I love all the memoirs by an author called Ruth Reichl. I frequently cook from My Kitchen Year. I make the pork dumplings with a little shredded cabbage mixed in for my family’s New Year Day dinner every year. I just wish the book would lay flat on my kitchen counter. ( although I have finally found a good use for my 3 lb dumbbell).
I wish my book would lie flat too! The second edition does; but when they sent me the first edition I was so angry! I had specifically asked that they have a sewn binding....
I am so thankful for this booklist, Ruth. I immediately went to the library website and requested some of these. I can't wait to read Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking! (I've had a crisis when teaching at the university this semester, and as I always do in times of real heartbreak, I have been returning to your books for some peace). We are all lucky for your words and insight. Grateful.
After reading the above, I'm almost too hungry to think about books, but....here's one my wife and I enjoyed: Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 5, 2020
OMG! How could I have left Bill's wonderful books off my list? Sometimes you just forget about your friends, but there are few writers I admire more than Mr. Buford. Dirt is an amazing book in so many ways; among other things, it's an incredible look at the way French restaurants really work (and it isn't pretty). Bill and I are about to start producing a podcast together....
Thanks so much for these reading lists. I see many old favorites (Gastronomical Me, Home Cooking, Calvin Trillin) but also some that are new to me. One more that I love is As Always: the letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. And Marcella Hazan's memoir.... And The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. I guess that's three!
No better memoir than your very own TENDER AT THE BONE, to say nothing of SAVE ME THE PLUMS. I tell everyone to read those! Thank you for this list. Can’t wait to dig in!
Thank you so much for this, Ruth! I've spent the last 15 minutes cruising ebay/amazon/thriftbooks just for Joseph Wechsberg boooks. (Apparently they hold their value pretty well.)
Oh, man! I absolutely love Convenience Store Woman. When I can't sleep, I re-read it. There's just something about this little book that mesmerizes me.
Sorry - me again. I wanted to also add a recommendation for
"Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste" by Bianca Bosker!!
I so appreciate this post with the book recommendations! I'd like to also suggest "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" and "The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks", both by Kathleen Flynn.
Thank you for more wonderful recommendations. Enjoying the Laurie Colwin. I would also add Toast by Nigel Slater, which is just the most sad and beautiful food memoir.
Toast is wonderful, but so is everything else by Nigel Slater! And now I'm thinking of even more books I should have included on this list. I'll make another list for the upcoming edition of La Briffe.
Hello Ruth, Just finished reading "Tender at the Bone" followed by "Save me the Plums." Read them both like a maniac catching a page or two every hour right in the middle of work. It's wild that your love affair with food began with you keeping on eye on those who were eating your mother's inventive dishes. Bravo!
Grateful for all the terrific reads and can’t wait to read your next work. I own all of your books except your first cookbook - would love to read that, too! If anyone knows where I could find a copy, please share. Thanks!
I love all the memoirs by an author called Ruth Reichl. I frequently cook from My Kitchen Year. I make the pork dumplings with a little shredded cabbage mixed in for my family’s New Year Day dinner every year. I just wish the book would lay flat on my kitchen counter. ( although I have finally found a good use for my 3 lb dumbbell).
I wish my book would lie flat too! The second edition does; but when they sent me the first edition I was so angry! I had specifically asked that they have a sewn binding....
This is one of your best posts yet. I'm off to buy some books. (I wish I were off to visit some restaurants...)
I am so thankful for this booklist, Ruth. I immediately went to the library website and requested some of these. I can't wait to read Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking! (I've had a crisis when teaching at the university this semester, and as I always do in times of real heartbreak, I have been returning to your books for some peace). We are all lucky for your words and insight. Grateful.
After reading the above, I'm almost too hungry to think about books, but....here's one my wife and I enjoyed: Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 5, 2020
by Bill Buford (Author)
And yes, a great entertaining post.
OMG! How could I have left Bill's wonderful books off my list? Sometimes you just forget about your friends, but there are few writers I admire more than Mr. Buford. Dirt is an amazing book in so many ways; among other things, it's an incredible look at the way French restaurants really work (and it isn't pretty). Bill and I are about to start producing a podcast together....
Any details you can reveal about the podcast?
Not yet. But we've been working on it for the last year....
ooooo can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dirt rocks!
Thanks so much for these reading lists. I see many old favorites (Gastronomical Me, Home Cooking, Calvin Trillin) but also some that are new to me. One more that I love is As Always: the letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. And Marcella Hazan's memoir.... And The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. I guess that's three!
No better memoir than your very own TENDER AT THE BONE, to say nothing of SAVE ME THE PLUMS. I tell everyone to read those! Thank you for this list. Can’t wait to dig in!
Thank you so much for this, Ruth! I've spent the last 15 minutes cruising ebay/amazon/thriftbooks just for Joseph Wechsberg boooks. (Apparently they hold their value pretty well.)
Oh, man! I absolutely love Convenience Store Woman. When I can't sleep, I re-read it. There's just something about this little book that mesmerizes me.
Sorry - me again. I wanted to also add a recommendation for
"Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste" by Bianca Bosker!!
Thanks for all this. Very much appreciate the suggestions.
I so appreciate this post with the book recommendations! I'd like to also suggest "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" and "The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks", both by Kathleen Flynn.
Thank you for more wonderful recommendations. Enjoying the Laurie Colwin. I would also add Toast by Nigel Slater, which is just the most sad and beautiful food memoir.
Toast is wonderful, but so is everything else by Nigel Slater! And now I'm thinking of even more books I should have included on this list. I'll make another list for the upcoming edition of La Briffe.
Hello Ruth, Just finished reading "Tender at the Bone" followed by "Save me the Plums." Read them both like a maniac catching a page or two every hour right in the middle of work. It's wild that your love affair with food began with you keeping on eye on those who were eating your mother's inventive dishes. Bravo!
Grateful for all the terrific reads and can’t wait to read your next work. I own all of your books except your first cookbook - would love to read that, too! If anyone knows where I could find a copy, please share. Thanks!
This is another treasure.
Great books and gorgeous pics! Thank you for sharing!
Should add "cooking with Fernet Branca" a seriously non-food food book (panda paws and badger as some of the dishes the 'hero' makes)