These are factual books about the delights of food, eating and places to eat; others are cookbooks which provide historical and cultural backgrounds plus recipes.
Ziegelman explores the culinary traditions of the German, Irish, Italian, and Eastern European Jewish families who lived in one Lower East Side tenement between 1863 and 1935.
Kingsolver and her family take a year to live solely on food they grow themselves or find locally produced. This book follows their experience and speaks strongly to the slow food and locavore philosophies.
This wonderful graphic cookbook teaches Korean cooking with approachable directions and cute panels about cultural facets of the cuisine. Stand-out recipes include a description of hand-pulled noodles, and include common home cooking shortcuts like store-bought broth. Great for the culinarily curious and the adventurous home cook.
Think Impossible Burger, not seitan, tempeh, or old-school textured vegetable protein. My favorite recipes include Pan-Fried Dumplings and Green Chile Stew with Hominy (Pozole!) This book is a must for the supermarket vegetarian chef.
First Pulitzer Prize winner for food and restaurant criticism, LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold, has collected over 200 of his best LA eatery discoveries.
Over the past few years heirloom vegetables have been the rage, but why? Sociologist Jennifer Jordan analyzes the big picture about this growing interest. One aspect is flavor, and another is nostagia for the memory of vegetables and fruits that really, truly had some unique fragrance and flavor.
A collection of essays that pay tribute to cookbook writer, master chef and outspoken activist. She brought proper attention to good Southern cooking.
Adam Federman presents the life of Patience Gray, an important figure in modern food writing. Independent, iconoclastic, a type of earth mother who eschewed modern consumerism, she and her partner, the sculptor Norman Mommens, led a rugged life on the island of Naxos. LAPL owns these books by Gray: Honey from a weed : fasting and feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades, and Apulia; A Catalan cookery book : a collection of impossible recipes; Plats du jour
Trillin's hungry quest (See The Tummy Trilogy below.)continues for the next best nosh or complete meal. Alice his loving wife is gone, About Alice, and his two daughters are living in California, a veritable wasteland of self-conscious healthy eating.
Lidia Bastianich shares 115 recipes from her flagship restaurant, Felidia, established in Manhattan in 1981. The full-page color photographs of completed dishes will make you want to try the recipes, or catch the next flight to New York.
The Gullah and Geechee people were isolated slaves having worked on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. “This Lowcountry community represents the most direct living link to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors.” 89-year-old Emily Meggett was born on Eidsto island, has lived there her entire life, and is "a respected elder of the Gullah community." She presents her special recipes and comments about food and life.
The foods many of us eat today, from tofu to curry, didn’t just happen. They arose and were accepted in a particular culture and time; influenced by political movements, travel, experimentation, and a whole shelf of cookbooks that shaped the dining choices of a generation.
Through her writing Elizabeth David changed attitudes about food and cooking in England. This is a compilation of her best articles with some recipes. Pages 167-168, "Untraditional Christmas Food" presents a luxurious alternative to any home cook who feels overwhelmed by holiday pressure.
We all know him as a master chef, sidekick to Julia Child, and TV presenter. In this homage to the chicken and its versatility, Jacques Pépin has created a memoir with recipes, accompanied by his own vibrant paintings. Growing up in the French countryside, he learned many ways to cook a chicken from his maman, whose special techniques and recipes he shares with us.
Angeleno and rising star in the L.A. culinary landscape, Roy Choi chronicles--with charisma and sincerity--the story of his life and the Los Angeles food scene. From Korean taco inventor with his Kogi truck, to Chego to community-based inititiatives in the inner city, Choi is much more than a celebrity chef. Includes 85 recipes.
It is not necessary to cook to delight in this spectacularly beautiful and informative cookbook from the knowledgable Fuchsia Dunlop, English writer and Chinese food expert. She explores the culture and food traditions of the Jiangnan region. "Jiangnan spans the eastern coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, the city of Shanghai and that part of southern Anhui province known as Huizhou," and is known "as the land of fish and rice." Dunlop's thorough presentation of this region's food will be of particular interest to those who love Chinese cuisine.
Rick Martínez, food writer and chef, takes readers on a tour de force, lip-smacking, journey through Mexico. His own recipes are glorious, accompanied by anecdotes and full-page color photographs.
This is the most recent book on Mexican food, cuisine and culture from Rick Bayless, who owns several Mexcian restaurants in Chicago, and is the recipient of Mexico's Order of the Aztec Eagle, the higest honor awarded to foreigners. Bayliss covers eveything from appetizers to desserts; includes different types of equipment; essential ingredients to have on hand; and "Four Secret Weapons I Always Have in My Refrigerator" and how all of us can make them. Right now, his recipe for Chicken Barbacoa, p. 324, is on my must-make-it-soon list.
Lidia Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, televsion host of numerous cooking programs on PBS, and cookbook author. In this heartfelt autobiography and memoir, she recounts her family's history in post-World War II Pula, Istria, then part of Italy, and how they eventually came to America. Filled with joy and hope, Basitanich's life is the embodiment of what it means to be an immigrant and find a new life in the United States.
What fun when fifty of today's best-of-the-best chefs were asked: what woud you eat at your last supper; who would prepare and serve it; what kind of drink; where would it be; would there be music; who else would be there? The answers are simple to complex with the chefs photographed in garb ranging from absolutely nothing to splendidly elegant. There is a selection of recipes.
John Baxter is a transplanted Australian who has lived in France for many years and loves the country and the food. He began to notice that many staple foods of French cuisine were disappearing so he set out across the country interviewing and questioning chefs and cooks. Of course he eats and writes about the food, the cultural history behind ingredients and methods of preparation. It is almost as wonderful as being there.
Learn how to make cookies for breakfast, belly-warming soups, savory stir fries and more in this cookbook by Instagram influencer Carleigh Bodrug. Vegans and omnivores alike will enjoy these plant-based, oil-free recipes made with oridnary ingredients. This is a well laid out cookbook, semi-glossy, and easy to read with great photos of recipes and their ingredients.
Two of the most enduring and pernicious myths about plant-based diets are that (1) the food is bland and (2) they don’t provide enough protein. This cookbook should put those misconceptions to rest once and for all. With mouth-watering full-color photos and easy-to-follow recipes, even the most die-hard meat-eater will want a seat at this dinner table.
In Japan, art and food meld into one, from the small local eatery to the more revered restaurants. Matt Goulding editor at the online journal Roads & Kingdoms, savors and appreciates the works of "shokunins" or artisans who take pride in the preparation and presentation of food. Goulding conveys such delight in what he experiences that readers will be salivating and dreaming of taking a foodie trip to Japan.
A mouth-watering critique and history of Jewish delicatessens, and the foods and families who made them. Many establishments have lost their original ethnic vitality and tasty cuisine, however three cheers for Los Angeles which Sax deems to be, ". . .America's premier deli city."
Shuk is a market place, and an Israeli market has fresh food products and spices that represent Persia, Yemen, Libya, Palestine, various Balkan countries and parts of North Africa. These ingredients contribute to marvelous recipes that shake up the palate and taste buds in an unexpected way. Part of the narrative description for each recipe includes information about the country or culture of origin. Full-page color photographs make you want to start cooking now.
To bring money and attention to the crisis in Syria, photographer Barbara Abdeni Massaad asked world food writers, chefs and others to contribute a favorite soup recipe to a cookbook. Working with Interlink Press, the profits of the cookbook project “ . . . will be donated to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR to provide urgently needed food relief for Syrian refugees.”
Sean Brock is an advocate for Southern cuisine: cooking methods, food, ingredients and a champion for restoring heritage produce and livestock. According to Brock the cuisine and traditions "are part of American history" and provide food that "is good for our bodies and good for our souls." This is a large-sized book (8"x 11"), with terrific full-page color photographs, and a two-page, double-column resource list in the back
This is a trilogy of books: American Fried, Alice, Let's Eat, and Third Helpings. Trillin, social and political critic, and a man with a bottomless stomach, who is never too full for one more meal, writes about local foods and restaurants with wit and seriousness.
Cara Nicoletti loves food and its preparation, and she loves to read all kinds of books. As a butcher, pastry chef and omnivorous foodie she combines two passions in this homage to food and literatue, which has recipes plus vibrant illustrations by Marion Bolognesi.
A unique book that is the first cookbook devoted entirely to Juneteenth. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs, history, and marvelous recipes.
Peanut butter sandwich; Dark chocolate banana nut; Blueberry dazzler; Turmerican dream all are simple smoothie recipes, and there are over 100 more in this book. This is a simple introduction to smoothies and the health benefits they offer, using easy recipes and ingredients; an extensive section on the availability of various protein powders makes selecting a protein powder simple, based on nutritional needs and preferences. Each smoothie requires between three to six readily available ingredients, mainly fruits and vegetables.