Subtitle

Author: Mennonite Central Committee

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing, October 1, 2011

My Rating: A

I’ve contributed to and helped publish church cookbooks over the years. Those books usually contains favorite recipes from the congregation’s best cooks. Well, here’s one that is the mother, no make that grandmother, of all church cookbooks.

Over six hundred recipes from the best cooks among Amish and Mennonite congregations is an amazing set of recipes. Because many of the church’s members raise their own food, the recipes reflect that background. There are the standard chapters like main dishes, side dishes, breads and desserts. But there are also chapters on cheesemaking, pickling, jams, fruit butters and even soap making.

There are two chapters I think are unique. One is “Traditional Classics” and the other is “Grandma’s Remedies.”

In “Traditional Classics” the chapter starts with the social events that are standard within the community: Weddings, Funerals, Quilting Bees, Barn Raisings, and Threshings. What made it fun for me was to see what was on the menu at these events and the enormous quantity of food that was prepared. Keep in mind they do not call in professional caterers. This is do-it-yourself with help from friends and family. Here’s an example from a typical Barn Raising for 250 men:

24 loaves of bread; 5 pounds butter; 21 crocks potatoes, boiled and riced; 4 large roasters of gravy beef; 8 crocks carrots, boiled and buttered; 3 crocks carrot and cucumber pickles; 45 large jars applesauce; 12 crocks sweet apple schnitz and prunes; 350 Amish doughnuts; 5 gallons maple syrup; and 45 lemon drop pies.

There is usually enough left over to feed all of the women and children, usually numbering anywhere from, 50 to 90.

In “Grandma’s Remedies” there are recipes for a bread and milk poultice, lots of uses for honey, vinegar, and teas, hair tonic, liniment, mustard plaster and so forth. Here’s an interesting one:

Lily Whiskey

Fill a jar with the petals of the Madonna Lily. Get a bottle of good quality whiskey. Fill the jar so the petals are all covered. As they settle down, add more whiskey. This is especially good for burns and sores.

Scattered throughout the book are quotes about food and sometimes life in general. For example,

“Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.”

I know I’ve said it before but my favorite cookbooks are those that read like a good novel. Treasured Amish and Mennonite Recipes makes for great reading. I’ve been on a roll lately reading about the Amish and this was a very nice fit. I’ll recommend this book to foodies who love the old-fashioned recipes from an area of the world devoted to the simple life.

About the Author:

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) works alongside local churches and communities in more than 50 countries, including Canada and the United States, to carry out disaster relief, sustainable community development, justice and peace-building work in the name of Christ. MCC also seeks to build bridges to connect people and ideas across cultural, political and economic divides.(from the publisher)

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature at Beth Fish Reads. Click the button below and it will take you there.

If the answers to those questions are a.) within the past few months, b.) it had no taste at all, and c.) it came from the store or a restaurant, chances are you ate a modern-day relative of a real tomato.

“Perhaps our taste buds are trying o send us a message. Today’s industrial tomatoes are as bereft of nutrition as they are of flavor. According to analyses conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 100 grams of fresh tomato today has 30 percent less vitamin C, 30 percent less thiamin, 19 percent less niacin, and 62 percent less calcium than it did in the 1960s. But the modern tomato does shame its 1960s counterpart in one area: It comtains fourteen times as much sodium.” – from Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabroak.

That quote came from a new book that has caught my attention in a big way. I’ve noticed for quite some time that supermarket tomatoes have zero taste. But I like tomatoes in salad and other favorite dishes. I know they aren’t like “real” tomatoes from the garden or the farmers market, but I still buy them.

Not any more. Tomatoland made me take a good look at the tomato industry and I didn’t like what I saw at all. The author, Barry Estabrook decided to find out why we can’t buy a decent fresh tomato and discovered that it’s not a simple question and answer.

He learned that Florida “accounts for one-third of the fresh tomatoes raised in the U.S., and from October to June, virtually all the fresh-market, field-grown tomatoes..” It’s an example of industrial agriculture at it’s worst.

In addition to growing a taste-less fruit, many Florida tomato growers are responsible for some very shameful practices: modern-day slavery and inhumane treatment of the tomato workers. There are shady legal and political practices as well. Numerous herbicides and pesticides are sprayed on the tomato fields, often right on the workers.

Besides learning how awful these growers are, Tomatoland taught me a lot about plant biology and the genetic and political history of our beloved plant. For instance, I had no idea tomatoes originally came from Peru and were the size of peas. The book is filled with the stories of the people surrounding the subject of tomatoes. Barry Estabrook brought them all to life.

There is no doubt about it – this is good reading. It’s part expose, part history, and all very good journalism. I dare you to read this book and not want to DO something. That’s what happened to me.

I’m now calling myself a Tomato Activist. What does that mean? For me, here’s how I’m defining it:

1. For one thing, I’ll never again buy or eat a fresh tomato unless I know exactly where it came from and under what conditions it was grown.
2. I will ask at restaurants where their tomatoes came from. If I’m not satisfied, I’ll ask to have the tomato removed and I’ll let them know why.
3. I have letters drafted to my senators and congressmen asking them to stick their noses into the working conditions for Florida tomato growers.
4. I’ll can enough tomatoes to keep us supplied with tomatoes until the next season.
5. I’m telling everyone I know to read Tomatoland.

I hope you’ll join me and become your own Tomato Activist.

About the author:

James Beard Award-winning journalist Barry Estabrook was a contributing editor at Gourmet magazine for eight years, writing investigative articles about where food comes from. He was the founding editor of Eating Well magazine and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, Audubon, and the Washington Post. He lives and grows tomatoes in his garden in Vermont.

Ask for this book at your local library and/or your local bookstore. Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook is also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature at Beth Fish Reads. Click the button below and it will take you there..

Then a friend took me to wine-tasting that was different. At this tasting, wine was paired with food! It made all the difference in the world for me. The young woman helping us gave me a basic education in wine that got me enthusiastic about learning more.

Here’s what the young woman did to introduce me to wine: she had us take a little sip and carefully, thoughtfully, taste it. Then we took a bite of the food and took another sip of wine. I was surprised! The wine tasted different when paired with food. That did it for me. I had to learn more about how to enhance the taste of food with wine.

I have to tell you the total experience was a pleasure. The quiet farm country, the majestic tasting room. I liked the dark wood cabinets, tables and huge walnut bowls filled with oranges. It was very peaceful.

This whole experience had me heading to the library’s website. I was happy to find a new cookbook written by a local, Sonoma County winemaker, Christine Hanna. The Winemaker Cooks: Menus, Parties, and Pairings by Christine Hanna was just what I needed.

Christine has been involved in her family’s vineyards and gardens since childhood. She is now the president of the winery (Hanna Winery). She’s very knowledgeable when it comes to wine, but she also loves growing and cooking her own food. Her love of food and entertaining is very evident in this book.

Christine organized the book by the four seasons. Within the seasonal sections there are five menus and then recipes follow each menu. The only way I know to describe the type of food in this book is to call it California-wine-country-chef style. It’s all very rich in a healthy way. It’s seasonal, organic, locally grown and raised, and includes wine, both in cooking and paired with food. I’ll give you a sample menu. This is a Summer Weeknight Dinner:

Haricort Verts, Goat Cheese and Watermelon Salad

Grilled California Shrimp Kabobs with Raita

Saffron and Pine Nut Couscous

Sugared Icebox Plums with Basil

And the wine? An aromatic Riesling

The only recipes we’ve tried from the book are the ones for fava beans and for fresh peas and fresh onions. But I have two I want to try this week – Artichoke, Prosciutto, and Chive Frittata as well as the Haricort Verts Salad mentioned above. (Haricort Verts, I’ve learned, are skinny French green beans.)

I liked the talk about food in this cookbook, but I really appreciated the talk about wine. The author took a bunch of questions she’s asked every day, and scattered them throughout the book with the answers. Here are the ones, as a beginner, I found most helpful.

• How do I decipher a wine label?
• How do wines get their color?
• What does it mean when a wine is “corked”?
• How do I pair wine with food?
• How do I store my wine?

For me this was a good book to start me on my new path of understanding the pairing of wine and food. The book was filled with color photographs by Sheri Giblin. Not a picture for every recipe, but so many that I was satisfied. A perfect book to read from beginning to end and then go back and dabble at different menus, dishes and sidebars.

I’m still a wine novice and will probably be one for a while. But now I know how I want to learn more – one bottle at a time. I brought home a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. It was delicious when paired with a light salad of vegetables and rice. The sauce was not too acidic, as that can make the wine taste bitter. See? Lesson one went well.

Tell me about your wine experiences. Novice or connoisseur? Do you have a favorite wine? Do you like to pair wine with food? If so, what is your favorite pairing?

The Winemaker Cooks by Christine Hanna (Chronicle Books, 2010) can be purchased at Amazon. (I’m an Amazon Associate.) For more about Christine and/or Hanna Wines visit their very nice website HERE.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature at Beth Fish Reads. Click the button below and it will take you there.

“The horizon was like a perfect circle, a great embrace, and within it lay the cornfields, still green, and the yellow wheat stubble, miles and miles of it, and the pasture lands where the white-faced cattle led lives of utter content,” wrote Willa Cather in The Best Years.

Among those fortunate enough to have been born and raised in the Midwest, this is how we think of it. The Heartland holds us, comforts us, makes us stand up straight. Even if we leave, it still claims a place in our hearts.

Thus begins a new book just out this month that completely spoke my name. Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig is, yes a cookbook, but it’s a lot more. This book celebrates everything that is so wonderful about the very center, the heart of the United States. That would be it’s soil, all it’s vegetation. it’s rivers and lakes, it’s weather, it’s animals, and all the people who live and have lived there.

The first sections of the book makes for very good reading. The Introduction is everything a person wants to know about the Midwest. It’s very interesting, even for those of us who have lived there. The Pantry section sets out some key techniques and recipes that are basic for many of the other recipes in the book. The remaining chapters are about breads, breakfast, appetizers and drinks, salads and soups, main dishes and desserts. Finishing the book was a good listing of resources and an index.

There are so many dishes I want to try but let me just show you my top ten. My plan is to share them with you as I make them.

1. Sweet Potato Waffles With Whipped Orange Butter
2. No-Knead Clover Honey Dough for various rolls and breads
3. Grilled Pear Salad with Bleu Cheese and Honey
4. Beet Queen Salad with Smoked Goat Cheese (including how to smoke the cheese)
5. Two Drinks: Farm Girl Cosmo and Garden Gimlet
6. Crisp Refrigerator Dill Pickles
7. Blackberry-Lavender Syrup
8. Apple-Smoked Trout with Horseradish Creme Fraiche
9. Carmalized Cabbage Rolls
10. Honeycrisp Apple Upside-Down Pie

I received this book from the publisher, Andrews McMeel, via NetGalley. That means I have the digital book for only 60 days. But, I loved this book enough that I am going to buy my own copy. It’s one I know I’ll read, use, and treasure for a long time. It’s perfect for people like me with a Heartland heart.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature at Beth Fish Reads. Click the button below and it will take you there.

CHEF’S WALKS SEATTLE

Author: Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance

Publisher: Amazon Kindle, 2011

Although this book is only available to Kindle owners, I wanted to tell everyone about it because it’s such a great idea. Here’s the basic premise: Ask a well-known chef/restauranteur/cookbook author to write about the best places to eat and visit in his hometown. Divide the chapters into neighborhoods so a visitor could walk from place to place. Include maps, info about each establishment (name, address, phone number, and website address) and tell us what’s the best thing to eat or see at each place. And, if it’s not too much trouble, could you share a few recipes?

That’s what you’ll find in this new venture that features Seattle, Washington. Tom Douglas is the guide. He’s an award-winning chef, the owner of five restaurants in Seattle, and the author of three cookbooks. I love Tom’s approach. He takes the reader down the streets and into the food places and tells us what’s the best thing to eat at each place. He also takes us to great bookstores, gift shops, museums, and other attractions.

There are five chapters covering the five major neighborhoods in Seattle. Each section has one of Tom’s special recipes. Each section also has an essay on a topic appropriate to that area. I especially enjoyed his essay on the rising wine industry in Washington state.

I had no trouble reading this book on my Kindle. I did have trouble seeing this maps at the beginning of each chapter. If I had an ipad with a Kindle app, this would be the perfect companion for a visit to Seattle. I’m very hopeful that this idea will spread to other great food towns. Think about your own hometown or favorite city. Wouldn’t you love to have a chef guide you to his/her favorite places and tell you what’s the best thing on, or off, the menu?

About the author:

Tom Douglas is well known for helping to define Northwest cuisine and igniting the Seattle restaurant scene, winning the James Beard Award for Best Northwest Chef in 1994. His restaurants include Dahlia Lounge; the Greek-inspired Lola; Serious Pie pizzerias; Palace Kitchen; Pike Place Market’s iconic seafood restaurant, Etta’s; and the newly opened Seatown. He also owns Dahlia Bakery, famous for its Triple Coconut Cream Pie. Douglas is the author of “Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen,” named Best American Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation, “Tom’s Big Dinners,” and “I Love Crab Cakes!” (from Amazon)

Chef’s Walks Seattle with Tom Douglascan be purchased at Amazon ($3.99)

I love to talk about food almost as much as I love to eat it. Other bloggers like to talk about food too, and I hope you’ll also read their food posts. For more, click the button below. It will take you over to Beth Fish Reads and her Weekend Cooking feature.

Well, thank goodness, someone decided to re-publish the I Hate To Cook Book – fifty years later. I loved this book back then, but not because I hated to cook. I loved it for Peg Bracken’s attitude toward food and the life of women in general. With her unique brand of humor she pulled us all together in a sisterhood that forged a new era in food preparation.

The first thing I remember about Peg Bracken is this wonderful piece of advice. She told me (okay, all of us) to fix a nice fortifying drink prior to a big job in the kitchen. Yes, she really did. I have thought of her and that gem of wisdom often over the years, especially during those times when I knew I was facing many hours of food preparation.

Fixing that drink was to be a symbol of my attitude: This is fun. I can do this and enjoy it. I think Peg often made it a martini. Mine was a less glamorous coke, sometimes with a little rum in it.

In I Hate To Cook Book you will find recipes but overall it’s a cookbook that you actually should just read. You’ll like the humor in addition to some very good tips. The number one tip from this book that I’ve kept all these years is in the first chapter.

In the first chapter Peg suggests that a homemaker develop a list of thirty tried and true everyday main dishes. This chapter actually has thirty recipes that the reader can use. The idea is to have a month’s worth of meals that you can confidently cook. Then you just keep repeating them, especially if they are the ones your family loves. You can stop inventing the wheel every night.

The remainder of the book covers menus and recipes for dinner parties, children’s parties, last-minute suppers, as well as chapters on side dishes, desserts, and so forth. There is one chapter containing seventy-five household hints that is still excellent.

I must say that the majority of the recipes are outdated. There is a heavy use of canned soups and other canned items. However, in Peg Bracken’s defense, this was the cutting edge back in the 1950s/60s.

For me, reading I Hate To Cook Book was a lovely experience of remembering the good old days. I recommend reading this book to all of you who remember Peg Bracken’s writing. For those of you younger than me, it may remind you of dishes your mom used to serve. For the rest of you it makes great research into the food customs of the mid-twentieth century.

I borrowed my copy from the library but The I Hate to Cook Bookis also available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and other blogs as well. Please visit Beth Fish Reads for more Weekend Cooking posts.

If I were an Amish housewife with no indoor plumbing or electricity, I would be a miserable, whiny, grumpy person. I would want to take my horse and buggy into town and hang around inside the air-conditioned stores. Of course, at some point I’d have to go home and fire up the wood or kerosene stove to cook meals for my family. By then I’d be beyond whiny.

If Elizabeth Coblentz is a whiny-wumb, it doesn’t show. She is The Amish Cook and the author of this book. In it she tells of life among this northern Indiana Amish community. Elizabeth married, raised eight children, sewed all their clothing (treadle sewing machine), helped at slaughter and milking times, planted and harvested a large garden and then put away all that food for winter (via canning or cold-celler storage). In her spare time she managed to write a weekly column (by hand) for the Amish newspaper.

Mrs. Coblentz’s weekly columns contained news about her family and her local community. She talked of the garden, the weather, weddings, funerals, and other important events, as well as meals and food preparation. She always included a recipe at the end of each column.

A collection of these columns and seventy-five of the recipes have been published in this book. Since so much of Elizabeth’s life centered around food, the book is divided into meal chapters. There is Breakfast, Dinner, Supper, Desserts, and Sundays and Special Occasions. In addition there are nearly eighty stunning photos, some two-page spreads like this one.

Each chapter takes the reader through what happens at that time of day the chapter covers. I liked reading about all the various foods fixed for each meal. It was generally very hardy. Some of the recipes were new to me but many were quite familiar.

The chapter on Special Occasions had a list of the food (and amounts) they cooked and served at one of Elizabeth’s daughter’s wedding. It was staggering. It must have taken an army of women to carry that off. I liked that some foods are only served at weddings.

This book is a delightful visit with Elizabeth and her community. This past week as I tried to put myself into her life, I developed a tremendous respect and admiration for Elizabeth and the women of the Amish communities. As I’ve thought about their life I shake my head and say, “I don’t know how they do it.”

The truth is, I do know how they do it. It’s a way of life that is infused with a tremendous faith in God and the acceptance of whatever comes their way. They live a life of gratitude and set a wonderful example.

I first heard about this book from Staci. She told me I would like it and she was right. Thanks Staci. Read Staci’s review at her blog: Life In the Thumb. Last week JoAnn also reviewed this book and you can read her review at one of her blogs: Lakeside Kitchen.

I borrowed this book from the library. It’s also available at Amazon. (I’m an Amazon Associate.)

The Amish Cook: Recollections and Recipes from an Old Order Amish Family by Elizabeth Coblentz and Kevin Williams. Photography by Laura Smith. Published by Ten Speed Press, 2002.

Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.

by Lois M. Burrows and Laura G. Myers

Harper & Row, 1976

The subtitle for this book is: A Cookbook For When Your Garden Explodes. That fits the garden situation here in Northern California, as you can see from the picture above.

This book, first written in 1976, has been my mom’s go-to book for times like these. I know I should have purchased this book myself but Mom kept sending me copies of her favorite recipes that I didn’t bother. Now I have the book, since she no longer has her garden, or a need to cook. It’s going to be put to good use here by succeeding generations of gardeners and cooks.

Too Many Tomatoes . . . is organized alphabetically from Asparagus to Turnips (zucchini is included with summer squash). It covers vegetables commonly grown in the backyard. Each vegetable chapter starts with a basic discussion of the plant – how it’s grown, how to harvest and store it, basic preparation, nutritive value, and even complimentary herbs. This is then followed by a variety of recipes using this vegetable, anywhere from eight to fifteen recipes per vegetable.

The book can be used by both gardeners and CSA or Farmer’s Market patrons. The recipes are written in a very basic manner and assumes you have considerable knowledge of cooking techniques. It’s not a book for cooking beginners.

The recipes range from the unusual (Broccoli Guacamole, Spinach Spanakopitta, Carrot Marmalade) to the good old standbys (Marinated Cucumber Salad, Harvard Beets, Stir-fry Snowpeas).

The last chapter is called Anything and Everything and includes a nice mish-mash of recipes that don’t fit anywhere else. This is where I first learned to make Homemade Mayonnaise (using my newly invented blender) and various flavored butters.

For our family this book’s claim-to-fame is it’s recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. This was the first time by mom put a vegetable into a cake. Of course, she told no one until everyone loved and raved about it. She went on to Zuchinni Bread and, my brother’s favorite, Zucchini Lasagna (replace pasta with shredded zucchini/recipe not in this book).

The Chocolate Zucchini Cake is really something special – very moist and chocolatey. I promise to make some this coming week and share it (the recipe) with you next Saturday. In the meantime, the tomatoes are exploding here so it’s time to check out the chapter on tomatoes.

Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things is available at Amazon in the updated (1991) edition. Be warned: a new copy of the paperback edition is now going for $265.07. Used copies are available for much less ($4.30). Our copy is the hardback but I doubt it’s worth much. It’s full of stains and notes and is partially separated from it’s binding. The sign of a well-used, well-loved book.

Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.

I know some people think of cookbooks as a resource for listing recipes. But the best ones are those I can actually “read.” I wanted my children and grandchildren to grow up “reading” cookbooks too.

So, one day while sitting at a nice table in the juvenile non-fiction section of the library, I spotted a whole shelf full of cookbooks for children. I grabbed a few that appealed to me in the hope they might appeal to children as well.

The Boxcar Children Cookbook by Diane Blain

Back when I was in grade school this was one of my favorite books. It fired my imagination to think that these children, my age, could find shelter, earn money and cook for themselves without any grown-ups around. It seemed quite the adventure.

The Boxcar Children Cookbook sticks to the basic premise of the stories, using simple and each to read instructions. The author doesn’t talk down to children nor try to make it cute. The best part, for me, was at the beginning of each recipe. There is a quote from the book in which this food item was mentioned. (There were numerous books in the series.)

For each recipe there is a numbered list of What to Use and a list of What To Do. Very simple. The recipes range from beverages to main dishes to cookies, cakes and other desserts. This is basic food, nothing exotic. Just what you’d expect the Boxcar Children to eat. The cookbook should appeal to children age 8 and up.

I encountered a serendipity in this little book. I found a recipe I had lost. Years ago I would mix up my own hot chocolate mix. I liked it because it was low on sugar but still tasted great, especially on camping trips. And then I found it in this book. Here’s my shortened version:

Hot Chocolate Mix

Mix together

• 2 cups non-fat dry milk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 cup sugar

Save this mix in an air-tight container. To make one cup of hot chocolate:

• Put 1/3 cup of mix in a mug
• Add boiling water (about 1 cup)

Stir until everything is dissolved. Extra good if you can add one marshmallow.

The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories by Barbars M. Walker

Along the same lines as the Boxcar Children Cookbook is this one for those who love the Little House series. Pioneer, country cooking is a natural part of the story lines of these books. The Little House Cookbook includes the recipes for various dishes mentioned in the series.

This is more than recipes. It’s part history, especially concerning the preparation of food in the pioneer kitchen. I iked the chapters featuring where the food came from. For instance, one chapter is Foods from the Woods, Wilds, and Waters. Others are Foods from the Tilled Fields, Foods from the Garden and Orchard, and Foods from the Barnyard.

This is an excellent resource for children studying this time period as well as for those of us, whatever age, who love the Little House books and DVDs. This book is suitable for children 9 or 10 and older.

I found two more books I liked a lot but I’ll save them for another time. This post is getting too long as it is. I hope these books will be helpful, especially if you have young children you are trying to convince that good food and good  books can go together.

I borrowed these books from the library but I gave you links to Amazon just in case you want to know more. I am an Amazon Associate.

Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.

Last year I read, for the first time, a book by Anthony Bourdain. It was Kitchen Confidential (my review is here) and I really liked Bourdain’s style of writing. So when I saw his No Reservations at the book store, I bought it without even opening the cover. Mostly, I liked the subtitle – Around the World On An Empty Stomach.

Once I opened the cover I discovered it was exactly what I thought it would be – a food lover’s tour of the world. What I realized when I started reading, is that this book is based on the TV show, starring Anthony Bourdain, called, you guessed it, No Reservations. It’s an ongoing show on the Travel Channel and on the Discovery Travel & Living channel worldwide.

Although I have never seen the show, from reading the book I have a good idea what it’s about. Mr. Bourdain travels to various countries around the globe and asks to eat the food that local people eat. Here’s what her says:

To the extent of our abilities, this is what the show is all about: a head-first full immersion in someplace that isn’t very much like home,. No Starbucks, no cash machines, no stage-managed “real-life encounters” — just an honest and direct recording of the way life is lived in the rest of the world.

The show is currently in it’s sixth season. As Mr. Bourdain and his film crew were traveling the world, various crew members were also taking snapshots. Those pictures make up this book. Every page is filled with them. They’re gorgeous, colorful, professional and give me the feel of being right there.

This is not a book filled with words but the words that are there are pure Anthony Bourdain. His writing sounds exactly like I think he talks. He says what he’s thinking, often with profanity. I don’t mind it because he has such a passion for good food that he finds in unusual places. I want to give you a sample of his writing. Bourdain’s section on Asia is the biggest in the book because of his beliefs about Chinese food.

Deep inside every great cook . . . anyone who knows what the good stuff is and what to do with it — lurks the heart and soul of a Chinese guy. There are no “good” and “bad” ingredients in China. . . Chinese cooks and chefs are used to preparing food for customers who know what the f__ they’re eating; what’s good, where it’s good, and when it’s good. Next to them we know nothing about food.

If you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain, you’ll really like this book. My hunch is that this book sits on lots of coffee tables because of the beautiful pictures. And then it gets talked about because of Bourdain’s strong opinions. I suggest you give it a try.

Check your local library  for a copy. No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach is available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

By Anthony Bourdain, Bloomsbury, 2007, May Rating: A

Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. I’m posting this a day early because of tomorrow’s Read-A-Thon.  On Saturday be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.