2012’s worst cookbooks and lowest culinary events

We recently found two articles that are, admittedly, out-of-tune with seasonal jollity, but still worthy of notice for committing culinary sins, including being remarkably tone-deaf, excessive, and hypocritical. May we recommend everyone on this list contemplate their New Year’s resolution list carefully.

First up is Esquire’s Worst Food Moments of 2012. From deep-fried butter (“the worst use of butter since Last Tango in Paris”) to pepperoni being judged as politically incorrect, to the worst wine labels ever (“Führerwein”) they have effectively captured a culinary world gone nuts – or at least out to lunch. Even our friends in England captured one title, “Worst Explanation for Why England Will Always Exist,” for a villa in Newscastle that offers a “pet-friendly menu that includes a special beer designed for dogs and a Sunday roast covered in “cat-flavoured gravy” (we assume that means gravy that is tasty for cats and not truly cat-flavored).

And from the Herald News we have Emeril’s cookbook tops naughty list. They present the top five unhealthiest cookbooks of the year, as compiled by  the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The list is topped by Emeril Lagasse’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches  which features, among other over-the-top repasts, a Monte Cristo with 1,386 calories. The other four are Rachael Ray’s My Year in Meals (including a Mac and Cheese “which contains about as much saturated fat as a package of Original Oscar Mayer Bacon”), The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook (foie gras with more cholesterol than 10 Big Macs), Fifty Shades of Chicken, and Southern Living: The Official SEC Tailgating Cookbook. Full details are in the articles.

And now that you know the presents to avoid giving, please don’t forget a present that’s sure to please, a membership to EYB.