Reflections of a Wine Merchant


Neal I. Rosenthal - 2008
    Rosenthal set out to learn everything he could about wine. Today, he is one of the most successful importers of traditionally made wines produced by small family-owned estates in France and Italy. Rosenthal has immersed himself in the culture of Old World wine production, working closely with his growers for two and sometimes three generations. He is one of the leading exponents of the concept of “terroir”—the notion that a particular vineyard site imparts distinct qualities of bouquet, flavor, and color to a wine. In Reflections of a Wine Merchant, Rosenthal brings us into the cellars, vineyards, and homes of these vignerons, and his delightful stories about his encounters, relationships, and explorations—and what he has learned along the way—give us an unequaled perspective on winemaking tradition and what threatens it today. Rosenthal was featured in the documentary film Mondovino and is one of the more outspoken figures against globalization, homogenization, and the “critic-ization” of the wine business. He was also a major subject in Lawrence Osborne’s The Accidental Connoisseur. His is an important voice in defense of the individual and the artisanal, and their contribution to our quality of life.

Rick Stein's Spain: 140 new recipes inspired by my journey off the beaten track


Rick Stein - 2011
    I love Spanish food, I've been going there since I was a young boy - but until quite recently I don't think people really took the food seriously. Thanks to a handful of really dedicated Spanish chefs and a growing enthusiasm for its rugged flavours, that has all begun to change. To me the underlying point of journeying to Spain would be to discover the 'duende' in the cooking. By that I mean a sense of soul, of authenticity. The word is normally used in flamenco but I think it could be equally applied to the art of Spanish cooking because to my mind, in really good food, there is a communication between the cook and diner that amounts to art.' Rick SteinIn his beautifully designed and illustrated cookbook to accompany a major BBC2, 4-part series, Rick has selected over 140 recipes that capture the authentic taste of Spain today. Spain is a country that tantalises every sense with its colourful sights, evocative music, vibrant traditions and bold cookery. Spanish cooking has a rich history, with flavours reflecting a broad range of cultural influences. Rick samples his way through the specialties and hidden treats of each region, taking in the changing landscape from the mountainous northern regions through the Spanish plains to Mediterranean beaches.With over 100 Spanish recipes and location photographs, this is an essential cookbook for food-lovers as well as a stunning culinary guide to a diverse country.

Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Youngest Sommelier


Victoria James - 2020
    Even as Victoria was selling bottles worth hundreds and thousands of dollars during the day, passing sommelier certification exams with flying colors, and receiving distinction from all kinds of press, there were still groping patrons, bosses who abused their role and status, and a trip to the hospital emergency room.It would take hitting bottom at a new restaurant and restorative trips to the vineyards where she could feel closest to the wine she loved for Victoria to re-emerge, clear-eyed and passionate, and a proud “wine girl” of her own Michelin-starred restaurant.Exhilarating and inspiring, Wine Girl is the memoir of a young woman breaking free from an abusive and traumatic childhood on her own terms; an ethnography of the glittering, high-octane, but notoriously corrosive restaurant industry; and above all, a love letter to the restorative and life-changing effects of good wine and good hospitality.

Uncorked: The Novice's Guide to Wine


Paul Kreider - 2011
    This entertaining guide is presented in an easy-to-understand format, covering topics on everything from the winemaking process, wine vocabulary, and red wine versus white wine, to tasting and selecting wines for any occasion. With a helpful glossary and brief topic-by-topic chapters, this accessible, snobbery-free guide is the perfect companion for purchasing wines and navigating your way skillfully at parties, dinners, wine tastings, wine shops, and more. Learn how to:Understand the origins of wine and the process of making it Know and speak the language of wine with terms like tannins, oaks, residual sugar, dry, medium- and full-bodied, and more Properly taste and drink wines   Choose wines to complement foods Save money by making choices that suit your palate

Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking


Michael Solomonov - 2015
    Ever since he opened Zahav in 2008, chef Michael Solomonov has been turning heads with his original interpretations of modern Israeli cuisine, attracting notice from the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Eater.Zahav showcases the melting-pot cooking of Israel, especially the influences of the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Eastern Europe. Solomonov's food includes little dishes called mezze, such as the restaurant's insanely popular fried cauliflower; a hummus so ethereal that it put Zahav on the culinary map; and a pink lentil soup with lamb meatballs that one critic called 'Jerusalem in a bowl'.  It also includes a majestic dome of Persian wedding rice, and a whole roasted lamb shoulder with pomegranate and chickpeas that's a celebration in itself. All Solomonov's dishes are brilliantly adapted to local and seasonal ingredients.Zahav tells an authoritative and personal story of how Solomonov embraced the food of his birthplace. With its blend of technique and passion, this book shows readers how to make his food their own.

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker


Dawn J. Ranck - 2000
    Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good"Slow cookers are having a comeback. With good reason. They are friends on a day of running errands. They allow easy entertaining with no last-minute preparation. They are miracles for potluck meals, whether in

Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine


René Redzepi - 2006
    His Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, was recognized as the #1 best in the world by the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards in April 2010 after receiving the "Chef’s Choice" award in 2009. Redzepi operates at the cutting edge of gourmet cuisine, combining an unrelenting creativity and a remarkable level of craftsmanship with an inimitable and innate knowledge of the produce of his Nordic terroir. At Noma, which Redzepi created from a derelict eighteenth-century warehouse in 2003 after previously working at both elBulli and The French Laundry, diners are served exquisite concoctions, such as Newly-Ploughed Potato Field or The Snowman from Jukkasjarvi, all painstakingly constructed to express their amazing array of Nordic ingredients. His search for ingredients involves foraging amongst local fields for wild produce, sourcing horse-mussels from the Faroe Islands and the purest possible water from Greenland. Redzepi has heightened the culinary philosophy of seasonally and regionally sourced sustainable ingredients to an unprecedented level, and in doing so has created an utterly delicious cuisine. At the age of 32, Redzepi is one of the most influential chefs in the world.Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine will offer an exclusive insight into the food, philosophy and creativity of René Redzepi. It will reveal the first behind the scenes look at the restaurant, Noma, and will feature over 90 recipes as well as excerpts from Redzepi’s diary from the period leading up to the opening of the restaurant and texts on some the most enigmatic of Noma’s suppliers. The book will include 200 new specially commissioned color photographs of the dishes, unique local ingredients and landscapes from across the Nordic region. It will also include a foreword by the artist Olafur Eliasson.

Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook


Yotam Ottolenghi - 2018
    Each dish can be made in 30 minutes or less, with 10 or fewer ingredients, in a single pot, using pantry staples, or prepared ahead of time for brilliantly, deliciously simple meals. Brunch gets a make-over with Braised Eggs with Leeks and Za'atar; Cauliflower, Pomegranate, and Pistachio Salad refreshes the side-dish rotation; Lamb and Feta Meatballs bring ease to the weeknight table; and every sweet tooth is sure to be satisfied by the spectacular Fig and Thyme Clafoutis. With more than 130 photographs, this is elemental Ottolenghi for everyone.

The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes


Ruth Reichl - 2004
    To create this landmark cookbook, editor in chief and celebrated authority Ruth Reichl and her staff sifted through more than 50,000 recipes. Many were developed exclusively for Gourmet's test kitchens. Others came from renowned food writers and chefs and from the magazine's far-flung readers. Then the editors embarked on an extraordinary series of cook-offs to find the most unforgettable dishes, testing and retesting each one to ensure impeccable results. This collection, the only one of its kind, spans a vast range of cultures and cuisines. With it, you can go back to the time when Beef Wellington ruled the table or prepare something as contemporary as Crispy Artichoke "Flowers" with Salsa Verde. And whether you're cooking a simple supper for two or throwing a cocktail party for fifty, you'll make every dish with more flavor and more flair using The Gourmet Cookbook. It includes* 102 hors d'oeuvres, dips, chips, pâtés, and first courses * exciting vegetable dishes -- more than 120 in all -- using everything from artichokes to yuca * versatile recipes for every available kind of seafood, with many suggested substitutes * hundreds of simple but exceptional dinners * festive dishes for every occasion, including a perfect roast turkey with stuffings, the ultimate standing rib roast, and even a gorgeous (but easy) wedding cake * definitive versions of all the classics, from Chicken Kiev to Crcme Brulée and from Bouillabaisse to Pad Thai * more than 50 pastas and risottos, from quick everyday meals to party dishes * scores of soups, salads, breakfast dishes, and sandwiches, including the editors' all-time favorite pizza * a wealth of sauces and salsas, to transform ordinary meals into spectacular ones * more than 300 desserts: cookies, pies, tarts, pastries, buckles, crumbles, ice creams, puddings, mousses, and cakes galore, including cheesecakes and the nine best chocolate cake recipes Gourmet has ever published With engaging introductions to each chapter by Ruth Reichl, entertaining headnotes, indispensable information about ingredients and techniques, hundreds of tips from Gourmet's test kitchens, and an extensive glossary, The Gourmet Cookbook is the essential kitchen companion for anyone who wants one-of-a-kind recipes and spectacular results every time.

How to Drink


Victoria Moore - 2009
    In How to Drink, Victoria Moore aims to redress the balance, by showing how to drink well throughout the seasons and at all times of day.She explains how to make the most delicious coffee and juices; how to choose wine that complements your food; and how to make cocktails for every occasion--whether to serve a garden barbecue, as a cold weather aperitif, or just to unwind with at the end of the day.Here are recipes for mint juleps in the spring, sloe gin in the autumn, hot buttered rum in the winter, and year-round showstoppers including the world's best gin and tonic. Moore is also an impassioned advocate of unfairly maligned drinks such as sherry, Campari and saki, and gives fascinating historical background on different spirits as well as invaluable advice on creating your home bar.How to Drink is a hugely readable, browseable and authoritative handbook, whose aim is to inform, entertain and crucially, make sure you can find the right drink at the right time."It doesn't need to be either difficult or expensive to drink as well as you eat, it just requires a little care...""A splendid book. Victoria Moore is quite right--it's not how much you drink but how you drink." --Fergus Henderson, chef and co-owner, St. Johns Restaurant"I loved How to Drink. For the first time in years I have broken open a bottle of vodka for a Bloody Mary, remembered how much better mulled cider is than mulled wine, drawn a fresh kettle for tea..." --Joanna Weinberg, author of How to Feed Your Friends with Relish"Anyone who loves their food should heed this unmatchable tutorial in the art of enjoying drink; Victoria Moore succinctly puts every sip in lively context, banishing the guilt from the pleasure of it all." --Rose Prince, author of The New English Kitchen

The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones


Anthony Bourdain - 2005
    In The Nasty Bits, he serves up a well-seasoned hellbroth of candid, often outrageous stories from his worldwide misadventures. Whether scrounging for eel in the backstreets of Hanoi, revealing what you didn't want to know about the more unglamorous aspects of making television, calling for the head of raw food activist Woody Harrelson, or confessing to lobster-killing guilt, Bourdain is as entertaining as ever. Bringing together the best of his previously uncollected nonfiction--and including new, never-before-published material--The Nasty Bits is a rude, funny, brutal and passionate stew for fans and the uninitiated alike. Anthony Bourdain is the author of seven books including the bestselling Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour. A thirty-year veteran of professional kitchens, he is the host of No Reservations on the Discovery Channel, and the executive chef at Les Halles in Manhattan. He lives in New York City.Praise for Anthony Bourdain: Bourdain's enthusiasm is so intense that it practically explodes off the page . . . Bourdain shows himself to be one of the country's best food writers. His opinions are as strong as his language, and his tastes as infectious as his joy.--New York Times Book Review[Writes] the kind of book you read in one sitting, then rush about annoying your coworkers by declaiming whole passages.--USA TodayBourdain's prose is utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo and a precise ear for kitchen patois.--New York magazine

Cravings: Hungry for More


Chrissy Teigen - 2018
    It’s a life of pancakes that remind you of blueberry pie, eating onion dip with your glam squad, banana bread that breaks the internet, and a little something called Pad Thai Carbonara. After two years of parenthood, falling in love with different flavors, and relearning the healing power of comfort food, this book is like Chrissy’s new edible diary: recipes for quick-as-a-snap meals; recipes for lighter, brighter, healthier-ish living; and recipes that, well, are gonna put you to bed, holding your belly. And it will have you hungry for more.

Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution


William Echikson - 2004
    But in the past two decades, revolutionaries have stormed its traditional bastions, making their mark—and their fortunes—modernizing the production and marketing of wine. Noble Rot introduces us to the figures who epitomize the changes sweeping Bordeaux—the noble family behind Château d'Yquem; a stonemason turned winemaker whose wine, made in a garage, sells for $100 a bottle; the Maryland-based critic Robert Parker, whose opinion routinely makes or breaks a wine; the New World operations that have used branding to undercut Bordeaux's supremacy—and delves into the mysteries of the legendary classification of 1855.

Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease: 325 Inspiring Recipes from Award-Winning Chef Rozanne Gold


Rozanne Gold - 2010
    Now, after years of experimentation, she has come to this conclusion: Simplicity is the art of combining a few essential ingredients with a minimum of effort in order to create food that neither looks or tastes like a shortcut; food that is authentic enough to serve with pride and savor with pleasure.In Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease, Gold demonstrates this art to its fullest, manipulating the interplay of time, technique, and number of ingredients to create bold, sophisticated dishes bursting with global flavors. She offers an entire chapter of elegant 10-minute salads; delectable soups that take less than 5 minutes to prepare and others with such depth of flavor they taste like they've been simmering all day. Her opinionated take on roast chicken yields a peerlessly moist and tender bird without so much as a sprinkling of salt and pepper, while her recipe for pineapple flan transforms sugar, eggs, and bottled juice into a creamy and decadent taste of the tropics. From a 1-minute mustard sauce for her last-minute gravlax to a "Peking" pork shoulder that slow-roasts under a savory blanket of hoisin and scallions, these dishes are truly stunning in their ease of preparation, yet never sacrifice on flavor or presentation. Even Gold's procedures are revolutionary: All are conveyed in 140 words or less.With hundreds of signature recipes that you will return to time and again, Radically Simple provides both the tools and the inspiration to make memorable meals on a nightly basis and rediscover the satisfaction that comes from time well spent in the kitchen.

Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass


Natalie MacLean - 2006
    She visits the labyrinthine cellars of Champagne to examine the myths and the mystique of luxury bubbly and the grandes dames who made it the drink of celebration the world over. She pulls on sturdy boots to help with the harvest at the vineyards of iconoclastic Californian winemaker Randall Grahm and goes undercover as sommelier for a night in a five-star restaurant with a wine list the thickness of a phone book. She looks at the influence of powerful critics, notably Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, invites readers into her dining room for an informal wine tasting, and compares collecting notes at a bacchanalian dinner with novelist Jay McInerney.As funny and engaging as she is knowledgeable, Natalie has an unconventional wit, curiosity, and obsession with all things related to wine that make for a tour both amusing and informative, from grape to bottle to glass.