How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis
Every once in a while, a cookbook comes along and hits all the right notes. How to Roast a Lamb has done just that. Has Greek cuisine ever looked so appealing? I think not, and never have I seen such a drool-inducing selection of dishes
Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals, by Jamie Oliver (Hyperion, 2009). Hardcover $45.
Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook is for everyone
I’m always curious to hear how and where people learned to cook. Some of us had mothers who taught us; for others, dad was the one passing on favourite recipes. Many are motivated to start after watching a cooking show, reading a food mag or simply because they love to eat.
Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker
The food memoir is a genre of book that hits my desk often. The best, like those of Ruth Reichl and Anthony Bourdain, are enjoyed as much by fans of fine writing as by fans of advanced chopping technique. Some offer recipes, while others dig deep into the local food scene, food history, or an affair between the saucier and entremetier, food writer and editor, or butcher and baker.
Pastry Savory and Sweet by Michel Roux (Whitecap, 2009), 295 pages. $24.95.
On a cooking scene crowded with Food Network stars and molecular magicians, some of the best old-school chefs have been pushed to the fringes. Chances are you don’t know the name Michel Roux, but most foodies in England certainly would. Roux and his brother Albert are often described as living legends, credited as the two chefs who brought haute gastronomie to Britain. Their restaurants, Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn, have held three Michelin stars for more than 20 years and are part of the elite Relais & Châteaux chain.
Baking for all Occasions by Flo Braker (Chronicle Books, 2008). Hardcover. 390 pages. $35.
Published on Mar 23, 2009
I am a late-comer to the Flo Braker fan club and though she has written three baking books, I am familiar with her work through television appearances and articles in magazines like Fine Cooking. Yet I’m happy to be the owner of her latest book, Baking for All Occasions, a cookbook filled with sweets for celebrations big and small.
Urban Italian: Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman. (Bloomsbury, 2008) Hardcover. 311 pages. $38.50.
Published on Feb 23, 2009
Cookbooks penned by star chefs often read more like media kits used to promote their restaurants, dazzle their fans, and boost their profiles rather than a helpful document filled with cooking tips and doable dishes. I don't know who's to blame, but chef-driven cookbooks also tend to make their authors out to be crashing bores rather than the gregarious, verging-on-out-of-control bon vivants they really are.
BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher, (Scribner 2008) hardcover. $47.
Published on Jan 25, 2009
It takes years to become a good baker, and that holds true as much for professionals as home cooks. Unlike cooking, which is surprisingly forgiving and easy to fix when you mess up, baking is full of rights and wrongs, those little musts that have you creaming butter before adding the sugar, whipping egg whites in an immaculate bowl, folding ingredients together gently, and melting chocolate over indirect heat.
Learning those rules is a slow and frustrating process; chances are you'll curdle a cream, deflate a souffle and ruin several sponge cakes before success is assured. Practice eventually does make perfect, or something close to it. But wouldn't it be great to have a book that guided us through those steps before cracking an egg, measuring the sugar and sifting the flour?
Yes, and this latest book by food chemist Shirley O. Corriher aims to deliver "the hows and whys of successful baking with over 200 magnificent recipes." Hooray!
Judging by the cookbooks published this year, it looks like most of us will be eating in this year, for the word that best describes the cookbook trend of '08 is definitely "homemade."
Published on Dec 19, 2008
A seriously brilliant book
"Cooking essentials" is another obvious trend, with everyone from Martha Stewart to Ina Garten to Mark Bittman jumping on the master-the-classic bandwagon. Scarce are books on baking (especially bread), and the usual heavy Italian category is almost non-existent. Happily, most of the comfort-food cookbooks offer new recipes for Bolognese, lasagna, pannacotta and the ubiquitous caprese salad.
Chef books appear to have lost their lustre. The coffee-table tomes filled with glossy pictures offer impossibly challenging recipes; only serious pros need apply. More interesting and approachable is the ever-expanding category of chef-at-home books with cooks like Gordon Ramsay and Montreal's Louis-François Masicotte whipping up favourites like ribs, stews, grilled fish and apple tarts for friends and family.
Elizabeth Baird is one of the most recognizable faces on the Canadian food scene. Not only has she been the food editor at Canadian Living since 1987, she hosted the Food Network series Canadian Living Cooks for three years. The highlight for many on that show was watching Baird make pies, cakes and cookies, so it came as little surprise when I last interviewed her that she said her greatest strength in the kitchen was that she is a happy baker.
With the launch of The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book by Elizabeth Baird and the Canadian Living Test Kitchen (Transcontinental Books, $34.95), we fellow happy bakers can share in some of Baird's best recipes.
Jennifer McLagan's Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient with Recipes, takes two James Beard Awards!
Published on Nov 02, 2008
Last night the James Beard Awards were announced in New York and it was a thrill to find out that Toronto-based, Australian-born Jennifer McLagan won both the Single Subject category AND the award for Cookbook of the Year. Jennifer is in Paris right now slurping back the Champagne but to help her celebrate you can read my review of her book, or better yet buy it!
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