The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine
Benjamin Wallace - 2008
Was it truly entombed in a Paris cellar for two hundred years? Or did it come from a secret Nazi bunker? Or from the moldy basement of a devilishly brilliant con artist? As Benjamin Wallace unravels the mystery, we meet a gallery of intriguing players—from the bicycle-riding British auctioneer who speaks of wines as if they are women to the obsessive wine collector who discovered the bottle. Suspenseful and thrillingly strange, this is the vintage tale of what could be the most elaborate con since the Hitler diaries.
Napa: The Story of an American Eden
James Conaway - 1990
Long the source of succulent grapes and singular wines, this region is also the setting for the remarkable true saga of the personalities behind the winemaking empires. This is the story of Gallos and Mondavis, of fortunes made and lost, of dynasties and destinies. In this delightful, full-bodied social history, James Conaway charts the rise of a new aristocracy and, in so doing, chronicles the collective ripening of the American dream. More than a wine book, Napa is a must-read for anyone interested in our country's obsession with money, land, power, and prestige.
Brewed Awakening: Behind the Beers and Brewers Leading the World's Craft Brewing Revolution
Joshua M. Bernstein - 2011
Why not beer? Funky, young, and smart, this is the ultimate beer geek's companion, covering everything from the homebrew renaissance to nanobreweries to many of America's preeminent beer events and festivals. There's a revolution brewing among craft beer makers: They're reviving long-forgotten recipes, dosing brews with wild yeasts to create new flavors, and using organic grains and hops to forge a delicious new frontier of beer. And no one's better equipped to tell us what's happening than Joshua M. Bernstein, former Gourmet.com writer and one of the world's foremost beer experts. He covers all of today's top trends, including high-alcohol, bourbon barrel-aged, cask-conditioned, and even gluten-free beers. Designed to look just like Joshua's notebook and featuring labels and photos, this extreme guide is a one-stop shop for cutting-edge beer technology, taste, and information.
Danielle Walker's Eat What You Love: Everyday Comfort Food You Crave; Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes
Danielle Walker - 2018
Beloved food blogger and New York Times best-selling author Danielle Walker is back with 125 recipes for comforting weeknight meals. This is the food you want to eat every day, made healthful and delicious with Danielle's proven techniques for removing allergens without sacrificing flavor. As a mother of three, Danielle knows how to get dinner (and breakfast and lunch) on the table quickly and easily. Featuring hearty dishes to start the day, on-the-go items for lunch, satisfying salads and sides, and healthy re-creations of comfort food classics like fried chicken, sloppy Joes, shrimp and grits, chicken pot pie, and lasagna, plus family-friendly sweets and treats, this collection of essential, allergen-free recipes will become the most-used cookbook on your shelf. With meal plans and grocery lists, dozens of sheet-pan suppers and one-pot dishes, and an entire chapter devoted to make-ahead and freezer-friendly meals, following a grain-free and paleo diet just got a little easier.Features include: * Four weeks of meal plans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner * Instant Pot, slow cooker, one-pot, sheet-pan, and 30-minute recipes * Packed lunch chart with creative ideas for school, work, and lunches on the go * Make-ahead meals, including freezer and leftover options * Dietary classifications for egg-, tree nut-, and nightshade-free dishes, plus designations for Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS)
Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)
Russell Norman - 2012
Critics and food aficionados have been flocking to this understated bacaro where Russell Norman serves up small dishes-think tapas-from the back streets of Venice. A far cry from the tourist-trap eateries of the famous floating city, this kind of cooking is unfussy, innovative, and exuberantly delicious. The 120 recipes in this book range from salads and snacks to small main courses, drinks, and desserts, including asparagus with Parmesan and anchovy butter; warm duck salad with beets and walnuts; crispy baby pizzas with zucchini, mint and chilli; scallops with lemon and peppermint; soft-shell crab in Parmesan batter with fennel; fizzy bellinis and glasses of bright orange spritz; panacotta with poached rhubarb; and warm autumn fruits with amaretto cream.The recipes are accompanied by luminescent photography within a dazzling design, including a distinctive stripped-away spine to reveal colorful Japanese stitching--a feature that also allows the book to lie open flat on a chef's workstation. Polpo captures the unfrequented corners, bustling bacari, and sublime waterways of Venice as they've never been seen before.
The Art of Eating
M.F.K. Fisher - 1954
Fisher, whose wit and fulsome opinions on food and those who produce it, comment upon it, and consume it are as apt today as they were several decades ago, when she composed them. Why did she choose food and hunger she was asked, and she replied, 'When I write about hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth, and the love of it . . . and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied.
Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate
Patricia Wells - 2007
In Vegetable Harvest, Patricia Wells presents a collection of recipes inspired by the garden she tends at her home in Provence.No one has done more than Patricia to bring the art and techniques of French cooking into American kitchens. Now, in her tenth cookbook, she covers every kind of produce favored by French cooks from north to south. In addition, there are charming profiles of French farmers, home gardeners, and cooks, with sixty-five stunning color photographs.From arugula to zucchini, Patricia offers up a wealth of dishes that incorporate vegetables, herbs, nuts, legumes, and fruits fresh from the garden. And her recipes aren't limited to summer's bounty—there are plenty for fall squash and winter potatoes, too.The recipes in Vegetable Harvest include everything from appetizers, soups, and salads, to meats, poultry, and pasta. There are classics like Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, Roast Leg of Lamb with Honey and Mint Crust, and Pea and Mint Risotto, as well as innovative new dishes that are sure to become time-honored favorites, such as Potato-Chive Waffles with Smoked Salmon, Capers, and Crème Fraîche, Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho, and Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil. To finish your meal with a flourish, there are decadent, fruity desserts like Pistachio-Cherry Cake with Cherry Sorbet, Rhubarb-Berry Compote in Grenadine, and Crunchy Almond-Pear Cake. In addition, there is a chapter on pantry staples that includes Patricia's recipes for Zesty Lemon Salt, Truffle Butter, and Fresh Cilantro Sauce.And while Patricia's wonderful dishes sound sinful, they are in fact quite healthful, low in fat and calories; nutritional information is given for each recipe.With Vegetable Harvest, you'll be eating the best nature has to offer—fresh, flavorful produce—all year round.
Summer in a Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes
Evan Dawson - 2011
Filled with fun and likable characters, "Summer in a Glass" brings this burgeoning area to life and captures its exciting diversity--from its immigrant German winemakers to its young, technically trained connoisseurs, from classic Rieslings to up-and-coming Cabernet Francs.
French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew
Peter Mayle - 2001
We visit the Foire aux Escargots. We attend a truly French marathon, where the beverage of choice is Ch�teau Lafite-Rothschild rather than Gatorade. We search out the most pungent cheese in France, and eavesdrop on a heated debate on the perfect way to prepare an omelet. We even attend a Catholic mass in the village of Richerenches, a sacred event at which thanks are given for the aromatic, mysterious, and breathtakingly expensive black truffle. With Mayle as our charming guide, we come away satisfied (if a little hungry), and with a sudden desire to book a flight to France at once.
Jamie's Italy
Jamie Oliver - 2005
In Jamie’s Italy, he travels this famously gastronomic country paying homage to the classic dishes of each region and searching for new ideas to bring home. The result is a sensational collection of Italian recipes, old and new, that will ensure that Italy’s influence reaches us all. Italy has inspired Jamie Oliver throughout his career. His ambition has always been to travel across the country on a quest to capture the very essence of Italian cooking -- and to produce the best and simplest Italian cookbook for everybody anywhere to enjoy. Jamie’s Italy is the result of that journey -- and it’s a land of plenty. As well as providing more than 120 brand-new recipes for everything from risotto to roasts and spaghetti to stews, structured as traditional trattoria menus, Jamie takes you all over Italy to cook with and learn from the real masters of Italian cuisine: the locals. Far from the standard "lemons and olives" version of Italian cooking, Jamie’s Italy is a cookbook by the people for the people. From Sicily to Tuscany, it’s about the local fishermen, family bakers, and, of course, the "Mamas," sharing their recipes and the tips that have gone into their cooking for generations. But it’s not only mouthwatering food that Jamie brings back home: it’s also the spirit that makes cooking and eating absolutely central to family life, whichever part of Italy you’re in. Bursting with the warmth and hospitality of real family life, this is both a superbly accessible cookbook and a unique travelogue and diary, in which you’ll find the authentic flavor of Italy and the people who live there. If you love quality food prepared with genuine passion -- you’ll never want to leave Jamie’s Italy.
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
Judith Jones - 2007
Living in Paris after World War II, Judith Jones broke free of the bland American food she had been raised on and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States--hoping to bring some "joie de cuisine" to America--she published Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking. "The rest is publishing and gastronomic history. A new world now opened up to Jones: discovering, with her husband, Evan, the delights of "American" food; working with the tireless Julia; absorbing the wisdom of James Beard; understanding food as memory through the writings of Claudia Roden and Madhur Jaffrey; demystifying the techniques of Chinese cookery with Irene Kuo; absorbing the Italian way through the warmth of Lidia Bastianich; and working with Edna Lewis, Marion Cunningham, Joan Nathan, and other groundbreaking cooks. Jones considers matters of taste (can it be acquired?). She discusses the vagaries of vegetable gardening in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the joys of foraging in the woods and meadows. And she writes about M.F.K. Fisher: as mentor, friend, and the source of luminous insight into the arts of eating, living, and aging. Embellished with fifty recipes--each with its own story and special tips--this is an absolutely charming memoir by a woman who was present at the creation of the American food revolution and played a seminal role in shaping it.
The New Wine Rules: A Genuinely Helpful Guide to Everything You Need to Know
Jon Bonne - 2017
So why does finding and choosing one you like seem so stressful?Now, becoming a happier, more confident wine drinker is easy. The first step is to forget all the useless, needlessly complicated stuff the "experts" have been telling you. In The New Wine Rules, acclaimed wine writer Jon Bonne explains everything you need to know in simple, beautifully illustrated, easy-to-digest tidbits. And the news is good! For example: A wine's price rarely reflects its quality. You can drink rose any time of year. Don't save a great bottle for anything more than a rainy day.