Cooking
When I was growing up I hated sports. I especially hated any sport where a ball could hit me in the head because usually it did. When I was in the outfield during softball and someone yelled "go farther back" I made it as far back as the library where I hung out until physical education class was over.
At heart, I'm a researcher. I love information. I even love libraries. Being able to get my hands on the information I am looking for is almost as satisfying as the information itself. Though I gave up my career goal of becoming a librarian in around 6th grade, in every career I have surrounded myself with plenty of reference books.
In the culinary field I particularly cherish my reference books. They fall into several categories--the restaurant guides, the books on technique and the resource books. I only have a couple resource books but they are turned to often. My main reference book has been The New Food Lover's Companion, but now there is a new book to share space on my desk--Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating. The subtitle is "how to choose the best bread, cheeses, olive oil, pasta, chocolate and much more". Now if that isn't a come-on, I don't know what is.
The book combines history, shopping info, recipes, tips and so much practical information you'll quickly feel like an expert. If you've ever wanted to know the difference between arborio, carnaroli and vialone nano rice or wanted some recommendations for Spanish goat cheeses or wanted to know what to do with nut oils this is the book for you. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but they look very straightforward. This is not the be-all end-all most comprehensive guide ever, but it sure is a great start.
- Keys To Good Cooking By Harold Mcgee: Book Review
I love Harold McGee's classic tome, On Food and Cooking. I turn to it often when doing research for posts or articles I'm writing. But it's not the best book when I'm looking for practical advice. McGee's latest book, The Keys to...
- Reading Up On Campania & Italy
Not to rub it in or anything, but I recently spent 10 glorious days in Italy discovering the charms of the Campania region, home of Naples and the Amalfi coast. But there is so much more to the region than that. I already had a soft spot for Sorrento,...
- The New Food Lover's Companion
As you may be able to tell from reading along, I love doing research. Just the other day I was asked to name a fruit or vegetable that started with an "H". Don't ask me why, I'm sworn to secrecy. But I knew just where to look to find out. The...
- The Atlas Of American Cheese
Melissa and I followed a simple syllabus for our cheese education six or seven years ago. Each week, we would mark a few cheeses in Steven Jenkins' The Cheese Primer, buy them, and eat them that night. One of us would read aloud from the Book of Jenkins...
- Zingerman's Guide To Good Eating
If I didn't live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd probably do a lot of shopping by ordering from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. Started as a deli, the business has since grown to become a bakery and a purveyor of quality ingredients from America...
Cooking
Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating
When I was growing up I hated sports. I especially hated any sport where a ball could hit me in the head because usually it did. When I was in the outfield during softball and someone yelled "go farther back" I made it as far back as the library where I hung out until physical education class was over.
At heart, I'm a researcher. I love information. I even love libraries. Being able to get my hands on the information I am looking for is almost as satisfying as the information itself. Though I gave up my career goal of becoming a librarian in around 6th grade, in every career I have surrounded myself with plenty of reference books.
In the culinary field I particularly cherish my reference books. They fall into several categories--the restaurant guides, the books on technique and the resource books. I only have a couple resource books but they are turned to often. My main reference book has been The New Food Lover's Companion, but now there is a new book to share space on my desk--Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating. The subtitle is "how to choose the best bread, cheeses, olive oil, pasta, chocolate and much more". Now if that isn't a come-on, I don't know what is.
The book combines history, shopping info, recipes, tips and so much practical information you'll quickly feel like an expert. If you've ever wanted to know the difference between arborio, carnaroli and vialone nano rice or wanted some recommendations for Spanish goat cheeses or wanted to know what to do with nut oils this is the book for you. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but they look very straightforward. This is not the be-all end-all most comprehensive guide ever, but it sure is a great start.
- Keys To Good Cooking By Harold Mcgee: Book Review
I love Harold McGee's classic tome, On Food and Cooking. I turn to it often when doing research for posts or articles I'm writing. But it's not the best book when I'm looking for practical advice. McGee's latest book, The Keys to...
- Reading Up On Campania & Italy
Not to rub it in or anything, but I recently spent 10 glorious days in Italy discovering the charms of the Campania region, home of Naples and the Amalfi coast. But there is so much more to the region than that. I already had a soft spot for Sorrento,...
- The New Food Lover's Companion
As you may be able to tell from reading along, I love doing research. Just the other day I was asked to name a fruit or vegetable that started with an "H". Don't ask me why, I'm sworn to secrecy. But I knew just where to look to find out. The...
- The Atlas Of American Cheese
Melissa and I followed a simple syllabus for our cheese education six or seven years ago. Each week, we would mark a few cheeses in Steven Jenkins' The Cheese Primer, buy them, and eat them that night. One of us would read aloud from the Book of Jenkins...
- Zingerman's Guide To Good Eating
If I didn't live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd probably do a lot of shopping by ordering from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. Started as a deli, the business has since grown to become a bakery and a purveyor of quality ingredients from America...