Esoteric Books for the Cook Who Has Everything By Joe George Some years ago, while attending a seminar on food writing in New York City, I heard a talk by Nach Waxman, owner of Kitchen Arts and Letters, a teeny but incredibly well stocked bookstore on the Upper East Side. After settling into his chair his opening remark was this: "We do not live in a recipe-deprived society." It was a simple but powerful statement, I thought, as he directed it to a roomful of food writers. He went on to explain that what he meant was that there are so many cookbooks on the market today containing mostly recipes and glossy photos that they are often boring. Writing about food does not simply mean recipes; the accompanying text should be as good as any other type of literature. As a collector of cookbooks and books on food for the past two decades, I share his sentiment: cookbooks, of course, serve a purpose and are often utilitarian, but they should also be well written and interesting enough to read. Do we really need, for example, another book telling us how to bake a loaf of bread with the same old staid recipes that are made to seem new, or one with glossy photos showing us "what it’s really like" behind the scenes of a famous chef’s kitchen (even though the scenes were probably staged and the recipes don’t translate to a home kitchen)? Of course not, but that’s beside the point—cookbooks sell, so they keep appearing one after another; new ones by the hundreds line the shelves each year. But how many of them are really interesting? That’s the question to ponder. The late M.F.K. Fisher, whose works read like novels and have inspired a generation of writers, and to whom the label "food writer" does great injustice, sums it up eloquently when asked why she writes on the subject of food: "There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk." Here are a few books from my library that I believe evoke that communion. This list could, and should, be much longer, but I’ve narrowed it down to a handful. Some are loaded with recipes and some have none; some are instructional and a few are inspirational (and one is even political). Some are merely a good read. The Bread Builders Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens, Daniel Wing and Alan Scott, 1999 The Bread Builders is a unique book; it is not a recipe book, per se, but more a volume of information. As the title suggests, it is a guidebook for baking hearth breads, i.e. naturally leavened (most commonly known as sourdough), and a definitive guide at that. What makes this book truly unique, though, is its focus on masonry ovens. If you’ve ever been intrigued by cooking foods with a live fire, or simply want to read about the process, this book is a must-have. And if you’ve never made naturally leavened bread, you will after reading this book. Some books are instant classics in their field, and this book is one of them. A Cordiall Water A Garland of Odd and Old Receipts to Assuage the Ills of Man and Beast, M.F.K. Fisher, 1961 The late M.F.K Fisher is the author of dozens of books. Most have a culinary theme, but some do not. She also published memoirs, children’s books, journals, and translated the famous tome The Physiology of Taste, by Brillat-Savarin. Of her books, she considered A Cordiall Water her favorite. It’s an odd little book of old-fashioned natural recipes for human and animal cures, which are interspersed with anecdotes and personal experience, as interpreted through her delicate prose style and shining wit. Take, for example, a recipe intending to cure a cold: One tall silk hat, one four-poster bed, one bottle brandy. To be taken as follows: put the tall silk hat on the right-hand post at the foot of the bed, lie down and arrange yourself comfortably, drink the brandy, and when you see a tall silk hat on both the right and left bedposts, you are cured. Endless Feasts Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet, edited by Ruth Reichl, 2002 Endless Feasts is a compilation of food writing that has been published in Gourmet magazine throughout its history. Like many top magazines, Gourmet has drawn from some of the greatest writers of its genre. The book was compiled and edited by the magazine’s current editor, Ruth Reichl, whose personal memoirs have achieved their own acclaim. The book includes essays from such culinary luminaries as Madhur Jaffrey, M.F.K. Fisher, Claudia Roden, James Villas, and Elizabeth David, just to name a few. You’ll be able to read short biographies of the famed "foodie" Edouard de Pomaine, James Beard, and chef extraordinaire Auguste Escoffier. There are also short memoirs and writings on culinary travel, and, of course, some views on cooking and taste. The Futurist Cookbook (La Cucina Futurista) Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, 1932 The Futurist Cookbook is one of the most unusual and bizarre cookbooks you are likely to come across; it’s a manifesto, really. I quote from the book’s jacket: "It is a collection of essays, exhortations, scenarios, manifestos, and recipes for the food of the Future, food to liberate modern man from convention, pomposity, and—above all—pasta." What does this mean exactly? You really have to read the book to understand. Marinetti believed that the sensory experience included not only the food on your plate, but also the physical feel of your surroundings, including textures, sounds, and smells. These theories are now being used by "forward-thinking" chefs today. Some may consider him a crackpot or lunatic in the kitchen, others might think him a genius. You be the judge. At the very least, this book is highly entertaining. An Omelette and a Glass of Wine Elizabeth David, 1952 During the middle part of the twentieth century, Elizabeth David was one of a handful of pioneering food writers; she is now said to have changed the way many Britons think about food. A prolific writer with many books to her credit, she influenced not only other food writers and cooks, but chefs as well. This is a compilation of short essays that she published over the years. In them she tells of her travels and people she’s known, and instructs on cooking in her unique, conversational way. The Outlaw Cook John Thorne, with Matt Lewis Thorne, 1992 John Thorne publishes the popular bi-monthly food letter Simple Cooking and is the author of numerous books. As in his newsletter, his books are a series of essays—rants, sometimes—on people and foods he likes or dislikes. His chapter on sourdough bread making alone, "The Baker’s Apprentice," makes buying this book worthwhile. Thorne writes: Truly good white bread satisfies, I think, like no other loaf, really like no other food at all. It is one thing that has been wholly shaped to comfort human hunger. Bringing it to the table, wrapped in a linen napkin, is not unlike holding a small baby—the same hand-filling size, glowing warmth, yielding firmness, and salt-and-sour sent. Here, however, the relationship is exactly inverted: it is the infant who is entirely nurturing—and entirely eaten up. Six Thousand Years of Bread Its Holy and Unholy History. H. E. Jacob, 1944 What is often taken for granted really does have a fascinating history. Bread, after all, is the most basic of foodstuffs and has literally sustained populations. The book begins in prehistoric times and takes us through to the modern. Jacob writes like the true scholar he was: a prolific writer responsible for more than forty books on everything from food to poetry to dramas. If you have even the slightest interest in food history—or more specifically, bread history—you’ll cherish this book. Slow Food The Case For Taste, Carlo Petrini, 2001 It was a great day in 1986 when a man named Carlo Petrini became fed up with the ever-encroaching fast food restaurant. He was so fed up, in fact, at the notion of a McDonald’s being built near the Spanish Steps in Rome, that he organized a protest. It was not a large protest; armed with nothing more than frustration and bowls of steaming penne, he and his supporters started a movement—one that would eventually circle the globe. Three years later, Petrini founded the International Slow Food Movement, which renounced not only fast food, but also the fast pace of the world. Since then, the movement has gained over 75,000 followers with chapters in over forty countries—including one in Buffalo. The Supper of The Lamb, A Culinary Reflection Robert Farrar Capon, First published in 1967 On page one of The Supper of the Lamb, in the opening chapter simply titled "Ingredients," Robert Capons begins his recipe for Lamb For Eight Persons Four Times: "Let me begin without ceremony. In addition to one iron pot, two sharp knives, and four heads of lettuce, you will need the following." He then goes on to list the remaining ingredients, and introduces himself. This is a book that has recipes, but most are spread throughout the entire book. The first half of the first recipe which began on page one, for example, is not yet complete on page 108, in chapter 10: "Having finished thus the main part of the first half of the initial section of my recipe for Lamb For Eight Persons Four Times, I suggest that we now relax in earnest." And so goes the book. It’s about food and recipes, of course, but it’s also about life. Capon explains that he is not a professional cook or writer, he is an ordained Episcopal minister. The world, he writes, may or may not need another cookbook, but it needs all the lovers it can get. Why We Eat What We Eat How Columbus Changed The Way We Eat, Raymond Sokolov, 1991 Try to imagine Italian food without tomato sauce, or Irish food without potatoes, or Spanish and Hungarian food without paprika. Before the first voyages of Columbus, these were not far-fetched notions. What eventually became known as "the Columbus Exchange" is what transpired when the explorers introduced old-world foods to the new world and vice versa. Tomatoes, chilies, potatoes, and peppers—just to name a few—are indigenous to the Americas, and before the Columbus Exchange they did not exist in other parts of the world. This book explains it all. Written in an easy-to-read format, this book is fascinating. Raymond Sokolov is the author of numerous books on food (including The Saucier’s Apprentice, which should also be included in this list). He is a former food editor of the New York Times and Atlantic Monthly. Wild Fermentation Sandor Ellix Katz, 2003 Wild Fermentation is a fantastic book about naturally fermented foods. Fermented foods have been the culinary building blocks for countless cuisines since the beginning of civilization, and this book is an urge for us to return to these basics. While the recipes are plentiful, the author’s writing is what pulls me to this book. He is very knowledgeable and examines fermented foods through a historical, scientific, and even a philosophical sense. Chapter 13, "Cultural Reincarnation—Fermentation in the Cycles of Life, Soil Fertility, and Social Change," is the one I found most intriguing. Katz is a long-term HIV/AIDS survivor and discusses how "living" fermented foods are a key ingredient to maintaining good health. The chapter is very eloquently written, and he reveals a great deal about himself; it’s a sort of personal essay, really, on how these foods relate to his life. I feel there is wisdom in making peace with death. It will come. When death comes it will be out of my control. All I can do is to embrace life as best I can, and when I die, I know, I believe, I have faith, that all that is me will continue to be part of the cycle of life, fermenting and nourishing and becoming a myriad of other life forms. My fermentation practice is a daily affirmation of this faith. Joe George, Executive Chef at the Twentieth Century Club, writes on food and cooking for several local and national publications. FOOD BOOKS In Buffalo, try Talking Leaves, Old Editions, or Rust Belt bookstores for these and other titles. In Toronto, try the Cookbook Store or the World’s Biggest Bookstire. Online, try www.ecookbooks.com, tenspeed.com and, of course, amazon.com. 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