Summer Reading
What are Ruth Reichl and Mario Batali reading this summer?
Sneaky Chef Sues HarperCollins
In the continuing legal battle between Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef, versus Jessica Seinfeld, author of Deceptively Delicious, over accusations of plagiarism, Lapine has expanded her lawsuit to now include Seinfeld's publisher, HarperCollins.
Crossing the Pond
A spate of new cookbooks by prominent UK chefs are making their debut in the US.
Cook-Through Blogs: Julie/Julia 2.0
Following in the footsteps of Julie Powell's Julie/Julia Project, a spate of blogs are dedicated to recording the experiences of cooking through a single cookbook, from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook to Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies.
Other Fish to Fry
In his book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, author Taras Grescoe talks about the merits of canned sardines, the adulteration of seafood to make it look fresher, and the importance of eating what's in-season. His advice, in a nutshell: "So, after you’ve endured you’re not poisoning yourself, make sure you’re not eating endangered species. Then, think about the health of the oceans in general and keep a few simple principles in mind."
Have It His Way
Featured in Heston Blumenthal's new book, Further Adventures in Search of Perfection, the Blumenburger tested by Cook's Illustrated food writer Kenji Alt is a 30-ingredient concoction in which everything is painstakingly made by hand-- bun and cheese slices included. All in all, it takes more than a day to make.
Another Blog-to-Book
Cathy Erway, author of Not Eating Out in New York, a blog devoted to shunning restaurant brunches in favor of cooking your own food in New York City, is the latest food blogger to score a book deal.
Food Lit
Meals found in fiction and poetry can offer inspiration for real-life cooking.
Barber Seeking Book Deal
Chef Dan Barber has signed with literary agent David Black to shop ideas for two books: a collection of essays and a cookbook. Via eater.
Gastrokid: Blog to Book
The dudes behind Gastrokid, the blog for epicurean ankle-biters and their parents, have signed a book deal with Wiley Publishing to pen "the Gastrokid cookbook."
Pollanisms
Michael Pollan's simple mantra -- "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." -- has spawned a contest and 1,000 variations on the seven-word slogan. The winner: "Ate plants. A big heap. Still hungry."
Batali in Brief
In a new book of minimalist memoirs limited to just six words, chef Mario Batali sums up his life this way: "Brought it to a boil, often."
Top Chef, the Book
Chronicle Books will publish Top Chef:The Cookbook, a compilation of recipes from the reality show, in March 2008.
WWPD: What Would Pollan Do?
Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, navigates the lunch menu at Applebee's.
Cookbook Battle Goes to Court
Missy Chase Lapine, author of the The Sneaky Chef, has filed suit in federal court against Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld. Lapine alleges that Jessica Seinfeld, author of Deceptively Delicious, "brazenly plagiarized" from her book, and she accuses Jerry Seinfeld of making defamatory statements against her.
A Manifesto for Eating
Speaking of Michael Pollan, New York Times book critic Janet Maslin praises his new book, In Defense of Food, calling it "a tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be reduced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential."
Holiday Cookbooks
The New York Times rounds up the year's most notable cookbooks.
Carnivorous Cookbooks
Bill Buford contemplates the contemporary meaning of meat in a New Yorker review of several new meat-centered books.
To Cork or Not to Cork
A new book takes a look at the wine-stopper wars.
Cooking 101
A series of new cookbooks teach the fundamentals of cooking.
Culinary Collection
Just published: Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, an anthology of writings on food, from A.J. Liebling to Calvin Trillin.
The Axis of Evil Cookbook
A new cookbook collects recipes from George Bush's sworn enemies (here are some samples).
Defending Jessica Seinfeld
Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious may be unoriginal, writes Steven Shaw in Slate, but there's no evidence of plagiarism.
DIY Cookbook
Tastebook, do-it-yourself webware to build a glossy printed custom cookbook, launches today. Epicurious, a partner in the venture, has made 25,000 recipes available to Tastebook's recipe database.
Not a Tell-All, Per Se
Remember that memoir penned by a former waitress at Thomas Keller's Per Se? "While I’m happy that media are picking up on the book," writes author Phoebe Damrosch on her blog. "I’m disappointed that most of the press has been presenting it as a gossipy tell-all. For the record, I adored working at Per Se. I have the greatest respect for Thomas Keller and everyone I worked with there."
Per Se Tell-All
The New York Daily News reports that Phoebe Damrosch, a former waiter at Per Se, has penned a gossipy memoir entitled Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, due out in October 2007. Via eater.
Summer Cookbooks
NPR rounds up the latest cookbooks now hitting bookstores.
The Sushi Economy
A new book considers the culinary history of sushi, economics, and globalization.
Nose to Tail Sequel
Fans of chef Fergus Henderson will be thrilled to hear that a sequel to his cookbook, Nose to Tail Eating, is coming soon. The new book, Beyond Nose to Tail: More Omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook, is due out in October and now available for pre-order at amazon.com. Via Gourmet.
Potscrubber Prose
The New York Times profiles Pete Jordan (a.k.a. Dishwasher Pete), publisher of the zine Dishwasher and the author of a new memoir about washing dishes across the United States.
"Butch Cookery"
The Guardian reports on a new cookbook targeted toward "butch" lesbians without kitchen skills -- "for the butch on her own, or the butch cooking for a femme who doesn't cook or is not in the mood."
Going Local
Janet Maslin reviews Barbara Kingsolver's earnest, but unsentimental, new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, about eating locally for a year. See also: Kingsolver and Lopate on WNYC.
Kitchen Remodel
Epicurious picks five books to guide a kitchen redesign.
The New Paris Cookbook
The New York Times Magazine says that new cookbooks by veteran writer Patricia Wells and upstart blogger Clotilde Dusoulier (of Chocolate & Zucchini fame) share recipes for contemporary Parisian cooking sans nostalgia for butter-powered French standards.
Cookbook Awards
Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's What to Drink with What You Eat took the prize for Cookbook of the Year at this year's International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards.
Sex, Drugs, and Baby Lettuce
The San Francisco Chronicle reviews the new Alice Waters biography, Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution.
The Book of Bruni
New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni has signed a deal with Penguin Press to pen a "memoir that traces his unlikely path to the unexpected destination of high-profile reviewer of fine-dining establishments in New York."
History of Vegetarianism
Books: In the New Yorker, Steven Shapin surveys the history of vegeterianism.
The Elements of Cooking
Books: Author Michael Ruhlman is penning The Elements of Cooking, a culinary glossary modeled on the grammar manual The Elements of Style. Also on tap: a film version of Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef.
Orangette Gets a Book Deal
Books: Food blogger Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette) gets a book deal: "I couldn’t be happier to announce today that I am writing a cookbook, a narrative cookbook crammed full of new, original recipes and stories."
More on Martin Picard
Books: From the New York Times, more on Montreal chef Martin Picard's new book/DVD Au Pied de Cochon — The Album.
2006 Cookbook Roundup
Books: The New York Times rounds up notable cookbooks of 2006 (plus 20 more).
How I Learned to Cook and other Disasters
Books: Eat for Victory talks up How I learned to Cook, with stories from Batali, Chang, Boulud, and the inimitable Bourdain.
Reinventing the Joy of Cooking
Books: Reinventing the Joy of Cooking: "Which 'Joy' do we want? Do we keep our mother’s vintage copy from the ’60s? The reliable and popular version from 1975? The smart, chef-driven 1997 book? Or do we clean house, get with the times and buy the new book, which has much more reference material along with a cloying coat of nostalgia?"
NYT on The United States of Arugula
Books: New York Times film critic A.O. Scott reviews The United States of Arugula, the new history of the American food revolution by David Kamp.
Blog to Book
Books: Following the lead of Julie Powell, more and more food bloggers are making the transition from blog to book. Shauna James of Gluten-Free Girl is the latest to sign a book deal.
Roald Dahl's Cookbooks
Books: The late writer Roald Dahl was not just the author of children's books, he also penned several cookbooks, fictional and otherwise.
Getting Marco'ed
Books: Writer James Steen on ghost-writing the new autobiography of British chef Marco Pierre White.
Radical Vegetarianism
Books: The Bloodless Revolution explores the history of "radical vegetarianism."
Marco on Marco
Books: Legendary swaggering chef Marco Pierre White talks with the Telegraph about his upcoming autobiography, White Slave.
"Culinary Ghosting" and Celebrity Chefdom
Books: In the new "murky world of culinary ghosting," star chefs publish cookbooks with co-authors who go completely unacknowledged and uncredited. Via tmn. See also: Author Michael Ruhlman ruminates about the meaning of "celebrity chef."
Tips for Aspiring Food Memoirists
Books: A few tips for aspiring writers of food memoirs: "Foie gras is to food lit as 'baby' is to rock n roll songs. Too much is not enough."
New York Times Book Review Food Issue
Books: The New York Times Book Review "Food Issue" includes a roundup of favorite out of print cookbooks, along with reviews of summer cookbooks and food books by Jane and Michael Stern, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Buford, and Gael Greene.
The Reach of a Chef
Books: Against a culinary literature landscape of extremes, restaurant critic Frank Bruni finds The Reach of a Chef, the new book by Michael Ruhlman, "calming and appealing."
Modern Appetites
Books: Sex, adventure cooking, and competitive eating are some of the themes of a new crop of food books reviewed by William Grimes in the New York Times.
Cookbook Empire Based on Meatloaf
Books: Phyllis Pellman Good's homespun, spiral-bound "Fix-It and Forget-It" cookbooks have sold approximately seven million copies, outpacing sales by top celebuchefs.
The $64 Tomato
Books: Gardening angst with William Alexander, author of The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost his Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden.
My Life in France
Books: William Grimes calls Julia Child's posthumously published memoir, My Life in France, "a wonderful picture of the most successful American export to France since Benjamin Franklin."
Michelin SF
Books: The next North American edition of the Michelin Guide -- rating restaurants in San Francisco and the Bay Area -- will arrive in stores in October 2006.
Sweet and Low
Books: Michiko Kakutani calls Sweet and Low, Rich Cohen's memoir of behind the scenes family turmoil and scandal at Sweet'N Low, "a telling -- and often hilarious -- parable about the pursuit and costs of the American Dream."
Books an Blooks
Books: Richard Bertinet's Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads takes home the prize for the International Association of Culinary Professionals' 2006 Cookbook of the Year. See also: Blogger to author Julie Powell wins a Blooker, a new award recognizing books based on blogs.
The Modern Hunter-Gatherer
Books: Writer Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire, discovers his inner hunter. The article is adapted from an excerpt from Pollan's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.
Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook
Books: Justin Spring's The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook is a compendium of tips, techniques, and recipes for equipping, getting organized, and cooking in even the most space-challenged kitchens.
The Big Oyster
Books: In the New York Times, William Grimes reviews The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, the latest book from Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt and Cod.
Les Halles
Books: Imagining Paris' historic Les Halles market through Émile Zola’s downloadable Le Ventre de Paris ("The Belly of Paris"), one PDA screen at a time.
French Bistros and Markets
Books: William Grimes highlights two new books about Paris bistros and the markets of Provence in a roundup of recently published books on French culture.
Extreme Wolfert
Books: In the Los Angeles Times, Amy Scattergood takes on the "extreme cooking" of Paula Wolfert's recently reissued The Cooking of Southwest France: "Welcome to cooking with Paula Wolfert, which is about as far from '30 Minutes With Rachael Ray' as you can get. But once you've experienced it, there's no going back."
Narnia and Turkish Delight
Books: "The Lion, the Witch, and the Really Foul Candy": Narnia and Turkish Delight. Via nm.
New Translations
Books: Two new translations of old cookbooks, Italy's The Silver Spoon (1950)and France's La Bonne Cuisine (1927), are finding an audience in the United States.
Nascar Cookery
Books: While restaurant critics debate the risks of Mario Batali's high dining venture Del Posto, the clogged one is also setting his sights somewhat lower with a cookbook aimed at NASCAR fans. Look for Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style in spring 2006.
Terrors of the Table
Books: Roadfoodies Jane and Michael Stern review Terrors of the Table, a social and cultural history of nutritional science and diet dogma.
When Book Tours Go Bad
Books: When book tours go bad: "These people are food people. They're going to read my book, and they're going to figure out it's not really about food, and they're going to hate me. That's the way it happens. So I sat there in front of this big audience, feeling their animus in advance. I don't like it when people don't like me."
Bemelmans Book
Books: As a follow up to Hotel Bemelmans, last year’s reissue of stories by author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans about the hotel and restaurant world, now comes a new collection, When You Lunch With the Emperor.
The Silver Spoon
Books: Il Cucchiaio d'Argento (The Silver Spoon), the most popular cookbook in Italy since its publication in 1950, has been published in English for the first time (more information at Phaidon Press).
Blogs to Books
Books: More blog to book news (see also Julia/Julia to Julie & Julia): Russell Davies' fantastic niche blog on UK cafe culture, eggs bacon chips and beans, is the inspiration for a new book of the same name.
Psaltis Saga Continues
Books: The controversy over chef Doug Psaltis' memoir, The Seasoning of a Chef, continues to roil. The New York Times reports that chef Jacques Pépin, who originally blurbed the book, is "irate." Anthony Bourdain tells New York magazine, "Psaltis has done his subjects, his readers, and himself a disservice by painting himself as being without fault."
Autumn Omakase
Books: Now available for free downloading, Autumn Omakase is the second electronic cookbook published by tastingmenu.com. In 124 pages and 399 photos, the book documents a tasting menu created by chef Tatsu Nishino of Seattle restaurant Nishino.
What Could Happen?
Books: Blogger turned author Julie Powell launches new blog, What Could Happen? She cautions: "I'm not going to be describing the maggots under my dishrack -- not much, anyway. I'm just keeping folks in the loop." See also: Reviews are in for Julia and Julia in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle.
Blog to Book
Books: Clotilde Dusoulier (she of Chocolate and Zucchini fame) quits day job and signs book deal. Congratulations to Clotilde!
Oyster Book
Books: Coming in February 2006 from Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt and Cod, is The Big Oyster: New York on the Half Shell. Via gothamist.
French Appetites in Crisis
Books: Casseroles, amour et crises, a new book published in France by sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann, finds joy, pain, and existential crisis at the modern French dinner table: "Cooking is not simple. There are contradictions: Why have I spent two hours on a dish when it's quite likely that no one will have a good word to say about it at the table?"
Controversy Brews over Book
Books: Chez Pim runs down the latest in the controversy swirling over The Seasoning of a Chef, the new memoir from chef Doug Psaltis. Get your fill of the accusations and outrage over at food fora eGullet and Mouthfuls.
Kitchen Tales Collected
Books: Don't Try This at Home, a new collection of kitchen "war stories" as told by big-name chefs "doesn't disappoint," according to Russ Parsons in the Los Angeles Times: "If you liked 'Kitchen Confidential' for its frank behind-the-scenes glimpses of kitchen life (rather than the profanity and the heroin), you'll love this book."
Revealed
Books: The Seasoning of a Chef, the new autobiography by chef Doug Psaltis (with his brother Michael Psaltis), conceals the names of several restaurant world luminaries behind pseudonyms and anonymous references. New food blog Snack reveals their identities.
Cookie Sutra
Books: Food porn -- the real thing -- hits bookstores with The Cookie Sutra, a collection of photographs of gingerbread cookies in various intimate positions. The publisher notes, "Birds do it, bees do it. And guess what—cookies do it, too." Via lovescool.
Five Minute Meals?
Books: Is celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito seeking to unseat Rachael Ray from her 30-minute meal perch? Coming this November from Mr. DiSpirito is Rocco's Five Minute Flavor: Fabulous Meals with 5 Ingredients in 5 Minutes, a new cookbook which promises to bring the quick-cooking genre to new heights (or lows, as it may be).
Libraire Gourmand
Books: Q&A with Amy Prévost, proprietor of Librairie Gourmand, Paris' cookbooks-only bookstore.
Julie/Julia, the Book
Books: Coming soon (and currently available for preorder), Julie/Julia, the book: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. According to The Book Standard, promotion for the book will include a re-launch of author Julie Powell's blog. Via sw.
Cookbook Memeology
Books: Tracing the evolution of the cookbook meme. See also: Five Favorite Books.
Eating Like Queens
Books: Today's New York Times notes the publication of Eating Like Queens, a new guide to the borough's cuisine which includes a directory of restaurants and food stands organized by country of origin, along with maps to find your way.
Hamburger Lore
Books: Coming soon from writer John T. Edge is Hamburgers and Fries, the latest book in his series of short histories on American food, which includes the previously published Fried Chicken and Apple Pie.
Summer Cookbooks
Books: A roundup of summer cookbooks.
Drinkable History
Books: The history of the world, as told through beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. New York Times critic Janet Maslin calls the book "illuminating" and "incisive."