No matter how many recipes you can access online, there’s nothing quite as satisfying in the kitchen as having a real cookbook at your side, while you make your first or fiftieth crème brulée or a new roast chicken dish.
So think cookbooks as Christmas gifts, and don’t leave yourself out! Here, we have the pleasure of presenting you 12 reviews by award-winning essayist, FOF Annette Gallagher Weisman.
Annette Gallagher Weisman is an award-winning essayist and a longtime member of the National Book Critics Circle. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, she has written for numerous publications including the St. Petersburg Times, edibleASPEN, TheWineBuzz, Cincinnati Magazine, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Town & Country, People, and in the U.K. Vanity Fair and Over21. Annette received an MFA in writing and literature from Bennington College in Vermont.
V IS FOR VEGETABLES: INSPIRED RECIPES & TECHNIQUES FOR HOME COOKS FROM ARTICHOKES TO ZUCCHINI
by Michael Anthony
Little Brown and Company. 384 pp.
Whether or not you pushed peas around your plate for half an hour as a kid hoping they’ll disappear, you will love V Is for Vegetables. This is a must have cookbook, the kind you will keep nearby in your kitchen instead of gathering dust on a high shelf.
Author Michael Anthony is the executive chef-partner of Gramercy Tavern and the executive chef and director of Untitled restaurant in New York City. Along with Dorothy Kalins, the first editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, he has compiled this A- Z of over 150 vegetable-based dishes.
The focus of his cookbook is on seasonal vegetables using innovative ways to cook them. Aside from sharing restaurant recipes that the home cook can manage, Anthony believes that “If we re-envision the proportions in which we serve protein to vegetables, it would have such a profound effect on the way we eat.”
Cooks with busy lives will be glad to know many of these recipes take little time and are easy to make such as Roasted Leeks with Tangerine Vinaigrette and Fennel Tabbouleh. While it includes recipes with meat and fish, vegetables take center stage. One of my personal favorites is Mushroom Hot Pot with Beef and Daikon.
Visually, V is for Vegetables is beautiful to look at. In addition to archival lithographs, Anthony’s wife Mindy Dubin has a whimsical vegetable drawing on almost every page, not to mention more than 500 stunning photographs by Maura McEvoy. McEvoy also photographed Anthony’s The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook. Even the easy to follow recipes on the page look attractive.
For this, his second cookbook, Anthony’s goal is to encourage the home cook to produce meals with confidence and enjoy the process of cooking. He says that while going out to restaurants is fun, given a few basic skills, cooking at home should be fun too. In fact, Anthony and Kalins made sure when formulating these recipes that home cooks of varying abilities could prepare them on their own without the advantage of restaurant cookware and staff to help out.
WHO FOR: THIS COOKBOOK BELONGS IN EVERY HOME COOK’S KITCHEN.
BISTRONOMY: RECIPES FROM THE BEST NEW PARIS BISTROS
by Jane Sigal
Rizzoli. 240 pp.
After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, one clear sign of French solidarity is that Parisians continue to frequent their restaurants and sit outside bistros and cafes, a signal to all that the French way of life will not be changed by ISIS or any other group.
Jane Sigal’s Bistronomy is a compilation of recipes from the hottest new bistros in Paris. She describes “bistronomy” as a trend whose aim is “to whack the starch out of fine dining.” Take a tour of these pages and you can picture yourself in bistros all over Paris. There’s one that looks like a mom and pop store, another a simple bar/kitchen, and others that are more hip, but all a departure from the more formal restaurants of old. Many of these neo-bistro chefs have worked under the tutelage of famous chefs in Paris or abroad, who are intrigued by the science and techniques of modern cooking such as freezing individual ice creams or sorbet in a PacoJet, or making foams in a siphon.
Food journalist Sigal selected recipes that do not need special skills, tools, or a high-tech kitchen and most of the ingredients can be found in one’s local market. With 100 dishes to choose from, I was surprised to find each recipe was as tempting as the next, such as Chef Edward Delling-Williams’ Slow-Cooked Lamb with Rutabaga Mash from Au Passage, or Chef Frank Baranger’s show-stopping Calvados Baba with Apple-Ginger Compote from Le Pantruche. There is also a helpful reference guide at the back giving both the addresses and the arrondissements of the bistros featured as well as some other restaurants Sigal recommends.
WHO FOR: LOVERS OF PARIS AND FRENCH CUISINE. NOT FOR THE NOVICE, BUT WITH CLEAR DIRECTIONS THE ADVENTUROUS HOME COOK SHOULD BE ABLE TO TACKLE THESE RECIPES EASILY.
SIMPLY DELICIOUS
by Paul Bocuse
Flammarion. 240 pp
They say good things come in small packages…in the case of Simply Delicious, that’s true. Compiled by France’s culinary icon Paul Bocuse, this paperback is small in size but solid in weight. With over 100 recipes and 78 beautiful glossy color photographs, it is, in effect, a compendium of classic French cuisine.
Bocuse, a legend in the culinary world whose career spans over fifty years, has won numerous culinary awards. Who better to help you cook traditional French dishes such as Boeuf Bourguignon and French Onion Soup? Whether crepes, omelets, soufflés, tarts or delicious sauces, the best of Bocuse’s recipes are all here.
Some dishes are more advanced, but with step-by-step instructions simply laid out, nothing looks intimidating. You’ll find some useful information and general advice at the back too. I also love the fact that in this age of the big, the bold, and the dramatic this gem of a cookbook is under $20.00
WHO FOR: TOUT LE MONDE – EVERYONE WHO LIKES TO COOK AND ENJOYS FRENCH FOOD.
WINE FOLLY: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO WINE
by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack
Avery. 240 pp.
The subhead The Essential Guide to Wine sounds academic in tone. I found the essential part of Wine Folly to be a paring down to the bones of the basics one should know about wine as well as offering wine drinkers a broad knowledge of specific grapes and varietals grown worldwide. And, rather than the kind of thick book you can use as a doorstop, it is an attractive 7 x 9 paperback.
Wine Folly is not in the least intimidating to read. The layout with its colorful graphics and flavor wheels makes it fun, easy to navigate and more interesting than comparable primers like Wine for Dummies. Aside from a certified sommelier or serious wine connoisseur, those who’d like to learn about wine will find this a handy reference book. Within just an hour or two of study, you could feel more confident about discussing a wine varietal or choosing a bottle at your local wine store.
This wine guide covers everything from how wine is made, to tasting, decanting and pairing wine with food. It also includes wines you may not be as familiar with such as Aglianico from southern Italy or Carignan from Spain.
Those who’ve studied for a wine exam will recall how many notes one has to take; Wine Folly does it for you. To find out even more Puckette and Hammack’s award-winning blog winefolly.com is a good online resource.
WHO FOR: WINE LOVERS, ESPECIALLY ENTHUSIASTS WHO ARE JUST GETTING STARTED. WOULD MAKE A NICE HOSTESS GIFT.
FOOD52 VEGAN
by Gena Hamshaw
10 Speed Press. 150 pp.
Food52 Vegan is a vegan and vegetarian’s dream cookbook, though omnivores will enjoy it too – after all good food is good food particularly when in this case it is both healthful and nourishing.
Clinical nutritionist Gena Hamshaw writes the popular “New Veganism” column for Food52. Founded in 2009 by Amanda Hessser and Merrill Stubbs, Food52 is an excellent online community for cooks of all levels.
Author of Cooking Raw, Hamshaw’s new Vegan cookbook incorporates favorite dishes from her column and includes 60 new plant-based recipes. Some I especially liked include Polenta with Greens, Roasted Tomatoes and Lentil Walnut Crumble, Parsnip Fries with Spicy Harissa Mayonnaise, and Chai Spiced Bread Pudding.
Years ago, vegetables were the “side” that accompanied meat, fish or chicken. Nowadays vegetables are king, reflected in the number of “crossover” cookbooks that appeal to omnivores too. With an increasing awareness of both seasonal and locally produced vegetables, the result is the reverse: a predominance of dishes featuring vegetable-driven recipes, with the focus on more flavorful ways to cook them.
A few ingredients used in these recipes such as the use of coconut oil and nut milk may not appeal to omnivores, but chances are they’ll become part of your repertoire once you’ve tasted the results. A veg-centric style of cooking means looking at plant based dishes in a whole new way, while adding freshness and flavor to your own home cooking.
WHO FOR: VEGANS, VEGETARIANS AND THOSE TRYING TO INCORPORATE VEGETABLE-BASED MEALS INTO THEIR DIET.
COOKING LIKE A MASTER CHEF: 100 RECIPES TO MAKE THE EVERYDAY EXTRAORDINARY
by Graham Elliott
Atria Books. 250 pp.
Whether they are known for their cockney charm, cleavage and pearls, or a proficiency for yelling expletives, it would seem one has to have a distinctive edge to become a top celebrity chef. Joining their ranks with his own quirkiness is Graham Elliot replete with colorful bow ties, oversized eyeglasses and his love of rock and roll.
A critically acclaimed chef, co-host of the series Master Chef and Master Chef Junior, and owner of a two-star Michelin restaurant in Chicago, Elliot knows a thing or two when it comes to showing others how to cook. In his cookbook, Cooking Like A Master Chef, Elliot thinks food should taste like itself, focusing on ingredients in the peak of their season for ultimate flavor. He also believes there is no right or wrong when being creative in the kitchen; rather, one should experiment and revamp even old recipes.
Elliott would like everyone to be able to cook. The 100 recipes you’ll find in Cooking Like a Master Chef reflect that with simple straightforward instructions and nothing too fancy-shmancy. Divided into sensible sections like Bites and Snacks or Soups and Cool Salads the home cook will find plenty of dishes to please the palate and impress family and friends such as Chilled Summer Cantaloupe Soup or something a bit more exotic like Roasted Quail with Wild Mushrooms and Fava Beans.
WHO FOR: YOUR FAVORITE HOME COOK OR SOMEONE WHO IS LEARNING TO COOK.
WINE IN WORDS: NOTES FOR BETTER DRINKING
by Lettie Teague
Rizzoli. 232 pages
If the thought of reading essays about wine makes you yawn, think again. Lettie Teague, wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal has compiled a collection of brief essays packed with interesting information. Even if you are a novice when it comes to drinking wine, Wine in Words is an easy way to assimilate knowledge about a whole range of wine related topics.
Split into three sections: Fun to Know, Need to Know, and Who Knows?, Teague opines on such things as screw caps versus corks; that having a knowledge of obscure wines can get you a good wine at a good price; the star power effect – a discussion about celebrities who own vineyards such as Sting and Angelina Jolie; and the key fact that wine tastes the way it does due to the location/climate of where the grapes are grown. This place of origin is called terroir, a pesky word often mispronounced, but Teague makes even that clear to non-French speakers by spelling it tear-wah.
Teague’s short essays are equivalent to amuse-bouches: small bites worth savoring. Wine glass in hand, you might also want to read one to yourself as a bedtime story.
WHO FOR: ALL WINE LOVERS. WOULD MAKE A NICE GIFT.
NOPI: THE COOKBOOK
by Otto Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully
10 Speed Press – 336 pp
If you don’t have any of Ottologenhi’s previous cookbooks: Ottolenghi, Plenty, Jerusalem and Plenty More you don’t know what you’re missing. His is a culinary world known to focus on a Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean approach to vegetables, the type of dishes that visually excite the palate before one even takes a bite. Whether vegetables accompany lamb, beef, chicken or fish such as Smoked Lamb Chops with Eggplant Puree, Jalapeno Sauce and Kohlrabi Pickle or Sea Bass and Turmeric Potatoes in Rasam Broth, vibrant hues and exotic aromas are the norm.
NOPI stands for north of Piccadilly, where one of his restaurants by the same name is located. In this, his fifth cookbook, Ottolenghi has teamed up with Chef Ramael Scully, who adds an Asian inspired influence to both this book and the restaurant. Ottolenghi says that in addition to contemporary restaurant knowledge Scully has “a talent and enthusiasm for what I can best describe as composition.” What Ottolenghi and Scully “have attempted to do is to modify and simplify NOPI’s recipes without losing their essential core.”
Ottelenghi goes out of his way to tell you that many of his recipes in his new cookbook NOPI are not for the beginner…maybe not even for the average good cook. But while it’s true the recipes in in this cookbook were intended for professional cooks, and some even require ingredients many home cooks won’t have in their pantry, that does not mean those with an adventurous spirit can’t tackle them. As he says, “Alternative routes are suggested for different cooks…more complicated cheffy options for those with a bit of time and an overall adventurous disposition; simpler alternatives for those who want impressive results but want to get there pretty swiftly.”
I found the directions laid out in such a clear manner, many are highly doable. So if you want to stretch your skills a little and grow your repertoire, treat Ottolenghi’s words as a challenge not a disclaimer.
WHO FOR: VEGETARIANS, AND OMNIVORES WHO, LIKE OTTOLENGHI, CHAMPION VEGETABLES AS WELL AS EATING MEAT. YOUR FAVORITE CHEF.
NEAR & FAR: RECIPES INSPIRED BY HOME AND TRAVEL
by Heidi Swanson
10 Speed Press – 330 pp.
Discovery, the essence of travel, runs rampant throughout this cookbook. Just reading the ingredients for each recipe causes one to inhale reflexively as if one could smell the exotic spices. As Swanson says in the introduction she’s inspired by “Food rooted in place—both near and far… Where I live (northern California), and where I’ve travelled. This is a cookbook that attempts to explore both.”
At the beginning of each destination is a guide to staples used in Swanson’s pantry for that particular location. A bonus is the tale she tells before each place. Her descriptive powers are so evocative it makes one long to read more stories about her travels. Of Japan, Swanson writes: “It’s the cloudlike tofu, tangles of sobo noodles, precision bento boxes, and feather light tempura that make the lasting impression. The frozen breath of monks chanting in the low light before dawn, and the scent of cedar and of tatami mats, and of temple incense.” Lines like these make this writer want to say “Forget about the recipes, just tell me a story.”
But you won’t want to forget about the recipes, they are so good. Whether Saffron Tagine from Morocco; Carrot and Sake Salad from Japan; Brown Butter Tortelli from Italy; the dessert Sabayon from France; Rasam (soup) from India or Fennel Stew from her home in San Francisco, they are all worth trying, or should I say discovering.
WHO FOR: THOSE WHO LOVE TO TRAVEL AND DERIVE PLEASURE FROM DISCOVERING THE LOCAL FOOD AND CULTURE.
THE NOMAD COOKBOOK
by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara
10 Speed Press. 552 pp.
This is it. The ultimate cookbook. First: It’s big. Its cover is black with gold lettering, the quality of the paper edged in bottle green says important, and the matte photographs have an understated elegance. Slipped into a flap on the inside cover there’s a sketch of the area around Madison Square, where situated nearby is the NoMad Hotel, and inserted into the back, like a secret compartment, is a small black book by Bar Director Leo Robitschek containing cocktail recipes, not to mention the fabulous restaurant recipes too which all make this a cookbook to sing and dance about.
Long term partners and owners of restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, Daniel Humm and Will Guidera came up with a vision for a special hotel, “a place where people could come to stay in a beautiful room, to have an amazing meal, to have drinks, to socialize, to rest, to party . . . a hotel that could define a neighborhood.” All that came to fruition when they opened the NoMad Hotel on 28th Street and Broadway on April 2, 2012.
THE NOMAD COOKBOOK is divided into the same sections as the menu: Snacks, Appetizers, Mains and Desserts. Needless to say, some of the recipes are both exquisite and creative and it’s unlikely you will have ingredients to hand such as black truffles, foie gras or sea urchin. But there are more home cook friendly recipes too for meat, poultry and fish such as Beef Roasted with Tomato and Artichokes, Chicken Whole Roasted with Lentils and Brussels Sprouts, and Scallops Seared with Grapes and Parsnips. And, of course, there are delectable desserts such as Peach Roasted with Rosemary and Vanilla.
Following these sections is the important “Basics,” the building blocks of NoMad’s food used in many recipes that includes dressings, pickles, stocks, butters etc. I could go on and on…Suffice to say this isn’t just a cookbook but a work of art.
I think I’ll kick back now and have one of Nomad’s cocktails. “Mother’s Little Helper” sounds just the thing: Genever; Pale Cream Sherry, Chambery Dry Vermouth, Triple Sec and Elderflower Liqueur. Cheers!
Get out the bugles, THE NOMAD COOKBOOK is a stellar event worthy of fanfare.
WHO FOR: YOUR FAVORITE GOURMET. A PROFESSIONAL CHEF.
MY PANTRY: HOMEMADE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE SIMPLE MEALS YOUR OWN
by Alice Waters with Fanny Singer
Pam Krausse Books. 145 pp.
Do you recall a television commercial years ago that said words to the effect: We don’t make the things you like; we make the things you like better. Well, this latest book by Alice Waters is similar. It isn’t a typical cookbook; rather, a book that features foods that can enhance a meal or accompany one.
Waters shows us how to make spice mixtures, condiments, sauces, stocks, pickling and preserves etc. that will infuse dishes with added flavor. She even shows us how make cheese. Waters also describes how to shop for and stock your own pantry with these home made foods so you can enhance your recipes throughout the year, which is not only economical but lends itself to impromptu, creative meals. Depending on the type of cook you are, this slim volume could become an essential part of your repertoire.
Waters has legions of fans. No wonder when she has been at the forefront of the slow food movement and initiated the Edible Schoolyard program in the US as well has being the chef/owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California since 1971. Chez Panisse is known for its outstanding cuisine and many of its chefs over the years have become famous under Waters’ tutelage. My Pantry is Waters’ sixth book. The delightful pen and ink illustrations are by Fanny Singer, Waters’ daughter.
WHO FOR AFICIONADOS OF SUSTAINABLE CUISINE. WOULD MAKE AN IDEAL HOSTESS GIFT.
And finally…
THE WINE BIBLE 2ND EDITION
by Karen MacNeill
Workman Publishing Company. 1008 pp.
Don’t let the number of pages in this hefty paperback put you off; Karen MacNeil’s updated version of The Wine Bible is a pleasure to read. The first edition, published in 2001, took her ten years to write. For this updated version she’s revised a whopping 80% of the book.
Students typically choose between MacNeil’s The Wine Bible and The Oxford Companion to Wine edited by Jancis Robinson, of which coincidentally there’s a new updated fourth edition. Some critics favor Robinson’s version, claiming it has the edge in terms of world coverage of wines. Both are excellent, but I prefer MacNeil’s tome, which reads less like an encyclopedia even though in essence it is.
For instance, under the heading of Barolo and Barbaresco MacNeil writes: “Close your eyes and imagine it is evening in the cold, dark, hard foothill of the Alps. A fire smolders in the hearth of a stone farmhouse; game is being roasted in the old oven. Wine in this setting becomes more than wine. It is reassurance; it is solace.”
Open almost any page and you’ll find a story-like, conversational way of imparting what can often be dry, factual information. A few critics dislike MacNeil’s writing style as if it somehow diminishes her vast knowledge. Personally, I like it as the more I can learn about wine the better. In fact, I feel that same sense of wonder that the character Maya did in the movie Sideways: how wine is a living thing, always evolving so that it tastes different from one day to the next, wondering what the weather conditions were the day the grapes were picked, about the land etc. If you appreciate this kind of sensory detail, The Wine Bible is for you.
MacNeill has earned many wine accolades and titles, as well as being the host of the PBS show Wine, Food, and Friends with Karen MacNeil. Visit her website www.karenmacneil.com to sign up for her Friday tip sheet called WineSpeed.
WHO FOR: WINE LOVERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT WINE.