FAVORITE FOOD BOOKS

I have loved and still love too many food books to name them all. So to make this list, a book has to have REALLY moved me, inspired me, made me laugh, scream and/or cry.

For a cookbook to make this list, I have to have picked it up at least 100 times. Needless to say, those are mostly from years ago, early in my career, maybe not as fancy as some out now, but they mean more to me personally....

Food Writing

  • On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee,
  • The Curious Cook, Harold McGee, Macmillan, 1990
  • Casseroles et éprouvettes, Hervé This, Belin, 2002
  • The Man who ate everything, Jeffrey Steingarden
  • It Must Have Been Something I ate, Jeffrey Steingarden, Vintage books, 2002
  • The Measure of her Powers, an MFK Fisher reader, edited byDominique Gioia, Counterpoint 1999
  • Tender to the Bone, Ruth Reichl, Random House, 1988
  • Comfort me with Apples, Ruth Reichl, Random House, 2001
  • The Physiology of taste, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (translated by MFK Fisher),
  • The armchair James Beard, edited by John Ferrone, Lyons Press 1999
  • The Way We EAT, Jim Mason and Peter Singer
  • The Omnivore's Dilemna, Michael Pollen
  • Alice Waters and Chez Pannisse, Thomas McNamee

Cookbooks

  • The Making of a Cook, Madeleine Kamman, Morrow 1971
  • Larousse Gastronomique, (English version by Prue Leith, Mandarin 1990)
  • The French Laundry Cookbook, Artisan 1999
  • The Great Chefs of France, Anthony Blake, Quentin Crewe, Marshall editions 1978
  • The Ma Cuisine Cooking School Cookbook, (Linda Lloyd, Tom Mindly Schulman, Patrick Tenard, Helend Siegel), Random House, 1988
  • The Frugal Gourmet on our Immigrant Ancestors, Jeff Smith, Avon 1990
  • The Classic Italian Cookbook, Marcella Hazan, Ballantine Books, 1973
  • Simple Cuisine, Jean Georges Vongrichten, Macmillan, 1990
  • The Escoffier Cookbook (English version of the Guide Culinaire by Auguste Escoffier), Crown Publishers 1969

 

LATEST READS and Cookbooks WORTH MENTIONING

  • How I learned to Cook, Culinary Educations from the World's Greatest Chefs, edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan, Bloomsbury, 2006: Accomplished chefs share their stories, from experiences in the kitchen that marked them as an apprentice, line cook or chef to childhood memories that inspired or taught themsomething.A range of short stories that are amusing, touching and illuminating. I highly reccomend itespecially to cooks.
  • The reach of a chef by Michael Ruhlman
  • Bernard Loiseau's biography
  • Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Jacques Pépin The Apprentice
  • In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan: A MUST READ for anyone who eats, like everything by Michael Pollan - informative, more than that - illuminating andinspiring, yet so clear and down to earth.
  • Heat, Bill Buford
  • La Cuisine et le gout des Épices, Ethné et Philippe de Vienne
  • The Devil's Picnic, Taras Grescoe
  • Bottomfeeder, Taras Grescoe
  • Ma Gastronomie, Fernand Point

 

  • The Fat Duck Cookbook, Heston Blumenthal
  • Under Pressure, Thomas Keller
  • The Pie and Pastry Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum
  • Anita Stewart's Canada
  • The Sustainable Kitchen, Stu Stein