How many of you have bought or been given a cookbook and then proceeded to cook every single recipe? Not many I would wager. But Julie Powell did just that and, in 2004, started a popular blog about it. That blog became Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (Little, Brown and Company, 320 pages, $23.95). The premise is Powell creates all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I in one year. Through the course of that year she learns and shares her life with her “bleaders” and (now) readers. Even though Powell is plaintive about her personal life, her book invites you into a food journal of an average home cook — not a chef. Throughout Powell’s book, Child looms large as a molder of aspic and of a life as well.
Artisan cheeses are off the scale in popularity. When Steve Jenkins wrote his Cheese Primer in 1996, cheese was on its way up. Now a decade later another book takes the next step. Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best by Max McCalman, David Gibbons (Clarkson Potter, 304 pages) is, as stated in the title, not a book for beginners. MaCalman is the maître fromager at New York’s Picholine and Artisanal restaurants. Cheese is ordered in alphabetical, not regional order, and only the cream of the cheese crop made the cut into the book. McCalman and Gibbons go further and rate cheeses in a manner similar to what Robert Parker and Wi8ne Spectator did to wines. Additionally, suggested cheese pairings are offered in this James Beard Foundation award-winning book.
A beautifully photographed cookbook suitable for a beginner in Japanese cooking is Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Andoh, Elizabeth and photographed by Beisch, Leigh (Ten Speed Press, 320 pages, $35). Washoku is the Japanese style of blending the nutritional aspects of food with the aesthetic. This cookbook includes 140 classic Japanese recipes and discussions of the Japanese pantry. Andoh notes the ten foods of a basic washoku pantry: dried kelp, bonito flakes, sardines and shiitake mushrooms, five fermented products for seasonings, and rice.
If you have a friend on your list who enjoys learning the origins of food, pack the following books together. The first is the History of Food by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated from the French by Anthea Bell (Blackwell Publishing, 801 pages, paperback, $29.95. History, in its 17th printing, seems to maintain its status as the “go to” book for inquisitive gourmands. Curious where Captain Morgan got his legs? Evidently, and surprisingly, rum roots extend into Iran where this “sugar wine” was mentioned in a 15th century text. Toussaint-Samat writes that potatoes gained recognition in 1789 after the fall of the Bastille and slowly gained in popularity after the release of prisoners who had been fed potatoes during confinement. After the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the new government had the roses dug up in the Tuileries garden and replanted the field with potatoes. The downside in this tome is the lack of annotations to back up assertions and the obvious French perspective. History of Food is organized by topic. For a chronological perspective, opt for Food in History by British historian Reay Tannahill (Three Rivers Press, 424 pages, $16.95). This book gives insight into the introduction of foods into the world’s diet. Tannahill writes of the socio-cultural developments of the diet as well of the historical ones. She cites the first native Euro-America dish was chowder, a bastardization of the French word for large pot chaudière. She also writes that stuffed moose heart and woodchuck casserole with biscuits were popular in Colonial Canada and that recipes still appear in cookery books designed for the northern territories today.
For the wine lover on your list give the Riedel “O” Wine Tumbler. These stemless wine glasses are the perfect choice for the friend who persists in holding a stemmed glass with pinkie extended or who has broken a boatload of glasses in the dishwasher. Note that the larger bowls are harder for smaller hands to hold. The tumblers have the added advantage of universal dishwasher adaptability since not all dishwashers have the stem holder. Riedel offers these German lead-free crystal tumblers in various shapes and sizes depending on grape varietals. Four Riedel “O” Cabernet Glasses sell for $49. Available at local stores.
One of the best regional companies producing heritage foods is Anson Mills in South Carolina. Anson produces “new crop” rice. This is rice which has been milled and should be cooked within four months of harvest and is a popular rice in Japan. The cooking technique is similar to pasta: the rice is parboiled in free moving water. Anson’s Antebellum Coarse Grits (both white and yellow) is produced from their field-ripened Carolina Gourd seed white and John Haulk Yellow corn (12 oz bag $4.95). They also have Italian-styled slow-roasted farrow, polenta, rice flour, stone cut oats, and sweet corn meal. Anson’s Carolina Gold Rice and grits can be found in local grocery stores, but some of their specialty products can be ordered and shipped from on line. www.ansonmills.com
For the person on your list who can’t get enough of Mexican food, give the “Taste of Mexico” gift box ($31.95) from Penzeys. This gift box includes Ground Ancho Chili Pepper, Ground Cumin, broken-leaf Mexican Oregano, broken leaf Cilantro, Chipotle Pepper Powder, the ubiquitous Adobo Seasoning, and powdered Ceylon Cinnamon to dust buñuelos. www.penzey.com
To contact Tricia regarding tips, compliments or complaints or to send notice of a food or wine event (at least 12 days in advance, please), opening, closing or menu change, fax Eaters’ Digest at 704-944-3605, or leave voice mail at 704-522-8334, ext. 136.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2006.
