Food Reads

I enjoy food. I enjoy reading about it, cooking it, watching other people cook it, growing it, and, of course, eating it.

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is the cookbook that I turned to in order to learn the secrets of crème brulee. I recommend dropping five semi-sweet chocolate chips into the ramekin before you pour in the custard to bake. It makes for a nice chocolaty surprise on the bottom.

Last year I had the opportunity to hear Eric Schlosser, author of the inspiring Fast Food Nation, speak at IPFW as part of the Omnibus Lecture Series (these lectures are free!). He is an interesting speaker, and a wonderful writer.

For more about fast food, check out Super Size Me, the Academy Award nominated documentary by Morgan Spurlock. If you like it, check out Spurlock’s TV show 30 Days, available on DVD at ACPL. My favorite episode in Season One is “Off the Grid”. In this episode two Americans with enormous ecological footprints move to an eco-village for 30 days.

If you want to be inspired to start a garden, check out Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life by Barbara Kingsolver. After reading this, I finally listened to my partner who had been trying for a long time to convince me to THINK a little more about our food supply.

Another fascinating food title is The Omnivore’s Dilemma: a natural history of four meals by Michael Pollan. I wouldn’t ever have imagined that a book about food would keep me up half of the night, but once I started reading about corn production, I had to finish the chapter. Everyone who lives here, where corn and soy are grown, should read this book. Pollan has a new book out, In Defense of Food: an eater’s manifesto, I haven’t read it yet, but I am on the holds list. I am also waiting for A Botany of Desire: a plant’s eye view of the world.

The Kingsolver and Pollan books can be heavy and frightening at times, but don’t let that stop you from reading them. They are filled with information that makes the Svalbard “Doomsday” Seed Vault in Norway sound like good, solid planning.

For lighter food reading, check out Under the Tuscan Sun: at home in Italy by Frances Mayes or A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. You can almost smell the food from the descriptions in these books. If you like to listen to your books, Simon Jones provides a wonderful reading of Mayle’s French Lessons: adventures with knife, fork and corkscrew.

Finally for dessert, check out a piece of fiction about food: Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This title will force you to visit DeBrand’s at least once before the last page.

An Omnivore Librarian

The Joy of Cooking, revisited

Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

Growing up with Betty Crocker, I’ve always had only one cookbook in the house.  A couple of months ago, I walked by the 641s and it seemed The Joy of Cooking was calling out my name.  I needed a good recipe for crab dip, as I had never made it before and wanted to have it for our Super Bowl party.

I was surprised and delighted to discover that The Joy of Cooking is like an encyclopedia of cooking.  Like the World Book Encyclopedia, this book starts with the most basic information and builds from there.  It is not spiral-bound for a reason: it literally has every basic recipe you can think of, but it is meant to be a reference book.  Or at least, that’s how I look at it.  I’m going to buy a copy of this book to keep on hand at home.

So now I have three manuals for cooking:  Betty Crocker, The Joy of Cooking, and (most importantly) my mom.

Melissa, IT Librarian and cook

The Return of the Vegan Betties

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, authors of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Vegan With a Vengeance, are continuing their quest for world dominance with Veganomicon, the Betty Crocker of vegan cookbooks. This book contains a full range of recipes for every occasion from simple fare, like “Diner Home Fries”, to fancy-schmancy desserts such as “Strawberry Rosewater Cobbler with Lemon Pastry Lattice Crust.”

Even non-vegetarians, such as those who are watching their cholesterol intake, might enjoy trying these cookbooks. But be aware that, while nearly all these easy-to-follow recipes are low in cholesterol (usually cholesterol free), they are not all low-fat!

–Mari