More Delicious Reading

And a lot of declicious eating.

The response to last week’s list of favorite food books was very enthusiastic…. So here are a few more books that feature food and give me pleasure.

Down and Out in London and Paris. How could I have left this Orwell classic off the list? I think it was the model for Tony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, but I know that once you’ve read this book you will never forget it.

Blue Trout and Black Truffles - and just about everything else by Joseph Wechsberg. (His book on Le Pavillion restaurant is another classic.)

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya Von Bremzen. A memoir, in recipes, of living in the Soviet Union and coming to America. Totally original and completely wonderful.

Convenience Store Woman. This strange little book is very accurately described by its title. I couldn’t put it down.

Memorial. Bryan Washington is such a wonderful writer. I loved Lot, his book of short stories, but in his first novel, which takes place in Houston and Japan, he spends a lot of time in the kitchen. In a surprising and brilliant move the New York Times has now given him a food writing slot.

Blood, Bones and Butter. Gabrielle Hamilton’s book is, in my opinion, the best of the many, many food memoirs out there.

Heartburn. Nora Ephron was such a wonderful writer. This novel about the breakup of her marriage to Carl Bernstein is both heartbreaking and hilarious. Her journalism is fantastic too; if you haven’t read Wallflower at the Orgy, here’s a link. And then there’s Crazy Salad; best title ever for a book (it’s from a Yeats poem).

The Joy Luck Club. You haven’t read Amy Tan’s debut novel? What are you waiting for?

The Last Chinese Chef. It’s a love story, it’s a mystery, and it’s also a thorough explanation of Chinese food. You’ll learn more about the recent history of food in China from Nicole Mones’ novel than you will from most cookbooks. Although when it comes to Chinese cookbooks, I recommend everything by Fuchsia Dunlop. Here’s a link to my favorite of the many articles Fuchsia wrote for Gourmet.

Crying in H Mart. Everybody loves this book. For good reason.

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. A delicate tale of sisters, food, book collecting, cookbooks…..

My Year of Meats. I’ve admired every book Ruth Ozeki has written, but this novel, about the meat business, was way ahead of its time.

The Book of Salt. Monique Truong’s poignant novel about a young Vietnamese cook who works for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

Eat Like a Fish. Bren Smith was born in Newfoundland and became a commercial fisherman while still in his teens. He lived hard and loved it. Then he became a restorative ocean farmer; he’s just won the $2 million Food Planet Prize for initiatives revolutionizing food production. Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a wonderful book.

And while I have you…. here’s a book that’s coming out in the next couple of weeks. The great Marion Nestle, not a person who spends a lot of time talking about herself, has written a memoir. It’s a gem.

Speaking of writing… this Eater back and forth about the restaurant Laser Wolf, is delightful. We could use more criticism like this!

The best piece of meat I’ve had in a long time, this Jorge Rib Steak from Flannery Beef in San Francisco filled the entire house with the potent aroma of meat, age and smoke.

The Flannerys are interesting people; they’ve been in the beef business since the sixties. Read their origin story here. But these days they’re doing something really different: they specialize in meat from Holstein cattle, which is quite different than the Angus sold by most American butchers.

As Kate Flannery wrote to my friend John Markus: “We've fallen in love with the Holstein breed for the unique traits of the animal - mainly the smaller muscle sizes, and the distinctly 'fine' marbling style.

Interesting point about Holstein cattle; they weigh about the same, if not slightly more, than Angus cattle, but have a lower overall yield. Reason behind this? Holsteins have a larger bone structure and a much larger gut than Angus do. Both of these traits are a result of the female Holsteins being the number one producer of dairy in the US. The females need a strong bone structure to support the weight of the udder, and the breed has slightly higher energy needs than other breeds (ie they need more feed to see the same growth).”

I was blown away by the flavor of this meat. I will definitely be ordering my next prime rib from Flannery.

Incidentally the Flannery site offers cooking suggestions, and I was reluctant to follow them. I worried the meat would be overdone. It was not: they know how to cook their meat.

It’s been quite a week. On Sunday I interviewed Questlove about the philanthropies he’s passionate about: what a fascinating man! (The piece will appear in the November issue of Town and Country). On Tuesday I had lunch with Eric Ripert to discuss the 50th anniversary of Le Bernardin (the Paris restaurant first opened in 1972). Along the way I ate a lot of wonderful meals.

Lunch at Le Bernardin. Is Eric Ripert as thoughtful, decent and interesting as he seems? Definitely! Is the food at Le Bernardin as wonderful as ever? Better! A few highlights.

The famous tuna carpaccio is hiding a crisply toasted baguette topped with foie gras. As Eric says, it shouldn’t work but it does.

Shrimp custard with uni, geoduck, langoustine in smoked pork dashi broth. One of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.

Halibut on truffled sunchoke puree with sauce bourguignonne.

Dinner at Corner Bar in the Nine Orchard Hotel. I think Ignacio Mattos is one of our most talented chefs, and I’ve never had a dish he made I didn’t like. His latest menu, a take on classic bistro food, does not disappoint. My favorite dishes:

A wonderful plateau de fruits de mer….

A perfect version of steak au poivre…with stunningly good French fries

And a surprising swirl of soft serve: honeydew, cilantro and olive oil.

Dinner at Le Rock . Raucous, delicious and destined for hipness, the latest restaurant from the Frenchette team was packed with food folks (Martha Stewart was at the next table). This too is classic bistro fare, although unlike Corner Bar, it references Lyon pretty strongly with dishes like tablier de sapeur (breaded tripe, very good), and cervelle de canut (a soft herbed cheese). All the food was fantastic. I especially liked

sardines in escabeche…

Bison au poivre (also served with fantastic fries).

And profiterole.