Book picks similar to
The Whale and the Cupcake: Stories of Subsistence, Longing, and Community in Alaska by Julia O'Malley
non-fiction
alaska
food
strong-sense-of-place
Savage Feast: Three Generations, Two Continents, and a Dinner Table (a Memoir with Recipes)
Boris Fishman - 2019
A family story, an immigrant story, a love story, and an epic meal, Savage Feast explores the challenges of navigating two cultures from an unusual angle. A revealing personal story and family memoir told through meals and recipes, Savage Feast begins with Boris’s childhood in Soviet Belarus, where good food was often worth more than money. He describes the unlikely dish that brought his parents together and how years of Holocaust hunger left his grandmother so obsessed with bread that she always kept five loaves on hand. She was the stove magician and Boris’ grandfather the master black marketer who supplied her, evading at least one firing squad on the way. These spoils kept Boris’ family—Jews who lived under threat of discrimination and violence—provided-for and protected.Despite its abundance, food becomes even more important in America, which Boris’ family reaches after an emigration through Vienna and Rome filled with marvel, despair, and bratwurst. How to remain connected to one’s roots while shedding their trauma? The ambrosial cooking of Oksana, Boris’s grandfather’s Ukrainian home aide, begins to show him the way. His quest takes him to a farm in the Hudson River Valley, the kitchen of a Russian restaurant on the Lower East Side, a Native American reservation in South Dakota, and back to Oksana’s kitchen in Brooklyn. His relationships with women—troubled, he realizes, for reasons that go back many generations—unfold concurrently, finally bringing him, after many misadventures, to an American soulmate.Savage Feast is Boris’ tribute to food, that secret passage to an intimate conversation about identity, belonging, family, displacement, and love.
Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good: A Memoir of Food and Love from an American Midwest Family
Kathleen Flinn - 2014
Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good explores the very beginnings of her love affair with food and its connection to home. It is the story of her midwestern childhood, its memorable home cooks, and the delicious recipes she grew up with. Flinn shares tales of her parents’ pizza parlor in San Francisco, where they sold Uncle Clarence’s popular oven-fried chicken, as well as recipes for the vats of chili made by her former army cook Grandpa Charles, fluffy Swedish pancakes from Grandma Inez, and cinnamon rolls for birthday breakfasts. Through these dishes, Flinn came to understand how meals can be memories, and how cooking can be a form of communication. Brimming with warmth and wit, this book is sure to appeal to Flinn’s many fans as well as readers of Marcus Samuelsson, Ruth Reichl, and Julie Powell.
Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America
Gustavo Arellano - 2012
Arellano’s fascinating narrative combines history, cultural criticism, food writing, personal anecdotes, and Jesus on a tortilla. In seemingly every decade for over a century, America has tried new culinary trends from south of the border, loved them, and demanded the next big thing. As a result, Mexican food dominates American palates to the tune of billions of dollars in sales per year, from canned refried beans to tortilla wraps and ballpark nachos. It’s a little-known history, one that’s crept up on this country and left us better for it.
Danger Stalks the Land: Alaskan Tales of Death and Survival
Larry Kaniut - 1999
This one-of-a-kind anthology captures the spine tingling adventures of daring men and women who venture into Alaska's vast wilderness and look death in the eye. Danger Stalks the Land relates gripping episodes of animal attacks, avalanches, aircraft disasters, fishing, hunting, and skiing accidents, and chronicles risky climbs and reckless mountaineering amid Alaska's fantastic peaks. Through exhaustive research and interviews, author Larry Kaniut has captured in one volume, the terror and beauty of man's attempt to explore a vast and unforgiving land.
Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook
Cindy Pawlcyn - 2001
Chef-owner Cindy Pawlcyn, founding chef of San Francisco's original Fog City Diner, put down her roots in Napa over 15 years ago, bringing her midwestern sensibility and flair for reinventing American food to the valley. Ever since then, Mustards has been affectionately known as the fancy rib joint with way, way too many wines. Gorgeous full-color food photography from Saveur photographer Laurie Smith. Awards2002 James Beard Award WinnerReviews"Take home some hearty American fare." —The San Jose Mercury News "Accurate views of the restaurant, its food, and its sense of fun . . . it's a feast for the eyes and the imagination." —Omaha World Herald "The recipes in MUSTARDS GRILL represent a wonderful marriage between common American foods, California produce and influences from Latin American and Asian immigrants."—New Orleans Times Picayune "The book is a perfect reflection of its author's eclectic style that melds sophistication and global inspirations with an earthy American quality."—San Francisco Chronicle "Like its namesake, the cookbook is bright and bountiful, with a touch of tongue-in-cheek flippancy." —Charleston Post & Courier"A feast for the eyes with no muss and fuss." —The Los Angeles Daily News "The book is as honest as the chef" and the "dreamy desserts . . . are the epitome of comfort."—Santa Rosa Press Democrat"Pawlcyn's casual writing style gives the reader a feel for her restaurant, and her easy-to-follow recipes are accompanied by chatty—and helpful—notes." —Minneapolis Star Tribune"[MUSTARDS GRILL is] a place that's sophisticated without being pretentious. The recipes in this cookbook are no different." —American Way"Mustards is universally loved by local residents and tourists alike for its smoky, tender, spicy baby back ribs; cornmeal-coated fried green tomatoes; tasty Asian-marinated flank steak; Chinese chicken noodle salad; and, of course, Mustards' always-crisp tangle of deep-fried onion threads. The enduring vitality of this place comes from the fact [that Cindy Pawlcyn] put all the dishes she loved on the menu: country dishes transformed by her sprightly offbeat style and sparkle." —FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO"As the first (some would say the best) in a string of successful, precedent-breaking restaurants originated by chef Cindy Pawlcyn. It changed Napa Valley and took the stuffiness out of dining by showing that Americans could be as serious about food and wine as the French, but have more fun." —Gourmet
The Comfort Food Diaries: My Quest for the Perfect Dish to Mend a Broken Heart
Emily Nunn - 2017
After a few glasses of wine, heartbroken and lost, Emily, an avid cook and professional food writer, poured her heart out on Facebook. The next morning she woke up with a terrible hangover and a feeling she'd made a terrible mistake, only to discover she had more friends than she knew, many of whom invited her to come visit and cook with them while she put her life back together. Thus began the Comfort Food Tour.Searching for a way forward, Emily travels the country, cooking and staying with relatives and friends, among them renowned chefs Mark Bittman and Ina Garten. She also travels back to revisit scenes from her dysfunctional Southern upbringing, dominated by her dramatic, unpredictable mother and her silent, disengaged father. Her wonderfully idiosyncratic aunts and uncles and cousins come to life in these pages, all part of the rich Southern story in which past and present are indistinguishable, food is a source of connection and identity, and a good story is often preferred to a not-so-pleasant truth. But truth, pleasant or not, is what Emily Nunn craves, and with it comes an acceptance of the losses she has endured, and a sense of hope for the future.In the salty snap of a single Virginia ham biscuit, in the sour tang of Grandmother's Lemon Cake, Nunn experiences the healing power of comfort food, and offers up dozens of recipes for the wonderful meals that saved her life. With the biting humor of David Sedaris and the emotional honesty of Cheryl Strayed, Nunn delivers a moving account of her descent into darkness and her gradual, hard-won return to the living.
An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies
Tyler Cowen - 2012
Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters: More Than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered from Family Cookbooks, Original Journals, Scraps of Paper, and Grandmother's Kitchen
Marilynn Brass - 2006
It's these dishes that give us comfort in times of stress, help us celebrate special occasions, and remind us of the person who used to bake for us those many years ago. In Heirloom Baking, Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass preserve and update 150 of these beloved desserts. The recipes are taken from their vast collection of antique manuscript cookbooks, handwritten recipes passed down through the generations that they?ve amassed over twenty years. The recipes range from the late 1800s to today, and come from a variety of ethnicities and regions. The book features such down-home and delicious recipes as Brandied Raisin Teacakes, Cuban Flan, Cranberry-Orange Cream Scones, Chattanooga Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, and many more. Accompanying the recipes are stories from the lives of the families from which they came. The Brass Sisters have taken care to update every recipe for today's modern kitchens. More than 150 photographs showcase the scrumptious food in full-color detail. Finally, the Brass sisters encourage each reader to begin collecting his or her own family recipes in the lined pages and envelope at the back of the book.
The Tummy Trilogy
Calvin Trillin - 1994
With three hilarious books over the next two decades--American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; and Third Helpings--he established himself as, in Craig Claiborne's phrase, "the Walt Whitman of American eats." Trillin's three comic masterpieces are now available in what Trillin calls The Tummy Trilogy.
Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook
Alice Waters - 2017
Fueled in equal parts by naiveté and a relentless pursuit of beauty and pure flavor, she turned her passion project into an iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers. In Coming to My Senses Alice retraces the events that led her to 1517 Shattuck Avenue and the tumultuous times that emboldened her to find her own voice as a cook when the prevailing food culture was embracing convenience and uniformity. Moving from a repressive suburban upbringing to Berkeley in 1964 at the height of the Free Speech Movement and campus unrest, she was drawn into a bohemian circle of charismatic figures whose views on design, politics, film, and food would ultimately inform the unique culture on which Chez Panisse was founded. Dotted with stories, recipes, photographs, and letters, Coming to My Senses is at once deeply personal and modestly understated, a quietly revealing look at one woman's evolution from a rebellious yet impressionable follower to a respected activist who effects social and political change on a global level through the common bond of food.
The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook: Healthy Meals with Only 5 Ingredients in Under 30 Minutes
Pamela Ellgen - 2017
With The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook, you can cook simple, delicious meals on the tightest of budgets and in the smallest of spaces.
College food has developed quite the culinary “reputation.” Most students don’t have the time, money, or space to make meals like mom used to, so words like fast, cheap, and microwavable have become synonymous with college eating. But there IS a better way!Healthy cooking expert and cookbook author Pamela Ellgen brings you the latest in college cooking with The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook—the simplest college cookbook yet. By sticking to 5 easy-to-find main ingredients per recipe, The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook makes it easier than ever for students to cook tasty, high quality, healthy food for themselves. NO MONEY? Each recipe in this college cookbook calls for no more than 5 main, affordable, tasty ingredients NO TIME? Tried and true, these college cookbook recipes take 30 minutes or less from beginning to “yum!” NO EXPERIENCE? Helpful illustrations demonstrate how to prep common produce and even how to properly use a knife NO PROBLEM! 100+ of the most popular, student-approved recipes in this college cookbook include 3 variations to keep each one interesting time and time again Don’t head to the cafeteria for overpriced soggy waffles or “controversial” mystery meat. With just 5 ingredients and 30 minutes you can enjoy any one of the delicious, college student favorites in this college cookbook, such as: Classic French Toast, No-bake Energy Balls, Mozzarella Sticks, Greek Pita Sandwiches, Thai Chicken Ramen, Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine, and more
Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City
Katie Parla - 2016
Each is a mirror of its city’s culture, history, and geography. But cucina romana is the country’s greatest standout. Tasting Rome provides a complete picture of a place that many love, but few know completely. In sharing Rome’s celebrated dishes, street food innovations, and forgotten recipes, journalist Katie Parla and photographer Kristina Gill capture its unique character and reveal its truly evolved food culture—a culmination of 2000 years of history. Their recipes acknowledge the foundations of Roman cuisine and demonstrate how it has transitioned to the variations found today. You’ll delight in the expected classics (cacio e pepe, pollo alla romana, fiore di zucca); the fascinating but largely undocumented Sephardic Jewish cuisine (hraimi con couscous, brodo di pesce, pizzarelle); the authentic and tasty offal (guanciale, simmenthal di coda, insalata di nervitti); and so much more. Studded with narrative features that capture the city’s history and gorgeous photography that highlights both the food and its hidden city, you’ll feel immediately inspired to start tasting Rome in your own kitchen.
The True History of Chocolate
Sophie D. Coe - 1996
This history reaches far back to the earliest civilisation in the Americas, and it was the Olmecs not the Aztecs who can be rightly named as the inventors of chocolate. Told with flair and wit, this history of cacoa looks at its ancient Mexican roots, questioning how it became the food of the gods, its ritual significance, and how it was used as a currency in trade among the Olmec. Piecing together a range of archaeological, documentary and pictorial evidence, Sophie and Michael Coe discuss the Theobrama cacoa tree, the chemical properties of cacao and its early domestication and use. The story of chocolate continues under the Aztecs and their first encounters with the Europeans. The authors trace the transformation and renaming of cacao as it made its way to the chocoholics of Europe - the white-skinned perfumed, bewigged, overdressed royalty and nobility'. Finally, Coe and Coe discuss its years of competititon with tea and coffee as the preferred hot beverage, its links with the Church, and its surrender to the industrialisation of the 19th century which withdrew the mystique of this luscious mouth-watering treat and turned it into an everyday, mass-produced, highly calorific product.
Are You Really Going to Eat That?: Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker
Robb Walsh - 2003
In Are You Really Going to Eat That? Walsh offers a collection of his best essays over the past ten years, along with some of his favorite recipes.For Walsh, food is a window on culture, and his essays brim with insights into our society and those around us. Whether he’s discussing halal organic farming with Muslims, traversing the steep hills of Trinidad in search of hot-sauce makers, or savoring the disappearing art of black Southern cooking with a inmate-chef in a Texas penitentiary, Walsh has a unique talent for taking our understanding of food to a deeper level.