You must know Julia Child by name if not by reputation. The cook of all cooks. The woman who revolutionized American household kitchens; she entered the home by TV and left us groaning, having just gorged on prodigious French food. But that really isn't her, Julia Child declares, in her book. My Life in France is an amazing, humanizing potrait of Julia Child as we peek into her life before fame and (can you belive it?) her life before she could cook (she claims that she was horrible in the kitchen before moving to France and attended cooking classes). The best thing about this book, besides its wonderful writing? The idea that you can become a master when you are older; that a skill doesn't have to be innate, it can be learnt.
Written by "bad boy" chef Anthony Bourdain, A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal will provoke envy and jealousy when you read about how he gets paid to travel the world (Barcelona, Vietnam, Russia, etc.), experience out-of-this-world meals and then write about it, all the while thumbing his nose as us unlucky tied-to-the-office civilians. Bourdain's prose is refreshingly vulgar without being unnecessarily obscene; he savors wonderfully awkward experiences and provides purely-classic side notes that will mark you bark out laughter (for my favorite, see below). Only for readers who would be willing to, with Bourdain, drink snake wine.
[Upon describing how oysters change sexes from year-to-year.]
"If you were tell an oyster 'Go f**k yourself,' it would probably not be offended".
This is a book I discovered first by listening to the authors discuss their experience, which in turn interested me enough to read the book. Canadian couple Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon simply decided one day to eat nothing but local foods from within a 100 mile radius for an entire year. Foods not easy accessible within the radius? Coffee. Sugar. Wheat. A very interesting and inspiring story; makes me want to attempt the same (so did my father, until he heard about the coffee limitation.)
link.
Wait -- Aren't the French known for their food? Why aren't they fat like us? Guiliano tries to enlighten us hefty Westerners on the French paradox: how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Some of the hints: drink a lot of water; take the stairs instead of the elevator. Hmm -- who would of thunk of that? A quick read and a nifty and entertaining story.
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Soapbox Article by Cressida Hanson
