TEXAS FLAVOR
5 new food books with ideas as big as Texas
What makes Texas food shine? Kristin Schell, founder of the Turquoise Table movement, would probably say the potlucks she’s hosted around the bright blue picnic table in her front yard are what she loves about living, loving and eating in the Lone Star State.
If you’re in Terry Thompson-Anderson’s kitchen in Fredericksburg, she might point to a puffy pancake with stewed apples that nods to the area’s rich German history.
For a Gulf Coast shrimper, it could be enjoying your hardearned catch after it’s been soaked in a sweet and spicy marinade and grilled over hot coals.
If you’re John Mackey, you might say the best thing about food in Texas right now is the momentum that health food advocates are gaining as we all learn to eat fewer processed foods.
Austinite Ashley Blom might point to a backyard barbecue where the hosts have taken into consideration their vegetarian guests, proving that Texans from the red parts and the blue parts of the states can get along no matter their differences, political or dietary.
This month, Texans who love to eat have a bounty of new books to choose from. Some, like Thompson-Anderson’s “Breakfast in Texas: Recipes for Elegant Brunches, Down-Home Classics, and Local Favorites” (University of Texas Press, $35), dig deep into the history and culture of the various cities and regions, from El Paso to Beaumont. For more than 30 years, Thompson-Anderson has been writing about Texas cooking, and her newest book ben-
efits from the many thousands of miles she’s driven to meet cooks who are carrying on their families’ treasured dishes.
Just as Thompson-Anderson’s book focuses on the first meal of the day, “Texas BBQ: Platefuls of Legendary Lone Star Flavor” (Oxmoor House, $19.99), a new book from the editors at Southern Living, homes in on foods we cook over fire — and the many side dishes that go with them. You’ll find recipes from a few Austin restaurants, including La Barbecue and Fonda San Miguel, which shared their charro beans and guacamole recipes, respectively, as well as plenty of other dishes that you’ll want in your Texas cooking repertoire.
Unlike his 2014 book “Conscious Capitalism,” which explored Mackey’s business philosophies, “The Whole Foods Diet: The Lifesaving Plan for Health and Longevity” (Grand Central Life & Style, $28) is Mackey’s guide to running your own body with physical and ecological sustainability in mind. Co-written with Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman, the new book is a manifesto for the kind of eating that Whole Food shoppers already embrace — but that also means it’s indispensable if you’re just now starting to rethink your food philosophy. Mackey has always been a big ideas guy, but local food blogger Blom (forkingup.com) took on a bunch of smaller ideas for her new book, “How to Eat a Lobster: And Other Edible Enigmas Explained” (Quirk, $12.99). Yes, Blom teaches you how to eat a lobster, but she also gets into an assortment of other helpful tidbits, such as how long you can store nuts in your freezer or how to make a toast at a wedding. The book’s small size — it’s about as big as your hand — make it a great gift for a graduate.
Schell is another local food blogger (kristinschell. com) with a debut book, and she’s out to change the world through the simple act of putting a picnic table in your front yard. You might remember Schell from the 2015 story we wrote about her Turquoise Table project, which encourages people to put a turquoise table in their front yard as a way to welcome interaction and community-building.
Schell tells her own version of how the picnic table came to be in “The Turquoise Table: Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard” (Thomas Nelson, $16.99), which includes lots of practical advice to help you get over your social anxieties and deeper ideas about how to develop a stronger bond with your friends, family, neighbors and higher power in the process.