Cookbooks that make terrific gift ideas.
More Canadians turning out bestsellers
I like to read cookbooks in bed, and so my criteria for a first-rate publication is different than that of your aver-average foodie.
Most culinary observers, for instance, are gaga over the latest Thomas Keller tome, Bouchon Bakery. Me? I’m scared of that book. The size of a pizza box and weighing at least 10 pounds, Bouchon Bakery would break my nose if it fell as I drifted off. Still, it might be worth a swollen schnoz, just to read of Keller’s years in Paris, where he lived above a bakery and awoke daily to the scent of fresh-baked baguette.
This year saw a host of terrific cookbooks land on my desk, and on my face. It’s difficult to whittle down the dozens of titles to a favoured few.
“Some books are striking a chord, and we can’t keep them on the shelves,” says Barbara-Barbarajo McIntosh, for more than 15 years the owner of Barbara-jo’s Books to Cooks in Vancouver, a gem of a specialty store with 5,000 titles in stock.
“This year, we had a stellar array of books come in.
“Australia was the best, Britain, and France,” says McIntosh. “Canada has always been a little more conservative with our cookbook publishing, but we’re getting a little better all the time.”
Not only do we Canadians now enjoy a couple of blockbuster national cookbook writers, such as chef Michael Smith or baker Anna Olson, there are a number of fine regional cookbooks being published, particularly on the West Coast, where Arsenal Press and Harbour Publishing are releasing innovative texts on everything from kale to quinoa.
Here are some of the highlights for cookbooks, in and outside of Canada, released in 2012. (Prices may vary from those stated.) Canada’s Favourite Recipes; $40
Rose Murray and Elizabeth Baird made an art of Canadian cooking long before regional cuisine became a thing. Indeed, Baird — a longtime food editor for Canadian Living — published Classic Canadian Cooking, Menus for the Seasons, in 1974. Now, together with Murray, another grand dame of the Canadian kitchen, Baird has reached into the collective food memory to pull together beloved preparations, from Maple Carrot Cake, to Baked Beans. Seasonings, Flavours of the Southern Gulf Islands; $29.95
For us Prairie folk, a trip to the Gulf Islands is a bittersweet experience. We love Saltspring, Pender, Galiano, Mayne and Saturna Islands, and yet, we must return to our cold, arid home. Still, we can recreate food memories through a new cookbook by the husband and wife team of Andrea and David Spalding. There are recipes for dishes inspired by local abundance, and lots of stories about farmers and island traditions, such as potlock suppers and solstice celebrations. Rob Feenie’s Casual Classics; $29.95
Known as a wee bit of an enfant terrible in his younger days, when he had Lumiere and Feenie’s in Vancouver, chef Feenie has mellowed since he joined Cactus Club and had three children. Casual Classics, his fourth cookbook, is a reflection of that shift, featuring pictures of his wife and youngsters, and recipes designed with the family in mind. But Feenie’s palate is ever the finely tempered instrument it has always been. The flavours are fresh and vibrant, and the recipes, easy to replicate. Thomas Keller Bouchon Bakery; $50
Keller, the chef-proprietor of six restaurants with multiple three-star Michelin ratings, also has six bakeries in the United States. Bouchon Bakery is a co-operative effort among Keller and his two chief bakers, Sebastien Rouxel and Matthew McDonald, and the words are also a collaboration, written along with Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler — top-tier American food writers. This means that the book is not only inspiration for bakers, it is a terrific read. (At this writing, Duchess Provisions had signed copies of this book available.) Barefoot Contessa Foolproof; $40
There is something about Ina Garten that makes cooks feel safe, and highly motivated at the same time. Garten’s success lies in her recipes, naturally, but also in her organized approach to cooking. Buy this book, if only for its recipe for Sticky Toffee Date Cake with Bourbon Glaze. The Soup Sisters; $16.99
Soup Sisters —a non-profit organization that makes and donates soup to women and children living in shelters — started in Calgary in 2009. Now there are chapters of Soup Sisters nationwide, including Edmonton, and each month, participants collectively donate some 8,000 bowls of soup. For this collection, Canadian celebrity chefs from Bonnie Stern to Massimo Capra have contributed 100 soup recipes, organized by season. The Calgary founder, Sharon Hapton, edits, and Calgary’s Pierre Lamielle (Kitchen Scraps) illustrates. It’s available primarily online. Dirt Candy; $23.99
Hailed as the first North American graphic cookbook, Dirt Candy is written by Ottawa native, Amanda Cohen, and her husband, Grady Hendrix, and illustrated by Ryan Dunlavey. It’s based on the dishes in Cohen’s restaurant of the same name, a “vegetable” restaurant in the East Village of New York City. It has a strong narrative thrust, detailing Cohen’s extensive training for Iron Chef America, and the exhaustive nature of running a restaurant. This will impress the 20-somethings on your Christmas list. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook; $35
American food blogger Deb Perelman (SmittenKitchen.com) began attracting a devoted following when she started cooking and writing out of her tiny Manhattan kitchen in 2006. This is her first cookbook; 100 recipes created with the average home cook in mind. One of the appealing things about Perelman’s work is that it tickles the imagination. What if we lived in a cool city like Manhattan? What if we could turn our modest blog into a crazy popular cookbook?
Not everybody likes to cook. But everybody likes to dream.