My favorite reading genre on a cruise these days is “foodie lit” (foodie literature)- books that are not cookbooks, but non-fiction adventures and tales that revolve around food, cooking and eating that often contain very good recipes. Some are written by people who travel or relocate to eat well; restaurant chefs or owners; famous food editors and critics. The best are evocative of memorable meals and places and inspire me to try new dishes, recipes, restaurants and destinations and many are very funny. I’d like to share with you my favorites of all time and the reasons I like them so much. Maybe it will inspire you to pick up a book or two for your summer reading.
1. M.F.K Fisher, The Art of Eating, 1990 is a compilation of five of the best gastronomical works of writer Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, a California girl, who lived in France off and on since 1937 and wrote for Gourmet Magazine. The Art of Eating will give you a taste of her work over 17 years – from historical observations about cooking and eating to cooking and surviving wartime food shortages to autobiographical essays about great meals eaten and food heroes. This is a long, lazy, well-written read (with tons of recipes) that can be put down and picked up at will.
2. Mimi Sheraton, Eating My Words, 2004 is a delightful look at the development and life of a food and travel writer. Eight-year food critic for the New York Times and later Vanity Fair and Conde Nast Traveler and cookbook author in her own right, Ms. Sheraton’s book is a savory blend of self-deprecating humor and sharp wit. You want to sit down and join her for a meal yourself! While there are no recipes, there are lots of inside looks at restaurants and menus!
3. Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires, 2005, written by another former New York Times (and Los Angeles Times) food critic, now editor of Gourmet Magazine, is a hilarious look at secret life as a food critic in disguise. She reveals her various disguises -- mid-Western Molly; sexy Chloe and earthy Brenda – and the effect they had on her treatment as a diner at some of the premier restaurants in New York City (and what she wrote about them). While her other very humorous memoirs, Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples, are more autobiographical, Garlic and Sapphires gives peek behind the gates of “temples of gastronomy” from a controversial critic’s point of view. Lots of fun and lots of good recipes.
4. Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking, 1988 and More Home Cooking, 1993, are two of the most charming memoirs of a real home cook who happens to be a food writer. Ms. Colwin understands the need for good food with little work after a long day (working or playing!) and offers some delicious stories and recipes that may make you get up and cook something. She favors easy recipes that use few of the usual tools and devices on which we tend to rely (no grill – she lived in a NYC apartment; no toaster or oven – she had a tiny galley kitchen). Her stories are funny, self-deprecating and ring true and her recipes are terrific!
5. Elizabeth David, An Omelette and A Glass of Wine, 1997 is a collection of essays, written over 32 years, for top U.S. and British food and lifestyle magazines. The essays explore food, cooking, and etiquette, drinking and eating during the 50s, 60s and 70s in England, France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and India. The book, while not autobiographical, provides insight into her efforts to forge a new way thinking about food and cooking (in an era of convenience food) and return to authenticity of ingredients and technique in home and restaurant cooking. Her recipes are truly delicious, simple dishes and they are presented in an historical perspective.
6. Frances Mayes, Under The Tuscan Sun, 1997andBella Tuscany, 1999 are a series about a fantasy fulfilled – living in a Tuscan village. Made popular by the movie “Under The Tuscan Sun” (whose plot wasn’t true to the book), Frances Mayes’ experience embodies the romantic dream of a slower, more satisfying lifestyle. She writes of purchasing and fixing up her home, learning to live in Italy, shopping, cooking, eating, loving and making friends. Her meals and recipes are mouthwatering and they warm you on a cold day.
7. Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence, 1993 – the first in a series of delightful memoirs about buying a house and living in Provence, France. Entertaining and inspiring descriptions of meals, menus and foods. No recipes but a fun series to read.
8. Samuel Chamberlain, Clementine in the Kitchen, 1943 – lovely memoir about an American family’s French cook, Clementine, in pre- WWII France and 1940s Marblehead, MA. It is a hilarious look at American supermarkets, food and culture through the eyes of a Burgundian cook. Great recipes.
9. Susan Herrmann Loomis, On Rue Tatin, 2001 – memoir by a cookbook author who moved to France from the U.S. with her family and started a cooking school. Wonderful recipes and stories about her (and her family’s) adjustment and embracing of small town life in Normandy.
10. Wanda L. Frolov, Katish, Our Russian Cook, 1947 – stories of a 1920s Los Angeles family and their recently immigrated Russian cook, that originally appeared in Gourmet magazine, and then were published in book form. Great Russian recipes and sweet heartwarming stories.