December 2003
The season is here and if you are stuck on what to buy a fellow
chef, food lover or if you even feel the need to treat yourself,
here are six spanky cookbooks that will make you the recipients
best friend...
The
Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cookbook
Wine and Recipes to Celebrate Every Season’s Harvest
by Dolores and Jack Cakebread
with resident chef Brian Streeter
List Price: $35.00
Price With Amazon.com: $24.50
You Save: $10.50 (30%)
Buy
It Online
Dolores and Jack team with resident chef Brian Streeter to
share more than 120 seasonal recipes and wine suggestions
comprising thirty years of winery house cooking. The collection
includes family favorites from the early days when Dolores
cooked for everyone on the property, as well as recipes created
by such renowned chefs as Alan Wong, Mark Franz, and Jan Birnbaum.
It is packed with pictures and simple recipes.
Winning
Styles Cookbook
Recipes from the James Beard Foundation
by Elin Jeffords
List Price: $42.00
Buy
It Online
Winning Styles is a veritable all-star team of super chefs
who reveal the stories behind their success as well as more
than 100 recipes — all complemented by stunning full-color
photography throughout by John Ormond. Food professionals
and home cooks alike will revel in this practical guide that
is also a beautiful testament to the memory of the illustrious
James Beard. Look out for some big name chefs like; Rick Bayless,
Gary Danko, Guenter Seeger and Charlie Trotter (would any
big name cookbook be complete without him).
Raw
by Charlie Trotter, Roxanne Klein
List Price: $35.00
Price With Amazon.com: $24.50
You Save: $10.50 (30%)
Buy
It Online
Speaking of the man, Trotter has just co-authored a fantastic
new book that focuses on the current trend of raw "cooking".
Written with Roxanne Klein, owner of the Larkspur (California)
based Roxanne's Restaurant and pioneer of raw food. Raw cooking
uses only vegan friendly ingredients. Items are never cooked
to above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Whether you believe this
style of food is a fad or here to stay this book is a great
buy. Not only are the dishes beautifully photographed courtesy
of Trotters long term lens master Tim Turner, but the recipes
are original, flavorful, ingenious and guaranteed to be slipping
into kitchens globally...
The
All American Cheese and Wine Book
By Laura Werlin
List Price $37.50
Price with Amazon.com $26.25
You Save: $11.25 (30%)
Buy
It Online
Written by Berkeley, California-based food writer Laura Werlin
is the author of (The New American Cheese: Profiles of America's
Great Cheese makers and Recipes for Cooking with Cheese).
This is a very straightforward book, with chapters that include
"All About Cheese," and "All About Wine." Here you will find
the seven basic cheeses and how they are made, as well as
information on winemaking and tasting. In "Bringing Cheese
and Wine Together" Werlin gives us her ten basic guidelines
as well as lists and charts that reveal clues for perfect
matching of wine and cheese. And then the heart of the book,
the pairings of 50 cheese makers and wine makers throughout
the US, which displays a real feel for the passion that underlies
these two major product categories. These profiles are delightfully
matched with recipes Werlin files under Hors d'Oeuvres, Pizzas,
Cheese Plates, Cheese Bar, Picnics, and Desserts. This is
a beautifully designed book with outstanding photography underscoring
all that Laura Werlin has to share.
Art
of Aureole
Charlie Palmer
List Price: $50.00
Price With Amazon.com: $35.50
You Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy
It Online
Ok clear off the coffee table for this one. Charlie Palmer's
latest book showcases more than 75 signature recipes, each
photographed in a bold, artful composition inspired by the
character of the dish, this collection captures the enduring
qualities that have made his restaurant Aureole a Manhattan
classic. However the layout of the recipes is crazy - each
one is set at a 45 degree angle. It's really unpractical,
but great to see an artful, whimsical publication, defiantly
a great gift.
Chicken,
Chicken, Chicken
Price: $38
(not available from Amazon)
Buy Direct From Ici La Press (with free shipping)
I have never been a huge fan of single subject books but Chicken,
Chicken, Chicken (of all subjects) really breathes life in
to a tired topic. French authors Laurence and Gilles Laurendon
mix humorous literary excerpts and intriguing historical anecdotes
about the chicken with an encyclopedic knowledge of the world's
most noteworthy breeds.
The Laurendons have scoured the world to present some 70 of
the finest chicken and egg recipes, ranging from classic French
dishes to flavorful Asian stir-fry creations and Sunday dinner
fare from the American Great Plains. The publication is further
complimented by the brilliant photography of photographers
Akiko Ida and Laurent Parrault who collaborate to create a
strikingly elegant visual presentation of the finished culinary
creations. Their beautiful photographs of more than 50 breeds
of country and ornamental chickens, supplemented by profiles
and coupled with rich literary and historical background,
offer a delightful new point of view on the fowl that has
played such a prominent role in culinary and human history
over the centuries. Buy this one for yourself!