Eat Magazine - Book Reviews

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Molly Wizenberg's delightful food memoir A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table will be released in paperback next month, so it seemed like a good time to revisit it.

I gobbled up this book when it first came out last March. This Seattle-based food writer wins you over quickly, with her evocative writing and tempting recipes. I personally can vouch for the lemon yogurt cake, and her cream-braised cabbage was the surprise star at my Easter feast last year.

Between writing a regular column for Bon Appétit, launching a new podcast (Spilled Milk) and helping her husband start up his pizzeria, she hasn't got much time left for the blog that started it all (Orangette), but her followers remain loyal. To read the first chapter of A Homemade Life, click here. To try one of Molly's winning recipes, check this week's recipe box.

Published by Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Calgary-based Julie Van Rosendaal (Dinner with Julie) did not waste any time figuring out how to make a significant contribution to the Haiti recovery effort. Within a few days, the food blogger had organized Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti, gathering seventy-two recipes from over twenty-five food bloggers, including celebrity chefs Dana McCauley and Michael Smith, and Vancouver's own Jeanette Ordas (Everybody Likes Sandwiches). With matching contributions from the Canadian government (until February 12th) and the book's printers, this is a great way to multiply your donation dollars. Proceeds go directly to the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. To read more about the project and see the complete list of contributors, click here. To preview or purchase the book, click here.

Fresh Canadian Bistro

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

To create this new anthology, "author Craig Flinn, co-owner and chef at Chives Canadian Bistro in Halifax, travelled across Canada in 2004 performing “stages” – short cooking internships – at numerous top-tier restaurants. As explained in his introduction, what he noticed was a dual cooking trend that saw locally produced artisanal ingredients being used in dishes inspired by the sort of tasty-yet-budget-conscious fare served in European bistros, trattorias, and pubs." Read Quill and Quire's full review here.

published by Formac Publishing Company Lmited, October 2009.

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On the back of Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Alton Brown, author of I’m Just Here For the Food writes: “Professional cooks and bakers guard ratios passionately so it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Michael Ruhlman is forced into hiding like a modern-day Prometheus, who in handing us mortals a power better suited to the gods, has changed the balance of kitchen power forever”. I don’t think he is exaggerating; even if you never open up Ruhlman’s self-proclaimed “anti-recipe book”, the diagram on the cover has the potential to teach you more about cooking than many cookbooks on your kitchen shelf. The concise diagram offers you the ratios for fifteen everyday foods, including bread, pasta, pie and cookie doughs, pound, sponge and angel food cakes.

The caveat, however, is found in the first few pages: “good technique must be used in conjunction with the ratio”. This is not, therefore, a book for beginners - nor is it the book to help you find the "perfect" or "best" recipes, though it does offer some crucial culinary fundamentals. If you have been feeling a bit like a slave to recipes, then Ruhlman’s ratios may just be the key to your freedom. And who couldn’t use some divine powers to exert in the kitchen?

The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"Is it possible to fall in love with a fruit? Six or seven years ago a young Web producer named Chip Brantley was browsing the Culver City farmers market when he encountered a yellow-skinned, outrageously sweet fruit that changed his life. It was a Pluot, probably the Flavor Queen variety, one of the first and tastiest of a series of hybrids of plum and apricot, with plum character predominant, bred by the Zaiger family of Modesto." Read the full review here, on the LA Times website.

Sushi. Food for the Eye, the Body & Soul

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you have ever wanted to know everything about sushi, and by everything, I mean right down to molecular information explaining why some fish muscles are white, while others are red, then this is the book you've been waiting for. The author, Ole Mouritsen, is a scientist and professor of biophysics at the University of Southern Denmark. He is also an elected fellow of the Danish Gastronomical Academy with a dedicated passion for sushi. The result is a beautiful book that would sit comfortably on a coffee table, on a shelf of textbooks at a culinary arts academy, or in the kitchen.

Instruction and technique make up only one part of the book. The origins and cultural history of sushi are examined, as well as a thorough guide to all the ingredients and tools used in sushi preparation. With an interest in presenting insights into the physical chemistry that is an integral part of food preparation, Mouritsen and his colleagues are groundbreakers in a field they call "gastrophysics". The author seeks to expose the chemical composition and physical textures that are at the base of healthy foods, and manages to do so without intimidating the reader.

Nigella Christmas

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I think either you like Nigella or you don't. I'll confess straight up, I do. I like her writing, her "if I can do it, so can you" attitude, and how she is steadfastly unapologetic about her love of kitsch and use of "store-bought". There is plenty of both in this cookbook, but there are also some surprises, such as the Pumpkin and goat cheese Lasagne. With a collection of festive cocktails, lots of easy canapés, and even a schedule for your Christmas Day lunch countdown, Nigella offers all sorts of tips to get you through holiday entertaining without losing your mind.

Having been a fan since the days of How to Eat, which didn't even have a little author photo on the back cover, these more recent cookbooks with Nigella smiling at you from every other page do seem a little excessive (although they must also contribute to her excessive sales), but if you are looking for a Christmas kitchen bible (with a confession on the first page that she is, "simply put", a heathen), then this one will not disappoint.

Published by Knopf Canada, 2008.

The Edible Series: Cheese, Curry and Chocolate

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In 2008, Reaktion Books launched The Edible Series; beautifully bound, concise and erudite books investigating the global histories of specific foods. I was utterly charmed when three of their recent additions landed on my desk (the 'C' foods): Cheese, by Andrew Dalby, Curry, by Colleen Taylor Sen, and Chocolate, by Sarah Moss and Alexander Badenoch. Not only are they quite splendid to behold, with their colourful covers peeking out from under cream dust jackets, they also proved to be rather engrossing when I opened them up.

If you have ever wondered just how old the oldest known surviving cheese is, what the story behind Vindaloo is, or precisely how many multinationals control most of the cocoa beans in the world, then you are the audience Reaktion is looking for. If you approach food with an academic interest, a persisting passion or simply a tenacious curiosity, then these books are for you. Providing fascinating details, intriguing photographs (interested in what a cacao press looked like in 1828?) and a few good recipes each, these slim volumes will look lovely on your shelf, but would equally be a welcome gift to any friends or family with a nagging food obsession. Other titles in the series include Hamburger, Hot Dog, Pancake, Pie, Pizza and Spices, with more than twenty forthcoming.

Corked

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

For a slight change of pace, this week we offer you a father-daughter wine road-trip memoir. How can you go wrong with a cover that reads: "Fear and loathing in Bordeaux. A daughter and her dad hit the bottle and hit the road"?

Read Adair Brouwer's review for this month's Quill & Quire to find out how two highly likable characters and "barrels of fun wine facts" make this an entertaining read.

Fresh

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A smiling Anna Olson beams out over a bucket of bright heirloom tomatoes on the cover of her new cookbook Fresh. I have never seen an episode of an Anna Olson cooking show, but with celebrity chef cookbooks you soon recognize that each one conveys a strong sense of its “brand” (that ever-popular business buzzword). If Michael Smith’s brand is ‘down to earth’, then Anna Olson’s is quite clearly ‘cheerful’. From the eye-popping colour photography to the rainbow tabs running down the sides of the pages, this book is a celebration of all foods bright and yes - fresh, making for a tempting display.

Each of the seasonal sections starts with a list of the produce available for those months, while every recipe offers a “fresh take” sidebar, to inspire other directions the recipe might take. Uncomplicated recipes with clear directions and lots of appealing combinations, such as the corn blueberry toss, or the spiced chocolate and pear tart, make this an enticing cookbook, whether you are already a fan or not.

Published by Whitecap, 2009.

$29.95

Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Grant Shilling writes: "Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life is a memoir and a natural history of small farms, rural life, biology, barnyards and botany set on an 18-year-long day. It begins and ends with Brett biblically and literally naked in the dark in the garden and poetically zigzags through time and place." To see the full review, click here.

Venezia: Food and Dreams

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Like clockwork, as fall gives way to the long grey stretch of winter, my mind starts to wander to far-off places. Tessa Kiros’ latest cookbook is the perfect aid for any armchair (or kitchen) travel you may be inclined to venture on. Venezia, with its gilded page edges, velvet ribbon bookmark and generous photography, is a sumptuous affair, and one that delivers on the subtitle’s promise of ‘food and dreams’.

Tessa Kiros lives in Italy, though not in Venice, so the same spirit of exploration that readers enjoyed in Postcards from Portugal is present in this book. For the well-traveled Tessa, food is the true passport to a place, and if anyone is going to get the golden key to the city, she will. In a preface called “Eating in Venice”, she patiently guides us through the elements of a proper Venetian meal, from cicchetti and antipasto, through primo, secondi, contorni, to dolci and finally caffè. The book is similarly divided; having examined the separate courses of the meal, she offers the best examples of each one. With sections on 'clams and carpaccio', 'zuppa and zattere', not to mention a chapter devoted entirely to risotto, fans of Italian food will not be disappointed – this cookbook is a love letter to the unique cuisine of the floating city.

Published by Whitecap, 2009.

Fat of the Land

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you have enjoyed an autumn filled with mushroom forays, then here is a book to inspire you to take your foraging activities in new directions. Fat of the Land is Langdon Cook’s new book recounting his adventures hunting and gathering near Seattle, WA. (Cook specifies in the prologue that for this book, the hunting is limited to the kinds that do not involve a firearm - that may be his next project.)

Perfectly timed for you to pick up right about now, the first of the four seasonal sections of the book is Winter, with chapters on the technique used to coax razor clams out of their sand beds, squid jigging on a public pier on a cold damp night, and risking pain and itching for a bunch of nutritious stinging nettles. Using a format I’ve grown to love in a few other food memoirs, each chapter offers an entertaining anecdote, interspersed with information on the ingredient, and then culminating in a tempting recipe. Cook’s enthusiasm is contagious, and if you’re like me, by the time you reach the recipe, you’ll be wondering where your nearest squid jigging pier is, and how soon you too can be frying up your own uber-fresh calamari. If you can’t get enough of this stuff, then be sure to check out Cook’s blog by the same name.

Published by Skipstone Press.

Kitchen Scraps

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Salvator DiFalco, writing for Toro magazine, asks if the world really needs another cookbook. Looking at this week's cookbook he answered his question in the affirmative: "Well, if it’s sharply put together, with clear instructions, dazzling visuals, solid recipes and maybe even has a sense of humour, it may be worth adding to the library. Kitchen Scraps by Pierre Lamielle is certainly one of those books, though calling it a cookbook may be selling it and its creator short". Read the full review here.

Published by Whitecap, October 2009.

The Best of Chef at Home

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Chef Michael Smith offers up a tempting new collection of 120 of his favourite recipes in The Best of Chef at Home. The introduction provides an overview of Smith's "freestyling" philospophy, with a variety of tips from how to be a chef at home, to how to choose ingredients responsibly. He explains how he hopes the book will be used as a guidebook, more than to the letter, and inspire creativity and authenticity in the home kitchen. For a sample recipe, click here and scroll down. Michael Smith will be at Barbara Jo's Books to Cooks in Vancouver on Monday, November 2nd. Tickets are still available for the reception at 5 pm. Call (604) 688-6759 for details.

Published by Whitecap, October 2009.

The Wineries of British Columbia

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If recent reports about BC wine imposters have left you feeling a little confused, then look to this week’s book as a beacon of clarity. John Schreiner’s The Wineries of British Columbia was completely revised and updated for this new edition, which hit shelves last May. Wine expert John Schreiner has watched the number of BC wineries climb from 14 in 1988 to close to 200 in 2009. His passion for wine, and the stories behind the making of each wine, is generously conveyed in all of the profiles, covering every winery in BC. Including an appendix listing 18 wineries “under development or below the radar,” and with maps on the inside covers showing you exactly where your wines are being produced, this book will provide the background information you want before heading to the BC wines section or planning a tasting tour. Tapas readers will have an exclusive chance to enter a draw for a free copy of this book on Thursday, October 22nd, so sign up for our free newsletter if you haven't already.

Published by Whitecap

Everyone Can Cook For Celebrations

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The fifth book in Eric Akis’ Everyone Can Cook series tackles special occasions with panache. Like the other titles in the series, Everyone Can Cook for Celebrations, Seasonal Recipes for Festive Occasions, the Victoria Times Colonist food writer, food consultant and chef, skillfully guides reluctant cooks, this time through all the steps necessary to get a beautiful feast on the table. The book is divided into eight colour-coded, seasonal chapters, from winter parties to summer long weekends and fall feasts. Each section ends with suggested menus, offering tips on what to prepare in advance, and how to bring it all together at the right time. In addition, all the recipes, including ones that might seem daunting to a novice cook, such as the Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto Crust or Roast Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Butter offer “Eric’s Options” as a sidebar, providing the reader with a sense of being coached through any tricky parts. Eric Akis’ comprehensive cookbook boasts over 140 recipes and is designed to take the stress out of preparing delicious meals for special occasions. To try a recipe from this cookbook, check our recipe box this week.

Available at fine bookstores throughout BC. Published by Whitecap.

Araxi

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This month sees the anticipated release of the new cookbook from Araxi, the restaurant that has been voted 'Best Whistler Restaurant' by Vancouver Magazine no less than nine times. Chef James Walt, who spent four years at Sooke Harbour House before joining Araxi in 1998, has assembled an enticing selection of the restaurant’s recipes. Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant is divided into two main sections; Summer and Winter, separated by a harvest menu which features only ingredients that were grown or raised within 100 miles of the restaurant. Also included is a helpful basics appendix at the end of the book with chef’s tips on how to prepare stocks, demi-glace, sauces and more. This is the perfect cookbook for BC cooks looking for new ways to highlight local ingredients and bring the signature flavours of Whistler home. To view a sample of the book that chef Gordon Ramsey calls “a must-have ingredient in any kitchen,” visit our recipe box this week.

Araxi is published by Douglas & McIntyre.

Vancouver Cooks 2

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It has been five years since the publication of Vancouver Cooks and the Chefs’ Table Society has returned with a second helping of recipes celebrating the BC Food scene. Boasting over 100 new recipes from 70 chefs around Vancouver, Victoria and the Okanagan, including Tojo Hidekazu of Tojo’s Restaurant, Vikram Vij of Vij’s, Melissa Craig of Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler and Rob Feenie, this new volume is aimed at the home cook. With four sections on local food, international flavours, emerging talents and pioneering chefs, Vancouver Cooks 2 pays homage to BC’s unique culinary culture, giving the reader a glimpse behind the scenes of the food industry as well as an understanding of its heritage. Royalties from the sale of this book go to the Chefs’ Table Scholarship and Bursary Fund. To view a sample offering from this exciting new cookbook, visit our recipe box this week.

Published by Douglas and McIntyre, October 2009.

Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Chef Jeff Crump of the Ancaster Old Mill garners accolades from Michael Pollan and Ruth Reichl for his new cookbook. Read the review here.

Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A recent addition to the blossoming collection of food blog to book success stories is Tami Parr’s ode to the handmade cheeses of the Pacific Northwest. Like her blog, Pacific Northwest Cheese Project, Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest celebrates both the cheesemakers and their products. In her introduction, Parr states that we are in the midst of an artisan cheesemaking renaissance, and she has compiled the book to prove it. The four chapters devoted to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia are subdivided by region, providing a useful guide to cheese lovers touring the area. Delving into the stories of over 70 cheesemakers (21 of them here in BC), Parr examines the history, milk source, process and flavour of an exciting variety of cheeses. With appendixes including a glossary of cheese terms, cheese basics, a comprehensive list of where to buy locally made artisan cheese and recipes, this book provides everything necessary to get acquainted with and make good use of local artisan cheese.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Leon: Ingredients and Recipes

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Retro motifs outfit this quirky-styled cookery book in honour of the London-based restaurant, Leon. Author and founder Allegra McEvedy serves up a feast with the two-sided book featuring sections on ingredients and recipes. The ingredient chapters use pull-out seasonality charts, historical facts, nutritional information, and preparation tips to describe Leon’s 250 favourite ingredients. These fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, dairy, and pantry goods are then highlighted in some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes in the recipe section. Moroccan Meatballs, Magic Mackerel Couscous, Indian Parsnip Soup, and the highly coveted Leon Better Brownie are a few of the top contenders. This book has been met with rave reviews from readers and is a beauty to flip through. Don’t miss this work of art with its plethora of facts, commitment to sustainable choices, and scrumptious recipes.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Click here to learn more about Leon restaurant.

The Fruit Hunters

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

"The coconut is technically a fruit, and every now and then it grows a pearl. The pearl-bearing coconut is one of some 30 surprising fruits that caused me to pencil an exclamation mark in the margins of The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession..." Click here to read the full review of this book in the New York Times.

Entertaining in the Raw

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Chef and entrepreneur Matthew Kenney has built himself something of a raw food empire. With over a dozen plant-based eateries spanning from his native New York to Maine to Florida and now in Spain and Turkey, Kenney’s philosophy of “sustainable cuisine” is influenced by international flavours no matter where he cooks. Entertaining in the Raw hints of Asian, French, Indian, and Latin traditions, but focuses on the principles of shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and come from local producers. With plenty of room to improvise for your locale, simple instructions, and vivid photos, Entertaining is a raw food book for all types of eaters. The philosophy here is one of enjoying fresh and living foods for their flavours and colours rather than adhering to a strict raw food diet for health reasons. This book features party plates —tapas style appetizers, small desserts, sauces, salads, and drinks far from the ordinary cheese and olive plate. If you’re looking to dabble in the raw, expand your repetoire, or serve up something unique at your next party, Entertaining is an inspiring and well-designed source.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.
To learn more about Matthew Kenney’s sustainable cuisine, click here.

Tassajara: Lunches, Picnics, and Appetizers

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is famous for its beauty, nestled in a valley near Big Sur, California; its retreats, which feature soaking in natural hot springs and teachings from some of the world’s most distinguished Buddhists; and its bag lunches. Yes, their vegetarian bag lunches are one of the reasons this peaceful zen center is popular year after year. For the first time, chef Karen Oliveira has shared some of the most loved recipes in Tassajara: Lunches, Picnics, and Appetizers. Chutneys, butters, spreads, and marinades are the focus of this beautiful recipe book. Salads and sandwiches are uniquely dressed with recipes for almond pate, date chutney, rosemary aioli, leek cream cheese. Cookies and sweets come in dairy or vegan. Sprinkled with Buddhist anecdotes and exquisitely photographed, this book is an excellent source for original and delicious vegetarian lunches.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When the heroine of our story starts out on her year of cooking dangerously, she is a dogged, worn-down woman of thirty whose thankless job as a secretary in New York threatens to drain her of joy and a sense of purpose. Somehow, even in her bleakest moments, a sharp sense of humour and a drive to prove her worth leads Julie Powell to her mother’s dog-eared copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, and through the pages of this bible of bon gastronomie, our heroine is revived.

Based on the real life pledge of Julie Powell to cook all 524 recipes of the classic tome in the span of one year, the story winds through recipes of aspic and crepes, relationships and memories, culminating in a tale that is all at once a comic and culinary chef-d’oeuvre. With the support of her devoted and rather geeky husband and the challenges of a soul-deflating job and a tiny kitchen set in Queens, Powell rolls up her sleeves and learns to extract marrow from the bone, enjoy liver, and embrace butter.

The book is a well-crafted salute to the achievements of Julia Child, the perseverance of a young woman’s faith in herself, and the miracles that ensue when one invests in good cooking and eating.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Modern Mezze

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The tapas of the Eastern Meditteranean countries, mezze is the sharing of small plates accompanied by wine, ouzo, and other anise-flavoured liquers. The traditions around sharing mezze alter as you cross borders from Turkey to Lebanon to Greece, but a few guidelines remain constant: usually four or five dishes are set at the table at a time and are grouped as vegetable dishes, meat, fish, or cheeses. The idea is to gather with friends to eat and drink in a leisurely, social style, sharing and passing platters, and sampling bites from a spectrum of dishes. Yoghurt, tahini, olives, and eggs are popular sidekicks to the main vegetables —such as eggplant, tomato, and cucumber— and meats, such as lamb, whole fish, smoked beef, or dry, spicy sausages.

With Modern Mezze, distinguished food writer, journalist, and broadcaster, Anissa Helou introduces readers to the tradition of mezze with one hundred recipes gathered from Lebanon, Morroco, Iran, Turkey, and Greece. The recipes balance crisp pastries, crunchy vegetables, garlic-laden dips, and succulent meats with features on traditional breads, olives, pickles, and drinks. Easy to follow and brightly photographed, the book is full of uncommon recipes that are perfect for outdoor summer parties —just carry a breathmint for smoother socializing after the hummus course.

Available at fine bookstores across BC.

Real Food for Mother and Baby

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Nina Planck’s first book, Real Food, went against the grain by promoting old-fashioned foods like butter, cream, and red meat that had inherited taboos from scientists and nutritionists and set a precedent for the discussion around industrial versus whole foods. Her second book, Real Food for Mother and Baby, is every bit as unconventional and enlightening.

A self-confessed ‘nutrition nerd,’ Nina has all the science to back up why conceiving mothers need to eat crustaceans and liver or why babies need raw milk, but the more you read, the more her reasoning smacks of simple common sense. Drawing on studies of aboriginal cultures, current food science, and her personal experience as a farm-raised girl now mother, you cannot deny Planck has done her homework before tackling such sticky topics as drinking wine and coffee, eating seafood, or taking supplements while pregnant. And while buttressed by fact, her blend of passionate and pragmatic writing style, makes Real Food for Mother and Baby both a fascinating and pleasant read.

Her consistent appeal to just eat ‘real food’ (which she defines simply as traditional, not industrial) returns fruits, vegetables, eggs, fats, meat, and milk to a place of honour. And her practical approach to sourcing local, organic, or raw ingredients is refreshing, not stringent. In short, Nina is exactly the kind of source you want at your side when choosing what to eat and now, has crafted an invaluable text for parents-to-be. Whether you are planning for a baby, already have little ones at home, or just want to prepared should the time someday come, this book is a stellar source for educating yourself on the best whole foods for robust health for parent and child.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

The Pleasures of Slow Food

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With an introduction by Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini, foreword by Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser and recipes contributed from chefs Daniel Boulud, Alice Waters, and Deborah Madison, The Pleasures of Slow Food is truly an all-encompassing and collaborative effort. Beginning with the story of the Slow Food movement, the book moves swiftly into stories of artisans near and far, knit together by Kummer (a recipient of three James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award), whose vivid descriptions will whet your appetite. “They take the wedges in their hands,” Kummer describes of a woman preparing testaroli, “and lick the pesto that oozes from the soft, thick crepes off their fingers.”

The stories are divided among cheese, wine, salt, meat, and more. The recipes complement these chapters, choosing a particular vegetable or rare cheese to showcase. Steve Johnson of the Blue Room restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts contributes his Fried Plantains with Chipotle Ketchup. Master chef Daniel Boulud offers his extraordinary lamb stew, and Judy Rodgers (a Chez Panisse apostle) shares her Blackberry Peach Summer Pudding recipe.

The final product is a patchwork book that balances simple recipes, inspiring stories, and beautiful photographs with writing from some of the bigwigs of Slow Food. It makes a great introduction to the history and principles of Slow Food for those just beginning to discover the movement.

An Edible Journey: Exploring the islands' fine food, farms and vineyards

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Levinson has done it again. Combing the sideroads and main streets of Vancouver Island and surrounding islands, she sifts like a miner for nuggets of local epicurean gold for her third edition of An Edible Journey: Exploring the islands’ fine food, farms and vineyards. Her true commitment to small scale, independent artisans and a knack for reviewing in a manner that invites the reader in, make for a valuable guide book. An active Slow Food member with a nose for the best ingredients, Levinson leads us by the hand through Victoria’s Choux Choux Charcuterie, Cobble Hill’s Blue Grouse Vineyards, Denman Island’s chocolate factory, Tofino’s 600 Degrees bakery, and many more memorable stops. Any local will want to keep this book on hand for road trips, visiting friends, or to stay on top of our growing regional culinary scene.

As Sinclair Phillips (co-owner of Sooke Harbour House) writes in the introduction, “If we frequent the restaurants, markets and suppliers recommended in this book, we support a community of local producers as well as the preservation of agricultural land.” We also support a fine writer who works hard to trumpet the efforts of our local farmers and producers and reveal to us the treasures in our own backyard.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Tacos: 75 Authentic and Inspired Recipes

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Just in time for sweltering summer evenings, Mark Miller has created Tacos: 75 Authentic and Inspired Recipes. Packed to the gunwales with creative, unusual, or classic recipes, Miller mines his years as the chef and owner of Sante Fe, New Mexico’s Coyote Café, to instruct on the rolling, frying, and filling of tortillas, the art of the side, and even includes a handy beverage pairing guide for each recipe. (Tequila is a popular choice as is the Corona, but a few off-the-wall suggestions for lesser known Mexican beers and some international wines elevate the modest taco to a new level.) In addition to his experience at the Coyote Café, Miller reminisces about his childhood days in Mexico that began at taco stands serving marinated suckling pig with red onions, oregano and habanero in a corn tortilla and ended with a cows’ udder specialty at another taqueria down the street. If you thought tacos could only be dressed in ground beef, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream, you’ve got another think coming: Miller gussies his up with wild boar, tamarind, blackened tomatoes, and roasted chiles. A few particular beauties include the Yucatan chicken with achiote, the Lobster and Avocado, and the Grilled Beef with Porcini. Lucsious photos portray the dishes practically and prettily and a heat level indicator gives fair warning to those who like their salsas mild. Overall, it’s an inspiring, compact, and well laid-out guide that widens the horizons of what we Northerners know as the taco.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, A Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, the Pioneer of the American Bar.

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Where are the old bars, the saloons, the watering holes, where a pontificating intellectual, thirsty cowboy, and a traveling musician can level the playing field by sidling up to the bar and imbibing in a fizz, a gibson, or a sidecar? Some part of me wishes for a bar like this —the same part that won’t set foot in night clubs that blast bad music, reek of cheap liquor, and involve a lot of shouting over the din to sloppy strangers you’d actually rather not be talking to at all. Dave Wondrich, a writer and historian whose work appears in Saveur and the New York Times, has written a book about the noble beginnings of the American saloon (and I’m sure there were some good Canadian ones too). Back then, syrups and bitters were handmade in house with ingredients from the farm down the road. And while I’m sure I’m romanticising the scene at least at little, you have to admit the names of the old cocktails were way cooler back then: Widow’s Kiss, Knickerbocker, the Horseradish Egg Sour. More elegant by far than the brash Sex on a Beach.

Wondrich’s labour of love chronicles the life and times of “Professor” Jerry Thomas, the best known bartender of the 19th century and the author of the first bartending guide published, How to Mix Drinks (or The Bon Vivant’s Companion, 1862). We learn the history of the Gibson: once described by an 18th century Annapolis doctor as the best drink for health because “The spirit must have something to act on, and therefore acts on the sugar and does nae injury to the stomach.” (To which Wondrich adds, “It’s a charming theory, anyway.”) And we come to know the cobbler, for a long time America’s favourite cocktail and the beverage that popularized the drinking straw: “Nothing but sherry, sugar, a lot of ice, a bit of fruit (a slice or two of orange muddles in with the ice and few berries on top) and a straw.” Recipes for syrups, bitters, cobblers, fizzes, punches, knickerbockers, and slings abound. Try mixing up the Coffee Cocktail (which doesn’t include coffee at all, oddly) or some Mississippi Punch next time you‘re in the mood for a drink. Or order one at your favourite speakeasy. Maybe when we drinkers start asking for respectable cocktails and seeking out bars as a place to do more than just get drunk and loud, more pubs will rise to the occasion.

Available at fine book stores around BC.

eat shop guides

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Kaie Wellman and her band of gypsy writers have crossed the guide book with the travel journal for a unique series of books called the eat shop guides. These sleek, bright guides with colourful, unposed photos gracing each brief (but thorough), witty review walk the reader through ninety carefully chosen eateries and shops per city. It’s kind of like having landed in a completely foreign metropolois with a very savvy local best friend who knows all the best secret joints for a killer breakfast and can lead you by hand to the coolest hot dog stand, the native funky old ice cream parlour, or the hippest place to splurge on a fancy night out. The guides choose independent, mom-and-pop type restaurants, taking large strides away from chains and well-trodden tourist traps. Be warned each book is so charmingly photographed and written you may daydream strongly about just up and moving. A wide range of cities from Austin to Boston are covered by the eat shop gang, including Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. All that’s left to do is pack your suitcase.

Available at fine bookstores across BC. They can also be ordered on the eatshop website.

In Defense of Food

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Picking up right where he left us in his groundbreaking The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan is back at the table with In Defense of Food. Pollan’s style is to attack from many fronts —with sense of humour and humility intact. So while he is dismantling the world of scientists brick by brick for shepherding us into the low-fat diet catastrophe, he is also subtly, but shrewdly, commenting on the cultural —and sometimes psychological— patterns that have led North Americans into one of the world’s worst diets.

The explosion of so-called “Western diseases” (diabetes, cancer, obesity, tooth decay, for example) are traced back to the industrial era in North America. “Store food,” a.k.a. that which we no longer pluck from the ground to eat, but toss into the grocery cart in box or can form, has left us high on calories and devoid of nutrients. The resulting pendulum swing, Pollan illimunates, is an obsession with nutrients and ‘nutritionism.’ The latter being less healthy a term than it may seem; it means rather an unhealthy preoccupation with being healthy leading to eating habits sucked dry of true taste and pleasure.

“What would happen if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship?” Pollan poses mid-book. It’s a startling suggestion, revealing how far we have removed ourselves from nature. Postures like these plus a truly dizzying breadth of research characterize Pollan’s investigations. Throw in a dash of dry humour and the sense that Pollan is almost geekily curious as to how we became the eaters we are and you have a very enjoyable, highly informative, rather transformative read.

Available at fine book store around BC.

Eat Me: the Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Foul-mouthed, amply-girthed Kenny Shopsin has a reputation for turning overly polished customers away from his busting-at-the-seams grocery store/restaurant in New York City. It’s just one of the rules in his personal kingdom; if he doesn’t like the look of you, he reserves the right to kick you out —probably with profanity. And if he doesn’t do it, perhaps the waitress sporting the “Die Yuppie Scum” T-shirt will.

A few more abritrary rules: no cell phones, no copying your neighbour’s order, no parties larger than four, and no Cheesy Steaks without onions (“It’s just wrong,” writes Shopsin, “A Cheesy is onions…If you don’t like onions, order something else”). Perhaps one of the most important underlying rules is Shopsin’s observation that “You’re really not allowed to be anonymous here…You have to be willing to be who you really are. And that scares a lot of people.”

Eat Me is crammed with truly American urban grub circa the 1970s and 80s: Mac ‘n’ cheese pancakes, Beef Sloppy Joe Rice, the Mocha Nutella Malted Milkshake. Not exactly a touter of the local-organic-seasonal mode, Shopsin describes cooking and inventing dishes as his personal therapy. A sculptor early in life, he turned his creative urges to food where he could work with his hands and rule the roost in the tiny grocery store on the corner of Morton St. he bought from an Armenian immigrant. Decades later, the location has changed several times, but Shopsin’s remains an institution and reading the book it’s clear why: Kenny Shopsin is a genius. He posesses that rare quality of infusing every mundane task he performs at his restaurant with a sense of meaning and joy that infects every customer (he allows in). “I think my customers liked being a part of something that meant something to the person doing it,” muses Shopsin. “…It has to do with traditional American values and with humanity. Over the years I’ve found it’s something that people really crave. It’s why those of who live in cities choose to live in cities, and why people who come to Shopsin’s come to Shopsin’s.”

Following the colourful Kenny along his memories of the store where he met his wife, raised his children, and touched hundreds of lives is an amazing read. A perfect blend of practical how-to’s (poach an egg, fry a hamburger, core a pepper), comfort food recipes, and deeply useful, inspiring philosophy from the man behind the fryer. Eat Me is one of the best food stories I’ve read in a while.

The Queen of Fats

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It's been called the "Silent Spring" of nutrition books for its detective work on one the modern eaters most confounding nutritional riddles: fat. There are good fats and bad fats, we've been told, polyunsaturated, trans fats, partially hydrogenated fats, animal fats, and vegetable fats. Susan Allport knows them all (and she requests the reader stop thinking of fats as either good or bad), but her particular area of interest is the Omegas. The Queen of Fats is basically a long unraveling of the convoluted information about the Omegas that we've been receiving as consumers from a muddled-up media.

Allport became captivated with the Omega-3 story after learning that this same family of fats is required for both photosynthesis and thinking (the speediest activities in plants and animals, respectively). The Omega-6s, on the other hand, slow down enzyme processes and stiffen membranes. Both are essential to human health, but they only work if balanced and (surprise, surprise), the modern North American diet is completely imbalanced when it comes to its Omegas.

I won't spoil the ending of this compelling detective story (and Allport actually manages to make what could be dry material rather juicy), but it will come as no surprise to most people that the imbalance of the fats in our diet is largely due to industrialized food production. Omega-3s come from greens and when we turn to packaged foods over fresh produce, consume grain-fed beef that never saw a lick of grass, or crack open eggs that come from chickens raised on feed rather than the grubs and greens they're meant to peck, we eliminate all our natural source of Omega-3s and start thinking of it as something that comes from a bottle in a health food store. And when these fats provide the nutrients required for brain functioning, it’s not exactly something you want to be skimping on.

Read this book to be fully informed, read it for your health, and read it for one more reason to support the farmer who lets his chickens range and his cows graze.

Available at fine book stores around BC.

The Art of Simple Food

Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Alice begins, “My delicious revolution began when, young and naïve, I started a restaurant and went looking for good-tasting food to cook…When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.” And there you have it folks, simply put, the secret to Alice Waters and her extraordinary achievements.

Largely credited with spurring the movement towards supporting organic, local produce way back before it was a popular movement, Waters is the creator/sometimes chef of one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, Chez Panisse. In The Art of Simple Food, Waters spells it out for us. No need for fancy gimmicks, food trends, or technology; it’s all about the carrot. Or the tuna. Or the plum. Whatever the ingredient may be, it has got to be straight-from-the-source-fresh, organic, and at its seasonal peak. That’s the hard part, the sourcing —from there, the recipes are just what they claim to be, simple and yet artful. Carrot Soup, Buckwheat Pancakes, Buttered Turnips, Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Onions, and moving on to something sweet, Pear Sherbert, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Lemon Curd Tart. She covers the Four Essential Sauces; devotes a chapter to bread, custards, and beans; breaks down the omelette and the souffle; and takes us step-by-step through slow cooking, cooking over coals, frying, and roasting.

The book is encyclopedic in scope, but Waters’ poetic, whimsical, and light-hearted approach to food makes it all digestible. In fact, you might, as I did, love the prose of this cookbook so much you read it in bed like a novel —dog-earring the pages on Chard Frittatas and Apple Tarts for breakfast.

Available at fine bookstores around BC.

See this week’s recipe box for Spring Minestrone with Peas and Asparagus from The Art of Simple Food.

Everyday Raw

Fri, 1 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I’ll admit it; I was wrong about raw food. For too long I snubbed raw foodists —who consume only uncooked, unprocessed, and usually organic food— as snooty extremists who made life difficult for dinner party hosts and chefs. Then I took a good, long look at chef Matthew Kenney’s Everyday Raw cookbook and now I’m eating my words. Not only do the recipes sound delicious, simple, and fresh; the methods are much easier than I had assumed. A lot of what Kenney whips up are smoothies, bars, salads, and granolas that most of us munch on, raw enthusiasts or not. It’s just that his recipes call for fewer ingredients and more taste; less cooking and more freshness. Though I’m not about to convert to a full time raw food diet, I highly recommend Kenney’s book to anyone curious about the trend and interested in incorporating a few raw meals, snacks, and desserts into their week. Kenney spells out the methods clearly and presents all the benefits without preaching. Ingredients like raw cacao, goji berries, and spirulina might sound intimidating at first, but they’re flavourful, very nutritious, and may be the reason behind the glowing skin of raw foodists.

Click here to read more about the raw food diet and here to read more about Matthew Kenney.

Everyday Raw is available at Plenty and Barbara Jo’s.

The Wine Atlas of Canada

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Tony Aspler’s Wine Atlas of Canada is so thorough, so lovingly-detailed that you emerge from reading it with a wealth of knowledge —and a generous of heap of pride in our country’s vinification accomplishments. Beginning with a brief lesson on Canada’s wine industry history, a crash course on wine-tasting etiquette and valuable notes on how to taste, the book smoothly moves on to journey Canada’s major grape-growing regions: British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces.

With sub-chapters in each geographical region devoted to particular terroirs (for example, Vancouver Island, the Niagara Peninsula, Cantons-de-l’Est, and the Annapolis Valley), no stone has been left unturned. Aspler leads us to small boutique farm wineries that bottle by hand found at the end of twisting country laneways —but he also takes us right to the hub of some of Canada’s largest high-tech corporations that ship worldwide. A valuable symbols guide tells us which vineyards offer dining, accomodations, and educational tours while a succint personal account of what sorts of vintages to expect rounds out the descriptions of each place. Tour recommendations, engaging random facts and back stories on the world of Canadian wine, and sun-soaked photographs of beautiful vineyards complement the facts. Overall, The Wine Atlas of Canada is a full-bodied guide to Canada’s vineyards and a well-balanced, nuanced read.

Available at Munro’s Books or online at amazon.ca.

Blue Water Café Seafood Cookbook

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Seafood can be one of the more intimidating ingredients for the at-home cook. Anyone can slice some lemon on a salmon and grill it, but try something a little more sophisticated —Periwinkles with Stinging Nettle Purée and Potato Chips, Bigeye Tuna Tataki, or Sablefish Caramelized with Soy and Sake, for example— and you may revert to the old tried and true. Chefs Frank Pabst and Yoshihiro Tabo have gathered together some of their most exquisite recipes (including the periwinkles, tuna, and sablefish) and broken down their methods step by step so you can create a stunning seafood dish using the bounty of our region’s local ingredients.

Chef Tabo, born in Japan, is renowned at the raw bar for his sushi skills, citing simplicity and purity as the most important elements in preparing fish. Chef Pabst was trained and spent many years working in France, accumulating a wealth of knowledge on classically prepared seafood. Combining the two styles results in the delectable fare Blue Water Café is famous —and has won an impressive collection of awards— for: Red Sea Urchin in a Cucumber Vichyssoise with Kusshi Oysters and Lemon Cream or Pink Swimming Scallops with Tomato-Lemon Compote (see the Recipe Box for this recipe), for example.

Equally important as their talents are the chefs’ passion for protecting the environments they source from. Blue Water Café is one of the founders of the Ocean Wise program, which promotes sustainable seafood harvesting practices. They also have a trusted reputation for sourcing locally and seasonally for the most impeccably fresh seafood. The cookbook is a good way to learn from the best how to both source and prepare amazing fish.

The Blue Water Café Seafood Cookbook is available online. Click here to learn more about the restaurant.

The River Cottage Cookbook

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The River Cottage Cookbook should come with the warning that you may be inspired to make some serious life changes after flipping through its pages. This anthem disguised as a cookbook is really a manual that makes growing and raising your own food look both fun and completely easy. Turn your yard into a vegetable patch, plant strawberries under the window sill, buy a pig and some goats, catch your own fish —Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall does it all with a joyful grin plastered across his face and a jolly-looking baby in tow for many of the photographs. “We all know that, on occasion, food can be the source of tremendous pleasure,” Hugh writes in his introduction, “My question is, why is it ever not?”

Divided into Garden, Livestock, Fish, and Hedgerow (wild plants), the book balances a lot: snapshot-style photos of the River Cottage life (Hugh chasing sheep, his son with a face full of berry jam), manuals on gathering your own shellfish, identifying edible mushrooms, and building your own greenhouse, and of course, the recipes. ‘Best Ever Vanilla Ice Cream,’ ‘Split Pea and Green Peppercorn Puree,’ are just a couple of the rustic, comfort-food creations of chef Hugh. Buy it for the recipes, sure, but bear in mind this beautiful book is many things wrapped into one package —and it may just end up convincing you moving to the country and raising a sheep or two (for the freshest mutton) is a swell and sensible idea.

Available at Plenty, Munro’s Books, and Barabara-Jo’s.

Turquoise: a Chef’s Travels in Turkey

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I've done a lot of book reviews for EAT over the past year, and recently noticed a pattern emerging. That is, some of the most fascinating cookbooks that combine travel, photography, storytelling, and recipe-sharing are the result of some kind of male-female relationship. There was The Wild Gourmets by friends Thomasina Miers and Guy Grieve, Beaneaters & Bread Soup by husband and wife team Lori de Mori and Jason Lowe, Beyond the Great Wall by spouses Alford and Duguid, and now Turquoise, the stunning recipe book written by Greg Malouf and his ex-wife Lucy Malouf after an extensive trip through Turkey.

I point this out because I wonder if the male-female quotient may be one of the secrets to producing a superb cookbook. Take Turquoise for example; the balance of intriguing travel diary, exquisite photography, and authentic recipes covers all the senses. When the history lessons could become too cerebral, a delicate moment caught in photography swings you back into the experiential. When the list of recipes teeters close to too heady (Sticky Apricots Stuffed with Clotted Cream chased closely by Pistachio Halva Ice Cream), we are transported into a thought-provoking moment of cultural experience by the traveling team.

The book's contents and recipe-sourcing are well-balanced as well. Spanning across Turkey which brushes both Europe and Asia, the country's traditional dishes seem to have a bit of everything from boldly spicy to creamy and rich to fresh from the ground and unadorned. The Green Olive, Walnut, and Pomegranate Salad promises to be a taste of Turkey's native fruits, for example, while the Hot Yogurt Soup with Chicken Threads and Corn gives a kick of indigenous spice.

Whether or not the woman-and-man collaboration has anything to do with its success, Turquoise is a work of art to be flipped through slowly, perused and studied, and most importantly splattered with the ingredients used to make the recipes Greg and Lucy traveled so far to find.

Turquoise is available at Munro's Books, Plenty, and Barbara Jo's.

Čamus: West Coast Cooking Nuu-chah-nulth Style

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In Čamus (chum-us), First Nations elders and families from the
west coast of Vancouver Island and northern Washington share the
wisdom and riches of their traditional territories. Marrying First
Nations cuisine with cooking tips, cultural observations, and oral
history anecdotes, Čamus features traditional and wild ingredients
for a mouthwatering read.

Instructions about the traditional preparation of Vancouver Island’s
wild foods, including fish, kelp, berries, and fowl are interspersed
with recipes for the modern kitchen. Bringing together the wisdom
of the elders with the culinary artistry of B.C.’s unique tastes,
Čamus explores the art of how to butterfly a salmon, how to can
fish, as well as delectable recipes for marinated seaweed, steam pit
cooking, Nuu-chah-nulth upskwee, and shellfish.

• 65 original First Nations recipes
• 24 full-colour photos
• 10 b/w historic photos
• 8 pieces of original artwork by Kelly Poirier
• Traditional seafood preparation and preservation methods
• Oral history anecdotes from Nuu-chah-nulth members

For more information about Čamus: West Coast Cooking Nuu-
chah-nulth Style please contact Dawn Foxcroft at 250-723-6565 or whiteravenconsulting@shaw.ca. All proceeds go to youth capacity building projects for the Nuu-chah- nulth Tribal Council fisheries department (Uu-a-thluk).

Visit the recipe box section for a recipe from the book.

AVAILABLE
$14.95 (+ $4 shipping)
Spiral bound
8.5" x 5.5"
90 pages, illustrated
www.uuathluk.ca

Tartine

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I never let any friend or acquaintance of mine go to San Francisco without strongly advising them to make time for Tartine. This bakery in the heart of the Mission (one of San Francisco’s warmest and most colourful neighbourhoods) is a portal to a time and place where one immediately feels sophisticated, satisfied, and divinely happy. It’s basically pastry heaven. Their velvety mounds of oozing bread pudding, flaky and buttery hot croissants, and perfectly light, tart, and creamy clafoutis tantalize from the glass cases. Years of professional experience, a strong adhesion to their philosophy of authentic food, and that je-ne-sais-quoi element that only San Francisco provides can only truly be experienced by visiting Tartine itself, but if a trip to the city is not in your plans, be sure to give their recipe book of the same name a good read. The introduction provides an inspiring story of the bakery’s grassroots, the photographs will have you salivating, and the recipes give you detailed instructions for recreating your own slice of heaven at home.

Available at Plenty and Barbara Jo's.

ISBN-10: 0-8118-5150-8

Beaneaters & Bread Soup

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ten years ago I boarded the wrong bus in a tiny Northern Italian village and spent an hour and a half rambling through Tuscan hills on a crisp, sunbathed Autumn afternoon in full-on awe. Having left my clunky old camera at home, I made a conscious effort that day to photograph the unparalleled beauty around me with my mind. Not since I mentally archived those images have I come across an account of Tuscany so authentic and free (as possible) from a North American’s starry-eyed romantic perversions as the book Beaneaters and Bread Soup.

This book is so perfectly themed, well-written, and beautiful to look at that the pleasure of consuming it, page by page, rivals that glorious bus ride I once took. Author Lori De Mori has a knack for interviewing her subjects —most of them dirt-covered, well-rooted Tuscan artisans ranging from shepherds to beekeepers— that brings these humble, inspiring artists to life. Her husband, award-winning food photographer Jason Lowe has me convinced he’s invisible, he’s so deft at catching a gruff and grisled farmer in a tender expression as he talks about his pepper plants.

It’s a recipe book, yes, but don’t expect to use it solely for cooking. It reads like a novel with De Mori’s just-present-enough guidance and plays like a documentary of Tuscany —farm by farm and artisan by artisan— with Lowe’s raw and breathtaking photographs. Seriously, if you’re passionate about food, if you believe in artisans, if you left your heart in Italy: read. this. book.

Available at Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks, Munro’s Books, and Plenty. Visit Barbara Jo’s on April 23rd for a cooking class devoted to recipes from the book.

My Favourite Ingredients

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Once a week I work at a small shop that houses, among many other things, a few shelves of carefully chosen cookbooks. Most days, it is a familiar sight to watch a customer wander in, beeline to the books, start flipping through one and get completely lost in the luscious photographs of beautifully prepared food. My Favourite Ingredients by Skye Gyngell is a major contender for "Most Beautiful Vegetables" in our selection of gorgeous cookbooks. It’s vegetable porn for people who find a scruffy, dirt-covered beet stunning and an artistically disheveled pile of asparagus to be downright bewitching. The recipes are almost second place to the eye-candy in this book, but it’s a fitting relationship; Skye’s cooking is inspired by the perfection of produce and viewing a simple apple as a work of art is exactly her intent. If you’re one of those people who falls into a trance at the cookbook shelf, don’t miss this beauty.

Available at Plenty and Munro’s.

Bonus feature: try one of Skye’s recipes, Deep-fried artichokes and lemon with mint and anchovy dressing, featured in our Recipe Box section this week.

Edible Schoolyards: a Universal Idea

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I’m not going to lie; I got a little teary-eyed reading this book. There is something about seeing kids with dirt-smeared knees, carrying a basket of eggs and sporting gigantic grins on their faces that makes me feel utterly hopeful. When Chez Panisse chef Alice Waters and a motley team of teachers, chefs, gardeners, and students first started up the Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California they had no idea how profound the repercussions of a few raised beds and a new fresh food lunch program would be. Years later, Waters commandeers offshoot programs at schools all across the U.S. from kindergarten to college that teachers and parents attest has dramatically changed the lives of their children for the better. The kids tell you so themselves; this book is loaded with full page photos of beaming playground farmers and complemented with essays and school assignments written by students with pearls of wisdom to share that they found in the garden or around the communal table (“Something I learned in the kitchen,” writes one young student, “is patience can lead to being full”). This bright little book is a quick, but very inspirational read that will compel you to introduce a child to the pleasure of gardening and good food, and better yet, tell you the beautiful story of how it has been successfully done just South of us.

ISBN 978-0-8118-6280-6. Available at Plenty.

Victoria has its share of brilliant edible schoolyard programs too! Visit Lifecycles for information on volunteering with their Growing Schools program.

Where People Feast: An Indigenous Peoples' Cookbook

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Taschen's Paris

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Wouldn’t it be lovely if one could fly to Paris for Valentine’s Day and clink glasses with your darling in the City of Love? A close second is pouring yourself a glass of wine and flipping leisurely through the pages of Taschen’s Paris by Angelika Taschen.

This immense bible, rich with page after page of full-spread photos, illustrations, and hand-drawn maps, guides the reader on a paper tour of Paris. Beginning with some of the most opulent hotels, Taschen moves us along to restaurants ancient and modern, petite and grand (including close-ups of perfect cups), then right along into some of the city’s most sophisticated shops (sneak peeks at Chanel!). Too large to be a travel guide —this ample anthem couldn’t fit in a giant’s pocket— it’s meant to be perused in the daydreaming stages of planning a Parisien foray. So, if you can’t get there this Valentine’s Day, but you’d like to pretend, Taschen’s Paris is the perfect solution.

Available online at www.taschen.com

Dine Around the World in 80 Dinners

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last week’s review, French Women Don’t Get Fat, took a magnifying glass to the culture of eating in France as a remedy to the bad habits that have come to define eating in North America. This week’s review, The Omnivore’s Dilemma turns the lens another degree and exposes the gritty details of North America’s food system. Author Micheal Pollan visits feedlots and factory farms, learns to hunt, tries on vegetarianism, purchases a cow, and slaughters chickens in this eye-opening critique of the way we eat.

“Somehow this most elemental of activities—figuring out what to eat—has come to require a remarkable amount of expert help,” writes Pollan, “How did we ever get to a point where we need investigative journalists to tell us where our food comes from and nutritionists to determine the dinner menu?” The book follows four meals from the roots to the final product, beginning with a McDonald’s meal to go, gobbled in a car along the California freeway; a repast of commercial organic goods purchased at the Whole Foods supermarket chain; a dinner based around chicken from an exemplary Virginia farm that gives its pesticide-free fowl free-range and then some; and a meal of wild pig and truffles hunted and foraged by Pollan himself.

The journey of each meal uncovers surprising truths. To understand where the beef in his Big Mac comes from, Pollan has to first unravel the complicated, and very political, history of corn in the United States. Before roasting a chicken from Virginian Joel Salatin’s farm he has to learn how to grow delicious grass and respect the laws of nature. And what seems like an effortless choice of organic, free-range eggs in a Whole Foods ends in the discovery of a new trend in food marketing. ‘Supermarket pastoral,’ as Pollan dubs it, is the food industry’s clever, new way of painting idyllic farm scenes on the packaging that contain products that in no way respect the original concept of organic.

Prepare to squirm and, quite possibly, change the way you eat. But also, prepare to be entertained, enlightened, and acquire a new respect for the basest and perhaps most complicated of our needs: food.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma (as well as Pollan's most recent book, In Defense of Food) is available at Munro’s Books and Barbara Jo’s Books for Cooks. Click here to learn more about Micheal Pollan's work.

ISBN 9781594200823

reviewed by Katie Zdybel

French Women Don’t Get Fat: the Secret of Eating for Pleasure

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The title of this book is a bit deceiving. This is not a fat-fearing diet book; au contraire, author Mireille Guiliano is a cheese-loving, champagne-sipping lover of her native France’s often rich cuisine. What her book patiently teaches is the lost art of eating. That is, savouring flavours, cooking in tune with the seasons, intimately knowing one’s farmers’ markets, and treating food as both a source of nutrition and pleasure. At this time of year when magazines and websites can bombard us with an onslaught of post-holiday dieting tricks, Guiliano’s book reminds us that maintaining one’s figure is a process that can be enjoyed and a balancing act that takes careful thought.

As CEO of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, Guiliano divides her time between Paris and New York and has observed the customary eating habits of women on both continents. Like an anthropological study written by a stylish, charming, and exceptionally tactful French woman, Guiliano breaks down the North American rituals of eating versus the French customs. “America is a relatively young country by European standards,” she writes, “and being a great nation of immigrants, much less uniform as to its gastronomic norms. While this multitude of influences has produced many delicious results, America still lags in developing the sorts of coherent principles of eating that only a thousand years of history could achieve.” What ensues is a wake-up call to anyone who eats in front of a computer or TV screen, slaves away in the gym to indulge an ice cream habit, stocks up at the grocery store once a week, or commits any of the other common North American pitfalls that Guiliano observes.

Writing in a warm and witty tone, Guiliano describes the tricks of svelte French women—basically a combination of common sense and a healthy dose of moderation. Her description of eating and cooking in France is a literary trip to Parisian cafes and rural French markets. I’ve read the book three times, mostly for a good dose of French exposure, but also to get myself out of any bland ruts I may have found myself in the depths of a Canadian winter. Guiliano’s love of food and good health are enlightening and inspirational. “A healthy body and healthy mind work together,” she writes, “To maintain both, there is no substitute for joie de vivre.”

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 1-4000-4212-7.

Available at Barbara Jo’s Books for Cooks and Munro’s.

Great Chefs Cook Vegan

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Author Linda Long, a steadfast vegan of thirty years, had a moment of epiphany when dining out at the Ritz in New York. Served a vegan dish that went far beyond an over-cooked vegetable medley, Long realized she had stumbled upon vegan haute cuisine. The meal inspired her to contact some of North America's best and brightest chefs —like Dan Barber, Charlie Trotter, and Daniel Boulud— to compose a collection of elegant, inventive, and delicious vegan fare. The result is Great Chefs Cook Vegan, simply organized by chef, starting with a full-page photo and a short and sweet bio, and followed by four sumptious courses that herald the vegetable. Each dish is crisply photographed and exquisitely presented. Usually a bit wary of veganism myself (or perhaps the righteousness that sometimes accompanies it), I was surprised at how inviting the recipes look and read. If you're a vegan and need a new bible of recipes to elevate your cooking to a new level, this book is your saviour, but even if you just love vegetables and want to showcase them more in your cooking, this book teaches a whole new way of looking at the humble vegetable, letting it stand alone and take center stage.

Available at Munro's in Victoria and Barbara Jo's in Vancouver.

Cook the 'Hood

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cook the 'Hood is a not-for-profit organization that promotes local businesses and supports local programs that provide food assistance to those in need. Their cookbooks by the same name, are a collection of recipes from Vancouver neighbourhoods both renowned for their culinary excellence and home to a segment of the population in need of food assistance.

Cook the 'Hood cookbooks feature sterling recipes from socially-conscious local restaurants as well as descriptions of the hard work being done to improve awareness of food security issues facing all of us in today's society. The Commercial Drive edition, for example, includes Ethiopian, Italian, vegan, traditional, and decadent recipes that reflect the diversity and full flavour of The Drive. The book aims to motivate people to become more involved in addressing food security. Proceeds from the sales are donated to a partnering charity working in the neighbourhod to provide food assistance to those in need. For Cook the 'Hood Commerical Drive, the partnering charity is Quest Outreach Society, which rescues food and redirects it to those in need.

Available at participating locations in the Commercial Drive area. Comes in two formats at $12 and $20. The publication will be produced and rejuvenated annually. Coming soon in 2009/2010, Cook the 'Hood editions for the neighbourhoods of Davie Village, Kitsilano, and Main Street.

For more information on Cook the 'Hood, email cookthehood@gmail.com or call 778.858.2779.

Milk: the Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

"My entry point to enlightenment was yogurt," writes Anne Mendelson, author of Milk: the Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages. So she begins her story there, in the Old World mediterranean homes where yogurt and fermented sheep and goat's milk foods were most enjoyed soured because this is how the climate naturally reacted to milk. Uncovering through her research the value of milk in the traditions and daily lives of cultures around the world, you'll never look at this humble food the same way again.

After yogurt, Mendelson moves onto what she names the Northwestern Cow Belt (northern Europe, Great Britain, North America), where a cooler climate allowed for milk to be kept and consumed fresh. And how, as with many other farm crops and products, the availability and cheapness of milk was exploited by an industrial system that gives us the over-processed and chemically-treated substance that passes for millk in many grocery store coolers today.

The unfolding history and inquiry into our current dairy culture is interspersed with recipes that simply instruct how to make the divine Mascarpone and Clotted Cream, as well as heftier meals like Beef Stroganoff or Herring with Cream Sauce. She breaks down the difference between heavy cream and half and half, homogenized and raw, handing us the keys to make cheese, yogurt, and sour cream at home with ease. Most of all, Mendelson returns dignity to a food that has been much too manipulated and spurned and reminds us that pure, sweet, fresh milk is a deeply complex, nutritious, and delicious food; both one of the oldest foods on earth and the first one every person begins with.

Pure Dessert

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A Taste of Canada

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

After traveling across the country to meet farmers, fishermen, and foragers, Rose Murray gathered together the best recipes to create A Taste of Canada. A prominent figure in the Canadian food scene for nearly thirty years, Murray has authored ten cookbooks and written for a collection of magazines and newspapers, as well as having taught cuisine at several colleges and cooking schools. She grew up on a self-sustaining farm in Ontario, learning to grow, cook, and preserve her own food at a young age.

An appreciation for farm-fresh flavours characterizes her choice of recipes in this, her latest of ten cookbooks. A Taste of Canada reaches into the corners of our country for traditional recipes made with real, and as often as possible, home-gown ingredients. The recipes Murray has chosen are often comfort foods with a touch of panache and elegance. For example, Wild rice pancakes with sour cream and caviar, Wine-pickled salmon, and Chipotle maple baked beans. Beautifully photographed and peppered with anecdotes from her travels, this cookbook sings the praises of Canada's natural bounty while remaining true to our unique style in presenting them.

Available at Barbara Jo's Books for Cooks in Vancouver and Plenty in Victoria.

Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

No mere collection of common breads and pastries, husband and wife team, Jeffrey and Naomi have unturned many stones in their search for traditional baking recipes around the world. In this anthem we are told stories of juniper-scented tandoors in Afhganistan, find recipes for Ukrainian honey cake, Spain's Rye Poolish, Brazilian Bolo, and Himalayan Dumplings, and view photographs from travels as far and foreign as Moscow, Oaxaca, and Cambodia —or as near as Bruce County, Ontario (the very rural region where this book-reviewer grew up!).

This is what I like about Naomi and Jeffrey's collection of works: a mennonite's recipe for pecan pie in the backwaters of a blink-and-miss-it township in Southwestern Ontario are as interesting to them as the more-glamourous sounding Perfumed Filled-Quince Bread. A well-worn, chicken-scratched recipe for gingerbread from Naomi's mother tucks in nicely between Uzbek Layered Walnut Confection and an Alsatian Onion Tart.

They give credit where credit is due, always relaying the stories of the people who have passed them their recipes. If you love to bake or love to read about baking, travel, and tradition, don't miss this book. It's a real beauty and a great source for all recipes simple, rustic, exotic, sophisticated, and delicious.

Available through their website, also Barbara Jo's, Plenty, and Munro's.

A Revolution in Taste: The Rise of French Cuisine

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

West: the Cookbook

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

West Restaurant of Vancouver's first culinary publication, West: the Cookbook will be launched on Sunday, November 16th at Barbara Jo's Books for Cooks with a reception hosted by Chef Warren Geraghty featuring a handful of recipes from the book. Call 604.688.6755 for more information.

Through several incarnations West has kept a stronghold on its international reputation for excellence in fine dining. What started out as a gutsy venture in formal French dining (rabbit and oxtail were regulars on the menu) has evolved into a truly Pacific experiment. The menu, like the new cookbook, moves in time with the seasons, shining a spotlight on the best of local and fresh forages —like spot prawns in late Spring or risotto of chanterelles and sweet corn in the heat of summer. Seeking out the best in international ingredients is one of Chef Geraghty's many attributes, so watch for gems like black winter truffles from the Perigord region of France to steal the show from time to time.

The stories of chefs, sommeliers, and the restaurant itself are parceled throughout the book and make for a well-rounded read. With vivid, full page photographs (by EAT contributor John Sherlock), a chapter on the basics (how-to's for preparing your own mayonnaise, pickling liquor, duck confit, and more), and a collection of inventive cocktails that call for fresh ingredients, West is one of those cookbooks that can be studied, enjoyed for its images, read like a novel, and of course, cooked with. Like the multi-talented restaurant, this cookbook is brave in its ambitions and pulls them all off with poise.

Order on their website and receive a copy signed by Chef Geraghty, free shipping within Canada, and exclusive recipes.

A Platter of Figs

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

"Generally I don't like pretty food, but I am in awe of beautiful food. Plums in a bowl...what could be more beautiful?" Thus writes chef David Tanis of Chez Panisse in his utterly stunning cookbook that perfects the art of cooking with simplicity. As you would expect, coming from the Chez Panisse club of sourcing the purest of produce and applying only laissez faire culinary skills in the kitchen, the style of cooking Tanis professes supports the local, seasonal, slow food ideals.

A variation on this theme sprouts from Tanis' background as an artist. The recipes, while still simple and presenting a fresh stout pear or a curl of endive as the leading lady, have a flair for the artistic side of food that photographer Christopher Hirsheimer captures brilliantly (you may find yourself, as I did, wanting to fall into the photographs and the good and rustic life they smack of).

The book is sectioned by seasons and then further by menu. Though it may be hard to believe from the chef at one of the most successful and loved restaurants in North America that he would rather just eat at home with a few friends, Tanis quietly insists that his favourite eating happens around an unembellished table of old friends with a three course meal of honest and simple fare.

The story of the path that led him to cooking included in the beginning of the book is well worth the read. By the time you get to the recipes you have a better sense of Tanis' style, which is that rare understanding that good food is not so much about what you do to it, but what you let it be.

Available at Munro's in Victoria and Barbara Jo's Books for Cooks in Vancouver.

The Carnivore's Dilemma

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

My Mexico

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I have to admit I bristled a bit at what I thought might be arrogance when I read the title of this book. But, it being highly recommended to me by one of Victoria’s talented chefs who will remain nameless, I turned the page and read the introduction first, hoping Diana Kennedy would explain her choice of words. Sure enough, she immediately explains this cookbook (one of seven on Mexican cuisine that she’s penned) is a highly personal mix of recipes from her closest friends, strangers that she connected with along her travels, and personal favourites from farms and eateries she has frequented over her forty-five years in Mexico.

Since moving to Mexico in 1957 as the wife of a New York Times correspondent, Kennedy has been a conduit for English speakers into the highly sophisticated world of Mexican gastronomy. Her early collections of recipes and cooking tips gathered from the people she met in her new home gradually evolved into her first cookbook, published in 1972. Often called the "Julia Child of Mexican cuisine," Kennedy has certainly made the secrets and subtle nuances of preparing fresh tamales, huevos encobiga (blanketed eggs), or refresco de tia mariquita (watermelon and red wine) accessible to those North of the border. For her efforts she was awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle —an honor of the highest order— by the Congress of the Republic of Mexico for her documentations of regional Mexican cuisine.

My Mexico has just over three hundred recipes, divided by region and prefaced with short, personal stories that introduce us to the men and women who have shared their recipes with Kennedy over many years. There is a range from simple guacamoles to more complicated fare. Don’t expect shortcuts or any kind of ‘American or Canadianization’ of the recipes; some ingredient hunting required. But your efforts will be rewarded with genuine recreations of Mexico’s deeply balanced and sophisticated cooking.

Don’t believe the critics when they say Kennedy knows Mexico better than anyone —that is arrogance— but if you don’t speak enough Spanish to learn the recipes in their native tongue, Kennedy is an incredible translator who holds the culture she learns from in the highest regard.

Available at Plenty, Barbara Jo's, and Amazon online.

Beyond the Great Wall:recipes and travels in the other China

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sitting with this photo-album-travel-journal cum cookbook butterflied open on your lap, you may get contentedly lost in the stories, maps, and photographs on your way to cooking dinner. But if Jeffrey's account of serendipitously bumping into renowned travel writer Ella Maillart and sharing a bowl of chile-hot tree fungus in Lhasa distracts you from choosing something for dinner, it's a welcome distraction.

Husband and wife team Jeffrey and Naomi, have authored a collection of cookbooks (several of which have won major awards) that feature culture as a primary ingredient in any recipe. In Beyond the Great Wall, Naomi and Jeffrey gather their writings and recipe collections (Cheese Momos, Pea Tendril Salad, Dai Grilled Fish, for a taste) from their past thirty years of travel in China's rural regions. Prefacing the recipes are short chapters on the land, people, and the food —a necessary primer for their style of cooking which honours local culinary customs. Three hundred plus pages are divided into soups, pork, fish, breads, noodles and dumplings, and more. As many of the vivid, voyeuristic photographs are devoted to the people as to the food, serving to remind you that every time we prepare a recipe from another place we should respect the people who have brought us their cuisine.

You can find Beyond the Great Wall at Plenty, Barbara Jo's Books for Cooks, and online via the authors' website. Learn more about the authors, their other travels and cookbooks here.

Cookbooks for Kids in the Kitchen

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Food Adventures, by Elisabeth Luard and Frances Boswell, starts with a chapter on spoon-foods and purees and evolves with a growing child into chapters on experimenting with around-the-world dinner plates. Japanese miso, a French omelette, and Moroccan couscous are made simply and palatable to the seven-year-old, but still delicious to the grown-up. Luard and Boswell eschew baby foods from boxes and jars and suggest that kids learn more about food when they eat a little of what their parents do.

Kitchen Playdates, by Lauren Bank Deen, dedicates her cookbook to parents who miss the dinner parties and extravagant meals of a life before children. Her solution? Keep the parties, lose the kids. Just kidding. You can keep ‘em both. Invite friends over, make it a pizza party, let things get messy and use ingredients that everyone will agree taste delicious. Cool ideas, like creating a ‘celebrity chef’ cooking video starring an aunt and her favourite recipe, will get even surly pre-teens and picky vegetable-haters involved.

Written by teenage sisters, Megan and Jill Carle, Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat has got all the surefire youth hits (tuna melt, potato skins, taco salad) pared down to a few easy steps with an emphasis on healthy ingredients. A few more experimental recipes (Grilled Portobello Sandwichees or the Frozen Bananas with Chocolate and Toffee) throw teenagers a challenge when they’re ready to try it. With Megan as resident vegetarian and Jill all about the comfort foods, the book balances healthy, crunchy stuff with good ol’ greasy and somewhere in there, teens will find something they love to make that doesn’t come from a can, bag, or box.

The River Cottage Family Cookbook is peppered with photos of sticky-fingered kids of all ages tossing pancakes and icing cakes; nine-year-old Mack even guts a fish on page 227. Facts on the history of cocoa, dairy cows, and raising chickens will add a little education to the fun of getting your hands dirty. This hefty book looks like it could survive even the roughest gaggle of kids attempting their own eggs and scones on a hungry morning. And grown-ups will appreciate the beautiful photography and lovely prose.

Whatever the age of your children, all the books share the idea that cooking with kids can be chaotic, quite messy, and heck of a lot of fun. All titles can be purchased at (or ordered through) Plenty in Victoria, Barbara Jo's in Vancouver, or on Amazon.

Au Pied de Cochon

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

(winner of the 2007 IACP Cookbook Awards and 2007 Canadian Culinary Book Awards)

This is no ordinary cookbook. This is a paint-splattered, memoir-crammed, photo collage ode to the love of food, friends, and the great art of running a restaurant that is truly, courageously unique. If you don't know of Au Pied de Cochon and can't make it to Montreal anytime soon, you can easily become acquainted with owner and head chef Martin Picard by turning the pages of this paper beauty.

Wrap your head around recipes like Pig's Feet Meatball Ragout, Venison Carpaccio, and Pets de Souer (which translates gracefully into 'Nun's Farts'). Look for foie gras in everything from oh, sushi to poutine. But also note an entire section on the practice of preparing foie gras and the treatment of ducks. In this same vein, the chapters dedicated to pork and venison celebrate the noble pig and deer -as well as the hunt of them. Here is a chef that revels in the slaughter of animals as much as the cooking.

In the words of writer Anthony Bourdain (who provides an introduction to the album which should not be skipped): "In an open kitchen, behind a long, customer-friendly counter, [Picard] has created one of the Western world's few 'Bullshit-Free Zones,' a place where it's all about -and only about- what's delicious, pleasurable, and true." With chapters devoted to applauding everyone from Picard's culinary mentors to his dishwashers, a profile of the European oenophiles who supply his wine and snapshots from staff hockey games, the joy and authenticity of this remarkable eatery translate colourfully to the page. Simply looking through this book is an inspirational act.

Available via the Au Pied de Cochon website.