BORDEAUX 2005 in Toronto, Canada, Jan 22/08

The Time and Date: Tuesday January 22, 2008 2PM to 4 PM

The Event: Vintages Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 Tasting Event,
for the trade. Over 100 wines from over 75 chateaux.

The Venue: Four Seasons Hotel, Regency Ballroom

The Target Audience: wine media, sommeliers, food and beverage managers.

The Availability/Catalogue: many of the vaunted, ripe and
classically-structured 2005 wines were available for pre-order. This was not
strictly a futures event, and stock will begin to arrive over the next few
seasons. But many could still be pre-ordered by Feb 8/08. My tasting
catalogue, as with all previous LCBO tasting catalogues, was well-laid out,
clear, had prices, and connected well with the labels on or at the tables.
And as with all previous LCBO catalogues, this one fell apart after 30
minutes. Their printer has a problem with staples.

The Quote: "What vintage is this wine?" - gushed-heard from one young blonde
lady. Did she not know where she was? Or was she a gate crasher?

The Wines: I could not taste every single red wine, but I tried. I did not
taste any white Pessac or any Sauternes/Barsac, for there was no time and
palate left. The best wine values of the show were Chateau Beaumont ($19.85)
from Haut Medoc and Chateau Greysac from Medoc (not available for purchase,
but regularly selling for under $20 US). Both were well-aged already, ripe,
and with a textbook mouthfeel and length, and exceptional at the price:
these are wines to have while waiting for the other 2005s to come around.
Here were my faves of the show (not in any order except by stars), although
just about all of them are closed:

**** Four Stars (90 - 93 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

- Château Chasse-Spleen ($65)

- Château Phelan-Segur ($70)

- Château Talbot ($72)

- Château La Conseillante ($309)

- Château Leoville Barton ($309)

- Château Troplong Mondot ($329)

- Château Angelus ($392; $784 for magnum)

- Château Lynch-Bages ($215)

- Château Figeac ($174)

- Château Pichon-Baron ($197)

- Château La Couspaude ($99)

- Château La Lagune ($109)

- Château Canon ($133)

- Château Leoville-Poyferre ($199)

- Château Beau-Sejour Becot ($114; $228 for a magnum)

- Château Langoa Baron ($113)

- Château Clarke ($32)

- Château La Gaffelière ($110)

- Château Poujeaux ($47)

- Château Dufort-Vivens ($54)

- Château La Dominique ($73)

- Château Lagrange ($96)

*** Three Stars (86 - 89 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

- Château Dassault ($54)

- Château Camensac ($36)

- Château Grand Puy Ducasse ($46)

- Château Bouscaut ($42)

- Domaine de Chevalier ($82)

- Château Latour-Martillac ($49)

- Château Smith Haut-Lafitte ($125)

- Château Canon-La-Gaffelière ($138)

- Château La Dominique ($73)

- Château Beauregard ($55)

- Château Branaire-Ducru ($160)

- Château Léoville-Barton ($309)

- Château Haut-Bages Libéral ($85)

- Château Lynch-Bages ($215)

- Château Pichon-Longueville ($198, $396 magnum)

The Food: hard to beat duck terrine, chicken liver mousse, roquefort cheese,
stilton, brie, dried fruit, several kinds of breads, and the like.

The Downside: it may have been just a trade function, with tastings rather
than orders, but does that excuse a certain rudeness from many of the French
pourers? They talked amongst themselves while we were standing in front of
them, waiting for wine to be poured, glasses outstretched so that there
would be no mistake about what we wanted. Other pourers were writing notes
and text messaging. And it wasn't just to me either...On the other hand, the
LCBO Product Consultants were lively and alert, as if to compensate.

The Upside: a great opportunity to taste some serious wines at serious
prices.

The Contact Person: try Shari Mogk-Edwards through www.vintages.com.

The Effectiveness (numerical grade): 95.

www.deantudor.com

AUDIO REVIEW: IN DEFENSE OF FOOD; an eater's manifesto

IN DEFENSE OF FOOD; an eater's manifesto (Penguin Audio, 2008, unabridged,
6.5 hours on 5 CDs, ISBN 978-0-14-314274-4, $38.50 Canadian) is by Michael
Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma", which was the top-rated
non-fiction book of 2006. The picture of leaf lettuce on the cover pretty
well tells it all; it is accompanied by the text: "Eat food. Not too much.
Mostly plants." Some of this material was previously published last year in
the New York Times' magazine; that article was meant as a follow-up to his
2006 book. As he plainly makes clear, the real evil in food is the ideology
that controls everyday eating. Pollan calls it "nutritionism"; it promotes
nutrients above the food itself. In many ways, it is a lot like the movement
of the late 19th century with Kellogg and Graham and their flours and foods.
When you diet, you end up changing your balance of nutrients in your foods.
Thus, a low-fat diet becomes a high-carb diet. When "additives" and
"supplements" provide nutrients, you really don't know if they will work in
the same way as in "food". Another argument against nutritionism is that new
discoveries and new research methods have overturned the past: butter is
better than its trans-fat replacement, free-range food is better that
battery food, no fresh eggs were used in the 1960s cholesterol trials
(frozen and powdered eggs were used, and that skewed the results), fat is a
carrier in our bodies for natural nutrients and thus must be present in our
diet. He goes on to show that many studies were flawed. For example, a half
billion dollar eight year study of low-fat diets for women showed that the
target range of 20% of total calories from fat intake was never achieved.
The lowest it got was 29%. Because food corporations make their money on
both novelties and long shelf lives, then all processed foods should be
avoided. He produces what we can call the "The Michael Rules". Some don't
rules: don't eat food incapable of rotting; don't eat food with unfamiliar
ingredients and/or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup); don't eat food that make
health claims or are dietary supplements. Some do rules: do eat mostly
plants (especially leaves); do eat wild foods; do pay more to eat less; do
have a glass of wine with dinner. This book has been read by actor and
writer Scott Brick, who also narrated the 2006 "The Omnivore's Dilemma".

Audience and level of use: For retrovores (those who eat food that was
raised the way they used to be raised) -- anyone concerned about what they
eat, or looking for guidance on how to eat wisely.

Some interesting or unusual facts: "I'm hoping this book will give people
tools so they don't have to be dependent on people like me"

The downside to this book: while he has good material on fructose corn
syrup, he has nothing on the other devil, MSG, nor on preservatives in
general. While all the text is here in unabridged format, there is no
listing of the reading sources nor of the index and websites, which is a
shame. Quality/Price Rating: 94.

www.deantudor.com

JANUARY 2008: THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS...

...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback
reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher
a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will
reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will
rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text
while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent "re-editions"...

* BILLY'S BEST BOTTLES; wines for 2008 (McArthur & Co., 2007, 200
pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-683-3, $21.96 spiral bound) is now in its 18th
edition. I got it too late for inclusion in my annual gift article,
wherein I discussed other wine annuals. The wines in Billy's listings
are all available at the LCBO's General List and some as Vintages
Essentials, in Ontario; most will also be found in other provinces and
American states. He leads off with his plea for wine drinking by mood,
and this mood determines the strength level of the wine. His "Wine By
Mood Spectrum Chart" (also at www.billysbestbottles.com) is for food
and mood matches, based on fresh wines, medium (body) wines, and rich
wines, subdivided by white and red. This is the "Six Pack" approach to
wine drinking. Each wine has advice on how to serve plus plenty of food
matches and ideas (but the recommendations for pizza are for tomato-
sauce and cheese pizzas only). There is a wine calendar for upcoming
events in Ontario, but mainly for the GTA region. Wines are indexed by
category and by country. But this index can be ripped out in the book
store for a listing of the 200 or so wines. This is the major drawback
of any spiral bound book. Also, there are not many details about grape
varieties for the Euro wines. But it exhibits a no-nonsense commonsense
approach to wine, and there is an updated list of touring wineries in
Ontario. Quality/Price rating: 87.

* WEEK IN WEEK OUT; 52 seasonal stories (Quadrille, 2007, 255 pages,
ISBN 978-1-84400-502-4, $45US hard covers) is by Simon Hopkinson,
former chef at Bibendum (1987-1995). He is now a full time UK food
writer. The material in this volume was previously published in The
Independent Saturday magazine between December 1994 and April 2002. If
necessary, Hopkinson reworked the recipe. Jason Lowe was the original
photographer, and he is back with some presumably new settings. There
are 52 productions here, beginning with Winter and moving through
Autumn. It is an eclectic mix, relying on seasonal availability. All
recipes, of course, are for home use. Each week Hopkinson focused on a
particular ingredient or foodie topic at the time. The recipes take
their lead from the time of year, and usually there are three or so
each week. Try roast quails with butter and lemon; tomatoes stuffed
with crab and basil; cold veal with sliced egg and anchovy sauce; hot
strawberry and almond pie. Quality/Price rating: 88.

* MICHAEL BROADBENT'S POCKET VINTAGE WINE COMPANION (Harcourt, 2007,
408 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-101261-9, $22US hard covers) is by Michael
Broadbent, MW, probably the most experienced fine-wine taster in the
world, with 55 years and more in the wine trade. He also writes a
monthly column for Decanter (and has done so for the past 30 years).
This "pocket" book, in a decent 4.83 x 6.75 size, in two colours (black
and red inks), updates his previous 2002 book, MICHAEL BROADBENT'S
VINTAGE WINE; fifty years of tasting three centuries of wine at $80, so
it is a bargain book. He's shortened the format, leaving out much
material from the original 560 large size pages. The original big book
began life in 1980, with a revision in 1991 and 2002. This, then, is a
third revision, and certainly more affordable. Dropped are his profiles
of personalities and many of his anecdotes. Also dropped are Madeira
entries, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, various appendices
and indexes. Added are updated notes over the past five years, and a
re-assessment of all vintages.
The sources for his wine notes are from collectors' cellars, wine
auctions, legendary tastings, wine society events, and his own personal
cellar. He is not consumer-driven like Robert Parker. Most tasting
notes have been rewritten and made smaller. France gets 300 pages,
Germany 45 pages, California has 20 pages, and Vintage Ports get 25
pages. Bordeaux has the biggest chunk of space, naturally, for it has
long lasting, mostly expensive, and widely available wine (plus of
course the Brits are just across the Channel from Bordeaux and have an
intimate history of involvement in the wine trade, as with Madeira and
Port). Bordeaux is the wine which turns up in cellars and auctions
everywhere. Most of the whites here are Sauternes. Red Burgundy is
mostly DRC. Icewines? Well, none from Canada, but there are a handful
from Germany (eiswein). There is also a chart specifying ullage levels
and wine terms. Quality/Price rating: 95.

* THE GOOD HOUSEKEEPING COOKBOOK; 1,039 recipes from America's favorite
test kitchen. Rev. ed. (Hearst Books, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda
Group, 608 pages, ISBN 978-1-58816-561-9, $24.95US hard covers) has
been edited by Susan Westmoreland, the Food Director of "Good
Housekeeping". It has been often revised over the years; indeed, I grew
up with previous editions. It's a basic book, nothing too fancy,
arranged by product or course. Thus, there are chapters on appetizers,
soups, stews, quick and easy weeknight meals, quickbreads, desserts, as
well as products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, beans, veggies
and fruit. The boards inside the covers have tables of equivalents,
substitutions, pan volumes, and food equivalents. There are test
kitchen tips strewn throughout. The pages are clay coated which allows
for colour photography, an added bonus. Plus the pages clean up better
should you spill any foods or oils on them. More recipes are at
www.goodhousekeeping.com. The book jacket says: "By the time our
recipes appear on these pages, they are guaranteed to work in any
kitchen, including yours. We promise." Quality/Price rating: 90.

* SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND; with eight around the table (Quadrille,
2006, 2007, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400-507-9, $29.95US soft covers) is
by Ruth Watson, an award-winning UK food writer and food editor (Daily
Mail). She has twice won the Glenfiddich Award. This book was
originally published in 2006 in hard covers, and the paperback reprint
is a straight reissue, right down to the Jamie Oliver logrolling. The
basic intent is to provide stress-free weekend entertaining, when you
can be focused entirely on the guests and the meals. All of the recipes
can be prepared in advance, or made to a quick cook stage a la minute.
No cook starters are emphasized, as well as one-pot dishes or roasts.
The key, of course, is planning. British emphasis. Quality/Price
rating: 85.

* THE 100-MILE DIET; a year of local eating (Vintage Canada, 2007, 266
pages, ISBN 978-0-679-31483-7, $19.95 paper covers) is by Alisa Smith
and J.B. MacKinnon, a couple living in Vancouver. They are both authors
and magazine writers. This current book is the 2007 paperback reprint
of the hard back book. They make a year-long attempt to eat only food
grown and produced with a 100-mile radius of their apartment in
Vancouver. They did it when they discovered that the food ingredients
that we eat have traveled 1500 miles on average. It's a little easier
to do this on the west coast where the climate is milder and the
growing season is longer. But there is no denying that imported foods
such as coffee and chocolate would have to go, as well as non-BC wines.
For Ontario, we'll have to eat a lot of root veggies and hydroponics.
But no matter...The book is well-written and enjoyable on its own
terms: it makes you think. Quality/Price rating: 91.

* NEW GOOD FOOD; essential ingredients for cooking and eating well.
(Ten Speed Press, 2007, 284 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-750-6, $19.95US
paper covers) is by Margaret M. Wittenberg, global VP of Whole Foods
Market, where she has worked since 1981. Logrollers include Mollie
Katzen and Heidi Swanson, but, really, only Marion Nestle counts here.
The book was originally published in 1995; here, it has been
extensively revised and expanded. For years it had been a bible for
buying, storing and preparing whole foods. There are seven new
chapters, including one on whole grains. Grass-fed beef and antibiotic
use in meat production is covered, as well as organic labeling and new
nutritional findings. She also covers fruits and vegetables, breads,
pasta and noodles, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, oils, poultry and
eggs, dairy products, seafood, and seasonings. Just about everything
mentioned can be found at the larger health and natural food stores
(think: Whole Foods), so that makes the book exceedingly useful. Other
useful items include seasonal produce charts and preparation advice. No
recipes, but there are cooking guidelines for each product. It is nice
to see that the bibliography has very few articles from before 1995.
Quality/Price rating: 92.

* ONE-DISH VEGETARIAN MEALS; 150 easy, wholesome, and delicious soups,
stews, casseroles, stir-fries, pastas, rice dishes, chilies, and more
(Harvard Common Press, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 200 pages,
ISBN 978-1-55832-369-8, $29US hard covers) is by Robin Robertson,
cookbook author (she's written about 14 of them), chef, and vegetarian-
cooking instructor. The book collects the best recipes from three
earlier works ("Rice & Spice". "Pasta for All Seasons", and "The
Vegetarian Chili Cookbook"). I assume that one-third of the recipes
come from each book. But all courses and forms are covered anyway,
including lunches, dinners, workdays and weekends. There are also
dairy-free options. Quality/Price rating: 88.

* HISTORY IN A GLASS; sixty years of wine writing from Gourmet (Modern
Library, 2006, 2007, 376 pages, ISBN 978-0-8129-7194-1, $16.95US paper
covers) has been edited by Ruth Reichl, the current editor of Gourmet
magazine. It is a companion piece to Endless Feasts, which was a
collection of food essays from sixty years of Gourmet. The current book
was originally published in 2006 in hard cover; this is the paperback
reprint. The seventeen writers here include Gerald Asher and Frank
Schoonmaker, who were long time regular columnists. Hugh Johnson, James
Beard, Andre L. Simon, and Frederick S. Wildman Jr. are other notables.
There's a lot of American history here, beginning with Repeal and the
War. Madeira, pinot noir, Ray Bradbury's dandelion wine, Oregon,
Washington, Chile, Spain, Chianti, sherry and others complete the
picture. Well worth a read. Quality/Price rating: 90.

* THE BEST LIFE DIET (Simon & Schuster, 2007, 283 pages, ISBN 978-1-
4166-8492-6, $17.50US soft covers) is by Bob Greene, an exercise
physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness,
metabolism, and weight loss. He has written 10 other similar life-
altering books. This is a paperback reprint of the 2006 hard cover, a
monster of a bestseller. It details a diet plan, lifestyle advice, and
healthful recipes. This is the guy who helped Oprah Winfrey shed a lot
of weight. Here are any menus along with recipes for several weeks'
worth of eating. But don't forget the exercise. He has metric
conversion charts as well. Check out his website www.thebestlife.com
for more material. Quality/Price rating: 89.

* PASTA PASSION (Quadrille, 2007; distr. Ten Speed, 304 pages, ISBN
978-1-84400-449-2, $18.95US paper covers) is by Ursula Ferrigno, a
chef, consultant, and food writer who specializes in Italian cuisine.
It was originally published in 2003, and has now been revised and re-
laid out. The hook here is that pasta is a) a staple, b)a five minute
meal, and c)a source of energy complex carbohydrates. She data on pasta
shapes (and which sauces are best matches for which shapes) and fresh
pasta. 150 recipes range from the basic (spaghetti with red peppers and
tomatoes) to the upscale (vincigrassi aperto: open lasagna with cep
mushrooms and prosciutto). Topics include light and healthy recipes,
make aheads, and everyday, as well as easy and impressive recipes.
There are even some dessert recipes (e.g., Neapolitan ricotta tart)
which use pasta. Quality/Price rating: 88.

* SPICE; recipes to delight the senses (Periplus, 2005, 2007, 273
pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-0489-9, $39.95US hard covers) is by Christine
Mansfield, an Australian chef now working in Covent Garden's East@West.
She is also a cookbook writer, and this is her fourth such book. It was
originally published in 1999 and revised and updated in 2005. This is
it's first North American appearance. Aromatics are used from Sri
Lanka, Japan, Singapore, Tunisia, China, Thailand and China. It now
comes with an introduction by Charlie Trotter. There is an extensive
glossary of the major spices in the world, followed by material on dry
spice blends (garam masala, curry, berbere, five spice powder (although
the Chinese version has six spices, two [anise and fennel] with the
same flavour profile), wet spice pastes, condiments, oils, and sauces.
The arrangement is apps to desserts. There is a 10 page discussion on
matching wines to spices, and this is quite good and useful. She has an
international list of spice suppliers and a bibliography;
unfortunately, the book listings appear not to have been updated since
the 1999 edition. Try pepper sourdough bread; chili cumin dal; eggplant
masala; chicken livers with pickled lamb's tongue, mustard spaghetti
and garlic sauce. Quality/Price rating: 89.

* THE GLOBAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WINE (Wine Appreciation Guild, 2000, 2001,
912 pages plus CD-ROM, ISBN 978-1-891267-38-3, $75US) has been edited
by Peter Forrestal. Here are 36 wine experts who cover various regions;
they are all named. Tony Aspler deals with Canada. The book was
originally published in Australia and was reprinted by the WAG. I have
no idea why I was sent a review copy, for the book is neither new nor
up-to-date. Yet the book proclaims "Another feature of this massive
book is that it is up to date...This book has run to a tight schedule
without compromising its integrity." There are two paragraphs detailing
how they cracked the whip in order to keep the book current - but only
as of 2000. Hey, there have been tremendous changes since 2000! Good
pictures and maps, but shame about the text. To compound the matter,
the book was apparently mailed to me at the end of October 2007, but
sat in the San Francisco post office until the end of 2007. Ah, well.
The one real redeeming value is the CD-ROM which allows for single word
searches and contextualizing. Quality/Price ratio: unrated.

* COCKTAILS; style recipes (Simon and Schuster, 2005, 2008, 96 pages,
ISBN 978-1-4165-7101-8, $15.95US paper covers) is by food and drink
writer-editor-author Norman Kolpas. It is a paperback reissue of his
2005 book. There are over 50 easy-to-make drinks, both contemporary and
classic, plus tips and ideas for party planning. It has been organized
by type of drink and type of occasion, featuring stunning photography.
The book concludes with a glossary and an index. Quality/Price rating:
85.

* THE INSULIN-RESISTANCE DIET. 2d ed. Rev. and exp. (McGraw-Hill, 2008,
240 pages, ISBN 978-0-07-149984-2, $16.95US soft covers) is by Cheryle
Hart, M.D., and Mary Kay Grossman, R.D. This book originally came out
in 2001, and since then it has sold 150,000 copies. The eating plan
here is fully described: how to lose weight by linking carbs and
proteins to control blood sugar. Or, as the authors state: "How to turn
off your body's fat-making machine". The latest info is, of course,
incorporated into the text. The authors claim that 95% of their
patients successfully lose weight using their plan's Link-and-Balance
Eating Method, self-tests, and food lists. 45 recipes are included, as
well as shopping and restaurant strategies. Quality/Price rating: 91.

* THE RIVER COTTAGE MEAT BOOK (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, 2007; distr.
McArthur, 544 pages, ISBN 978-0-340-82638-6, $29.95 soft covers) is by
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a UK writer and Channel Four broadcaster.
He lives at "River Cottage" in Dorset, and fights for real food and
meat in England. This is his third cookbook in the River Cottage
series. It was published in 2004, and here gets a paperback reprint at
a reduced price. The original edition sold 165,000 copies, so lots of
people are eating lots of meat. This is a tightly researched, from a
British perspective, book on meats such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry,
and game. There is a side excursion into offal. 40% of the book is
about meat; the rest is about recipes scattered amongst cooking
techniques with their own chapters (roasting, slow cooking, fast
cooking, barbecuing, preserving and processing, and using leftovers in
soups and stocks. There is a bibliography and a British resources list
of suppliers. He includes a small section on a dozen mood categories,
with page references. So for "Sheer Comfort", we can have cold roast
beef open sandwich, rice pudding pork, daube, beef in stout, Irish
stew, red flannel has, spaghetti bolognese, and others. All the dishes
we associate with the UK are here, such as steak and kidney pie, jugged
hare, roast belly of pork, roast grouse, oxtail stew, pork pie, and
roast beef (the full monty, he says). Of course, his shepherd's pie is
made with lamb. Many more details are at www.rivercottage.net. Quality/Price
rating: 89.

www.deantudor.com

Dec 2007 -- THE RESTAURANT COOKBOOKS...

...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks.
Actually, they've been around for many years, but never in such
proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be
flogged at the restaurant and since the chef ends up being a celebrity
somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the
Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the
chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually
come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there
will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items
no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the
history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they
use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is
a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I'll try to
point this out. The usual schtick is "favourite recipes made easy for
everyday cooks". There is also PR copy on "demystifying ethnic
ingredients". PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase
"mouth-watering recipes" as if that is what it takes to sell such a
book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that
some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don't seem
to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for
the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most
books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as
gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound,
usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of
food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other
celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are
cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some
companies, though, will ship around the world, so don't ignore them
altogether. Here's a rundown on the latest crop of such books -

15. DISH ENTERTAINS; everyday simple to special occasions
(HarperCollins, 2007, 247 pages, ISBN 978-0-00-200772-6, $44.95 hard
covers) is by Trish Magwood, owner of dish cooking school and Food
Network chef. It comes with an endorsement by Linda Haynes, cofounder
of ACE Bakery.
This is basic stylish entertaining, with no sit down dinners. There are
two categories - everyday simple weekday, and special occasions. The
emphasis here is a collection of passarounds or buffets. She has a
tapas and cocktail party (with guidelines for quantities) and a family-
style dinner gathering from serving platters. She passes along many
caterer's tips and tricks, as well as time saving techniques. The range
is from appetizers to desserts, and many preps have been on her "Party
Dish" TV show. The 115 recipes call for special equipment that you may
not need to use otherwise, but if you are in the catering game, then
they are essential. Her dishes include balsamic pesto chicken, mocha
tortoni mousse, smoked trout and avocado, and soup shooters. But one of
her photos of pancetta looks suspiciously like prosciutto, and there is
a consistent misspelling of "hors d'oeuvre" - it's not pluralized. But
there are both Imperial and metric measurements used in the ingredients
listings, a plus. Her website is www.dishcookingstudio.com which has
Magwood's schedule and a bevy of other recipes. Quality/Price Rating:
87.

16. CRESCENT CITY COOKING; unforgettable recipes from Susan Spicer's
New Orleans (Knopf, 2007, 405 pages, ISBN 978-1-4000-4389-7, $44 hard
covers) is from Chef Spicer who owns two restos in New Orleans: Bayona
(in the French Quarter) and Herbsaint (on St.Charles). Paula Disbrowe,
a chef and a food writer, is the focusing co-author. Notable log
rollers include Lidia Bastianich ("dazzles the palate"), Mario Batali
("sense of place and tradition"), and Daniel Boulud ("exciting and
original recipes"). This is Southern cooking meets Creole/Cajun,
expressed through 175 recipes. Most dishes come from her restaurants.
There is a sources list for mail orders (all US) and an extensive
index, with initial letters highlighted in red. Typical dishes include
pickled shrimp, Bayou chicken wings (actually, frog legs), Mexican
green gazpacho with shellfish, crayfish pies, and gumbos. There are
also quite a few "international dishes" (e.g. pork sate, Asian noodle
salad, and the like) that seem a bit out of place in a New Orleans
book. At the end, there is a large cocktail section. The recipes are
printed on coloured paper, which makes it difficult to photocopy, and
sometimes to even read. The ingredients are expressed in US volume
measurements, but there are no tables of metric equivalents.
Quality/Price Rating: 84.

17. ASIAN FLAVORS OF JEAN-GEORGES (Broadway Books, 2007, 290 pages,
ISBN 978-0-7679-1273-0, $50 hard covers) is by Jean-Georges
Vongerichten, founder of eponymous establishments such as JoJo and
Vong, Jean-Georges, plus several others such as Spice Market, Rama (in
London), more in Shanghai and Las Vegas. He spends most of his time
developing recipes and overseeing his empire of 18 restaurants. For
this book, to have more Asian credibility, log rollers include Asian
chefs Nobu Matsuhisa (owner of restos Nobu and Matsuhisa, "ingenious
combinations") and Toronto's own Susur Lee (owner of Susur and Lee,
"unique and nuanced food palette of taste sensations"). Hmmm...There
must be something about these chefs who name restos after all of their
first, middle (if any), and last names! His book is pan-Asian, and
reflects the recipes at Vong, 66, and Spice Market (the latter deals
with Asiatic street food). The 175 recipes are arranged from apps to
desserts: cold sesame noodles, lobster summer rolls, ribbons of tuna
with ginger marinade, corn and crab soup, avocado and radish salad with
onion tempura, squab with egg noodle pancake. The ingredients are
expressed in US volume measurements, but there are no tables of metric
equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 86.

18. NIGELLA EXPRESS; good food fast (Knopf, 2007, 390 pages, ISBN 978-
0-676-97976-3, $50 hard covers) is by Nigella Lawson, a food goddess
with a popular series of TV shows and books ("Nigella Bites", "Feast",
"Forever Summer"). The bumpf alliteratively describes this book as
"featuring fabulous fast foods". There are the usual short cuts
(expressed with flair) and time-saving ideas. The basic rule for speedy
food is to make every single ingredient earn its place in the
composition: "minimize effort by maximizing taste". And, also, there is
minimum stress for maximum enjoyment (also, just turn off your cell
phone). The layout is superb, and thank God it has metric weights and
measures for the listed ingredients. There is material on party
presentations, speedy suppers, quick breakfasts, calming food, holiday
quickies, pantry and larder storage items. Basic quality stuff includes
only organic eggs, unsalted butter, fresh herbs, infused oils, and dark
70% chocolate. Try breakfast bruschetta, chopped ceviche, lamb shanks
with beans, butternut and sweet potato soup, and lamb tagine. It is
quality food in a quality book (it even comes with a ribbon
bookmarker!) but the price is sticky for a "fast food" book.
Quality/Price Rating: 83.

19. THE ART OF SIMPLE FOOD (Clarkson Potter, 2007, 406 pages, ISBN 978-
0-307-33679-8, $44 hard covers) is by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse
fame. She shares co-authorship with Patricia Curtan, Kelsie Kerr, and
Fritz Streiff, who are never actually identified in the book. Curtan is
given two credits: one for the illustrations, and one for the design.
There are 19 culinary "lessons" and foundation approaches for starting
from scratch (how to make fresh pasta, do a risotto, sauteeing,
grilling, making omelets, making custards, etc.). This is part one. The
second part is a collection of 250 recipes for cooking everyday
(sauces, salads, soup, pasta, breads, eggs, cheese, veggies, flesh, and
desserts). Her principles are simple, and have been influenced by
Richard Olney and Elizabeth David from the 1960s: eat locally, eat
sustainably, eat seasonally, shop at farmers' markets, plant a garden,
compost and recycle, cook simply, and others. Quality/Price Rating: 89.

20. CIOPPINO'S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL; a lifetime of excellence in the
kitchen (Douglas & McIntyre, 2007, 234 pages, ISBN 978-1-55365-251-9,
$60 hard covers) is by Pino Posteraro, owner-chef since 1999 of this
restaurant and Cioppino's Enoteca, both in Vancouver. These high end
restos emphasize Mediterranean fusion cuisine. The 100 recipes here
come from the restaurant, adapted for the home cook. The reference
section includes sauces, flavoured oils, pasta dough, confit vegetable
preps, and the like. The oversize book is very heavy, and you might
want to photocopy any recipes before rolling up your sleeves. There is
a memoir section (with photos) and a strange page about sous-vide
cooking (which he does in the restaurant), but then says no one should
do it at home. Yet the book is meant for home cooking. The term is not
indexed. Metric weights and measures are used throughout, which is an
excellent sign of a careful cook. Instructions are explicit, with
service and prep times. Suggested wines are mostly Pacific Northwest
and Italian, although there are some French and Chilean picks.
Unfortunately, he is quite explicit about label names and vintage
years, and only gives one wine per dish instead of a range of choices
to accommodate the reader's local market. Quality/Price Rating: 87.

21. PACIFIC NORTHWEST WINING AND DINING; the people, places, food, and
drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia (John Wiley &
Sons, 2007, 270 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74685-0, $41.99 hard covers) is
by Braiden Rex-Johnson, a food editor who has been writing about
Pacific Northwest food and wine for more than 15 years. Here, in this
part travel part cookbook, she takes us to a variety of restaurants,
arranged by region or state. The dedicated space is roughly a third
each for Washington, Oregon, and BC, with 15 pages on Idaho. There is a
listing of wine and food festivals in the area. The idea of Northwest
cuisine is basically paired with the wine culture. Seafood, lamb and
fruit play prominent roles. There is good material here on food and
wine matching. Recipes are cited as to source, with the names and
addresses and websites of the restos. The 113 recipes, even for BC,
have US volume measurements and no metric tables of equivalents. There
are really nice colour photos, including one of the dimples on the
outside of a stainless-steel wine tank. From BC, we have recipes from
Feenie's, Araxi, C, Sooke Harbour House, Tinhorn Creek, and others.
It's about time we had a book like this for the Niagara Frontier-Finger
Lakes regions. Quality/Price Rating: 89.

www.deantudor.com

BOOK REVIEW: Oxford Companion to Italian Food

THE OXFORD COMPANION TO ITALIAN FOOD (Oxford University Press, 2007, 637
pages, ISBN 978-0-19-860617-8, $39.95 hard covers) is by Gillian Riley, a
food historian who makes major contributions to the Oxford Symposium on
Food, and author of "Renaissance Recipes" and the National Gallery Cookbook.
She's assisted by five contributors, including Anna del Conte and Carol
Field, but she's done the bulk of the detail work, including the writing of
all the unsigned articles. There are 900 articles here, in an A - Z setup
for all of the entries (and no recipes). Major categories of topics include:
history, society, culture, variety of cuisine, myths, dishes and prepared
foods, ingredients (e.g., seafood, sweets, vegetables, herbs, meats, pasta),
delicacies, cooking methods, culinary terms, implements, regional
specialties (e.g. Emilia-Romagna), baked goods (amaretti, bruschetta,
cornetto, panettone), cheeses. There are 75 biographies of important
Italians, mainly chefs. She has some good clarifying notes on the
differences between emmer wheat (farro) and spelt. Unfortunately, there is
not much on wine or on other beverages - probably outside her scope. The
index has large type; it is extensive with copious cross-references. And
there are internal cross-references as well, where appropriate. Headwords
stand out clearly. She provides a long and up-to-date bibliography. Basic
question: why start with Italian food? Why not French food? Just asking...

Audience and level of use: Italian food lovers, librarians, hospitality
schools, food reference book collectors.

Some interesting or unusual facts: Ciabatta is very recent. Its dough was
described in 1985 by Carol Field as "utterly unfamiliar and probably a bit
scary".

The downside to this book: not really a downside, but how far along is
Oxford going with all of its Companion series? In Food and Drink alone they
can mine the field with at least 100 titles. The one map of Italy is a puny
black and white affair. And there are the occasional errors of pagination in
the index (e.g., emmer wheat).

The upside to this book: there are small, occasional black and white photos
which are informative. She also manages to cover mediaeval cookbooks, and
food in Renaissance paintings.

Quality/Price Rating: 95 (great price, even cheaper on Amazon.Ca)

www.deantudor.com

BOOK REVIEW: My Italian Garden (La PLace)

MY ITALIAN GARDEN; more than 125 seasonal recipes from a garden
inspired by Italy (Broadway Books, 2007, 258 pages, ISBN 978-0-7679-
1825-1, $24.95 paper covers) is by the well-known Italian cookbook
author, Viana La Place. She's a personal fave of mine, with her other
books (Cucina Rustica, Verdura, Pasta Fresca, Cucina Fresca, Panini)
sitting on my shelves. The 125 recipes are based on her seven-tiered
garden in her backyard in San Francisco, which is modeled after Italian
gardens. She's planted three dozen varieties, such as lacinato kale,
fig trees, treviso radicchio, wild fennel, lemon trees, and jasmine.
The book is arranged by season, summer through spring, as the garden
itself changes. There are no complex recipes here, just veggies and
herbs with pasta (or panini, pizza, risotto) forms for the most part.
US volume measurements are used for the ingredients. She lists eight
sources for Italian seed varietals, including one direct from Italy
(the rest are all USA). Full courses are given, from apps through
condiments and desserts.
Audience and level of use: Italian food lovers.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Sicilian zucchini al picchi
pacchi; orecchiette with little yellow tomatoes and parsley; chioggia
beet and radicchio salad; whole sage leaves in pastella; risotto with
orange and lemon; herb and parmesan custards with truffle oil.
The downside to this book: no metric conversion tables.
The upside to this book: well-developed index.
Quality/Price Rating: 92.

www.deantudor.com

Book Review: Art and Science of Wine (Halliday & Johnson)

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF WINE (Firefly Books, 2007, 240 pages, ISBN
978-1-55407-247-7, $29.95 paper covers) was originally published in
1992; it has been revised and updated to a 2007 copyright date. James
Halliday is Oz's answer to Hugh Johnson; Hugh Johnson is the main guru
of wine writing in the UK. Between them they have been responsible for
about 100 books on wine, and they have judged several thousand wines.
To summarize the book, I'll take this quote from the Library of
Congress: "An overview of the subtle artistry and sophisticated science
of the winemaking process from the vineyard to the bottle. Explores
factors affecting the growing and harvesting of grapes, describes the
various kinds of wines, and discusses the chemistry and analysis of
wine". The book is divided into three parts. One deals with the
vineyards (vines, terroir, microclimates, grape varieties, pestilence,
irrigation, mechanization), another with the winery (regional
characteristics, oaking, styles of wines from light to full and
fortifieds), and the third part deals with the bottle (analysis of
wine, aging, faults, manipulation). A basic glossary and index
concludes the book. The essential differences between New and Old world
winemaking styles are explored: the Old world is limited by laws and
traditions, while the New world winemakers can do virtually anything
they want. Names and reputations are based solely on the selection
process of choosing what goes into the bottle.
Audience and level of use: an extremely useful book for the beginning
wine student, and an aide memoire for the experienced hand.
Some interesting or unusual facts: the book has been completely re-
written to take into account New world production methods, using screw
caps, the art of terroir, and changes in pruning and irrigation
techniques.
The downside to this book: there should have been material about
chemical additives. We all know that most New world and many Old world
producers goose up their wines' body, flavour, smoothness, and ageing
by adding such things as Tanin Plus, glycerine, and the like - all of
which is supposedly harmless to our bodies, but none of it recognized
or sanctioned by any wine regulating body. I'm just waiting for the day
when an expose happens. The 2003 vintage in Europe was such a stunner
in sculpting basic New world-style wines (and gaining that audience in
the New world) that it would hard to go back to normal wines in a
normal year. I taste thousands of wines a year, and already I can taste
atypical tones in some 2004 and 2005 European wines, tones which remind
me of the 2003 vintage and of the New world style.
The upside to this book: more than 200 colour photos and illustrations,
coupled with occasional anecdotes. A good basic oversized paperback
book, well-worth the money (Amazon.Ca offers it for $18.87)
Quality/Price Rating: 95.

More reviews at www.deantudor.com

Book Review: Oz Clarke's Bordeaux

OZ CLARKE'S BORDEAUX; the wines, the vineyards, the winemakers
(Harcourt Inc., 2006; distr. Raincoast, 240 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-
101300-5. $43.95 hard covers) is by the ever-accessible Oz Clarke, who
has been following in every wine writer's footsteps (Johnson, Robinson,
et al) in popularizing wine lore. This latest book is being touted as
an "insider's guide", with profiles of the leading chateaux. Clarke is
master of the dictionary arrangement; indeed, his company is known as
"Webster". The main book is arranged by region: Medoc, Graves, Right
Bank, Cotes and Entre Deux Mers, and Sweeties. Each has its own A - Z
reviews of important chateaux. Internal cross-references are useful,
but of course there is an overall index at the back of the book. For
each chateau, there is a label and generic tasting notes with an
indication of "best years". The grapes used are listed. In the
beginning basic data chapters, Clarke runs through why Bordeaux
matters, grapes, styles, effect of Mouton Cadet, second wines produced,
viticulture, vinification, reading the label, and the effects of Emile
Peynaud and Michel Rolland, a student of Peynaud. There are aerial maps
and lots of overview photos. He concludes with an interesting chapter
on the future of Bordeaux. The 2003 vintage was a revelation,
especially in sales. There are profound changes augmented by the Robert
Parker fruit bombs, and a declining market for sales.
Audience and level of use: Bordeaux lovers, armchair tourists,
libraries, wine schools.
Some interesting or unusual facts: Bordeaux has 57 appellations, 250
classed growth wines, 10,500 growers, and produces over 800 million
bottles of wine a year.
The downside to this book: too many pix of Ozzie. Some typos (e.g.,
weened), vintage table only goes back to 1985 (it should go back to
1970, still in the marketplace).
The upside to this book: Clarke is open to suggestions about Bordeaux
look-alikes in other countries. He uses lots of photos and colour in
the affordable book.
Quality/Price Rating: 90.

More reviews at www.deantudor.com

HOLIDAY GIFT BOOKS: wine and food humour and diets

Part Four: HUMOUR & DIET
========================

What's a holiday without humour? We seem to have another bumper crop
this year. DINNER PARTY DISASTERS; true stories of culinary catastrophe
(Abrams, 2007, 96 pages, $17.95 hard cover) is by Annaliese Soros with
Abigail Stokes. These are true tales of faux pas. Vital facts about
each party are followed by a first person account, accompanied by
sidebars offering real-life solutions (how to prevent fires, recovering
from a hangover, sparking conversation, mending broken furniture).
Soros also gives her formula for a goof-proof dinner party which is a
perfect mix of guests, food, decor, and entertainment.

THE FOOD SNOB'S DICTIONARY; an essential lexicon of gastronomical
knowledge (Broadway Books, 2007, 176 pages, $16.95 paper covers) is one
of series following on Rock Snobs and Film Snobs. David Kamp, one of
the authors, wrote last year's hit book "The United States of Arugula".
Essentially, this is a bluffer's guide which has been done before, but
now, of course, with the mushrooming information about food, needed to
be modernized. This compendium, alphabetically arranged, of food facts,
terminology, and names, is not a humourous book, but it does poke fun
at foodies. A lot of the material is useful, such as how to pronounce
names, definitive histories of foods and restaurants, and terms used.
But the sarcasm can be hard to handle, and the sentences written to
show usage are, quite frankly, useless. Typical entries include
"grassfed beef", "farmstead cheese", and "dayboat fish" There are also
internal cross-references. Fun to read before dropping off to sleep.

ALL GONG AND NO DINNER; home truths and domestic sayings
(HarperCollins, 2007, 414 pages, $24.95) is by the Brit wordsmith Nigel
Rees; he is the author of over 50 reference books. These are over 1000
homely phrases and curious domestic sayings, illustrating every aspect
of home life. They have been organized thematically, from the kitchen
to the bedroom. There are topics of food, drink, health, and money. It
is a humour portrait of British family life - and it is perfect it you
are British, less so if not. There is some US stuff here, offered by
comparison. For instance "delivered by the stork" is the same as "found
him under a gooseberry bush" or "found under a cabbage patch" (in the
US). BTW, the title is a reference to "all talk and no action".

MOONSHINE! (Lark Books, 2007, 176 pages, $19.95 paper covers) is a book
all about illegal distillation. There are recipes, "tall tales",
drinking songs, history of moonshine in the US, jokes, techniques on
how to make it, hangovers, and evading the law. Matthew b. Rowley is a
food writer and historian; he sits on the board of the Southern
Foodways Alliance at Ole Miss. There are good historical photos and
neat how-to instructions.

GASTROANAOMALIES; questionable culinary creations from the golden age
of American cookery (Crown Publishers, 2007, 176 pages, $29.95 hard
covers) is author James Lileks hysterical follow-u[ to his "The Gallery
of Regrettable Food" (2001). This is like volume two, and is a
collection of foodstuffs from the mid-century: pizza in the fifties,
scalloped ham and potatoes, the "Bacon-Egger" implement, recipes for
banana all-bran nut bread, the plate crab, the burning bush, and the
like. It is a totally funny compilation of restaurant items, strange
cocktails, "international: foods, and old menus. He's got illustrations
from old adverts, and lots of old coloured pictures.

DESERT ISLAND WINE (Ambeli Press, 2007, 190 pages, $14.95 paper covers)
is by Miles Lambert-Gocs. It is a collection of 28 humourous vignettes
on wine. His previous humour book was "Greek Salad" in 2004, from the
same publisher. He opens with a CNN-styled interview with Dionysus,
followed by profiling of oenophiles as a wildlife species, wine-food
combinations, and quality control. There are literary parodies and
sinister puns. Good fun...

DIET
=====

Okay, this is the hard part since we must pay for our sins of
overeating during the December period. It is January 1, and the start
of a New Year (2008) means new resolutions to keep (or break). If you
are really comfortable with your friends, you could give them health
books for the holiday. At least, you might be able to use them
yourself!

* THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD (Bloomsbury UK, 2007, 240 pages, $34.95 paper
covers) is by Jill Fullerton-Smith, a BBC producer of science programs.
The title is derived from her TV series of the same name. The show
looked at our myths and asked: is drinking eight glasses of water a day
really useful? Do blueberries increase intelligence? Her topics are
about how to stay healthy, how to stay slim, how to feed the kids, and
how to stay young and beautiful.

* ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE MAGAZINE'S DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO WEIGHT LOSS; 10
healthy ways to permanently shed unwanted pounds. 2d ed. (Celestial
Arts, 2007, 320 pages, $23.95 paper covers) is by Ellen Kamhi, a
holistic nurse and a clinical instructor at a medical school. The first
edition was in 2000. Since then there have been major advances in
understanding weight loss and how to keep it off. There are newer ideas
here on major diet challenges such as a sluggish thyroid or sugar
cravings. She has eating plans, recipes, effective at-home exercises,
and detox ideas.

* THE EAT-CLEAN DIET COOKBOOK (Robert Kennedy Publishing, 2007; distr.
By National Book Network, 344 pages, $23.95 paper covers) is a follow-
up to Tosca Reno's successful earlier book, The Eat-Clean Diet - which
had only offered 30 recipes. Here she restates her dieting principles
and gives us 150 recipes, emphasizing low-fat meats, protein-rich vegan
dishes, gluten-free meals, and nutritional information on all the food
that we put into our system. Excellent photographs. Her basic
principles: eat six meals a day, drink two litres of water a day, avoid
fats and simple carbs, and exercise. Simple...check also

www.eatcleandiet.com.

* WEIGHTWATCHERS' ALL-TIME FAVORITES; over 200 best-ever recipes from
the WeightWatchers test kitchens (John Wiley, 2007, 336 pages, $35.99
spiral bound) is actually a collection of 225 preps culled from all of
their previous books: a sort-of greatest hits anthology. Here are
appetizers to desserts, for all kinds of meals. It includes the POINTS
system for every recipe and both the Flex Plan and the Core Plan for
the whole meal. A good way to start the New Year...

Buy all of these books and have a great holiday season.

www.deantudor.com

HOLIDAY GIFT BOOKS: Food and wine memoirs, history, tips

Part Three: MEMOIRS, HISTORY & TIPS
===================================

For the more literate person, there are the "memoirs" of writers,
chefs, and wine people. Some have called these memoirs "creative non-
fiction", suffering from embellishments and gilding. And also suffering
from a lack of indexing, which makes it difficult to find what the
writer said about another person or subject. But this also avoids the
potential for lawsuits and disjointed noses. Nevertheless, they are
rewarding to read. Who cares about poetic license? Here then are some
that stood out from last year's run, and any of them would make great
gifts for the reader. Here we go, in no particular order.

* THE AMATEUR GOURMET; how to shop, chop, and table-hop like a pro
(almost) (Bantam Books, 2007, 216 pages, $32 hard covers) is by Adam D.
Roberts, who has both a jurisprudence degree and an MFA in writing.
Noted logrollers assembled to help this amateur along include the Lee
Brothers, Michael Ruhlman, and Clotilde Dusoulier. It's a good read if
you like schadenfreude. Roberts takes readers through everything from
slicing and dicing an onion to cooking for a date.. He interviews
Amanda Hesser as she tours her pantry, he lunches with Ruth Reichl to
get the ten commandments of dining out. There are a dozen or so sourced
recipes from Batali, Child, Shere, et al, and the print is large enough
so you cannot miss anything. There is more stuff to check out at

www.amateurgourmet.com. But unfortunately there is no index to retrieve
the tips or the recipes.

* KITCHEN WISDOM (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2007, 96 pages, $18.50 hard
covers) is by Anne Sheasby. It's a basic book of tips, advice, hints
and tricks, with chapters on staples, flavourings, produce, dairy, and
so forth. There is a reference section on food safety and food
preserving. What I like about this book is the large typeface; I hate
squinting when I am reading for reference.

* ALICE WATERS AND CHEZ PANISSE; the romantic, impractical, often
eccentric, ultimately brilliant making of a food revolution (Penguin
Press, 2007, 336 pages, $35 hard covers) is a biography of both Waters
and Chez Panisse, surely the most influential California restaurant in
the 1970s. Thomas McNamee has written this "authorized" biography; he
had access to her and to her friends, private collections and
memorabilia. The story is revealing of how Alice fell into the food
business: she was essentially a Francophile replicating Provencal food
(as in the name of the resto), quite similar to Julia Child of twenty
years earlier. She was the first "foodie", no doubt about it. But she
is now a public figure: chef, activist, advocate, and spokesperson for
the good food movements. There are also some recipes and some
historical menus.

* ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE; a year of food life (HarperCollins, 2007,
370 pages, $33.95 hard covers) is by novelist and essayist Barbara
Kingsolver, with her husband academic Steven L. Hopp and teenage
daughter Camille Kingsolver. This is the story of a year in which they
make every attempt to feed themselves with items whose provenance they
know about. They moved from Arizona to a farm in Appalachia. Of course,
all of this only works if you live on or close by to a farm, as they
did. Hopp contributes the scholarly analysis of the food environment
(journalistic investigation) while both Kingsolver women deal with the
memoir part. The daughter provides good material on teenage
"adjusting". There are some recipes, a bibliography, a list of
organizations and websites (including some from Canada). The book is
also available as an audiobook, with readings by the same principals
and printable recipes. There are more recipes and resources at

www.animalvegetablemiracle.com

* COMFORT FOOD FOR BREAKUPS; the memoir of a hungry girl (Arsenal
Press, 2007, 171 pages, $19.95 paper covers) is by Marusya Bociurkiw.
She's a fiction writer, film maker, and food blogger. These are
vignettes (4 - 5 pages each) about food in her life: how it nourishes,
comforts, and heals. There are about a dozen recipes, mainly Ukrainian
and Italian food. Some stories have been previously published; many
deal with travels throughout the world.

* EATING INDIA; an odyssey into the food and culture of the land of
spices (Bloomsbury USA, 2007, 304 pages, $30.95 hard covers) is a
travel memoir, with cultural history and descriptions of festivals and
traditions. Most of the Indian food in North America is based on
Punjabi recipes. Chitrita Banerji, a food writer, takes us through the
influences of other aspects of India: the Aryan tribes, Greeks, Jews,
Mongols, and Arabs who have left their mark on Indian food. Recipes are
included.

* TABLE TALK; sweet and sour, salt and bitter (Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
2007, 271 pages, $34.95 hard covers) is a collection of previously
published articles by Brit food critic A.A. Gill; they are from his
Sunday Times and Tatler columns (four of the latter). He is exuberant
about great eating and caustic about poor preps. He suffers from one
disease: he is allergic to bad food - and he writes about it. His
writings here focus on specific experiences of food fads, tipping,
chefs, ingredients, eating in town and country, and eating abroad. They
cover the range of a decade, and there is nothing on individual
restaurants such as a review or critique. All material has a source
date, and there is even an overall index.

* THE LAST CHINESE CHEF (Houghton Mifflin, 2007, 288 pages, $32.95) is
a novel by Nicole Mones (she write "Lost in Translation"). A food
writer is coming to grips with her husband's premature death. From out
of nowhere comes a paternity suit filed against her husband's estate.
Could he have fathered a child while in his firm's Beijing office? A
good read.

* THE YEAR OF THE GOAT; 40,000 miles and the quest for the perfect
cheese (Lyons Press, 2007, 224 pages, $28.75 hard covers) is by food
writer Margaret Hathaway. This memoir explores the possibility of
starting a goat farm and fromagerie. Her therapist suggested it: "Take
off a year, away from New York city". She and her boy friend
photography Karl Schatz (he took the pictures here; they are now
married) went through 43 states in search of the perfect goat cheese.
She talks with (and we listen in on) farmers, breeders, cheese makers,
and chefs. They now live in Maine, and are involved with the Slow Food
movement and the Maine Organic Farmers group.

* A PIG IN PROVENCE; good food and simple pleasures in the south of
France (Chronicle Books, 2007, 224 pages, $29.95 hard covers) is by
Georgeanne Brennan. It is a culinary history from a Beard winner and an
IACP winner, but it has still been log rolled by Alice Waters and
Frances Mayes. She now runs a seasonal cooking school in Provence.
Thirty years ago she relocated her family to the south of France. Each
chapter is centered on a traditional Provencal food or meal. Local
material includes eight informal recipes plus histories and talks with
local people and markets.

Things are a little slow in the memoir world of wines. I saw only a
handful. One was A DAY IN TUSCANY; more confessions of a Chianti tour
guide (Globe Pequot, 2007, 256 pages, $23.75 hard covers) by Dario
Castagno, who earlier had written "Too Much Tuscan Sun". This current
book concerns the activities of one spring day in 2005 (they don't
bother to say which day). "The sights he sees and people he meets as he
takes a one-mile walk through his village during the course of this day
trigger memories of his childhood and adolescence in Tuscany." He also
talks with the village elders and reviews his career as a Tuscan tour
guide. Did you know that more than a million Americans visit Tuscany
each year?

HISTORY
=======

Nostalgia and popular history come together in the form of THE
TOOTHPICK (Knopf, 2007, 443 pages, $35.95 hard covers) by Henry
Petroski, an engineering prof at Duke who has written a dozen other
books in popular history (such as The Pencil, The Evolution of Useful
Things, and Small Things Considered). This time he goes even smaller,
driving the pencil into the toothpick. He begins in Rome with silver
toothpicks; in mediaeval Spain it was used by maidens to resist those
with an ardent pursuit of the kiss. Charles Forster in 19th century
Boston hires Harvard students to create a demand for toothpicks in area
restaurants. A modern day factory can churn out 200 million toothpicks
a day. A fascinating microstudy. Another useful popular book is TEA;
the drink that changed the world (Tuttle Publishing, 2007, 256 pages,
$21.50 hard covers) authored by Laura C. Martin, a botanical
illustrator and storyteller. The illustrations are black and white, and
mainly historical. This basic history comes with added material such as
"best times of day for sipping various teas", a bibliography, and a
website listing.

For culinary historians, we've got plenty this year.

* THE LAST FOOD OF ENGLAND: English food - its past present and future
(Ebury Press, 2007, 488 pages, $65 hard covers) is
by Marwood Yeatman. He and his photographer-wife Anya live in a
farmhouse in Hampshire, on two acres, from which they derive fuel,
fruit, nuts, and vegetables. They brew their own beer, salt their meat,
and bake bread in an original brick oven. The region covered in this
book is just England - not Wales, not Scotland. He abhors the words
British and Britain. His contention is that English food had a
provenance, and that a lot of it still does. He does a deep analysis of
regional food, such as Cheddar (cheese), Hereford (cows), Middlehorn
beef, and Southdown mutton. For example, he notes that there are
thousands of types of apples, and that there are different varieties
for eating, for storing, for sauces, for pies, for mincemeat, and for
cider. The same for pears. He covers the cattle markets, the local
shows, towns and villages, and rural outposts. His people chapters
include bacon curers, seine fishermen, and tripe dressers. Other
products include historic breads, homemade butters, mediaeval peas,
seagulls and eggs. He claims that England has more breeds of livestock
and fruit cultivars than any other country in the world. He has some
basic recipes and a bibliography (of mostly older books). His history
of milling is a compelling read.

* THE PANTRY; its history and modern uses (Gibbs Smith,,
96 pages, $20.95 hard covers) is a useful small book. The
author, Catherine Seiberling Pond, is a New England architectural
historian and writer; she lives in an 1813 home with pantries (plural).
It is a basic book with the past, present, and future possibilities for
the pantry. She comments on storage solutions, design and layout.
Topics include larders, butteries, store rooms, and Victorian
farmhouses. There are 75 photos of old adverts, furniture, shelving,
and the like. She has more details at http://inthepantry.blogspot.com.

* FEAST; why humans share food (Oxford University Press, 2007, 364
pages, $60 hard covers) is by Martin Jones, an archaeologist professor
specializing in the study of fragmentary archaeological remains of
early food. This is an historical approach to communal dining, ranging
from the chimps at a kill to the formal dinners of the 21st century. He
covers Roman banquets, TV dinners, and drive-through diners. He also
deals with the ecology of the surroundings in his scholarly approach to
the history of the meal. There are illustrations, end notes,
bibliography, and an index.

* AMERICAN FOOD WRITING; an anthology with classic recipes (Penguin,
2007, 753 pages, $50 hard covers) has been collated by Molly O'Neill
who was a food columnist for the New York Times - and a major cookbook
author. The book is part of the Library of America series; the 50
scattered recipes come from both vintage and modern cookbooks. This
book is supposed to present 250 years of US food writing, and not
everybody here is a food writer. There is Thoreau on watermelons,
Melville on clam chowder, Mencken on hot dogs, Ellison on baked yams,
Styron on fried chicken, and Ephron on internecine wars among the food
establishment. Food writers include Fisher (oysters), Claiborne
(foreign restaurants), Brillat-Savarin (American food), Villas (being a
waiter), Bourdain (cooking school days), and Child (early French Chef
TV series). There is a bibliography listing for the original source
material.

* SECRET INGREDIENTS; the New Yorker book of food and drink (Knopf,
2007, 585 pages, $37.95 hard covers) is a selection of essays and
fiction from 80 years of the New Yorker. David Remnick, the current
editor, did the selecting. Topics: eating in, dining out, foraging,
drinks, "tastes funny", and fiction (e.g. Roald Dahl's "Taste" from
1951, plus John Cheever). There are 58 in all, with a date supplied for
their original appearance in the magazine: A.J. Liebling, Calvin
Trillin, James Thurber, M.F.K. Fisher, Anthony Bourdain, John McPhee
(but NOT the article on oranges nor on that great chef in New Jersey),
and Adam Gopnik.

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HOLIDAY GIFT BOOKS: art and expenmsive wine and food books

Part Two: ART BOOKS & EXPENSIVE BOOKS
=====================================

Actually, these might be the best books to give a loved one (or
yourself, since you are your own best loved one), because most are
going to cost you an arm and a leg, even at a discount. Books for the
coffee table have their place in the gift scheme: just about every such
book is only bought as a gift! And don't let the prices daunt you. Most
such art books are available at a discount from Amazon.Ca. These books
here are mainly wine and travel books, with some elements of food.

* AROMAS OF ALEPPO; the legendary cuisine of Syrian Jews (Ecco, 2007;
distr. HarperCollins, 388 pages, $52.95 hard covers) is by Poopa Dweck,
an expert on Aleppian Jewish cooking. She performs cooking demos and
lives in New Jersey. The book weighs five and a third pounds; it is the
heaviest book I've reviewed this season (and it ships 12 to a carton:
that's 65 pounds a box!)...180 Syrian-based recipes are presented in a
historical and cultural context, with material on customs and
celebrations and observations. The range is from appetizers to small
dishes to daily food to holiday fare (e.g., a 12 course Passover
seder). There is a 40 page guide to Syrian Jewish holidays, and six
menus, along with historical photos, glossary, and bibliography. This
is a very comprehensive package.

* MY LAST SUPPER; 50 great chefs and their final meals: portaits,
interviews, and recipes (Bloomsbury USA, 2007, 224 pages, $49.95 hard
covers) is deliciously described via the subtitle. Unfortunately, the
index is only by chef, so you wouldn't want to use this book in looking
for a recipe. Each chef is asked: what would be your last meal? Who
would prepare it? Where would it take place? Who would sit with you at
the table? The photographs are of chefs in unusual settings, and are
worth the price of the book alone. I am not going to spoil the fun by
telling you what the chefs want to cook. But I will tell you that there
are few women here. Chefs include Anthony Bourdain, Mario Batali, Alain
Ducasse, Ferran Adria, Rick Bayless (great pork recipe), Charlie
Trotter, Thomas Keller, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, et al.

* THE FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES OF CLASSIC CUISINE (Stewart, Tabori &
Chang, 2007, 496 pages, $90 hard covers) comes from the 20-year old The
French Culinary Institute in Manhattan (think Pepin, Immer, Soltner).
Contributions came from Alice Waters, Bobby Flay, Alain Sailhac, and a
bevy of alumni. Judith Choate is the focusing food writer ("distill it
into an accessible book"). There are 650 colour photos and 20
illustrations, and 200 recipes. This book presents the six- and nine-
month courses at the FCI, and illustrates 250 basic techniques of
French cooking. Each of the sessions opens with theory, moves to
techniques, and then creates a demonstration for you to try in the home
kitchen. All measurements for each ingredient are in both US volume and
metric. There is also a glossary. Be warned: the book is heavy in
weight.

* THE ART OF DRINKING (Victoria & Albert Publications, 2007, 144 pages,
$60 hard covers) has been edited by Phillippa Glanville and Sophie Lee,
both researchers and curators at the V and A. Glanville curated "Drink:
a history 1690-1920" at the UK National Archives a few years back.
Here, she and Lee pull together a lot of visual material (paintings,
cartoons, sketches, architect plans) from the past and three
dimensional objects (stemware, vessels, tankards, cups) in a stunning
array of photography. It celebrates attitudes, ritual and ceremony,
drinking establishments, drinks and vessels. The scope is 500 years in
the UK; the range of material is principally derived from the V and A,
but collectors, auction houses, dealers, and other museums furnished
items for discussion. Glanville wrote most of the text, but there are
about two dozen other contributors.

* FANDANGO; recipes, parties, and license to make magic (Artisan Books,
2007, 314 pages, $49.95 hard covers) is by Sandy Hill, a free lance
writer and owner of Rancho La Zaca and Oak Savanna Vineyard. There are
125 recipes contributed by Stephanie Valentine (currently chef at the
Vineyard), once a sous chef at Charlie Trotter's and a chef at
Roxanne's (raw food in San Francisco). They purport to create an
environment for true entertaining, and it is a lot of work. This big
book is not for the faint of heart. They admit it upfront. Entertaining
ain't easy: no pain, no gain. While the preps look easy enough, they
must be done with just fresh ingredients - nothing prepared by others.
Here are accounts of memorable parties: rodeos (I've just had one in my
city backyard, thank you), treasure hunts, shooting skeet, riding
horses on the beach, reciting poetry, blind wine tastings, and the
like. Recipes also have wine pairing notes, using the Oak Savanna wines
and other California wines, beers and spirits. Recipes embrace French,
Mexican, Italian, Spanish, and Indian cuisine. A good concept: when the
going gets tough, the tough get going...

* WHERE FLAVOR WAS BORN; recipes and culinary travels along the Indian
Ocean spice route (Chronicle Books, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 287 pages,
$51.95 hard covers) is by food writer Andreas Viestad, who is also a TV
chef specializing in Scandinavian cooking. He currently lives on a farm
outside Cape Town, South Africa. The book weighs just under 4
pounds...The spice route here rims the Indian Ocean and includes the
Red Sea. The 100 recipes (all sourced as to country) are augmented by
travel material and historical matter for about 20 different countries
in the region (India to Australia to Bali to Zanzibar, etc.). It is
atmospheric with its street scenes and agricultural farm fields. The
arrangement is by spice (cumin, pepper, ginger, chilies, cardamom, and
coriander - 14 in all). The book concludes with a bibliography.

* NO RESERVATIONS; around the world on an empty stomach (Bloomsbury
USA, 2007, 288 pages, $39.95 hard covers) is by bad boy chef Anthony
("Call me Tony") Bourdain, and is derived from the Discovery Channel
series of the same title. Bourdain had previously written eight other
books, including Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits. Here are 400
photos with a written opinionated commentary, warts and all. The warts
include pictures of hazardous bathrooms, strange and indigenous
beverages, and weird looking cooks. Go with Tony on the planes, hotels,
boats, and through the jungles.

* COUNTRY COOKING OF FRANCE (Chronicle Books, 2007, 392 pages, $59.95
hard covers) is by Anne Willan. It weighs 5.25 pounds, a perfect size
for the coffee table. Rustic cuisine is emphasized, with more than 200
recipes, from all regions in France, There is, of course, the cassoulet
de Toulouse, Provencal fish stews, savoury tarts, and Alsatian
treasures and Burgundian beef stews. There are 270 colour photos, split
amongst food styling, markets, and people. There is even sort of a
bibliography.

* THE TASTE OF FRANCE: 25th anniversary edition (Stewart, Tabori &
Change, 2007, 288 pages, $60 hard covers) was first published a
quarter-century ago. This tour of France went on to sell 200,000 copies
over the years. It now has 375 colour pix and 100 recipes, plus a
narrative description of some 14 food regions, as written by Richard
Olney, Alan Davidson, Anne Willan, Jill Norman, and others. Robert
Freson did the photography; Jacqueline Saulnier researched and adapted
the recipes, which have the ingredients expressed in both US volume and
metric weight measurements.

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