How I do love a good cookbook. I read them like novels. There's the mystery and intrigue of how a dish will ultimately turn out. There's often comedy, when a recipe seems highly inaccurate and untested. Romance takes the form of a recipe that makes you swoon, or a recipe that will make someone else wobbly-kneed. And there's tragedy when you realize that a cookbook didn't live up to your expectations.
There are many food-related books I want to check out or buy for others. Here is my "in-the-inbox-but-not-sure-if-I'll-actually buy-them" list:
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
I loved his book The Omnivore's Dilemma. I think there's a lot going wrong and right with food these days, and Senor Pollan takes an admirable stab at bringing food industry and industrious issues to the fore. The premise behind this book is to eat food, not a lot, mostly plants. He has a 12-page article "Unhappy Meals" in the NY Times that looks like it's a great synopsis of the book. I think this one's coming home with me.
Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer and Paula Disbrowe
I love sensing I'm in the company of a passionate yet deliberate chef. Passion spurs creativity, while deliberation ensures accuracy. This book seems like it might be psychoanalysis with recipes as a fringe benefit. New Orleans has good food at every turn, just an amazing confluence of food, fun and sense of place. If Susan Spicer's recipes live up to her hype, I might treat myself to this later on. But I'll sit down with it at Borders before I make any rash decisions.
Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin and Ben Fink
I was never into Jacques Pepin when my food quest started. It wasn't until I'd watch "Fast Food My Way" on PBS that I sat up and took notice. Pepin fuses southern French/northern Italian cooking with Latin, American and even Scandinavian cooking. He has knife skills that get me misty-eyed. Plus, he actually takes respectable shortcuts without sabotaging flavor. That's not to say I love everything he makes. As he slides anchovies in the blender to make a gray-brown aioli, my stomach churns. But his show was among the best instruction I'd seen on how to teach people to use time and on-hand ingredients to their advantage. I thought I was slick by trying to download recipes from his website, but most of my favorites weren't there. After looking through this at the bookstore, I may buy this and pick one up for a friend who wants to learn how to cook. For someone learning how to cook with very little experience, I'd definitely recommend his DVDs by the same name. One caveat: Pepin uses a lot of gadgets that a budding home cook most likely won't have.
A Love Affair with Southern Cooking: Recipes and Recollections by Jean Anderson
There are a kajillion recipes in this thing. It looks quite comprehensive and like it's from many different parts of the South. That said, I am at once respectful and a little fearful of Southern cooking. However,I think I could cope with this cookbook. Anderson explains some of the "whys", as in the history of colas, foods and name origins like Frogmore Stew. I think the appeal is that the author grew up in the South, yet she was from a Yankee family. This disarms me and piques my curiosity. Plus, I love the idea that many of the recipes were culled from social teas and other "ladies who lunch" settings. Maybe I'll give this to a friend (then borrow it!)
The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook: Two Hundred Gourmet & Homestyle Recipes for the Food Allergic Family by Cybele Pascal
I try to be aware of allergens and key preferences when I cook. These days, when cooking for people at work, church and other mainstream settings, it's good to steer clear of allergens that can really hamper someone's enjoyment of others' food. I've been meaning to get a book like this, so if I'm ever faced with someone having multiple food allergies, I can make something that is delicious in its own merit instead of being something like a "no-cheese" cheesecake or "tastes like the real thing." I think that position stems from trying to make good vegetarian meals that didn't just substitute all the things people weren't trying to eat anyway, like meat, cheese, milk, eggs, etc. This cookbook looks like it addresses food allergies with some dignity.
Happy cooking!
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