24 May 2011, Posted by admin in MEET, 0 Comments
Elizabeth David. The notoriously opinionated cook who changed the way we think — and write — about food. As Ruth Reichl says in her intro to the recently released At Elizabeth David’s Table: Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom: “At [Elizabeth's] time most of the people writing about food were good girls– motherly creatures who stood by the stove ladling out sage advice… She was everything I was not: unconventional, sensuous, smart and stylish… and cared not a whit about anyone’s opinion. I instantly knew that i wanted to be just like her.”
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27 Jan 2011, Posted by admin in EAT, 0 Comments
When an author description begins with “this is his final book,” as does the promotional material for Bob Artley’s recently released Memories of a Farm Kitchen, you keep reading. Was there a personal tragedy or publishing world mishap? No, Mr. Artley, an illustrator and author of several country living books, is simply 93-years-old. The book, part storybook/memoir, part cookbook, was completed with the help of his son, Rob, and other children (their father suffered several strokes shortly after completing the watercolors for the book). It’s unusual in that the book has readership appeal for both adults and kids, or adults reading bedtime stories to kids. And oddly enough, it works. Plus, how can you not fall in love with a carrot jam recipe with all of four words in the cooking how-to instructions? Ah, the good old days. Turn the page for more.
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21 Jan 2011, Posted by admin in EAT, 1 Comments
Today’s cookbook review: The lost art of charcuterie making (in the home, at least) comes back to your kitchen with this fantastic new reference manual. More on the Sopressata “Society” later — yes, there really is a nonprofit with a mission to support “the nationwide homemade sopressata community.” Ah, the things that go on in some folks garages….
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15 Dec 2010, Posted by admin in EAT, 0 Comments
Yes, we still dog ear those chicken and celery pot stickers recipes from our stash of old Gourmet magazines, knowing full well we’re probably going to go with that weeknight friendly Bon Appétit roast chicken with lemons and green olives. Which gets us to dessert. Bon Appétit Desserts, outgoing editor Barbara Fairchild’s crowning white and dark chocolate croquembouche glory (p. 618). Or something like that.
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29 Oct 2010, Posted by admin in EAT, 0 Comments
And now, to dispel your wildest Halloween assumptions (sorry). “No hard and fast rules exist in Wicca,” begins the Introduction to the second edition of The Wicca Cookbook: Recipes, Ritual and Lore by Jamie Wood and Tara Seefeldt. “It is not based on a degree or a set of beliefs but rather on a practice of aligning oneself with the natural forces of life.” And so perhaps that absence of a set of prescribed just-tell-me-what-to-do beliefs is precisely why we tend to jump to conclusions and call everything labeled “Wicca” that crazy broom and cauldron sort of witchcraft.
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12 Sep 2010, Posted by admin in EAT, 0 Comments
What defines new vs. old? Five seconds, several months, years? You could argue that it depends on whether you’re talking about cheese or cars, or you might take the position that nothing is ever truly new, as the moment something appears in our conscious it is already aged by definition. Right. Anyway, David Leite’s The New Portuguese Table falls into the not-exactly-new category, as it was published last year. I missed that little detail when I asked for a review copy after seeing the words “new” and cookbook in a Tweet. Oops. Now if only I could change the newspaper’s definition of new, as this is a fantastic book that combines family and cultural history (Leite has sturdy milho frito — fried cornbread — Portuguese roots) with new twists on classic Portuguese dishes.
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