Gastronomy Books - Page 9

The Book of Tea

Kakuzo Okakura

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Tao of Tea 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

Kakuzo Okakura (1862-1919) was born in a Japan that had seen Commodore Perry but had not yet renounced the Shogunate. By the end of his life he had seen the Great War and Japan's first imperialistic military adventures in Korea and Manchuria that would culminate in the tragedy of the Second World War.

The scion of Japanese aristocracy, Okakura chose to spend the latter half of his life as an expatriate living in Boston, Massachusetts, where he befriended the Brahmins of that city. THE BOOK OF TEA was written in this period, sometime in the nineteen-oh-ohs. Written for an American audience, it eloquently introduced the Boston bluebloods to an idealized vision of Japan, the Japan of cherry blossoms, kakemono, and Chanoyu, the Tea Ceremony.

Reading THE BOOK OF TEA, one realizes that Okakura was not "selling" Japan to the West. THE BOOK OF TEA does not engage in any lacquer-box hucksterism. Rather, THE BOOK OF TEA is his paean to and his lament for a Japan of the virtues that was all-too-rapidly being consumed by Occidentally-intoxicated militarists and industrialists. THE BOOK OF TEA was written to banish the soot-stained chrysanthemums of Okakura's deepest nightmares.

Although this reviewer came to THE BOOK OF TEA expecting a manual on the Tea Ceremony, this book is nowhere so vulgar as that. Yes, a manual on the highly stylized Chanoyu has its place, but it's place is nowhere without this book which penetrates to the heart and soul of the ceremony. This reviewer can honestly say that THE BOOK OF TEA provided him with comprehension, a deeper insight, and a first true appreciation for Japanese art forms, so different than the European.

In its simplicity and its elegance, the Tea Ceremony is a form of Zen practice. Every element, from the atmosphere of the tearoom (called in Japanese "The Abode of Fancy," a world unto itself), the selection of the flowers, the artwork, the bamboo tea implements, the bright, sharp jade green macha tea, and the specially made jangling teapot and ceramic cups, speaks to an aesthetic foreign to the West. Okakura calls it "Teaism," a play on Taoism, and its purpose is to delight the senses, touch the heart, and place the participant fully in the present moment.

Shambhala Publications has presented THE BOOK OF TEA in a fine paperbound edition, the colors, typeset, and dimensions of which please the mind. Shambhala has also provided color photographs, in truth forms of abstract art, of the tea implements in use, that add a visual dimension to this already fine book.

Editorial Review:

Written in the early-20th century, this book on the meaning and practice of tea is less about tea than it is about the philosophical and aesthetic traditions basic to Japanese culture.

Spilling the Beans

Clarissa Dickson Wright

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

I've always been a fan but now I have such deep respect for her. 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I've enjoyed the author as a TV cook, her humor and style as one of the Two Fat Ladies was delightful. I own many of her books and have enjoyed both the cookbooks and the country books. This book about her life was a suprise to me as I had no clue she was from an abusive home. I have such respect for her. In this age of whiny delicate little flowers (BLECCH!) I admire her strength of character and ability to be thankful for her life, accepting both good and bad with dignity and grace.

Editorial Review:

As a child, Clarissa Dickson Wright was surrounded by wealth and privilege. Her mother was an Australian heiress, her father a brilliant surgeon to the Royal family. But he was also a tyrannical and violent drunk who used to beat her and force her to eat rotten food. When her adored mother died suddenly, Clarissa fell into a mind-numbing decade of wild overindulgence which eventually cost her entire fortune. After a long, hard road to recovery, Clarissa finally faced her demons and turned to the one thing that had always brought her joy: cooking. Now at last she has found sobriety and peace, and her TV parternship with the beloved late Jennifer Paterson as the Two Fat Ladies brought her fame and success. With stark honesty and brilliant wit, this is Clarissa’s own story of a life lived to extremes.

The True History of Chocolate, Second Edition

Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A beautifully written...and illustrated history of the Food of the Gods, from Olmecs to present-day developments."—Chocolatier

This delightful and best-selling tale of one of the world's favorite foods draws upon botany, archaeology, and culinary history to present a complete and accurate history of chocolate.

The story begins some 3,000 years ago in the jungles of Mexico and Central America with the chocolate tree, Theobroma Cacao, and the complex processes necessary to transform its bitter seeds into what is now known as chocolate. This was centuries before chocolate was consumed in generally unsweetened liquid form and used as currency by the Maya, and the Aztecs after them. The Spanish conquest of Central America introduced chocolate to Europe, where it first became the drink of kings and aristocrats and then was popularized in coffeehouses. Industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries made chocolate a food for the masses, and now, in our own time, it has become once again a luxury item.

The second edition draws on recent research and genetic analysis to update the information on the origins of the chocolate tree and early use by the Maya and others, and there is a new section on the medical and nutritional benefits of chocolate. 100 illustrations, 15 in color.

A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America

Rowan Jacobsen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

 “A wide-ranging, thorough, breezily written guide to oysters as cuisine” (Boston Globe), A Geography of Oysters is the complete guide to understanding, serving, and savoring one of North America’s most delicious foods—an Amazon Best of the Year 2007 selection.

In this passionate, playful, and indispensable guide, oyster aficionado Rowan Jacobsen takes readers on a delectable tour of the oysters of North America. Region by region, he describes each oyster’s appearance, flavor, origin, and availability, as well as explaining how oysters grow, how to shuck them without losing a finger, how to pair them with wine (not to mention beer), and why they’re one of the few farmed seafoods that are good for the earth as well as good for you. Packed with fabulous recipes, maps, and photos, plus lists of top oyster restaurants, producers, and festivals, A Geography of Oysters is both delightful reading and the guide that oyster lovers of all kinds have been waiting for.

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking

Julia Child

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

What a wonderful cookbook! 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This instantly became my favorite cookbook and I use it so much that it doesn't spend much time on the shelf. This cookbook transcends the "collection of recipes" style of most cookbooks; its style is more "how to improve your cooking skills."

Even so, some of my very favorite recipes are in this book. All the recipes adaptable and are presented in a way to make your own adaptations easier. For example, I love the braised rice recipe and found it easy to adapt the recipe for brown rice by a few minor adjustments. And this rice is good! Really, every recipe that I have tried is good.

In addition to producing wonderful tasting food, these recipes aren't the type that take hours of elaborate preparation. You can use this book to prepare full, decent meals after work in a reasonable amount of time.

This book is suitable for nearly all levels of cooking skills. It assumes some familiarity with basic cooking techniques, so a first-time cook might need a little help.

Editorial Review:

Julia Child has given us answers to these and other questions in the ten masterful volumes she has publishedover the past 40 years. But which book do you go to for which solution? Now, in this little volume, you can find the answers immediately.

Information is arranged according to subject matter, with ample cross-referencing. How are you going to cook that small rib steak you brought home? You'll be guided to the quick saute as the best and fstest way. And once you've masteree this recipe, you can apply the technique to chop, chicken, or fish, following Julia's careful guidelines.

And here is equally essential information about soups, vegetables, and eggs, and for baking breads and tarts. It's all waiting for you in this delicious, priceless, comforting compendium of Julia's kitchen wisdom.

Cooking by Hand

Paul Bertolli

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

One of the most respected chefs in the country, Paul Bertolli earns glowing praise for the food at California’s renowned Oliveto restaurant. Now he shares his most personal thoughts about cooking in his long-awaited book, Cooking by Hand. In this groundbreaking collection of essays and recipes, Bertolli evocatively explores the philosophy behind the food that Molly O’Neill of the New York Times described as “deceptively simple, [with] favors clean, deep, and layered more profusely than a mille-feuille.”

From “Twelve Ways of Looking at Tomatoes” to Italian salumi in “The Whole Hog,” Bertolli explores his favorite foods with the vividness of a natural writer and the instincts of a superlative chef. Scattered throughout are more than 140 recipes remarkable for their clarity, simplicity, and seductive appeal, from Salad of Bitter Greens, Walnuts, Tesa, and Parmigiano and Chilled Shellfish with Salsa Verde to Short Ribs Agrodolce and Tagliolini Pasta with Crab. Unforgettable desserts, such as Semifreddo of Peaches and Mascarpone and Hazelnut Meringata with Chocolate and Espresso Sauce, round out a collection that’s destined to become required reading for any food lover.

Rich with the remarkable food memories that inspire him, from the taste of ripe Santa Rosa plums and the aroma of dried porcini mushrooms in his mother’s ragu to eating grilled bistecca alla Fiorentina on a foggy late autumn day in Chianti, Cooking by Hand will ignite a passion within you to become more creatively involved in the food you cook.

How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

Nigella Lawson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 63 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A chatty, sometimes cheeky,celebration of home-cooked meals."
—USA Today

Through her wildly popular television shows, her five bestselling cookbooks, her line of kitchenware, and her frequent media appearances, Nigella Lawson has emerged as one of the food world's most seductive personalities. How to Eat is the book that started it all—Nigella's signature, all-purpose cookbook, brimming with easygoing mealtime strategies and 350 mouthwatering recipes, from a truly sublime Tarragon French Roast Chicken to a totally decadent Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. Here is Nigella's total (and totally irresistible) approach to food—the book that lays bare her secrets for finding pleasure in the simple things that we cook and eat every day.

"[Nigella] brings you into her life and tells you how she thinks about food, how meals come together in her head . . . and how she cooks for family and friends . . . A breakthrough . . . with hundreds of appealing and accessible recipes."
—Amanda Hesser, The New York Times

"Nigella Lawson serves up irony and sensuality with her comforting recipes . . . the Queen of Come-On Cooking."
—Los Angeles Times

"Nigella Lawson is, whisks down, Britain's funniest and sexiest food writer, a raconteur who is delicious whether detailing every step on the way towards a heavenly roast chicken and root vegetable couscous or explaining why 'cooking is not just about joining the dots.'"
—Richard Story, Vogue magazine

Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol

Iain Gately

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A spirited look at the history of alcohol from the dawn of civilization to the twenty first century

For better or worse, alcohol has helped shape our civilization. Throughout history, it has been consumed not just to quench our thirsts or nourish our bodies but also for cultural reasons. It has been associated since antiquity with celebration, creativity, friendship, and danger, for every drinking culture has acknowledged it possesses a dark side.

In Drink, Iain Gately traces the course of humanity’s 10,000 year old love affair with the substance which has been dubbed “the cause of—and solution to—all of life’s problems.” Along the way he scrutinises the drinking habits of presidents, prophets, and barbarian hordes, and features drinkers as diverse as Homer, Hemmingway, Shakespeare, Al Capone, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Covering matters as varied as bacchanals in Imperial Rome, the gin craze in 17th century London, the rise and fall of the temperance movement, and drunk driving, Drink details the benefits and burdens alcohol has conveyed to the societies in which it is consumed. Gately’s lively and provocative style brings to life the controversies, past and present, that have raged over alcohol, and uses the authentic voices of drinkers and their detractors to explode myths and reveal truths about this most equivocal of fluids.

Drink further documents the contribution of alcohol to the birth and growth of the United States, taking in the war of Independence, the Pennsylvania Whiskey revolt, the slave trade, and the failed experiment of National Prohibition. Finally, it provides a history of the world’s best loved drinks. Enthusiasts of craft brews and fine wines will discover the origins of their favorite tipples, and what they have in common with Greek philosophers and medieval princes every time they raise a glass.

A rollicking tour through humanity’s love affair with alcohol, Drink is an intoxicating history of civilization

Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass

Natalie MacLean

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this bodice-ripping wine book that got widespread and excellent reviews in hardcover, multiple James Beard and IACP award-winning writer Natalie MacLean’s journey through the international world of wine is the perfect companion for neophytes and wine aficionados alike.
Natalie travels to the ancient vineyards of Burgundy to uncover the secrets of the pinot noir, the “heartbreak grape” from which some of the most coveted wines in the world are made. She visits the labyrinthine cellars of Champagne to examine the myths and the mystique of bubbly.  She pulls on sturdy boots to help with the harvest at the vineyards of iconoclastic Californian winemaker Randall Grahm and goes undercover as sommelier for a night in a five-star restaurant with a wine list the thickness of a telephone directory. She looks at the influence of powerful critics, notably Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, invites readers into her dining room for an informal wine tasting, and compares collecting notes at a bacchanalian dinner with novelist Jay McInerney.

Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer

Tim Stark

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Situated beautifully at the intersection of Michael Pollan, Ruth Reichl, and Barbara Kingsolver, Heirloom is an inspiring, elegiac, and gorgeously written memoir about rediscovering an older and still vital way of life.

Fourteen years ago, Tim Stark was living in Brooklyn, working days as a management consultant, and writing unpublished short stories by night. One evening, chancing upon a Dumpster full of discarded lumber, he carried the lumber home and built a germination rack for thousands of heirloom tomato seedlings. His crop soon outgrew the brownstone in which it had sprouted, forcing him to cart the seedlings to his family’s farm in Pennsylvania, where they were transplanted into the ground by hand. When favorable weather brought in a bumper crop, Tim hauled his unusual tomatoes to New York City’s Union Square Greenmarket, at a time when the tomato was unanimously red. The rest is history. Today, Eckerton Hill Farm does a booming trade in heirloom tomatoes and obscure chile peppers. Tim’s tomatoes are featured on the menus of New York City’s most demanding chefs and have even made the cover of Gourmet magazine.