Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Food Books


Aside from making food and eating food, I love to read about food.
Is this what you'd call an obsession?
A few titles I've been enjoying lately:
Alice, Let's Eat: Further Adventures of a Happy Eater by Calvin Trillin. I haven't read anything of Trillin's that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. This book of funny food essays by the self-acknowledged "genial glutton" is no exception. It's grand fun to join in his zealous quest as he scours Kentucky, for example, for that perfect barbecued mutton.
It Must've Been Something I Ate (The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything) by Jeffrey Steingarten. Steingarten, who writes about food for Vogue magazine, has a completely different style than Trillin. An attorney by training, he thoroughly investigates subjects that intrigue him, often turning what for most of us would be mild curiosity ("I wonder if all these different types of salts are really all that different?") into quantifiable experiments that would earn him the blue ribbon in any state science fair competition. Fascinating stuff.
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy. This culinary mystery, complete with recipes in the back, features fictional White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras. Along with the entertaining "cozy" mystery come details about the White House kitchen and its goings-on that make for a super enjoyable story for food fans.

Now I'd love to hear your suggestions for good books about food. Mysteries? Essays? Fun cookbooks? Other food genres?

9 Comments:

Blogger John and Lisa said...

I really enjoyed Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader. Many of the recipes are referred to in her other books, and the recipes are interspersed with stories about Mitford. Very entertaining if you've enjoyed the Mitford series of books.

May 26, 2009 at 6:28 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Thanks for the suggestion, Lisa. I'll have to look for this. I have LOVED all the Mitford books but haven't read the cookbook yet :)

May 26, 2009 at 6:55 PM  
Blogger Michele said...

I have a collection of over 100 cookbooks and as I keep telling my husband; "No I can't get rid of any of them because I use all of them".

May 26, 2009 at 7:57 PM  
Blogger The Bumbles said...

Well - Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" is on it's own a terrific book - but in the back there are all of her down home cookin' recipes which have loads of bacon fat and other greasy, heart clogging ingredients in them which makes them so tasty!

May 26, 2009 at 8:10 PM  
Blogger Carpool Queen said...

Have you ever read Mark Kurlansky's books? They weave food and history together. The two I've read and completely been fascinated by are about cod and oysters. Sounds boring, but it's truly amazing how the food trade has shaped our history.

May 27, 2009 at 6:38 AM  
Blogger Heather S-G said...

Well, I love to read anything doing with food whether it's fact or fiction...I've already mentioned my fave fiction/mystery solving-caterer written by Diane Mott Davidson. Also love all of Ruth Reichl's books, Joanne Fluke write fun (but fluffy) novels, Frances Mayes writes great non-fiction, always weaving travel & food vividly throughout!! Oh man, I want to go pull out a book and read now :)

May 27, 2009 at 6:49 AM  
Blogger DarcyLee said...

Lynn,
I love books of any kind, but combining food and books, well, you can't get much better than that. I recently found a book called The Amish Cook at Home. It's written by an Amish woman and she takes you through the different seasons and how the Amish live and what they cook including recipes. It's a beautiful book.
I love the Jan Karon cookbook too.

May 27, 2009 at 6:55 AM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Thanks, everyone, for the great food book recommendations. Many of your suggestions are new to me, so I'm excited to track down these titles. And if anyone else is looking for more food books, I found a huge list here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605961.

May 28, 2009 at 5:56 PM  
Blogger Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

I absolutely love checking out cookbooks from the library and then reading novels with food in them. LOL! :D

June 6, 2009 at 5:15 AM  

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