What fascinating cookbook are you READING?

Right now I'm reading an inspiring little book called COLD SPAGHETTI AT MIDNIGHT ... As the blurb says:

"Feel-good foods to nurse your cold, soothe your aches, ward off disease & even ease the pain of a broken heart."

I'm now reading the section on garlic (which I LOVE! ) ... It's making me feel very virtuous about my addiction ... Oh & there are some great recipes, too!

Not actually reading a cookbook right now, but it's a good reminder to do so...I've got some which need more scrutiny.

KP

Any that look especially inviting, KP?

Nigel Slater - "Appetite" - I've read about 20 pages of, but need to get into it further. I love his writing but I may have packed the book away in anticipation of decoration, etc. on my flat.

I have some favorites, 'Atelier of Joel Robuchon', 'The French Vineyard Table' by Georges Blanc, but currently, I am engrossed in Regan Daley's 'In the Sweet Kitchen'. I am adapting a Moroccan spiced dessert risotto recipe in the book for a vegan dinner this weekend.

Waking up an old thread ..


I've always meant to read MFK Fisher's set of books, Waverly Root, and a few other food writers from the days of yore..

I've liked some more recent cooking-writing books, and been irritated by some cooking writers. A recent book I like is Russ Parson's How To Eat A Peach - I've liked his columns in the LA Times, sometimes follow the LA Times cooking blog which he is a part of, so it's no surprise I like the recent book.
A recent book that irritates me, except that the guy may be a genious, is
Pot on the Fire by John Thorne with Matt Lewis Thorne. This fellow experiments. He's tried cooking rice seemingly every possible way and explains the pros and cons.

A favorite of mine for bread and talking about bread is Carol Field's The Italian Baker - but she has another book, more wide ranging, called Celebrating Italy, very informative re italian food history, with some recipes.
Then there's On Persephone's Island, a Sicilian journal by Mary Taylor Simeti - lots about food and the seasons in Sicily.

I need to check out Michael Pollan in book form...

Thanks for doing that, osso. I was actually thinking of starting a new thread about which cookbooks people found the most useful (& inspiring!) these days.

Say nothing of those which have proved to be absolutely useless to a home cook - though they might have been expensive & very impressive to leaf through!

I loved this book!



HONEY FROM A WEED
Fasting & feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia.

Ordered it from Amazon .. oh, about 10 years ago. It arrived here during a ferocious heat wave & I read it, from cover to cover, holed up in the darkened house over about 2 days. Couldn't put it down. Fascinating.

It is definitely not just a cookbook. It's part memoir, part travelogue, inspirational for cooking, & a lot more .... I have it here in front of me. The blurb on the back cover says:

Honey From a Weed is a Mediterranean odyssey. Patience Gray has lived & travelled widely in the region's countryside for over 25 years, brings to life its people, their culture, and most of all their rustic cooking, with sumptuous prose & reverence ...

Some reviews from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/190301820X/heidiswanson-20

You might try some of Diane Mott - Davidson's mysterys. She's got some interesting recipies tucked away in there, though lately, she's been adding them at the back of the book instead of at the point they appear in the stories.

I've not heard of her before, roger. Will do a bit of Googling & see what I can find out. Thanks!

I've just discovered her. Quite enjoyed the book. Should amazon her and see what else is available.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/diane-mott-davidson/chopping-spree.htm

not too fluffy-fluff, and the recipes seem pretty darn good


(worth looking for at 2nd hand shops)

Thanks, ehBeth.

The one I'm reading at the moment - borrowed from the library:



Secrets of the Red Lantern
Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart
by Pauline Nguyen, with recipes by Luke Nguyen and Mark Jensen

It's a big, beautiful book. As much the story of the Nguyen family (lots of old & new photographs of family members & the story of how they escaped Vietnam & settled in Australia), as a cookbook. Plenty of delicious looking photographs of the food. Really interesting stuff!

".... More than 275 traditional Vietnamese recipes are presented alongside a visual narrative of food and family photos that follows the family's escape from war-torn Vietnam to the founding of the Red Lantern restaurant in Sydney, Australia.

At the heart of each recipe is the power of food to elevate and transform. From a recipe of Cari De that sparks a memory to the distinctly bitter melon soup that says, "I'm sorry," Secrets of the Red Lantern shares the rich culinary heritage of the Nguyen family and their personal story of reconciliation and success.

Recipes such as Bun Rieu (Crab and Tomato Soup with Vermicelli Noodles), Goi Du Du (Green Papaya Salad with Prawns and Pork), and Che Khoai Mon (Black Sticky Rice with Taro) unlock the family's secrets and see the family persevere through homesickness, heartache, and the upheavals of change to finally experience growth and celebration. The result is a beautiful journey through Vietnamese history, culture, and tradition that cooks everywhere will embrace. ..."

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2008/red-lantern/

There are quite a few Vietnamese recipes on that link, too.

A fascinating read, borrowed from my public library: Kylie Kwong's My China. Terrific recipes, fascinating reading about China & regional Chinese food & some pretty good recipes. Good stuff!





http://www.taste.com.au/news+features/articles/715/my+china

Thought a lot of the cooks here would be interested in this review. For those who are looking for gift ideas for cooks, put this on the list:

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2010/12/09/review-and-recipe-williams-sonoma-cooking-at-home/

Excerpt:

Prepare yourself. I'm going to wax poetic about this cookbook. I have now cooked numerous recipes from Cooking at Home and spent a fair amount of time just flipping through it, and I have to say that I haven't fallen this hard for a cookbook since Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything years ago. It is everything I love in a cookbook: comprehensive coverage with simple to prepare recipes that hearken back to an older style of real home cooking without being fussy or out of date.

...

While the gamut of classic recipes seem to have made the cut -- from dishes like pot roast (recipe below), Coq au Vin, and Boston Baked Beans -– Mexican, Spanish, Indian and Asian foods are also spattered throughout. And I think this is exactly why I love this book so much. Unlike the old Joy of Cooking (and I have to say this book does remind me of that one in its expansive coverage of almost every type of food and cooking technique), Cooking at Home mostly emphasizes traditional American fare, but also includes a hodgepodge of ethnicities and world cultures that more accurately reflects who we are as a nation. From fish tacos to Chile Fried Rice and Crab, the basics for trying a dish or ingredient (like fish sauce) that may be outside your comfort zone are presented in a calm, easy and nonthreatening way, inviting you to branch out a little.

The Complete Asian Cookbook - Charmain Solomon.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vDxqzgAACAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions

It's an oldie but a goodie (first edition in the mid-7os), but I just bought the 2012 fully revised edition! Courtesy of a couple of friends who gave me a gift voucher to my favourite bookshop for Christmas.
It's big, beautiful & full of information on the food of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia & Laos, Vietnam, The Philippines, China, Korea & Japan ......
But best of all are the recipes. No fail!

I had a copy years ago & it somehow vanished.
So this is a little like a reunion with an old, trusted friend who's been through a major revamp & looks rather glamorous!