Culinary Journeys

Culinary Journeys | READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Highly Recommended

My Life in France • Julia Child BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2007 • PAPER • 317 PAGES Child recalls her transformation from a bumbling Californian landed in Paris at age 36, to a chef and author (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) in this characteristically frank, infectious account of her early years in France. It's a marvelous record (completed by her grandnephew) of Paris and Provence after WWII, the many friends, family and memorable meals. (FRN596, $16.00)
A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France • Georgeanne Brennan BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2007 • HARD COVER • 209 PAGES • FAVORITE • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE Offered as a bonus book in the Essential Reading package for just $1.00! With the launch party at Chez Panisse, you better believe that Brennan is devoted to food. She writes in this brief, thoroughly appealing memoir of making cheese, buying and butchering pigs, hunting for truffles and the simple joy of country living. Each section ends with a recipe. (FRN687, $1.00)
Apricots on the Nile, A Memoir with Recipes • Colette Rossant BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • PAPER • 160 PAGES Rossant enlivens her warm tale of an extended Egyptian-Jewish family waiting out WWII in Cairo's Garden City with family photographs and recipes. (EGY213, $12.00)
Untangling My Chopsticks, A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto • Victoria Abbott Riccardi TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2004 • PAPER • 304 PAGES The appetizing memoir of Victoria Abbott Riccardi's experiences in Kyoto, where she studied the ancient culinary art of kaiseki, the ritual which precedes the Japanese tea ceremony. Riccardi writes with a good-natured humor that could only come from someone who has fought the uphill battle of learning the local language from scratch, and a wide-eyed appreciation for all that she learned about Japanese culture, history, and, of course, food. She includes 25 recipes for traditional and less traditional Japanese dishes. (JPN135, $19.00)
The Oysters of Locmariaquer • Eleanor Clark TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 203 PAGES This marvelous portrait of Brittany, its famous Belon oysters, traditions, culture and people won the 1965 National Book Award. It's an evocative, pleasurable account of Locmariaquer ("loc-maria-care") on France's northwest coast, the small town at the epicenter of the oyster hoopla. This new edition, with reading guide, is introduced by Mark Kurlansky. (FRN152, $13.99)
Everything but the Squeal • John Barlow LITERATURE • 2008 • HARD COVER • 256 PAGES The confessions of a glutton. Barlow, an inhabitant of the pork-happy Galicia region of Northern Spain, devotes one year to the consumption of pig, and leaves no part untasted. (SPN368, $25.00)
Damascus, Taste of a City • Marie Fadel • Rafik Schami CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2010 • PAPER • 336 PAGES Originally from Damascus, award-winning novelist Rafik Schami recalls his youth in the old city in this evocative culinary travelogue with recipes. In a unique twist, his sister, Marie, conducted much of the research on his behalf, describing the city's tastes and sites via telephone to her brother, who is exiled in Germany. (SYR13, $11.95)
Between Meals, An Appetite for Paris • A.J. Liebling BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • PAPER • 182 PAGES • FAVORITE Liebling captures with stylish prose his coming-of-age in Paris in this elegant memoir, which is also a tribute to French cuisine. (FRN32, $15.00)
Climbing the Mango Trees, A Memoir of a Childhood in India • Madhur Jaffrey BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2007 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Jaffrey closes her warm tale (peppered with sepia-toned photographs) of coming of age in a sprawling homestead in Old Delhi with 32 savory family recipes. (IDA327, $15.00)

Also Recommended

A Cook's Tour, Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines • Anthony Bourdain • FOOD • In this deliciously funny book, Bourdain eats his way around the globe on a quest for the perfect (or perfectly odd) meal. From fried Mars Bars in Glasgow to cobra hearts in Cambodia, there's nowhere this wise-cracking chef won't go and nothing he won't try. (TVL90, $14.99)
A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany • Beth Elon • FOOD • A resident in Tuscany for 30 years, Elon presents 100 recipes from a hand-picked selection of favorite restaurants in this charming cookbook and travel guide. With 10 itineraries highlighting largely undiscovered regions of Tuscany, restaurants, trattorie, shops, wineries, olive oil producers, markets and food festivals. (ITL729, $17.95)
A Life Uncorked • Hugh Johnson • FOOD • Hugh Johnson weaves together anecdotes from his life experiences with wine in this entertaining and informative tour through the wine world. Organized as an autobiography, Johnson provides his expert perspective on the joy and fascination of wine around the world. (GEN360, $40.00)
A Stew or a Story, An Assortment of Short Works • M. F. K. Fisher • Joan Reardon • FOOD • Essays on people, places -- and of course food -- mix with delightful fiction in this delectable Fisher feast. (TVL131, $15.95)
A Tiger in the Kitchen • Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan • FOOD • In this thoughtful and delightful tale of culinary homecoming, Tan, a freelance writer in New York, attempts to recreate the dishes of her native Singapore during one Lunar Calendar year. (SGP24, $14.99)
Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon • Claudia Roden • FOOD • With 100 color photos of food, people and places, this enchanting cookbook by a leading authority is filled with not just subtle, simple recipes but also stories, culture and history. (MED99, $37.50)
Beyond the Great Wall • Jeffrey Alford • Naomi Duguid • FOOD • The globe-trotting duo weave tales of travel with contemporary politics, commentary, carefully documented recipes and stunning photographs for this sumptuous overview of the food and culture of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Yunnan and other far-off regions of ethnically diverse China. (CHN475, $40.00)
Biba's Italy • Biba Caggiano • FOOD • Caggiano focuses on regional, seasonal food in this omnibus cookbook (featuring 100 recipes), menu planner and travel guide to Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan and Venice. Nicely produced, this handsome sepia-toned book includes recommended restaurants, cafes and markets in each city. (ITL777, $29.95)
Blood, Bones & Butter, The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef • Gabrielle Hamilton • FOOD • Chef/owner of Prune in New York's East Village, Hamilton recounts with candor and lyricism her unconventional, tough -- and, for the reader -- fascinating journey to chefdom, from an idyllic-then-troubled upbringing in rural Pennsylvania, through gritty jobs and mishaps in New York, to Europe and beyond. (USA451, $16.00)
Blue Trout and Black Truffles, The Peregrinations of an Epicure • Joseph Wechsberg • FOOD • Wechsberg, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and Gourmet, writes with sly humor of glorious European food in the South of France, Austro-Hungarian delights and Czech sausage in this tasty collection, originally published in 1953. (EUR238, $16.00)
Choice Cuts, A Savory Selection of Food Writing from around the World and throughout History • Mark Kurlansky • FOOD • A witty collection, organized thematically, with a rich selection of writing by the likes of Liebling, MFK Fisher, Escoffier and Alice B. Toklas. (GEN253, $17.00)
Consider the Oyster • M. F. K. Fisher • FOOD • The inestimable Fisher's ruminations on the oyster, a delightful essay full of recipes and bits of trivia. (GEN273, $12.00)
Cooking with Italian Grandmothers • Jessica Theroux • FOOD • Theroux's tender culinary celebration brings together recipes, anecdotes and photographs of a dozen Italian grandmothers across Italy. Each chapter includes a map, essay, interview and (this is the best part) authentic recipes you'd actually want to make. (ITA193, $40.00)
Curry, A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors • Lizzie Collingham • FOOD • This cultural history with recipes is appetizingly organized as a menu (biryani, vindaloo, chai, etc.). Curry explores the origins and spread of Indian food and the interplay between Muslim, Hindu, Portuguese and British traditions on the Subcontinent. (IDA319, $16.95)
Food, The History of Taste • Paul Freedman • FOOD • Editor Paul Freedman and diverse scholars celebrate the history and pleasure of food in this richly illustrated gastronomic study, illuminating gustatory pleasures and evolving culinary traditions from classical antiquity to modern restaurant dining. (GEN395, $39.95)
Mangoes & Curry Leaves, Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent • Jeffrey Alford • Naomi Duguid • FOOD • In this latest book the roving, food-loving authors (Hot Sour Salty Sweet) travel the seven countries of the Indian Subcontinent: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, collecting not only 200 recipes but also engaging tales of the people, history and adventures. With color photographs of food and places throughout. (IDA320, $45.00)
Oaxaca al Gusto • Diana Kennedy • FOOD • Diana Kennedy celebrates the diversity of the food, life and culture of Oaxaca in 300 exhaustively researched, authentic recipes. (MEX283, $60.00)
Pig Perfect, Encounters With Remarkable Swine And Some Great Ways To Cook Them • Peter Kaminsky • FOOD • In this witty travelogue and culinary history, Kaminsky's quest for the perfect swine takes him from France and Spain to "pork-related" cities in the US, including Memphis and Louisville. He includes nine mouth-watering recipes, such as Country Ham Braised in Cider. (SPN495, $22.00)
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, A Sweet-sour Memoir of Eating in China • Fuschia Dunlop • FOOD • Dunlop writes with verve and flavor on her eating adventures in China -- including the time she tried snake stir-fry -- and includes recipes in this entertaining cultural portrait. (CHN509, $24.95)
South Wind Through the Kitchen, The Best of Elizabeth David • Elizabeth David • FOOD • A selection of 200 recipes and travel essays from Elizabeth David's nine influential books, including Book of Mediterranean Food and French Country Cooking. (MED30, $29.95)
Spice, The History of a Temptation • Jack Turner • FOOD • Turner wonderfully evokes the romance, lust and mystery of pepper, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in this lively cultural history of spice. (GEN334, $17.00)
Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants • Wolfgang Schivelbusch • FOOD • An intiguing cultural history of coffee and chocolate, spices, tobacco, spirits, drinking places and rituals, all presented with gusto. (GEN364, $16.00)
The Devil's Picnic, Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit • Taras Grescoe • FOOD • An entertaining, enlightening journey through the world of forbidden pleasure from gum in Singapore to coca tea, bull's testicles, baby eels and Cuban cigars (in San Francisco). (TVL83, $14.95)
The Measure of Her Powers, An M.F.K. Fisher Reader • M. F. K. Fisher • FOOD • A fat, judicious selection of M.F.K. Fisher's writings, which spanned a lifetime and chronicled adventures (culinary and otherwise) in France, Switzerland and Italy, on shipboard and in her native California. (CUL01, $21.95)
The Nasty Bits • Anthony Bourdain • FOOD • Further outragous culinary adventures by the rogue chef and traveler, organized according to taste: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami -- Japanese for unfathomable. (WLD74, $15.95)
The Oxford Companion to Italian Food • Gillian Riley • FOOD • This endlessly informative, indispensable guide, organized A-to-Z, covers dishes, famous chefs, history and culture, cooking methods and more. (ITL867, $17.95)
The Spice Necklace, My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life • Ann Vanderhoof • FOOD • Vanderhoof (An Embarrassment of Mangoes) is back aboard her sailboat in the Caribbean in these latest encounters with the characters and cuisine of the islands. She pairs lively accounts with 71 recipes she learned along the way. (CRB260, $14.95)
The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food • Adam Gopnik • FOOD • Gopnik (Paris to the Moon) opens this witty cultural history of food in 18th-century France, birthplace of modern taste and of the restaurant, tracing our current preoccupation with gastronomy with humor and learning. (FRN968, $26.95)
Traditional Moroccan Cooking, Recipes from Fez • Claudia Roden • Madame Guinaudeau • FOOD • First published in 1958, Madame Guinaudeau's charming guide to Moroccan cuisine explores the rich culinary traditions of Fez with anecdotes, recipes, drawings and chapters on everything from choosing spices and preserving lemons to The Art of Making and Drinking Tea. (MRC44, $14.95)
With Bold Knife and Fork • M. F. K. Fisher • FOOD • This collection of memoirs from the prolific and beloved food writer M.F.K. Fisher includes recipes for over 140 dishes described with warmth and wit. (GEN553, $17.95)
The Spice Route, A History • John Keay • HISTORY • John Keay draws on ancient logs, traveler's accounts and maps for this rousing history of trade in cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, pepper, gums, resins and other costly goods from antiquity to the 17th century. (ASA52, $24.95)
The Taste of Conquest, The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice • Michael Krondl • HISTORY • Weaving travel and history, Michael Krondl a world where pepper, cinnamon and cloves were as valuable as gold -- and Venice, Lison and Amsterdam jockeyed for global control. (EUR279, $16.00)
As They Were • M. F. K. Fisher • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • This marvelous collection of autobiographical essays by the celebrated, much-adored Fisher covers her life, family, food and adventures from Whittier, California to the south of France. (FRN705, $15.00)
Barolo • Matthew Gavin Frank • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • Rich in details of village life of the Piemonte, Frank's witty tale of six months camped out in the garden of the Pittatore farm in Barolo (pop. 646) will transport you to the Italian countryside. You'll want to accompany this irresistible tale with a generous glass of red wine, and perhaps some ham. If you find youself dreaming of a trip to Italy, the Salone del Gusto, celebrating artisanal food, runs October 25-29 in Turino. For the flavor of the book and a receipe, we suggest a visit to matthewgfrank.com. (ITA297, $17.95)
Clementine in the Kitchen • Samuel Chamberlain • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • This sweet tale of a transplanted American family and their endearing French cook evokes the traditions, character and food of rural France in the years before WWII. Clementine eventually accompanies her new friends back to America, where, happily, she finds love. (FRN455, $16.00)
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, My Adventures in Life and Food • Moira Hodgson • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • Hodgson recalls far-flung places and great meals in this memoir of a peripatetic childhood and an eventful life in food. With recipes. (TVL496, $16.00)
No Reservations, Around the World on an Empty Stomach • Anthony Bourdain • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • A companion to Bourdain's popular Travel Channel show, this behind-the-scenes journal is packed with photographs, advice and spirited commentary. (GEN403, $34.95)
On Rue Tatin, Living and Cooking in a French Town • Susan Herrmann Loomis • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • A refreshingly direct, affectionate memoir of making a home -- and cooking -- in Louviers. (FRN308, $14.95)
Palmento, A Sicilian Wine Odyssey • Robert V. Camuto • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • An American journalist living in France, Robert Camuto roams the vineyards and visits with vintners from Palermo to Marsala and the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in this year-long celebration of the culture and spirit of Sicily, Italy's largest and oldest wine region. (ITA205, $18.95)
The Language of Baklava • Diana Abu-Jaber • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • In this evocative culinary memoir, the Jordanian-American novelist recalls growing up with her gregarious, homesick Jordanian father, who cooked to remember the place he came from and to pass that connection to his children. With one recipe per chapter. (JRD22, $14.95)
Like Water for Chocolate • Laura Esquivel • LITERATURE • This lovely novel uses elements of magical realism to portray themes of family, duty, sacrifice love and freedom. (MEX37, $15.00)
The Mango Season • Amulya Malladi • LITERATURE • A marvelously evocative novel of life in South India, in which the prodigal daughter returns home. The pleasure and importance of food in the novel (which includes recipes) underscores the tension between modern and traditional. (IDA257, $15.00)

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