It’s even rarer when that someone is a middle-aged, six-foot three-inch woman whose first exposure to an unsuspecting public is cooking an omelet on a hot plate on a local TV station.  And yet, that’s exactly what Julia Child did.  The warble-voiced doyenne of television cookery became an iconic cult figure and joyous rule-breaker as she touched off the food revolution that has gripped America for more than fifty years. Now, in Bob Spitz’s definitive, wonderfully affectionate biography, the Julia we know and love comes vividly — and surprisingly — to life.  In Dearie, Spitz employs the same skill he brought to his best-selling, critically acclaimed book The Beatles, providing a clear-eyed portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential Americans of our time — a woman known to all, yet known by only a few.At its heart, Dearie is a story about a woman’s search for her own unique expression.  Julia Child was a directionless, gawky young woman who ran off halfway around the world to join a spy agency during World War II.  She eventually settled in Paris, where she learned to cook and collaborated on the writing of what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that changed the food culture of America.   She was already fifty when The French Chef went on the air —  at a time in our history when women weren’t making those leaps.  Julia became the first educational TV star, virtually launching PBS as we know it today; her marriage to Paul Child formed a decades-long love story that was romantic, touching, and quite extraordinary. A fearless, ambitious, supremely confident woman, Julia took on all the pretensions that embellished tony French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for everything that has happened since in American cooking, from TV dinners and Big Macs to sea urchin foam and the Food Channel.  Julia Child’s story, however, is more than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft.  It is also a saga of America’s coming of age and growing sophistication, from the Depression Era to the turbulent sixties and the excesses of the eighties to the greening of the American kitchen.  Julia had an effect on and was equally affected by the baby boom, the sexual revolution, and the start of the women’s liberation movement. On the centenary of her birth, Julia finally gets the biography she richly deserves.  An in-depth, intimate narrative, full of fresh information and insights, Dearie is an entertaining, all-out adventure story of one of our most fascinating and beloved figures.From the Hardcover edition.

    Now this Julia Child of the Net generation and host of the wildly popular Bitchin’ Kitchen TV show on the Cooking Channel brings her savvy chef know-how and rock star ’tude to glam up your dining experience. Trained at the culinary institute of Hard Wooden Spoon Whacks, Nadia says that her passion for food started in her Italian family’s kitchen, where meals became moments. In Cookin’ for Trouble, she shares recipes and cooking tips for beginner and seasoned home cooks to liven any occasion. • Back-of-the-Fridge Bachelor Brunches: Sometimes what lurks in the back of our fridge isn’t that inspiring, unless it’s been there long enough to strike up a conversation. No groceries, no problem! With just a few leftovers, whip up a scrumptious Sartu di Patate, or a Pasta Frittata that tastes like you’d planned it for days. • (Dysfunctional) Family Pizza Night: Bring your family and thighs closer together with the Giosia familia recipe for Rustica Pan Pizza, Puttanesca Panzerotti, and Traditional Italian Frittelle smothered in a creamy chocolate-nougat fondue. • Makeover Meals: We all get stuck in a rut sometimes, whether it’s the same boring dish, hairstyle, or boyfriend. It’s time for an upgrade! Turn ordinary dishes on their head with inspired crispy Tuna Sliders, smoky Chicken Risotto, and juicy Meatloaf Kebabs. • Plus Nadia’s creative menus for Hi-Speed Suppers, Girl’s Night In, Veg-Head Specials, Student Shkoff-fest, and a special chapter devoted to everyone’s favorite food group: Bacon!  I know—we had you at “Bacon.” But there’s more! Loaded with gorgeous photos, more than fifty original recipes, sanity-saving “Nadvice,” a Bitchin’ Party Guide, and a hunky team of food correspondents—Panos, the Spice Agent, and Hans—Cookin’ for Trouble will take your meals from square to sassy faster than you can say “Tsaketa.”* *and for newbies, there’s an Italian Slang Dictionary!From the Trade Paperback edition.

    As Todhunter describes it, Taillevent’s highly orchestrated kitchen is “less an atelier than a gun deck on a ship of war, a place of shouts and fire.”On the other side of the kitchen’s double doors, in the warm light of the nineteenth-century dining room, the American couple surrenders to the sensual pleasure of a beautifully wrought and meticulously served dinner—from the amuse-bouche (a warm cheese puff to “amuse the mouth”) and the crème de cresson soup, with its sunken treasure of lobster tomalley, to the crowning glory of the fantaisie. In the spirit of A.J. Liebling’s Between Meals, Todhunter layers mouthwatering descriptions of French dishes and their preparation with reflections on his American childhood (when food, like sex and money, was not to be discussed at the table), dips into culinary history and philosophy, and entertains with asides on everything from olive oil and chestnuts to the science of viniculture and the chemistry of chocolate. Between courses, Todhunter brings us back to the sanctum of the kitchen itself, where he has probing conversations with chef de cuisine Philippe Legendre and pastry chef Gilles Bajolle, both major figures in the French culinary pantheon, and their assistants. Through these great chefs and their impeccably trained brigade we gain a unique glimpse into the heart of French cuisine and the love of fine food. Is cooking more an art, a craft, or a science? Are great chefs born or made? Why are there so few women chefs in France? What is the greatest danger for a chef at the top of his game? How is a new dish developed? What is the future of haute cuisine in France and in the world at large? When we cook for others, for love or for money, what do we give of ourselves?As richly satisfying as the five-hour meal it describes, A Meal Observed is a delightful paean to the French and French cuisine, and to the universal love of the table. Bon appétit!

    Shuttling between continents as a child, she lived a life of dislocation that would become habit as an adult, never quite at home in the world. And yet, through all her travels, her favorite food remained the simple rice she first ate sitting on the cool floor of her grandmother’s kitchen in South India.Poignant and surprising, Love, Loss, and What We Ate is Lakshmi’s extraordinary account of her journey from that humble kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges’ table of Top Chef and beyond. It chronicles the fierce devotion of the remarkable people who shaped her along the way, from her headstrong mother who flouted conservative Indian convention to make a life in New York, to her Brahmin grandfather—a brilliant engineer with an irrepressible sweet tooth—to the man seemingly wrong for her in every way who proved to be her truest ally. A memoir rich with sensual prose and punctuated with evocative recipes, it is alive with the scents, tastes, and textures of a life that spans complex geographies both internal and external.Love, Loss, and What We Ate is an intimate and unexpected story of food and family—both the ones we are born to and the ones we create—and their enduring legacies.

    The pasta-heavy, tomato-forward “Italian food” the world knows and loves does not actually represent the entire country; rather, these beloved and widespread culinary traditions hail from the regional cuisines of the south. Acclaimed author and food journalist Katie Parla takes you on a tour through these vibrant destinations so you can sink your teeth into the secrets of their rustic, romantic dishes. Parla shares rich recipes, both original and reimagined, along with historical and cultural insights that encapsulate the miles of rugged beaches, sheep-dotted mountains, meditatively quiet towns, and, most important, culinary traditions unique to this precious piece of Italy. With just a bite of the Involtini alla Piazzetta from farm-rich Campania, a taste of Giurgiulena from the sugar-happy kitchens of Calabria, a forkful of ’U Pan’ Cuott’ from mountainous Basilicata, a morsel  of Focaccia from coastal Puglia, or a mouthful of Pizz e Foje from quaint Molise, you’ll discover what makes the food of the Italian south unique.Praise for Food of the Italian South “Parla clearly crafted every recipe with reverence and restraint, balancing authenticity with accessibility for the modern home cook.”—Fine Cooking  “Parla’s knowledge and voice shine in this outstanding meditation on the food of South Italy from the Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria regions. . . . This excellent volume proves that no matter how well-trodden the Italian cookbook path is, an expert with genuine curiosity and a well-developed voice can still find new material.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)  “There's There’s Italian food, and then there's there’s Italian food. Not just pizza, pasta, and prosciutto, but obscure recipes that have been passed down through generations and are only found in Italy… . . . and in this book.”—Woman’s Day (Best Cookbooks Coming Out in 2019)“[With] Food of the Italian South, Parla wanted to branch out from Rome and celebrate the lower half of the country.”—Punch “Acclaimed culinary journalist Katie Parla takes cookbook readers and home cooks on a culinary journey.”—The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

    But at home, Ted is the one chopping the vegetables and working the stove, trying unusual ingredients and new techniques, from roasting earthy sunchokes in a piping-hot oven to develop their sweetness or transforming leftover pinot noir into complexly flavored homemade vinegar. In fact, it’s discoveries like these that propel him into the kitchen nightly—that, of course, and eating the delicious results with friends! Now Ted invites likeminded cooks to roll up their sleeves, crank up the stereo, and join him in the kitchen for some fun.While there are mountains of cookbooks featuring five-minute, three-ingredient, weeknight recipes for harried households, here is a book for food lovers who want to lose themselves in the delight of perfectly slow-roasting a leg of lamb—Mexican style—or whipping up a showstopping triple-layer cake. Ted is just such a cook and in his latest cookbook he shakes up expectations by topping bruschetta with tomatoes and strawberries; turning plums, sugar, and a bay leaf into an irresistible quick jam; putting everything you can think of on the grill—from ribs and pork shoulder to chiles and green beans; and modernizing the traditional holiday trio of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce with fresh ingredients and a little booze. And where there’s a will to make something from scratch, Ted provides a way, with recipes for homemade pickles, pizza, pasta, pork buns, preserved lemons, breads, quick jam, marshmallows, and more.With more than 100 amazing recipes and gorgeous color photographs throughout, In My Kitchen is perfect for passionate home cooks looking for inspiring new recipes and techniques to add to their playbooks.

    After years racking up culinary cred at New York City restaurants like Lupa, Momofuku, and Blue Hill, he managed the trailblazing Four Season Farm in coastal Maine, where he developed an appreciation for every part of the plant and learned to coax the best from vegetables at each stage of their lives.In Six Seasons, McFadden channels both farmer and chef, highlighting the evolving attributes of vegetables throughout their growing seasons—an arc from spring to early summer to midsummer to the bursting harvest of late summer, then ebbing into autumn and, finally, the earthy, mellow sweetness of winter. Each chapter begins with recipes featuring raw vegetables at the start of their season. As weeks progress, McFadden turns up the heat—grilling and steaming, then moving on to sautés, pan roasts, braises, and stews. His ingenuity is on display in 225 revelatory recipes that celebrate flavor at its peak.

    Son takes us through the neighborhoods and streets most tourists never see, from the hidden casinos where gamblers slurp fragrant bowls of pho to Downtown's Jewelry District, where a ten-year-old Choi wolfed down Jewish deli classics between diamond deliveries; from the kitchen of his parents' Korean restaurant and his mother's pungent kimchi to the boulevards of East L.A. and the best taquerias in the country, to, at last, the curbside view from one of his emblematic Kogi taco trucks, where people from all walks of life line up for a revolutionary meal.Filled with over 85 inspired recipes that meld the overlapping traditions and flavors of L.A.—including Korean fried chicken, tempura potato pancakes, homemade chorizo, and Kimchi and Pork Belly Stuffed Pupusas—L.A. Son embodies the sense of invention, resourcefulness, and hybrid attitude of the city from which it takes its name, as it tells the transporting, unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.

    Nobody better embodies the present-day mantra "Eat real food in season" than David Tanis, one of the most original voices in American cooking. For more than a quarter-century, Tanis has been the chef at the groundbreaking Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California, where the menu consists solely of a single perfect meal that changes each evening. Tanis’s recipes are down-to-earth yet sophisticated, simple to prepare but impressive on the plate. Tanis opens this soulful, fun-to-read cookbook with his own private food rituals, those treats—jalapeño pancakes, beans on toast, pasta for one—for when you are on your own in the kitchen with no one else to satisfy. Then he follows with twenty incomparable menus (five per season) that serve four to six. Each transports the reader to places far and wide.  And for grand occasions, a time for the whole tribe to gather around the table, Tanis delivers festive menus for holiday feasts. So in one book, three kinds of cooking: small, medium, and large.

    The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe—many of them treasured family dishes, and a few of them Lucy's original inventions.A welcome read for anyone who ever felt more passion for a sandwich than is strictly speaking proper, Relish is a book for our time: it invites the reader to celebrate food as a connection to our bodies and a connection to the earth, rather than an enemy, a compulsion, or a consumer product.

    Alice Waters says it best in her foreword: "This book captures the beating heart of what makes Franny's so beautiful: its simplicity, its ability to make the ordinary surprising, and--above all--its celebration of honest everyday cooking."Franny's is filled with recipes that are destined to become classics. Chef Andrew Feinberg plays with traditional Southern Italian cuisine and makes the dishes lighter and brighter. New favorites--including Roasted Romano Beans with Calabrese Olives, Clam Pizza, and Linguine with Meyer Lemon--sit side by side with perfect executions of timeless Italican dishes like Marinated Artichokes, Baked Sausage and Polenta, and Bucatini alla Puttanesca. Feinberg breaks down his techniques for the home cook, while offering cutting-edge food combinations, spinning the typical ingredients in unexpected directions. Teeming with irresistible full-color photographs, Franny's shows how simple preparations of quality ingredients can create food that is much more than the sum of its parts.

    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.

    It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks.Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious - or at least edible. Tools shape what we eat, but they have also transformed how we consume, and how we think about, our food. Technology in the kitchen does not just mean the Pacojets and sous-vide of the modernist kitchen. It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson provides a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of everyday objects we often take for granted. Knives - perhaps our most important gastronomic tool - predate the discovery of fire, whereas the fork endured centuries of ridicule before gaining widespread acceptance; pots and pans have been around for millennia, while plates are a relatively recent invention. Many once-new technologies have become essential elements of any well-stocked kitchen - mortars and pestles, serrated knives, stainless steel pots, refrigerators. Others have proved only passing fancies, or were supplanted by better technologies; one would be hard pressed now to find a water-powered egg whisk, a magnet-operated spit roaster, a cider owl, or a turnspit dog. Although many tools have disappeared from the modern kitchen, they have left us with traditions, tastes, and even physical characteristics that we would never have possessed otherwise. Blending history, science, and anthropology, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be, and how their influence has shaped modern food culture. The story of how we have tamed fire and ice and wielded whisks, spoons, and graters, all for the sake of putting food in our mouths, Consider the Fork is truly a book to savor.

    Her story is raw like that first bite of wild onion, alive with startling imagery, and told with uncommon emotional power.Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Northwest Indiana. While gathering raspberries as a toddler, Regan preternaturally understood to pick just the ripe fruit and leave the rest for another day. In the family’s leaf-strewn fields, the orange flutes of chanterelles beckoned her while they eluded others.Regan has had this intense, almost otherworldly connection with food and the earth it comes from since her childhood, but connecting with people has always been more difficult. She was a little girl who longed to be a boy, gay in an intolerant community, an alcoholic before she turned twenty, and a woman in an industry dominated by men—she often felt she “wasn’t made for this world,” and as far as she could tell, the world tended to agree. But as she learned to cook in her childhood farmhouse, got her first restaurant job at age fifteen, taught herself cutting-edge cuisine while running a “new gatherer” underground supper club, and worked her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen, Regan found that food could help her navigate the strangeness of the world around her.Regan cooks with instinct, memory, and an emotional connection to her ingredients that can’t be taught. Written from that same place of instinct and emotion, Burn the Place tells Regan’s story in raw and vivid prose and brings readers into a world—from the Indiana woods to elite Chicago kitchens—that is entirely original and unforgettable.

    The Julie/Julia Project. In the early days of food blogs, these were the pioneers whose warmth and recipes turned their creators’ kitchens into beloved web destinations. Luisa Weiss was working in New York when she decided to cook her way through her massive recipe collection. The Wednesday Chef, the cooking blog she launched to document her adventures, charmed readers around the world. But Luisa never stopped longing to return to her childhood home in Berlin. A food memoir with recipes, My Berlin Kitchen deliciously chronicles how she finally took the plunge and went across the ocean in search of happiness—only to find love waiting where she least expected it.