Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile's Hunger for Home


Eduardo Machado - 2007
    An internationally acclaimed playwright, Eduardo Machado has grappled with questions of identity, loss and resistance throughout his life and work. He hasmore than any other playwrightbeen able to convey the experiences of both the Cubans who chose to stay in Cuba and those who chose to leave. His fearless style and unabashed politicism in the face of dissent have made him a controversial figure to the Cubans and Americans on opposite sides of an intense conflict. In his memories and in his more recent travels to Cuba, he has found that the most natural means of connecting with todays Cuban experience is through food. Machado says, When I taste something I havent tasted in twenty years, I cant resist that connection to the past, to the conflict, to the identity that is mine. I know the feeling as I taste the flavor. There are no arguments, no political controversies, just the real sensation. If its that complex, it must be Cuban. To any exile, food represents not only the lost comfort of home, but the best chance to reclaim it. The stories of Machados lifefrom child of privilege in pre-Revolutionary Cuba; to exile in Los Angeles; to actor, director, playwright and professor in New Yorkare interleaved with recipes for the meals that have enriched him. Every recipe has been updated for the modern home cook, enabling us to recreate the flavors of traditional Cuban dishes such as Machados favorite roast pork and his grandfathers arroz con pollo, as well as the cuisine of necessity he encountered in 1960s suburban America: Velveeta, SPAM, and otherprocessed wonders. What emerges is a larger picture of what it means to be a Latino in America today. For anyone who has ever longed for a home, real or imagined, Tastes Like Cuba delivers a fascinating story of two worldsand one delectable life.

The Bad Cook


Esther Walker - 2013
    And definitely the sweariest.For over three years now, Esther Walker has been entertaining foodies with her hilarious Recipe Rifle blog. Charting her progress from bad cook to, well, not-so-bad cook, she is blistering honest about what works, and what doesn’t, in the kitchen. If a recipe works for her, it will probably work for you. If it doesn’t, she will swear quite a lot.Crammed full of recipes, tips for entertaining, stories of pregnancy and tales of her husband (restaurant critic Giles Coren) coming home drunk, The Bad Cook will make you laugh out loud. It will also make you want to start cooking.

The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia


Darra Goldstein - 1993
    He became so involved with his meal that he inadvertently tripped over the high peaks of the Caucasus, spilling his food onto the land below. The land blessed by Heaven's table scraps was Georgia.Nestled in the Caucasus mountain range between the Black and Caspian seas, the Republic of Georgia is as beautiful as it is bountiful. The unique geography of the land, which includes both alpine and subtropical zones, has created an enviable culinary tradition. In The Georgian Feast, Darra Goldstein explores the rich and robust culture of Georgia and offers a variety of tempting recipes.The book opens with a fifty-page description of the culture and food of Georgia. Next are over one hundred recipes, often accompanied by notes on the history of the dish. Holiday menus, a glossary of Georgian culinary terms, and an annotated bibliography round out the volume.

Recipes from a Very Small Island


Linda Greenlaw - 2005
    Now she and her mother reveal what happens onshore -- in fishermen's kitchens. Packed with colorful anecdotes about seaside life and brimming with more than seventy-five delicious recipes ranging from Penobscot Bay Clam Dip and Point Lookout Lobster Salad to Fishermen's Beef with Guinness, Down East Crab Cakes, and Maine Blueberry Pie, this collection showcases the talents and idiosyncratic charms of the Greenlaw family, as well as the delicious cuisine of coastal New England.Written in Linda's inimitable and witty style, Stuffed to the Gills is a cookbook that you'll want to savor, and you won't be able to resist serving up its delicious New England classics to your hungry crew!

Lunch at the Shop: The Art and Practice of the Midday Meal


Peter Miller - 2014
    But it doesn’t need to be so. Peter Miller makes lunch every day at his bookshop in Seattle. It may be only a salad or a sandwich, but he and his team put it together each day without a formal kitchen. It is a moment set aside, away from the computer and the clock.Lunch at the Shop is a call to lunch. On the most basic level, the book is a primer for making lunch for a few people at work, including more than 50 tried-and-tested, deliciously simple recipes. However, the essence of the book is about adopting a lifestyle that allows food to be savored every day, in a way that is easy, fresh, healthy, and a pleasure. “You may not know it yet, but you are hungry for what is bound and written on these pages. As he did for me, Peter Miller will help fill you up. I’m sure of it.” —Matthew Dillon, James Beard Award–winning chef of Sitka & Spruce, The Corson Building, and Bar Sajor

The Songs Of Sapa: Stories And Recipes From Vietnam


Luke Nguyen - 2009
    Features more than 100 regional and family recipes and photographs capturing the beauty of Vietnam, her people and their deep connection to food.

The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing -- Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed


James Hoffmann - 2014
    From overviews of the world's most vibrant coffee-growing regions, to step-by-step brewing tutorials, the content is educational, thought-provoking, and substantial. I've already recommended this book to Barista Magazine readers countless times. -- Sarah Allen, Editor Barista MagazineA beautiful world guide to the brown bean.Taking the reader on a global tour of coffee-growing countries, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the bean in full-color photographs and concise, informative text. It shows the origins of coffee -- where it is grown, the people who grow it; and the cultures in which coffee is a way of life -- and the world of consumption -- processing, grades, the consumer and the modern culture of coffee.Plants of the genus Coffea are cultivated in more than 70 countries but primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. For some countries, including Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Honduras, coffee is the number one export and critical to the economy.Organized by continent and then further by country or region, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the brew in color spreads packed with information. They include:The history of coffee generally and regionally The role of colonialism (for example, in Burundi under colonial rule of Belgium, coffee production was best described as coercive. Every peasant farmer had to cultivate at least 50 coffee trees near their home.) Map of growing regions and detail maps Charts explaining differences in growing regions within a country Inset boxes (For example, what is the Potato Defect? Is Cuban coffee legal in the United States?) The politics of coffee and the fair trade, organic and shade grown phenomena Beautiful color photographs taken in the field. Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. The World Atlas of Coffee is an excellent choice for these coffee lovers.

Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking


Frank Pellegrino - 1998
    Its tables are booked months in advance by regulars who go to enjoy what The New York Times calls its "exquisitely simple Italian cooking" from traditional recipes, many as old as Rao's itself. You may not get a table at Rao's, but now with this book you can prepare the best Italian home-style food in the world in your own kitchen. Here for the first time are recipes for all of Rao's fabulous classics--its famous marinara sauce, seafood salad, roasted peppers with pine nuts and raisins, baked clams, lemon chicken, chicken scarpariello, and on and on.The recipes are accompanied by photographs that re-create Rao's magic and testimonials from loyal Rao's fans--from Woody Allen to Beverly Sills. Here too is a brief history of the restaurant by Nicholas Pileggi and a Preface by Dick Schaap. Both will convince you that what you have in your hands is a national treasure, a piece of history, and a collection of the best Italian American recipes you will ever find.

Food That Really Schmecks


Edna Staebler - 1968
    In the 1960s, Edna Staebler moved in with an Old Order Mennonite family to absorb their oral history and learn about Mennonite culture and cooking. From this fieldwork came the cookbook Food That Really Schmecks. Originally published in 1968, Food That Really Schmecks instantly became a classic, selling tens of thousands of copies. Interspersed with practical and memorable recipes are Staebler's stories and anecdotes about cooking, life with the Mennonites, family, and the Waterloo Region. Described by Edith Fowke as folklore literature, Staebler's cookbooks have earned her national acclaim.Back in print as part of Wilfrid Laurier University Press's Life Writing series, a series devoted celebrating life writing as both genre and critical practice, the updated edition of this groundbreaking book includes a foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by well-known food writer Rose Murray.

Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Built


Mark Russ Federman - 2013
    Here is the story of this “Louvre of lox” (The Sunday Times, London): its humble beginnings, the struggle to keep it going during the Great Depression, the food rationing of World War II, the passing of the torch to the next generation as the flight from the Lower East Side was beginning, the heartbreaking years of neighborhood blight, and the almost miraculous renaissance of an area from which hundreds of other family-owned stores had fled. Filled with delightful anecdotes about how a ferociously hardworking family turned a passion for selling perfectly smoked and pickled fish into an institution with a devoted national clientele, Mark Russ Federman’s reminiscences combine a heartwarming and triumphant immigrant saga with a panoramic history of twentieth-century New York, a meditation on the creation and selling of gourmet food by a family that has mastered this art, and an enchanting behind-the-scenes look at four generations of people who are just a little bit crazy on the subject of fish.

Child Octopus: Edible Adventures in Hong Kong (Zip and Eat Pocket Reader Book 1)


Matthew Amster-Burton - 2014
    With Iris and Matthew as my guides, I would virtually and literally go anywhere." —Becky Selengut, author of Shroom: Mind-bendingly Good Recipes for Cultivated and Wild Mushrooms Seattle food writer Matthew Amster-Burton grew up on Chinese-American food. One day, he decided to take his ten-year-old daughter out for Chinese…in Hong Kong. Join two adventurous eaters as they explore night markets, hawker centers, gargatuan malls, and a fancy dim sum palace, all while living out their food fantasy: spending a week without having to eat anything other than Chinese food. Along with Matthew and Iris, you’ll: • Ride the world’s most exhilarating form of public transportation • Eat crispy rice, egg tarts, Hong Kong French toast, and a spicy chicken dish with more chiles than chicken • Hang out with locals (human and feline) • Discover Iris’s supervillain lair, high above the city Featuring two dozen color photos, Child Octopus is the first installment in a new series of short ebooks about Asian food and travel. We’re not experts. We just got here. And we’re hungry.

Sally's Candy Addiction: Tasty Truffles, Fudges Treats for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix


Sally McKenney - 2015
    If you're a candy and sweets lover, then look no further. Complete with over 75 brand new recipes, indulge in truffles, fudge, caramels, and marshmallows. And if you like Oreos, Reese's, Snickers, or other candy bar favorites, Sally will show you the best ways to incorporate these into cookies, cupcakes, bars, and more.Complete with easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes, Sally's signature photography for every recipe, and snippets from Sally's own kitchen experiences, Sally's Candy Addiction has a recipe for every candy lover in your life.

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste


Bianca Bosker - 2017
    Until she stumbled on an alternate universe where taste reigned supreme, a world in which people could, after a single sip of wine, identify the grape it was made from, in what year, and where it was produced down to the exact location, within acres. Where she tasted wine, these people detected not only complex flavor profiles, but entire histories and geographies. Astounded by their fanatical dedication and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, Bosker abandoned her screen-centric life and set out to discover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a cork dork.Thus begins a year and a half long adventure that takes the reader inside elite tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, a California winery that manipulates the flavor of its bottles with ingredients like Mega Purple, and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as Bosker attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? Funny, counter intuitive, and compulsively readable, Cork Dork illuminates not only the complex web of wine production and consumption, but how tasting better can change our brains and help us live better.

Bigger Bolder Baking: A Fearless Approach to Baking Anytime, Anywhere


Gemma Stafford - 2019
    Gemma hopes to restore baking as an everyday art, and this dessert cookbook is your guide.BAKE WITH CONFIDENCE100+ sweet and simple dessert recipes for maximum deliciousness with minimal effortUse just a few common ingredients and basic kitchen tools for bold twists on cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream, and moreEvery recipe has gorgeous color photography and step-by-step instructions that anyone can follow with easeANYTIME BAKINGAn approach unique among baking cookbooks, the chapters are organized by the basic tools you’ll need—such as Wooden Spoon & Bowl, Rolling Pin, or No Oven Needed—so you can choose the recipes that are most convenient for you during any spur-of-the-moment cravingBOLD NEW RECIPES & CLASSICSSurefire hits include Chocolate Lava Pie, Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Churros, Gemma’s Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies, “In Case of Emergency” One-Minute Mug Brownie, Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream, and many moreBONUS: A chapter on Bold Baking Basics includes essential techniques, tips, and in-a-pinch substitutions so you can whip up Gemma’s irresistible desserts with confidence

Good Food: Slow cooker favourites


Sarah Cook - 2011
    That's why the trusted experts at Good Food magazine, the UK's best-selling cookery magazine, have put together this essential guide to making the most of your slow cooker. With recipes for comfort food favourites like curries, chillis, soups and puddings, through to fresh ideas for meaty stews, braised fish and melt-in-the-mouth vegetarian meals, there is a slow-cooked meal to suit every taste and occasion. Accompanied throughout with full-colour photographs and a nutritional breakdown of every recipe, this collection of Good Food's favourite triple-tested slow cooker recipes will work first time, every time. A blend of timeless classics, clever twists and irresistible flavours, Slow Cooker Favourites is packed with recipe ideas for a whole host of mouth-watering treats. This edition is revised and updated with brand new recipes and a fresh new look.