fisher - 2018
    Fisher pays tribute to that most delicate and enigmatic of foods: the oyster. She tells of oysters found in stews and soups, roasted, baked, fried, prepared à la Rockefeller or au naturel – and of the pearls sometimes found therein.As she describes each dish, Fisher recalls her own initiation into the ‘strange cold succulence’ of raw oysters as a young woman in Marseille and Dijon, and explores both the bivalve’s famed aphrodisiac properties and its equally notorious gut-wrenching powers. Plumbing the ‘dreadful but exciting’ life of the oyster, Fisher invites readers to share in the comforts and delights that this delicate edible evokes, and enchants us along the way with her characteristically wise and witty prose.

Travels Through South Indian Kitchens


Nao Saito - 2018
    A kitchen is usually thought of as a particular arrangement of space. But a space is not just a fixed physical structure - it is also fluid, shaped by the way in which people use it. Keeping this connection in mind, Nao Saito set out to explore a colourful variety of kitchens during her stay in South India. With her abiding interest in people and cookery, she finally came up with this richly perceptive travelogue, bringing together floor plans, sketches, photographs, impressions, recipes and conversation. In the process, South Indian kitchens emerge as more than just domestic spaces- they are distinctive ways of living and relating to the world

Ciderology: From History and Heritage to the Craft Cider Revolution


Gabe Cook - 2018
    You'll find delicious recipes incorporating cider, tasting notes for cider styles that you can try yourself, and a wealth of anecdotes and tales that intermingle fact and myth.A real treat for the drinks enthusiast, inveterate cider lover and cider novice alike, Ciderology contains anything and everything you have ever needed to know about cider.What is Ciderology?- Ciderology is about understanding the way cider making has evolved over the centuries, from the heart of cider country to the new wave of cider makers. - It's about learning how terroir and climate affect the quality of cider, just like a wine; and how to match your favorite dishes with the perfect cider. - It's about wassailing, community and tradition, but is also about the innovative and creative craft cider makers emerging all over the world.

Chinese Street Food: Small Bites, Classic Recipes, and Harrowing Tales Across the Middle Kingdom


Howie Southworth - 2018
    Increasingly, those of us living outside of China are getting a clearer picture of the complexity that's developed. Regional Chinese specialties are (thankfully) beginning to arrive on US shores, and a contemporary Chinese meal is no longer the egg foo yung of yesteryear.Still, one element of Chinese cookery that we haven't seen, perhaps ironically, is much more popular in China than sit-down restaurants: street food! Every day, nearly one-fifth of humanity consumes quick meat-filled buns, skewers of meat, and cheap noodles on every street corner across China. And--you are more likely to faithfully recreate these dishes at home than you are to master the wok!The dishes described throughout Fire & Spice are simple, delicious, and not the first thing that comes to mind when you consider Chinese food. Yet, they are arguably closer to China's everyday grub and well within your trip to the local supermarket. Come along as we present surprisingly and deeply Chinese morsels of goodness.Along with traditional recipes and methods of street cookery adapted for the home kitchen, Fire & Spice is filled with beautiful photos, anecdotes, history, and folklore related to this beloved cuisine. From genuinely surprised foreign friends to globetrotting chefs, our fellow Sinophiles share their tales from the Chinese street.

Ireland’s Green Larder: The story of food and drink in Ireland


Margaret Hickey - 2018
    From the ancient system of the Céide Fields, established a thousand years before the Pyramids were built, right up to today’s thriving food scene.Rather than focusing on battles and rulers, Margaret Hickey digs down to what has formed the day-to-day life of the people. It’s a glorious ramble through the centuries, drawing on diaries, letters, legal texts, ballads, government records, folklore and more. The story of how Queen Maeve died after being hit by a piece of hard cheese sits alongside a contemporary interview with one of Ireland’s magnificent cheese makers, and the tale of the author’s day in Clew Bay on the wild Atlantic coast, collecting the world’s freshest oysters, is countered by Jonathan Swift’s complaint about dubiously fresh salmon being sold on the streets of Dublin.Beautifully illustrated and dotted with recipes, there are chapters covering everything from strong tea to the Irish rituals and superstitions associated with food and drink. With a light touch and a flair for finding the most telling details, Hickey draws on years of research to bring this sweeping history brilliantly to life.

Atlas of Food


Genny Gallo - 2018
    Don't we always say, "we are what we eat"? Therefore, a particular food will reflect the culture, the tradition and the relation to nature of the people who created it. This book travels the countries of the world to tell the secrets of the typical dishes. The reader will discover that the tapas, the typical finger food of Spain is called that because they were used to plug a glass of wine (tapar in Spanish), or that the first pizza was given the name of the Italian Queen Margherita. The drawings of the dishes on the maps take the reader on a journey through the flavours of the world, enriching their understanding of traditions and, why not, stirring the appetite.

Seeds of Resistance: The Fight to Save Our Food Supply


Mark Schapiro - 2018
    Three quarters of the seed varieties on Earth in 1900 had become extinct by 2015. In Seeds of Resistance, Schapiro takes us onto the frontlines of a struggle over the seeds that remain, one that will determine the long-term security of our food supply in the face of unprecedented climate volatility. Schapiro reveals how more than half of all commercially-traded seeds have fallen under the control of just three multinational agri-chemical companies. At just the time when scientists tell us we need a spectrum of options to respond to climatic changes, thousands of seed varieties are being taken off the market and replaced by the companies’ genetically engineered or crack-baby seeds, addicted to chemical pesticides and herbicides from the day they are planted. Schapiro dives deep into the rapidly growing movement in the United States and around the world to defy these trends and assert autonomy over locally-bred seeds—seeds which are showing high levels of resilience to the onrushing and accelerating impacts of climate change. Schapiro applies his investigative and storytelling skills to this riveting narrative, from the environmentally stressed fields of the American Midwest to the arid fields of Syria, as conditions in the two start to resemble one another, to Native American food cultivators, who are seeing increasing interest in their ability to grow food in shifting conditions over thousands of years; from the financial markets that are turning patented seeds into one of the planet’s most valuable commodities to the fields where they are grown. Seeds of Resistance lifts the lid on the struggle, largely hidden from public view until now, over the earth’s most important resource as conditions on the earth shift above our heads and beneath our feet.

Ship to Shore: Straight Talk from the Seafood Counter


John Bil - 2018
    Why does halibut cost what it does? Were those wild spot prawns responsibly sourced? How do you clean a squid? And what’s the best way to prepare those live cherrystone clams when you get them home?Ship to Shore: Straight Talk from the Seafood Counter features over fifty delicious recipes accompanied by elegant, full-colour photography that will have you lining up at your local fish counter.

La Grotta Ices


Kitty Travers - 2018
    Sunlit flavours and far flung traditions pervade Kitty's ice creams as well as her ultimate inspiration: nature. La Grotta celebrates ripe seasonal fruits and the true artistry of real ice cream through inventive flavours and pure, natural ingredients. 'Kitty is an ice cream magician, her flavours are total food alchemy, it's like she's climbed inside my head and come up with my dream flavours. I am spellbound' Anna Jones

London's Afternoon Teas, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: A Guide to the Most Exquisite Tea Venues in London


Susan Cohen - 2018
    London's Afternoon Teas is the hippest and most up-to-date source of information for both London residents and tourists alike. Featuring 60 of the best places to take tea in London, including classics such as Claridges and the Wolseley as well as completely unexpected venues, there's a tea here to suit all tastes and budgets. The text includes the history of the venues, their most popular recipes, interesting facts, and types of teas available, along with details of nearby attractions to help the reader make a day of it. Now in hardcover, this revised second edition has been greatly expanded with additional tea venues, more pages, and new lavish photography.

Five go Feasting: Famously Good Recipes


Josh Sutton - 2018
    Now you can revisit Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy's favourite food and drink with these 80 recipes faithful to the books, accompanied by familiar illustrations and quotes from the stories.Featuring:- Chapter One: A Jolly Good Breakfast - e.g. fried bread and sausage sandwiches- Chapter Two: Perfect Picnics - e.g. sausage rolls, scotch eggs, jammy buns and drop scones- Chapter Three: Scrumptious Suppers - e.g. meat pie, chicken stew, milk pudding and marmalade apple pie - Chapter Four: Cracking Cakes and Tasty Treats - e.g. sticky gingerbread and mint humbugs- Chapter Five: Lashings of Delicious Drinks - e.g. orangeade and ginger beer

The Hot Brown


Albert W.A. Schmid - 2018
    Today, this delicious sandwich has been developed into an entire industry of Hot Brown fries, pizza, salads, and much more. Did the Hot Brown have humble beginnings as a tasty way to use up kitchen scraps, or was it invented to ward off hangovers–scandalous since the first Hot Browns were served during the Prohibition? Chef Albert W. A. Schmid shares the legends that surround the dish and treats readers to an exceptional collection of recipes for the legendary sandwich and hotel cuisine scrumptious enough to whet any appetite, including the Cold Brown (served during the summer), Chicken Chow Mein (the Brown Hotel way), and Louisville-inspired cocktails such as Muhammad Ali Smash.

Local Flavor: Restaurants That Shaped Chicago’s Neighborhoods


Jean Iversen - 2018
    In Local Flavor, the popular food writer Jean Iversen chronicles eight beloved local eateries, from Chinatown on the South Side to Rogers Park in the far North, tracing the story of how they became neighborhood institutions.Iversen has meticulously gathered the tales, recipes, and cultural traditions that define Chicago’s culinary past and present. Rich with firsthand accounts from local restaurateurs, their families, long-time customers, and staff, Local Flavor is a community-driven look at Chicago through a gastronomical lens.Including recipes for popular dishes from each restaurant that readers can try at home, Local Flavor weaves together ethnography, family, and food history into a story that will enthrall both food and Chicago history lovers.

Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture


Justin Nystrom - 2018
    Nystrom explores the influence Sicilian immigrants have had on New Orleans foodways. His culinary journey follows these immigrants from their first impressions on Louisiana food culture in the mid-1830s and along their path until the 1970s. Each chapter touches on events that involved Sicilian immigrants and the relevancy of their lives and impact on New Orleans. Sicilian immigrants cut sugarcane, sold groceries, ran truck farms, operated bars and restaurants, and manufactured pasta. Citing these cultural confluences, Nystrom posits that the significance of Sicilian influence on New Orleans foodways traditionally has been undervalued and instead should be included, along with African, French, and Spanish cuisine, in the broad definition of "creole."Creole Italian chronicles how the business of food, broadly conceived, dictated the reasoning, means, and outcomes for a large portion of the nearly forty thousand Sicilian immigrants who entered America through the port of New Orleans in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and how their actions and those of their descendants helped shape the food town we know today.