Tooling about in the kitchen

On Sunday as I was rearranging the stash of fabric that seems to multiply in our craft room, I listened to a rebroadcast of The Splendid Table that featured various guests talking about their favorite kitchen tools. The guests included Tim Hayward, knife maker Quintin Middleton, and Ruth Ades-Laurent, daughter of the legendary Joseph Ades AKA The Gentleman Peeler, a… read more

Food news antipasto

empty wineglasses on a tray
For over 70 years, The Good Food Guide has reviewed the best restaurants, pubs and cafés across the UK. From 1951 until 2020, the guide was completely rewritten and compiled from scratch each year. Last May Waitrose announced that it would not publish the 2021 edition due to the pandemic, but vowed to return in a year's time. However, we… read more

Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home by Uyen Luu. Uyen Luu is a writer, cook, photographer, food andprop stylist and cookbook author. She holds supper clubs and cooking classes in her studio with Vietnamese menus and also does a monthly takeaway. Her first cookbook My Vietnamese Kitchen… read more

Grill your greens

As many of us kick off our summer with a long holiday weekend, we will be firing up our grills to make burgers, ribs, hot dogs, and more. Vegetables will get their turn over the coals, too. One class of vegetables that is often overlooked when grilling is greens, although you should consider adding lettuce and other greens to your… read more

The challenges of being an ethical shopper

It is not surprising that online food sales skyrocketed during the pandemic. While COVID-19 restrictions changed how people shopped for food, other considerations also played into the shift. In an effort to combat food waste and know more about the origins of their foods, people subscribed to services such as meal kit providers, "ugly" produce purveyors, and boutique "farm to… read more

May 2021 EYB Cookbook Club Summary

Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we’ve been cooking from the following titles: Main Option: Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food by Julia Turshen or Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast by Nigella LawsonBaking Option: Sweet by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh or BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella ParksOnline Option: Any online… read more

Potlucks and picnics

With ever-increasing numbers of people becoming vaccinated and gathering restrictions loosening in many areas, people are getting together for the first time in what seems like ages. Since this coincides with the weather becoming warmer here, that means a lot of outdoor potlucks and picnics. I was just invited to a cookout in a colleague's backyard this week, and I… read more

May 2021 New Cookbook Review

We have almost made it through half of 2021. I was talking with a publicist recently and we were discussing with amazement about the power of the cookbook buying public. We weren't sure if we are just busier because publishing is booming or if working from home enables us to work longer. I, myself, have never had a commute while… read more

News from Australia and New Zealand

Daawat – Fundraiser for India
In Melbourne on 6 June? Feast with some of the city’s leading hospitality folk and help a great cause. Daawat – Fundraiser for India, hosted by the legendary Tony Tan and Melbourne Food and Wine Festival creative director Pat Nourse, sees leading chefs preparing a 3-course lunch on Sunday 6 June with all proceeds going to aid India as it… read more

Food news antipasto

This week's news begins with information about one of our favorite cookbook authors, Diana Henry. She recently wrote about her experiences with breast cancer and an autoimmune disease, neither of which she has publicly discussed before. She spent lockdown recovering from the treatments, while still managing to make some progress in recipe testing. The good news is that scans show… read more

How to keep bread baking consistent through the seasons

As spring moves toward summer here in the northern hemisphere, atmospheric changes can wreak havoc on your baked goods, especially those involving yeasted dough. The smooth, supple bread dough you made in January may suddenly become shaggy and sticky in June, even though you made no other changes. The change in humidity levels is likely the culprit, says PJ Hamel… read more

Gardening trend sticks around

Early last spring, just after lockdown was announced and while shortages of foods and household products were rampant, I rolled up my sleeves and built five raised garden beds to grow vegetables. Although I had grown vegetable and ornamental gardens for years, the pandemic instilled a sense of urgency that I hadn't felt before. I was not alone in turning… read more

This week: Modernist Pizza – October 2021, upcoming Phaidon cookbooks, recipes, cookbook giveaways and EYBD Previews

Exciting cookbook news this week. Modernist Pizza will be released this October. I have been sitting on my fingers to avoid sharing the news until I received the okay. I had added the book to our Library about a week ago but knew it was coming long before. The anxiety of not publishing the announcement nearly did me in. I'm… read more

Christopher Kimball on drinks and more

Noah Rothbaum and David Wondrich are hosts of the award-winning podcast Life Behind Bars. On their most current episode, Christopher Kimball joins Wondrich and Rothbaum to give his pointed takes on his favorite drink - the Old-Fashioned - along with other subjects. You might think that being around food all day and making copious amounts of it as part of… read more

Modernist Pizza – October 2021

Modernist Pizza, the next book in the award-winning Modernist Cuisine series, will explore the science, history, equipment, techniques, and people that have made pizza so beloved and will be published on October 5th of this year and can be preordered on Amazon or directly from Modernist Cuisine Shop with special pre-order bonuses for the first 100 buyers! You may also… read more

June 2021 The Great Big Cookbook Club Roundup

As our members know, each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. There are other fun cookbook clubs around the interwebs and we’d like to highlight those for those members who might want to cook or bake something other than our choices.  We want to get this information out to you so you… read more

News from Australia and New Zealand

Ayubi Family at Parwana (photo by Alicia Taylor)
Durkhanai Ayubi’s book, Parwana, meaning butterfly and named for her family’s Adelaide restaurant, has been short-listed for the prestigious UK Guild of Food Writers’ Awards in the International or Regional Cookbook category. Co-written with her mother Farida and sister Fatema who provide the recipes, it weaves an inspiring tale of the family’s departure from war-torn Afghanistan in the 1980s, their… read more

Guild of Food Writers announces finalists for 2021 awards

The Guild of Food Writers today announced the finalists for its prestigious annual Awards. The winners will be announced on Wednesday 23 June at 6pm UK time (GMT +1) via Instagram (@thegfw). The online announcement event will be introduced by Stefan Gates. Without further delay, here are the finalists for selected categories: Food Writing Award Fuchsia Dunlop for work published… read more

Getaway – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/Canada giveaway to win one of three copies of Getaway: Food and Drink to Transport You by Renee Erickson. Renee Erickson, author of the spectacular cookbook A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus: Menus and Stories is providing us a virtual getaway in her latest book aptly named Getaway: Food and Drink to Transport You. The acclaimed chef,… read more

Food news antipasto

It's not a bowl and it's not a plate, but it can be the ideal piece of dinnerware to serve everything from pasta to salad. I am referring to the latest home trend: the blate. Shallower than a bowl but with a larger lip than a regular dinner plate, the blate is cropping up at retailers and specialty shops alike,… read more

Learn about the world of art cookbooks

When people see my bookshelves during Zoom meetings only a few notice that they are filled with cookbooks. Most of the books are ones that I use or consult with some regularity, although I keep several books for sentimental reasons or because they are just so gorgeous I can't part with them. I view the latter as works of art,… read more

This week: Skillet bread, recipes, cookbook giveaways, previews and more

The team has been very busy at Eat Your Books: indexing titles, getting through the March - May rush of new cookbooks and providing you with daily culinary news. The place in my heart for librarian love grew three sizes in the last few weeks. There is a lot of double and triple checking numbers and dates until eventually you… read more

The best cookbooks for newlyweds

This summer is shaping up to be a big one for weddings, as many people who put off tying the knot due to pandemic are preparing to do it now. Florists, wedding venues, caterers, and bridal stores are gearing up for the rush, and it seems like the first large gathering many of us will be attending could be a… read more

Herb – Mark Diacono Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win a copy of Herb: A Cook's Companion, from Plot to Plate by Mark Diacono. Diacono's latest title is a plot-to-plate exploration of herbs that majors on the kitchen, with just enough of the simple art of growing to allow the reader to welcome a wealth of home-grown flavours into their kitchen. Author Mark Diacono… read more

Who gets to decide which foods are disgusting?

If you ever watched Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations, you probably saw the erstwhile chef eating foods that to most Western palates would be deemed 'disgusting', items such as warthog anus and fermented shark fin. However, to the peoples where these foods originated, they are thought of as delicacies, or at least national symbols to be proud of. This notion… read more
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