BEYOND RECIPES
15 books to expand your food thinking
School might be out for summer, but home cooks k nowyou never stop learning, especially when it comes to food.
If you’re looking for some foodrelated reading this summer, we rounded up 15 nonfiction books that will fill your mind with new ways of looking at the foods, gadgets and tools we use ev eryday, as well as the centuries of history that got us to where we are today. Some of these books offer recipes, but none of them is a traditional cookbook.
Jessica Gavin is a food scientist first and a cookbook author second, but her new book, “Easy Culinary Science for Better Cooking: Recipes for Everyday Meals Made Easier, Faster and More Deliciou s”(PageStr eet Publishing, $22.99) seamlessly blends the two. The title might seem like a slight to other nerdy food science books that have come outinrece nt years, but Nathan Myhrvold and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, two authors of said books, showered Gavin with praise for h er applied culinary know-how in blurbs for the cover. Using easy-tounderstand language in the text, “The Modern Kitchen” features dozens of encyclopedialike entries for everyday kitchen items, including hand mixers.
the former college instructor takes cooks through differences between dry cooking, moist-heat cooking, braising, slow cooking, emulsification and chemical and yeast leavening with recipes to demonstrate the techniques.
If you’re the kind of cook who loves to flip through old community cookbooks or learn about what people ate on the Oregon Trail, you’ll love “Sourdough Biscuits and Pioneer Pies: The Old West Baking Book” (TwoDot, $24), a charming book from author Gail L. Jenner, who also gets a kick out of learning about family and vintage recipes. From handwritten recipe cards to archival texts, Jenner tells the history of America through its pies, puddings and spoonbreads.
Michael Ruhlman is best known for his cookbooks on charcuterie, eggs and baking ratios, as well as a careerlaunching memoir called “The Soul of a Chef.” His latest book, “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America” (Harry N. Abrams, $28), is an academic look at an industry vital to our individual lives and our economy. Inspired by his childhood love of buying food with his dad, Ruhlman uses his mastery of prose to keep readers engaged while teaching them about how supermarkets evolved into the culinary wonderlands they are today, the challenges they face and why grocery stores are the ultimate happy place for so many home cooks.
One reason grocery stores are filled with such a varied selection of fruits and vegetables is thanks to the efforts of David Fairchild, the 19th-century explorer who is the subject of a biography from National Geographic writer Daniel Stone called “The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats” (Dutton, $28). Fairchild dedicated his life to finding new and better seeds and seedlings that would go on to transform American agriculture and cuisine. Seedless grapes, fleshy avocados and mangoes and even Bavarian hops are among the crops Fairchild is credited with introducing to the U.S., and Stone’s book helps us understand the lengths Fairchild went to get them.
British author Tim Hayward thinks a lot about ice cream scoops. And hand “Feast by Firelight” mixers, and blenders, and silicone spatulas, and canning jars. Even the humble tea towel gets its turn in the spotlight in Hayward’s newest book, “The Modern Kitchen: Objects That Changed the Way We Cook, Eat and Live” (Quadrille Publishing, $24.99), a historical encyclopedia, of sorts, for “The Story of Food” kitchen gear and gadgets. If you’ve ever wondered why restaurants don’t use Pyrex baking dishes and why metal graters have a longer history than you might imagine, Hayward’s book will satisfy your curiosity.
Knives are so integral to a modern kitchen that they have inspired many devotees “S Is for Southern” who can tell you about knife history, production, care and utility. Josh Donald, who runs a cutlery shop in San Francisco, loves knives so much that he has traveled the world seeking knifemakers and knife-masters, many of whom are featured in his new book, “Sharp: The Definitive Introduction to Knives, Knife Care, and “Pizzapedia” Cutting Techniques, With Recipes from Great Chefs” (Chronicle Books, $27.50). At the very least, this book will teach you once and for all how to sharpen the knives in your own kitchen, but that’s just the start.
Many camping cookbooks take for granted that you know how to pack a cooler or a kitchen box so that when you get to your campsite, you’ll be prepared for a few nights of eating outdoors without your food spoiling or without missing a key tool or ingredient. “Feast by Firelight: Simple Recipes for Camping, Cabins, and the Great Outdoors” by Emma Frisch (Ten Speed Press, $22) is a great primer for cooking outside because it includes details about all that prepa-
ration, as well as three-day menus with dishes that build upon one another so you’re not cooking from scratch at every meal around the fire.
Last fall, the editors of Garden & Gun, including Editor-in-Chief David DiBenedetto, released a fascinating overview of life in the South called “S Is for Southern: A Guide to the South, from Absinthe to Zydeco” (Harper Wave, $45). With more than 500 entries from noted food writers including Robb Walsh and Jessica B. Harris, the book covers pop culture, literature, agriculture, architecture and, of course, food. Harris’ essays on okra and peas are particularly poignant; you’ll also learn that Duke’s Mayonnaise regularly hears from customers who want to keep their ashes in that iconic yellow-lid jar.
I can’t think of a foodie who wouldn’t love a copy of “The Story of Food: An Illustrated History of Everything We Eat” (DK, $35) on their bookshelf or coffee table. The editors at DK, known for their vivid visual presentation and thorough research, have assembled an unprecedented look at the history, cultural significance and myriad uses of nearly every ingredient you can think of, from maple syrup to macaroni. You’ll win every food-themed round of Trivial Pursuit if you study this heavy tome, but it would take months just to absorb all the information packed into these pages.
For a shorter, lighter take on one of the world’s most beloved foods, check out “Pizzapedia: An Illustrated Guide to Everyone’s Favorite Food” (Ten Speed Press, $16), which is a fun look at the various styles and history of pizza, told through author Dan Bransfield’s whimsical and charming illustrations.
Killian Fox’s quirky “The Gannet’s Gastronomic Miscellany” (Mitchell Beazley, $14.99) offers a potpourri of foodie knowledge that reads like one of those bathroom books full of short, surprising and delightful passages about things you never thought to think about, like the five stages of boiling water (from “shrimp eyes” to “raging torrent”) or quotes from a man who has been cooking with roadkill in the U.K. since the 1950s.
For food lovers who aren’t afraid of the “foodie” or “snob” labels, Kevin Nelson’s “Foodie Snob” (Lyons Press, $16.95) really is the perfect gift. Nelson interviews notable chefs, including Marcus Samuelsson and Martin Yan, about food truths and myths they’ve seen in their careers, and he offers heaping advice on how to impress your dinner guests with knowledge about Shakespeare, French cuisine and more quotidian subjects, such as Newman’s Own or fruitcake. He even put together food quizzes to challenge yourself or your friends.
If knowing more about food history and culture isn’t as important to you as what you’re actually cooking today, tomorrow and later this week, grab a copy of Austinite Jeanine Donofrio’s new food journal. The lemon-colored “Love and Lemons Meal Record and Market List: Plan Your Weekly Meals and Organize Your Grocery Shopping Diary” (Clarkson Potter, $19.99) offers a beautiful space to keep track of what you’ve made and what you’d like to cook, as well as a place to write grocery lists and store your clipped recipes.
And, finally, maybe you’re in the mood to pick up a beautifully written book that is ostensibly about food but touches on deeper themes in life. Jackie Kai Ellis’ debut, “The Measure of My Powers: A Memoir of Food, Misery and Paris” (Random House, $19.99), follows the author’s journey from France to Italy to Congo and back again. It’s an “Eat, Pray, Love” adventure of self-discovery that happens to include a stint at a cooking school and the occasional recipe.
Tamar Adler is one of America’s most respected working food writers. After time as an editor at Harper’s Magazine, Adler pivoted into food, writing the 2011 memoir “An Everlasting Meal” and eventually moving to the New York Times Magazine. Earlier this year, she published her latest book, “Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revised” (Scribner, $27), which was inspired by the old-to-new theme of her magazine column. Reviving old recipes isn’t simply about nostalgia. Adler is a stunning writer who knows that we can learn a lot about cooking today by meditating on how we cooked many years ago, even if the recipes themselves haven’t held up in modern times.