The Physiology of Taste: Or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy


Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin - 1825
    Brillat-Savarin (1783-1833) made famous the aphorism, "Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you who you are." He believed that food defines a nation.

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China


Fuchsia Dunlop - 2008
    How can something she has eaten readily in China seem grotesque in England? The question lingers over this "autobiographical food-and-travel classic" (Publishers Weekly).

Best ever recipes: 40 years of Food Optimising


Slimming World - 2009
    It is the most slimmer-friendly eating system there is and is based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people - no foods are banned, there is no calorie counting and there are hundreds of 'free foods' that can be eaten in unlimited amounts. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Slimming World, Best Ever Recipes draws on Slimming World's 40 years of unrivalled experience in helping slimmers achieve their target weight. Packed with nutritional, lifestyle and diet information, as well as more than 120 new, healthy yet delicious recipes, it is the definitive guide to successful - and enjoyable - weight loss.

The Rye Baker: Classic Breads from Europe and America


Stanley Ginsberg - 2016
    With over 70 classic recipes, The Rye Baker introduces bakers to the rich world of rye bread from both the old world and the new. Award-winning author Stanley Ginsberg presents recipes spanning from the immigrant breads of America to rustic French pains de seigle, the earthy ryes of Alpine Austria and upper Italy, the crackly knäckebröds of Scandinavia, and the diverse breads of Germany, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Russia. Readers will discover dark, sour classic Russian Borodinsky; orange and molasses-infused Swedish Gotländ Rye; nearly black Westphalian Pumpernickel, which gets its musky sweetness from a 24-hour bake; traditional Old Milwaukee Rye; and bright, caraway-infused Austrian Country BouleRounding out this treasury are reader-friendly chapters on rye’s history, unique chemistry, and centuries-old baking methods. Advanced bakers will relish Stanley’s methods, ingredients, and carefully sourced recipes, while beginning bakers will delight in his clear descriptions of baking fundamentals. The Rye Baker is the definitive resource for home bakers and professionals alike.

Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss: Family Favorites as Only Buddy Can Serve Them Up


Buddy Valastro - 2012
    Now he shares 100 delicious, essential Italian-American recipes—from his grandmother’s secret dishes to his personal favorites—with his own signature touches that make dinner a family event.TLC’s beloved Buddy Valastro is not only a master baker, he’s also a great cook—the boss of his home kitchen as well as of his famous bakery, Carlo’s Bake Shop. Home cooking is even more vital for the Valastro family than the work they do at the bakery. Every Sunday, the whole clan gathers to cook and eat Sunday Gravy—their family recipe for hearty tomato sauce. These nourishing meals are the glue of their family. Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shares 100 delicious Italian- American recipes beloved by Buddy’s family, from his grandmother’s secret dishes to Buddy’s personal favorites, with Buddy’s own signature touches that make dinner a family event. Buddy Valastro is renowned worldwide as the Cake Boss, but Buddy knows far more than just desserts. He makes classic dishes like Pasta Carbonara, Shrimp Scampi, and Eggplant Parmesan even more irresistible with his singular flair and with old-school tips passed down through generations. With his friendly charm, he guides even novice cooks from appetizers through more complicated dishes, and all 100 easy-to-follow recipes use ingredients that are obtainable and affordable. Your family will love sitting down at the table to eat Steak alla Buddy, Auntie Anna’s Manicotti, Mozzarella-and- Sausage-Stuffed Chicken, Veal Saltimbocca, Buddy’s Swiss Chard, and mouthwatering desserts like Lemon Granita, Apple Snacking Cake, Cocoa-Hazelnut Cream with Berries, and Rockin’ Rice Pudding. Buddy’s recipes allow home cooks to become the bosses of their own kitchens, and anyone will be able to whip up a tasty and nutritious Italian dinner. Filled with luscious full-color photography and with stories from the irrepressible Valastro clan, Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shows how to create new takes on traditional dishes that will make your famiglia happy. *** My family, the Valastros, makes its living by baking and selling just about anything you can think of at Carlo’s Bake Shop. It’s what we’re known for. But there’s another side to our family and our relationship to food, and it’s just as personal, maybe even more personal, than what we do at the bakery. I’m talking about the recipes and dishes, meals and traditions that nourish our bodies and souls when we get home. Just like any other family, we enjoy chilling out and spending time together, and there’s no way we’d rather do that than around a table, a place that keeps us grounded and connected to each other as well as to the relatives who came before us. As proud as I am of our professional success, I’m just as proud that we’ve been able to continue making time for our family and extended family—and we’re talking a lot of people— to meet several times a week and eat together. And now I’m honored to share with you my family’s favorite recipes and to tell you the stories of what makes them so near and dear to our hearts. I hope they might become favorites for your family as well, that they help you create memories to last a lifetime, the same way they’ve done for us Valastros. -- Buon Appetito, Buddy Valastro

Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook


Betty Crocker - 1999
    Bread machines are hot items in the kitchen because they take the work out of making homemade bread. Even better, Betty Crocker takes the mystery out of the bread machine and brings you easy-to-use recipes for both 1 1/2-pound and 2-pound loaves that work for all the popular bread machine models. We've packed this book with over 100 recipes to tempt your tastebuds. There are delicious bread recipes for classic favorites, rustic breads, sweet doughs, coffeecakes and buns. Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook also offers a host of recipes for doughs to mix, then shape and bake in a conventional oven -- such as foccacia, breadsticks and pizza doughs -- with easy-to-follow illustrations on how to shape and trim the loaves. Best of all, you can trust these recipes will work in your bread machine because the Betty Crocker kitchens have tested the recipes in several different machines to ensure success at home. We've also loaded up this book to include information on bread machine ingredients; glossary of bread machine ingredients, techniques, and terms; and a breakdown of the various features found on different models of machines and how to use them. There's nothing better than the taste of homemade bread -- and no one brings it to you better than Betty Crocker.

Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication


Jean-Georges Vongerichten - 2000
    Simple to Spectacular introduces a unique concept developed by one of the world's top chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything and the New York Times's hugely popular column "The Minimalist." Ever since their award-winning collaboration on Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, the acclaimed duo has been cooking up a repertoire of new dishes that can be prepared in any of five progressively sophisticated ways.Simple to Spectacular features a total of 250 recipes in 50 groups. Each group begins with a simple, elegant recipe--a few ingredients combined for maximum effect--followed by fully detailed, increasingly elaborate variations. For example, a recipe for Grilled Shrimp with Thyme and Lemon leads to Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini on Rosemary Skewers, Grilled Shrimp with Apple Ketchup, Thai-style Grilled Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers, and Grilled Shrimp Balls with Cucumber and Yogurt.Every aspect of the meal is covered, from superb soups and salads to unforgettable side dishes, entrees, and desserts. In Simple to Spectacular, everything--from the basics to innovations by a four-star chef--is tailored for a quick Tuesday night dinner or an elegant weekend party.  And in the now-classic Vongerichten-Bittman style, all of the recipes can be made in the kitchen of any home cook. With 80 full-color photographs giving a mouthwatering view of the Simple-to-Spectacular transformations, readers and cooks will eagerly explore the possibilities.Jean-Georges Vongerichten (right) won the 1998 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef and Best New Restaurant. His Manhattan restaurants include Vong, Jo Jo, The Mercer Kitchen, and Jean Georges, which earned a rare four-star rating from the New York Times.  In Simple to Spectacular, two titans of the food world have created a truly groundbreaking cookbook.  Here are 250 superb recipes arranged in a uniquely useful way: a basic recipe and four increasingly sophisticated variations, with each group (there are 50 groups in all) based on a given technique.  This ingenious organization enables cooks of all levels of expertise to understand how a recipe is created and to re-create the brilliantly simple recipes and dazzling variations from one of our best food writers and home cooks teamed with one of America's greatest chefs.

The Tassajara Recipe Book


Edward Espe Brown - 1985
    "Ordinary food for ordinary people" is the way Brown once described his approach, but there's nothing ordinary about these culinary offerings. From appetizers to desserts, the over two hundred recipes use the freshest ingredients in ways that will tantalize the palates of everyone from down-home vegetarians to the most discriminating gourmet cooks. The recipes are interspersed throughout with line drawings, photographs of the center and its environs, and Brown's own poetry. This revised edition includes twenty-nine new and four revised recipes, new photographs, and a new introduction.

Low Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons


Gary Wiviott - 2009
    Surrender all of your notions about barbecue. Forget everything you've ever learned about cooking with charcoal and fire. It is all wrong. Get it right with the "Five Easy Lessons" program, which includes over 130 recipes and step-by-step instructions for setting up and cooking low and slow on a Weber Smokey Mountain, an offset smoker, or a kettle grill. This program is guided by a singular philosophy: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Do exactly as Gary says, don't even think about opening the lid before it's time, and you will learn:What gear you do and, more importantly, don't needExactly how to start and maintain a proper fire (without lighter fluid)All about marinades, brines, and rubsTo use your senses and trust your instincts (instead of thermometers)How to make delicious, delicious barbecue The perfect how-to guide for beginner and expert alike, Low & Slow will take your barbecue skills to the next level.

Eat Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Unique Food Culture of the Crescent City


Michael Murphy - 2014
    It highlights nearly 250 eating spots—sno-cone stands and food carts as well as famous restaurants—and spins tales of the city’s food lore, such as the controversial history of gumbo and the Shakespearean drama of restaurateur Owen Brennan and his heirs.Both first-time visitors and seasoned travelers will be helped by a series of appendixes that list restaurants by cuisine, culinary classes and tours, food festivals, and indispensable “best of” lists chosen by an A-list of the city’s food writers and media personalities, including Poppy Tooker, Lolis Eric Elie, Ian McNulty, Sara Roahen, Marcelle Bienvenu, Amy C. Sins, and Liz Williams.

Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire


Barbara Lynch - 2017
    She earned a daredevil reputation for boosting vehicles (even a city bus), petty theft, drinking and doing drugs, and narrowly escaping arrest—haunted all the while by a painful buried trauma.Out of Line describes Lynch’s remarkable process of self-invention, including her encounters with colorful characters of the food world, and vividly evokes the magic of creation in the kitchen. It is also a love letter to South Boston and its vanishing culture, governed by Irish Catholic mothers and its own code of honor. Through her story, Lynch explores how the past—both what we strive to escape from and what we remain true to—can strengthen and expand who we are.

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.

A Conspiracy of Crowns: The True Story of the Duke of Windsor and the Murder of Sir Harry Oakes


Alfred de Marigny - 1990
    Its portrayal of the Duke of Windsor as a Nazi sympathizer--who would stop at nothing to hide it--is sure to make headlines. Black-and-white photographs.

Pizza: A Global History


Carol Helstosky - 2008
    There are countless ways to create the dish called pizza, as well as a never-ending debate on the best way of cooking it. Now Carol Helstosky documents the fascinating history and cultural life of this chameleon-like food in Pizza.Originally a food for the poor in eighteenth-century Naples, the pizza is a source of national and regional pride as well as cultural identity in Italy, Helstosky reveals. In the twentieth century, the pizza followed Italian immigrants to America, where it became the nation’s most popular dish and fueled the rise of successful fast-food corporations such as Pizza Hut and Domino’s. Along the way, Helstosky explains, pizza has been adapted to local cuisines and has become a metaphor for cultural exchange. Pizza also features several recipes and a wealth of illustrations, including a photo of the world’s largest and most expensive pizza—sprinkled with edible 24-karat gold shavings and costing over $4000.   Whether you love sausage and onions on your pizza or unadorned cheese, Pizza has enough offerings to satiate even the pickiest of readers.

Peter Mansbridge One on One: Favourite Conversations and the Stories Behind Them


Peter Mansbridge - 2009
    In this, his first book, he collects the most illuminating and timely interviews from the past ten years, book-ending each with his behind-the-scenes recollections and anecdotes. Mansbridge acts as our guide as we get the inside story from prominent figures from all walks of life, including world leaders, music legends and sports heroes.Among the more than 40 interviewees included in the book are:Bill ClintonSidney CrosbyBill GatesDiana KrallBenjamin NetanyahuBarack ObamaShimon PeresDesmond TutuBrian Wilson