The New York Times Book Review’s annual lists of notable and gift-worthy books are out. While the list of notable cookbooks is available only online, the holiday section is both hard copy and at the website.
The notable books run the gamut from those by well-known chefs, such as Jamie Oliver, and specialty cooking, including vegetarian fare, to international cuisines and books with a narrow focus. One is centered around sticky buns, muffins and coffee cakes.
The Holiday Books section of today’s Book Review is more than a list. Rather, it’s a critical look at several books from the past decade by Review senior editor Dwight Garner, who favors many British food writers. He calls their books “smaller, more soulful and idiosyncratic than their American counterparts.” A lengthy quotation from Simon Hopkinson about potato cakes has me ready to hit the kitchen. I’m glad it’s almost latke time.
On the American side, Garner singles out for high praise John Thorne, whose book, Mouth Wide Open: A Cook and His Appetite, is new. It’s a collection of essays and recipes, although Thorne is said to be vaguely opposed to recipes.
A book one would expect to be praised is not. The Art of Simple Food, by the legendary Alice Waters, leaves Garner scratching his head. Instead of a home run, it feels like a stand-up double to him. He’s quite disappointed in the book’s organization, requiring us to flip from one section to another to make one recipe — much the way I feel about The Joy of Cooking. It’s stressful, he says, then quotes Waters: “A dinner that has left me stressed after cooking it is not a dinner I want to serve to my family and friends.”
The first recipe he tried from the book didn’t work well and he faults Waters’ directions for leading him astray. He also takes issue with much of her writing, calling it “genially bland.” He describes it as “a Hillary Clinton of a cookbook — brilliant but unflappable and slightly unapproachable.”
So that’s $35 I can spend elsewhere. Hopkinson’s is only $25, leaving me plenty left over for potatoes and latkes.
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Thanks for the link.
I am curious about Bittman’s “Simple Meatless Recipes.” I so enjoy his minimalist contributions, and no doubt these picks are served with the same flair and ease as his others.
He offers relaxed style as well as (seemingly) memorable flavors.
I like Bittman too and that book wasn’t even on my radar screen, I’m afraid. I don’t know where I was.
All in all, good choices this year, I thought.