General Books - Page 4

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

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella

David Shalleck, Erol Munuz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“Saturday was dawning warm, with only a gentle wind under a light blue sky as we got under way. . . . With the motor cut out, I could hear the whispered splash of the sea against the hull as we knifed through the Mediterranean. The calming noise, along with the gentle rocking, lulled me into a Zen calm as I went about preparing the crew’s lunch. . . . By keeping just a couple of miles offshore, we had some beautiful sights to our starboard side: the harbor towns of La Napoule and quaint Théoule-sur-Mer, . . . the sensational coastline of the Corniche de l’Estérel. . . . All of this I could see through the porthole in the galley. . . . Italy was only a week away.”
La Dolce Vita at sea. . .

An alluring, evocative summer voyage on the Mediterranean and into the enchanting seaside towns of France’s Cote d’Azur and Italy’s Costa Bella by a young American chef aboard an Italian billionaire couple’s spectacular yacht.

Having begun his cooking career in some of New York’s and San Francisco’s best restaurants, David Shalleck undertakes a European culinary adventure, a quest to discover what it really means to be a chef through a series of demanding internships in Provence and throughout Italy. After four years, as he debates whether it is finally time to return stateside and pursue something more permanent, he stumbles on a rare opportunity: to become the chef on board Serenity, the classic sailing yacht owned by one of Italy’s most prominent couples. They present Shalleck with the ultimate challenge: to prepare all the meals for them and their guests for the summer, with no repeats, comprised exclusively of local ingredients that reflect the flavors of each port, presented flawlessly to the couple’s uncompromising taste— all from the confines of the yacht’s galley while at sea.

Serenity’s five-month journey starts on the French Riviera, continues along Italy’s western coast to Amalfi, crosses the Tyrrhenian Sea to Sardinia, up to Corsica, and back to St. Tropez for the season-ending regatta. Shalleck captures the glittery Riviera social scene, the distinctive sights and sounds of the unique ports along the way, the work hard/play hard life of being a crew member, and the challenges of producing world-class cuisine for the stylish and demanding owners and their guests. An intimate view of the most exclusive of worlds, Mediterranean Summer offers readers a new perspective on breathtaking places, a memorable portrait of old world elegance and life at sea, as well recipes and tips to recreate the delectable food.

Gordon Ramsay: The Biography

Neil Simpson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Tabloid Writing - No Depth 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I agree with previous reviewers. This is short attention span writing. It jumps from one topic to another topic without going into depth. It felt like reading People Magazine and not a book.

Great book for Ramsey fans 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was a great book. It really gives you insight to his behavior. (which is not bad) It was a page turner, and I finished it in a weekend.
He really had alot of disappointments in life but turned it all around. It gives you inspiration.
If you like Gordon,this is a must read.

Editorial Review:

He has cooked for prime ministers, ousted Hollywood actresses from his restaurants, set records for cursing on television, and changed the way Britain eats. As famous for his volatile persona as he is for his cooking, Gordon Ramsay remains London’s most talked-about chef, an international sensation whose eponymous restaurant boasts three Michelin stars. And with his hit television show, Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsay is now a household name in the US. At 18, Ramsay was a professional soccer player; at 30, he was a multi-millionaire. So how did he end up in the kitchen? In this, the first biography of the star chef, Neil Simpson offers a fresh perspective on one of the most driven and successful men in Britain.

At the Crillon and at Home: Recipes by Jean-Francois Piege

Jean Francois Piege, Patrick Mikanowski

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent, comprehensive volume full of creative cooking 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The first half of this book will undoubtedly excite professional cooks. The photography and the food are both dazzling. Many of the recipes cannot be replicated at some, mostly because of ingredient sourcing. However, it is a great way to glean ideas and simply marvel at real talent and technique. The second half is quite a bit more accessible, as they are recipes from Piege's home life. They are still far more difficult than Rachel Ray's schlock, but far tastier as well. For refined yet casual home cooking, these recipes are perfect. So in essence, this book has something for every serious cook, home or professional.

Editorial Review:

The Hotel Crillon is one of the most exceptional palace hotels in Paris, and its two-Michelin star restaurant Les Ambassadeurs is one of the best in France. Jean-François Piège is the dynamic young chef at the helm, serving up an elaborate cuisine—driven by products that are in season and at their best—that has forged his reputation worldwide. In this original book, Piège takes us behind closed doors to reveal the secrets of the Crillon’s kitchen, then invites us into his home where he shares his informal recipes that he dishes up to friends and family. This book contains over eighty recipes for both special occasions and simpler dishes for every day. This beautiful volume offers a wealth of ideas for both the amateur and seasoned chef.

How to Be a Better Foodie: A Bulging Little Book for the Truly Epicurious

Sudi Pigott

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The epicurious will relish this fun little book 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 27 people found this review helpful.

If you're wondering what to get your foodie friends for the holidays, you may want to consider making Sudi Pigott's "How to Be a Better Foodie" your stocking stuffer of choice. This chic little brown & pink book is choc full of entertaining food related tidbits: from a rundown of the "better foodie" cupboard essentials (Jordanian Zatar made the list, which I appreciated), to food quotations, to an index of flavors to enjoy when traveling and an almanac of seasonal produce. There's also a list of "better foodie stocking stuffers," which includes items like candied chestnuts and a hand-tied bunch of Madagascan vanilla pods. Altogether this is a light-hearted, enjoyable book that doesn't take itself too seriously and even seems to poke playful fun at the idea that serious foodies are snobs. Hence the references to the "linguine literati" and advice sections on the best better foodie pet. "Bee keeping has an endearing, albeit competitive buzz," the author muses, and on the topic of entertaining she recommends cultivating an air of "studied nonchalance" by flaunting your relationship with the local fishmonger. Foodies will appreciate the mixture of humor and real food-related content. I've added several obscure handcrafted cheeses to my "must try" list since reading this book, along with a generous helping of better foodie knowledge - who knew that chili heat is measured in scovilles, the official scale measure of hotness? Or that watercress was called "poor man's bread" in the nineteenth century? "How to Be a Better Foodie" won't become your go-to reference book, but it will become a much enjoyed conversation starter.

Editorial Review:

Bulging with information, this little book is a delightful celebration of food that will appeal to anyone who is fiercely dedicated to finding the finest, latest, rarest, and most delicious culinary knowledge. How To Be a Better Foodie serves up entertaining and informative morsels to satisfy even the most insatiable cravings, such as:
• Unusual delicacies—prawn shells, radish leaves, parmigiano reggiano rind and more
• The latest in culinary trends such as belly pork, wagyu beef, lotus root crisps, green tea iced meringue, and sousvide preparation
• International foodie pilgrimages and an almanac of seasonal delicacies

  With quizzes to test the reader’s foodie prowess, illustrations throughout, and page after page of compelling food facts, this book offers revelations for even the most advanced foodie as well as a wealth of tidbits for the eager novice.

Schott's Food and Drink Miscellany

Ben Schott

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the mind that brought you Schott's Original Miscellany comes a collection of vital irrelevance and uncommon knowledge surrounding the worlds of food and drink. Schott's Food And Drink Miscellany is a snapper up of unconsidered trifles (in both senses of the word) - from food history to cooking terms; cocktail recipes to dining etiquette; grace before meals to after-dinner toasts. What other book can tell you the accepted procedure when drinking from a Loving Cup; which potatoes are best for mashing; how to fold your napkins into a variety of pleasing shapes; the correct technique for lighting a cigar, or a Christmas pudding; or how to make the legendary 'Monster Egg'? Schott's Food And Drink Miscellany offers all this - and more. It will inform you of the King who served foie gras to his dog; the feast where guests ate in fear of their lives; the socialite who spiked his punch with benzedrine; and the dining club whose members ate their meals in reverse. An 'olla podrida' of all that is pertinent to wining, dining and socialising, Schott's Food And Drink Miscellany offers everything for the food-lover, wine-drinker, gastronome and glutton.

The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine

Rudolph Chelminski

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A lot to like, but a major gripe 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I agree with virtually all of the reviews, but I found the writing style incredibly irritating. There seems to be no word sufficiently arcane. Peers can only be confreres (and in italics), and some of the analogies are suitable for those with a doctorate in medieval history.
Ironic given that Loiseau's was keen on presenting ingredients in their purest form.

Editorial Review:

On the evening of February 24 2003, an astounding story broke into French radio and TV news bulletins, then raced around the world: Bernard Loiseau, France's most famous chef, had committed suicide. More than a surprise, it was simply unbelievable, because he was a man who had everything: a super luxurious hotel and restaurant holding three stars, the highest rating of the Michelin guide; media star status at home and an enviable reputation worldwide for the daring cuisine des essences he had invented; a great staff, entirely devoted to his cause; an attractive loyal wife and three beautiful young children. He was on top of the world, and yet he chose to end it all or was it was because he was on top of the world? Enigma.

The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution

David Kamp

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

America's obsession with all things culinary. 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 7 people found this review helpful.

"It's not enough to liberate yourself politically, to liberate yourself sexually--you have to liberate all the senses"--Alice Waters (p. 131).

From the Food Network to the popularity of farmers' markets, from kitchenware stores like Williams-Sonoma to grocery stores like Whole Foods, from restaurant critics to celebrity chefs, from Ratatouille to bestselling books like this one and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, one thing is certain. Americans are obsessed with food, and not just any food. David Kamp is a writer and editor for Vanity Fair and GQ. In The United States of Arugula, Kamp follows the cultural history of gourmet dining in the U.S., from Wonder Bread to whole wheat, focusing much of his attention on "the Big Three" food visionaries, James Beard, Julia Child and Craig Claiborne, who revolutionized America's eating habits. Kamp reveals how, over the course of fifty years, a few cookbook writers, restaurant owners, and celebrity chefs (including Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, and Emeril, among others), transformed food into an American obsession for all things fresh, organic, and culinary. Since the 1950s, America has become a country of gourmets and foodies, who search out only the very best food, who are concerned not only about health and nutrition, but about the science, industry, and the personalities surrounding their food. Kamp's fascinating culinary history offers revealing insights into the eating habits that define us as a country, insights that left me wondering if perhaps we're suffering from a national eating disorder.

G. Merritt

Editorial Review:

The wickedly entertaining, hunger-inducing, behind-the-scenes story of the revolution in American food that has made exotic ingredients, celebrity chefs, rarefied cooking tools, and destination restaurants familiar aspects of our everyday lives.

Amazingly enough, just twenty years ago eating sushi was a daring novelty and many Americans had never even heard of salsa. Today, we don't bat an eye at a construction worker dipping a croissant into robust specialty coffee, city dwellers buying just-picked farmstand produce, or suburbanites stocking up on artisanal cheeses and extra virgin oils at supermarkets. The United States of Arugula is a rollicking, revealing stew of culinary innovation, food politics, and kitchen confidences chronicling how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive—and became the cultural success story of our era.

How to Cook a Wolf

M. F. K. Fisher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Unusual writing for unusual times 5 out of 5 stars.
42 of 42 people found this review helpful.

M.F.K. Fisher was a superb writer. And she lived in "interesting times" in Europe and California. How to Cook a Wolf pitted her inate love of food and cuisine against some severe times when money might be short or food was rationed. Her strange sense of humor and practical outlook are interesting; for example, she gives a recipe for a sludge to keep body (if not soul) alive. The instructions begin with borrowing 50 cents to buy the ingredients; hamburger, wilted vegetables. The resulting mush can be used as a nutritious dog food, or a staple to survive on. She even claims it can be quite acceptable fried as scrapple, but then you'd have to have some cooking fat (and even that could be hard to come by.)

In these times of plenty, it's hard to relate to this book except to read Fisher's ideas and fantastic prose; the section on "Sue" (really California artist and etcher Nel Coover) who survived and entertained her guests with wild ice plants, seaweed and stolen eggs and potatoes is captivating.

If you have never read any M.F.K. Fisher, start with "The Measure of My Powers", but if you have read her, and if you have developed a taste for her marvelous writing, this is one of her famous works that is unique and interesting.

Editorial Review:

Written to inspire courage in those daunted by wartimes shortages, How to Cook a Wolf continues to rally cooks during times of plenty, reminding them that providing sustenance requires more than putting food on the table. M. F. K. Fisher knew that the last thing hungry people needed were hints on cutting back and making do. Instead, she gives her readers license to dream, to experiment, to construct adventurous and delicious meals as a bulwark against a dreary, meager present. Her fine prose provides reason in itself to draw our chairs close to the hearth; we can still enjoy her company and her exhortations to celebrate life by eating well.

Lobscouse & Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels

Anne Chotzinoff Grossman, Lisa Grossman Thomas, Patrick O'Brian

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here at last--the cookbook that Patrick O'Brian's fans have been craving. A glass of wine with you! Patrick O'Brian's much-beloved protagonist Jack Aubrey declares, in Post Captain, "How much better a man feels when he is mixed with halibut and leg of mutton and roebuck." So what better way to celebrate the joys of the acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series than with this long-awaited cookbook, full of the food and drink that so often complement Jack and Stephen's travels? In these pages, you will find authentic early-nineteenth-century recipes for several mouthwatering feasts, such as A Great Raised Veal and Ham Pie, Christmas Pudding, Roast Buffalo, Jam Roly-Poly, Steak and Kidney Pudding, Syllabub, Treacle-Dowdy, Trifle, Marchpane Cakes, Pig's Trotters, and, of course, Spotted Dog. Recipes are accompanied by relevant quotes from the text of the series, as well as extensive historical notes on the origins of the dishes and their names. Also included are instructive sections on the preparing of roasts, puddings, and raised pies. Whether for culinary adventurers, history purists, or readers just wondering what toasted cheese is, Lobscouse and Spotted Dog is a book that every Aubrey/Maturin addict must have.