This week on Food For Thought, surefire book suggestions for the foodie on your gift list. Here is the audio file for your listening pleasure, and the list of books. I’ll have cover photos and links to Amazon.ca a little later…
There are many good things about giving a cookbook as a gift. They can provide hours of enjoyment, even if the recipient never cooks from them. Some people just like to look.
If they do cook from the book, you might get to eat the fantastic results. And, as I like to remind people who are clumsy with scotch tape, shiny paper and scissors, they are easy to wrap.
Before I head into some of the latest books on the shelves this year, I want to remind you about some of the books I’ve already talked about this year that I feel are surefire winners, like Into The Vietnamese Kitchen, by Andrea Nyugen. This book is full of fresh, flavourful ideas, and Vietnamese salads are now part of my regular repertoire.
Then there’s One Pot Italian Cooking, by Massimo Capra, the pork rib and cabbage dish is to die for.
Another great Italian cookbook is Two Meatballs, by Mark Strausman and Pino Luongo. This book brings together authentic Italian with New York Italian cooking.
The Guy Can’t Cook, by Cinda Chavich, gives every guy the tools he needs to be a success in the kitchen, and maybe the bedroom.
Now, onto newer books. This year’s must have wine guide is a formula with tried and true success: Had A Glass 2008, by James Nevison and Kenji Hodson, Top 100 Wines for Under 20 Dollars. It’s the third edition, and sized just so you can put it in the glove compartment of your car when you’re out shopping. Kenji Hodson explains the first edition sprung from demands from their friends who were getting excited by the world of wine. I’ll have more from James and Kenji in the new year.
If you want to go beyond meatballs, get ballsy with this next book. Balls! By Angela Murrills, puts everything round in perspective, from around the world, and more.
Regular listeners to this program know that my favourite place to shop for any food book is Barbara-jo’s Books to Cooks in Vancouver. Even though Barbara-jo a specialty retailer, she’s been doing her best to even out the differences this season between American and Canadian prices. When she takes a few days off after Christmas, she’s going to settle down with a couple of books about food you just read, not cook from. Her first selection is The Tenth Muse, by Judith Jones, and details the life of the woman who was responsible for getting Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking published, and many, many more cookbooks. The second book she mentioned is by Clarissa Dickson Wright, one of the Two Fat Ladies. Her autobiography is called Spilling the Beans.
