Books I Love
At “regular” college, I was an English and theatre major with a penchant for the history classes. Hence, I read an awful lot of books. As a “regular” user of the public transit system, I still end up reading a lot. (Can I recommend the Nook at this point? Best gadget ever invented for the reader who loves to lend books.) Here’s a list of books I love (both cookbooks and just plain good books):
Cookbooks
The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer: If you’re a home cook, this one is pretty much the gold standard of reference guides.
Cooks Encyclopedia of 30-Minute Cooking by Jenni Fleetwood: This is the oddest and probably most used cookbook in my house. I bought it for $5.97 off the clearance shelf at Barnes and Noble. It’s broken down into 10-, 20-, and 30-minute recipe sections. And, each section contains appetizers, entrees (veggie, poultry, and meat), and desserts. I think I’ve made every recipe at least once (with the exception of a few kidney recipes… I’m just not there yet).
Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich: I just love her and her show. Her recipes are all pretty simple. I’d stay away from her gnocchi recipe though. A dismal failure.
The Venetian Kitchen by the Venetian Women’s Club of Mutual Benefit: OK, this one might be hard to find as it was a cookbook created by a Michigan women’s group for a fundraiser a number of years ago. My grandmother gave me a copy because she was a member and it includes a number of her recipes. Oh, and the gnocchi in this book? Perfect!
Ming’s Master Recipes by Ming Tsai: I love the recipes and how they can be folded into a number of dishes. I don’t use the cookbook as much as I should because I don’t want to get it dirty (stupid, right? But, Ming signed my copy when I went to a PBS fundraiser… so I don’t want any smudges.)
A Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa: I bought this book as a joke for my husband who loves all things Latin. The recipes are by in large disgusting sounding and mostly not good for home cooking. (Who has a barrel that they can let fish rot in for six months? Yeah, me neither.) But, I am going to conquer some of these recipes one day and translate them into something that would be easier to make at home.
Le Répertoire de La Cuisine by Louis Saulnier: It’s one of those classic cookbooks that my Chef said I should get. It contains about 6,000 recipes but fits in your back pocket. How does that work? Easily when a sample recipe looks like this (it’s under the salmon section): Coquilles Edward VII—In shells, coated with Curry sauce, sliced truffles. That’s it, you figure out the rest. Not for the first time cook, but I’m finding it a fascinating read.
Food-Related Books for Reading
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky: Oh, the wars that were fought and the dynasties that were created all due to salt.
Alinea by Grant Atchez: Technically, this is a cookbook. But, it will be a rare day when I attempt to make any of the dishes in this book. Call me old fashioned, but I like my molecular gastronomy served to me rather than attempting home freeze drying.
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell: OK, I admit it. I read the book and I kinda liked it. I haven’t seen the movie, but the book wasn’t that bad.
Random Books I Love
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner: Admit it. You hated having to read this book in high school or college. But, give it another shot. I swear, you’ll fall in love with the people of Yoknapatawpha County.
The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation by Mark Kurlanksy: A condensed history of the most anomalistic people in Europe. You’ll be surprised at how much they did without the rest of the Western world even realizing it.
Emily Post’s Guide to Etiquette (17th Edition) by Peggy Post: Yeah, I’m a nerd for the harsh rules of civilization. So, sue me.
Wind, Sand, and Stars by Anotine de Saint-Exupery: I read this book in high school and it pretty much made me want to be a tragic, wartime pilot. I have very little motivation though so I never took up flying.
The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde: If you’ve read any of the classics of literature, these books are hysterical. They’re mysteries, but Fforde makes obscure and not so obscure references to literature throughout them (kind of hard not to when the main character is jumping in and out of books to solve the crime).
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: You either love this book in one of those life-affirming ways or you hate it with unrivaled passion. But, it’s short so even if you hate it, it’s over quickly. I loved it, but that’s probably because I loved another one of his books, The Pilgrimage, first.
Journey to Portugal by Jose Saramago: Kind of like The Pilgrimage, but in Portugal.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami: It’s just weird and wonderfully Japanese.
The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa by Yasunari Kawabata: When you go on a Japanese novel kick, you should probably not start with this one. It’s a bit confusing (in fact, it has been referred to as the Japanese Ulysses).
The Magus by John Fowles: This book is really screwy in a dark and debilitating way. It takes place on Spetses in Greece which is on my list of top five islands I love with whole-hearted abandon.
