Book Review: Best Food Writing 2007

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Holly Hughes started this "Best Food Writing" collection back in 2000 and has published a new edition every year since. And every year I grab the new one and  devour it in a day or two.

It has been fun to watch the evolution of the series. Back in 2000, food blogs, Food Network and celebrity chefs were not major players in the food world and didn't figure in her roundup. The writers were mainly well known authors for major newspapers and magazines, or wrote their own books and newsletters. Ruth Reichl, Michael Ruhlman, Jeffrey Steingarten, Eric Asimov, R.W. Apple, John Thorne and many more, all heavyweights in the field. By 2007 we see a much more diverse group, including several pieces that were originally published on blogs or other websites.

Hughes combs thousands of pieces every year to make her selections, and I think she does a fine job. There are always a few that I've read in the original, and usually they caught my eye too. For example a story about traditional Breton crepes by Nancy Coons had me drooling when I read it in Saveur, and here it is again... time to go buy some buckwheat and hard cider!

She also makes a good effort to organize the pieces around dominant themes. This year we have Food Fights (people arguing about the politics of food), Home Cooking, Someone's In The Kitchen, Dining Around, Fast Food, The World's Kitchen, The Meat of the Matter, Personal Tastes, and Why I Cook, each with four to eight articles.

By the way, if you are a fellow vegetarian, please don't let that stop you from enjoying this kind of food writing. I find that plenty of it is about foods that I do eat. And of course there are significant parts about meat, but I find I still take pleasure in reading about other people's ways of relating to and enjoying food, even if they don't work for me. You'll find plenty to challenge and/or reinforce your choices. (Though I have to say this piece by James Sturz over at leitesculinaria.com made me want to vomit. And I bite too.)

Inevitably when I read the collection, it points me to additional books that I just have to get. For example, the very first piece this year made me resolve to read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Madhur Jaffrey's Climbing the Mango Trees.

If you are a fan of food writing, I'll bet you if you buy this year's, you'll be lined up when 2008 comes out! Hey, maybe I'll be in it :).

Recipe: Veggie Chili Beans with Cornbread Dumplings

Veggie Chili Beans with Cornbread Dumplings

Sarina likes what I cook at home, but sometimes she wishes I'd make more "comfort food". I'm admittedly an oddball; comfort food for me ranges from Waffle House hash browns (scattered, smothered, and covered please) to idli with sambar and everything in between. But I know what she means, and it seems only fair to try and hook her up sometimes.

I figured anything with a biscuit or dumpling top is a guaranteed winner, so I made some simple cornbread batter and dropped it on a casserole dish full of beans, onions and veggie sausage. It is pretty darn rare that I make anything that involves so much canned food, but this came out tasty. I served it with grated cheddar, Louisiana hot sauce, and a quick salad of diced cucumbers and radishes with dill, parsley and mint and a lime dressing.

The cornbread was based on this Emeril recipe, adjusted to what I had on hand. Heck, if I'm busting out the canned food, might as well make with the Food Network starts too, right?

Veggie Chili with Cornbread Dumplings
Serves 4 as a main course
Vegetarian, not vegan or gluten-free but could be adjusted

• 1 white onion, medium diced
• 2 small cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen fire-roasted (nice smoky flavor)
• 2 links Field Roast Mexican Chipotle vegetarian sausage (kinda spicy), or 8 oz. other veggie meat of your choice, cut into bite size chunks
• 2 T. olive oil
• salt
• optional: tabasco, chili flakes, chili powder, ground ancho chilis, green chilis, whatever heat you like
• grated cheddar for serving

• 3/4 c. cornmeal (I used de la Estancia polenta, which has a wonderful fresh-corn flavor)
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. yogurt
• 1/4 c. whole milk
• 1 egg
• 2 T. vegetable oil

1. Preheat the onion to 400 degrees.
2. Put the onions, pinto beans, tomatoes, veggie sausage and olive oil in a casserole. Season with salt and add optional heat to your taste. Cover and put in oven to start heating while you make the dumplings.
3. Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. Beat the yogurt, milk, egg, and vegetable oil in another. Quickly mix the wet and dry ingredients without overbeating.
4. Remove the casserole from the oven, remove the lid, and drop the dumpling dough on in chunks a bit smaller than a golf ball, leaving spaces between them. (See picture above)
5. Bake about 20 minutes or so (uncovered) until the beans are hot and the dumplings are golden brown and baked through. Check them with a toothpick if you aren't sure.
6. Serve it up with grated cheddar and hot sauce on the side.

Veggie Chili Beans with Cornbread Dumplings and Cucumber & Radish Salad

Book Review: The Nasty Bits, by Anthony Bourdain

The Nasty Bits is yet another book by Anthony Bourdain, whose overexposure is becoming somewhat legendary after Kitchen Confidential. This one is a collection of short pieces that he wrote for various magazines over the past few years.

As usual, Bourdain is at his best when digging in with gusto to a down-home local cuisine. He does have a knack for making friends with his love of food, and the obviously genuine zeal with which he can tuck into pretty frightening "delicacies" makes him entertaining. The opening couple of pages, where he shares a whole seal with an Inuit family is maybe hard to read for those of us that lead sheltered lives, but compelling. ("... frozen blackberries. She generously rolled a fistful of them around in the wet interior of the carcass, glazing them with blood and fat before offering them to me. They were delicious.")

And he's at his worst when he drags out the pathetic macho chef schtick, combined with the sentimental longing for when he could cook, shoot up, and screw with the best of them. Believe me, not all kitchens or chefs are like this. I don't doubt that he's painting a fairly accurate picture of a certain place and time, but please take this stuff with a grain of salt.

If you take the time to read the notes in the back of the book, he actually admits as much. Referring to an essay where he waxes nostalgic about how dangerous New York used to be, he says "Who was I kidding? The bullshit meter is flashing bright red." Actually I think this book would be stronger if they included these notes right with each piece.

One article I found really interesting was about his visit to Ferran Adria's El Bulli, which is probably the most revolutionary restaurant of this generation. He admittedly went with the assumption that he would hate all this molecular gastronomy stuff. And he was blown away  by the incredible sophistication and flavor of the food. They spent several days together and made quite a good DVD showing Adria & Co.'s process. I had seen this a couple of years ago, and it is well worth getting. It was interesting to hear Bourdain's perspective as everything he thought he knew about cooking was turned upside down.

The final, and longest, piece in the book is a piece of fiction called "A Chef's Christmas", in which a chef who has sold his soul for celebrity returns to his roots as a brilliant cook. The writing isn't spectacular, but if you have the cooking bug you'll be rooting for the characters.

Bottom line: if you liked Kitchen Confidential, you'll probably want to read The Nasty Bits. He's as hyperbolic as ever, and you might feel like you are listening to a three year old sometimes, but many of his criticisms of the elitist food world are spot-on, and his portraits of far-away adventures will fuel your wanderlust.