Mark Bittman interviews Michael Pollan

April 21, 2013 by
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In his recent New York Times column, Mark Bittman chatted with Michael Pollan about Pollan's newest book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. This isn't a cookbook - in fact, it only has four recipes - Bolognese, pork shoulder, sauerkraut, and bread - that Pollan uses to explore fundamental principles of cooking. As anyone familiar with both men would expect, the conversation… read more

Julia Child comes to life in a new, different type of app

April 17, 2013 by
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Since many of you enjoy our occasional notices of interesting food-related apps, we wanted to alert you to one that Random House, the long time publisher for Julia Child, has  issued - it's a unique app that is far more than just a cooking app. In AppStorm's just-published review of the app Mastering the Art of French Cooking, they describe this… read more

Food as comfort and solace

April 17, 2013 by
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It felt strange to be driving in to Boston yesterday, the day after the terrible bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line.  It was a gorgeous spring day, traffic was light but there was an edgy feeling, not helped by the large numbers of heavily armed police, security and army around the city. But having lived in London during the… read more

IACP 2013 Cookbook Award winners

April 10, 2013 by
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Fiona (left) and Jane (right) were honored to present the Eat Your Books General Cookbook Award last night to Maricel Presilla for her important work, Gran Cocina Latina.  The Awards were tremendous fun and you can see the complete list of winners here. HIghlights of the night were: Meeting Charles Phan of the wonderful Slanted Door restaurant (where we had… read more

Do TV chefs have to be sexy to succeed?

March 26, 2013 by
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Both the Guardian in the U.K. and the Braiser in the U.S. have recently weighed in on the question: Do TV chefs have to be sex symbols to be successful? It's a good question - and may explain why the most talented chefs are disappearing from TV while the more photogenic ones hang on (when was the last time you… read more

Two tirades against food television

March 20, 2013 by
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Every time that the Food Channel eliminates cooking shows in favor of a contest or non-cooking related channel, there are rumbles from the media. But two recent rants caught our attention as particularly well-written, including both insightfulness and thoroughness. Both are well worth the time to read; here are just a few of the highlights. Andy Greenwald in Grantland titles… read more

James Beard Finalists Announced

March 18, 2013 by
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The James Beard Foundation just announced its cookbook finalists for 2013. (For other awards, see our blog Cookbook award season is here!.) So who made the list? You can view the entire list here, but here are some of the more popular categories. First, however, are the two who won the most prestigious achievement awards: Humanitarian: Emeril Lagasse Lifetime Achievement:… read more

The ten best TV food shows

March 11, 2013 by
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Just because we like to stir up a bit of controversy every now and then, we wanted to note this article by The Guardian, "The ten best TV food shows." Some of the names may not be familiar in the U.S., but some will be, and this list could help our U.S. viewers keep a look out for some new… read more

An Interview with Clifford A. Wright

February 24, 2013 by
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We recently had a chance to chat with Clifford A. Wright. Clifford, a specialist in Mediterranean cuisines, was a winner of the James Beard Cookbook of the Year and Beard Award for the Best Writing on Food for his 2000 cookbook, A Mediterranean Feast. He just published a new cookbook, One-Pot Wonders, which Susie reviewed in her Cookbook roundup, stating "What… read more

Is food more fashionable than fashion?

February 11, 2013 by
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Over at the Huffington Post, Martha Stewart reflects on the possibility that food may be the new fashion. As she writes in her introduction to Food is the New Fashion: "The notion that 'you are what you eat' extends beyond the virtues of a nutritious, well-balanced diet. These days, it often seems that you are what you purchase in the… read more

Alton Brown’s 5 most important kitchen tools

February 8, 2013 by
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Serious Eats has been publishing a series of interviews with Alton Brown that are each, in their own way, quite interesting. We wrote about one of them, Will recipes become living things?, in December, and we've been meaning to highlight another one that was published last month: Alton Brown's 5 Essential Pieces of Kitchen Equipment.  We wanted to note this interview… read more

The disquieting truth about chefs’ cookbooks

January 15, 2013 by
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As this recent holiday season showed, cookbooks by chefs continue to pour out. In fact, Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals topped the Christmas books lists in Great Britain, beating out The Hobbit. And Big Hospitality recently looked at what makes chefs so eager to take on an extra, usually not highly remunerative, project in Cooking the books: The dynamics and… read more

A truly odd couple: Anthony Bourdain and famed astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson

January 13, 2013 by
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We regard Anthony Bourdain in many ways as the Kim Kardashian of the food world - way over publicized. Admittedly, unlike Kim, he actually has talent - both for cooking and for writing (we do admire his books) - but lately he seems to be all over the airways and opining on just about everything. However, we've decided to violate… read more

Controversial N.Y. Times critic speaks out

December 7, 2012 by
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A few weeks ago we, and most of the food world, noted that The New York Times food critic, Pete Wells, had written one of the snarkiest reviews ever about Guy Fieri's Manhattan restaurant. While everyone granted it was really funny, and no one actually  defended the restaurant (except for Fieri who responded with a media blitz), a consistent criticism leveled… read more

Will recipes become living things?

December 4, 2012 by
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  In a short video over at Serious Eats, Kenji Alt interviews Alton Brown on the future of recipe writing. In just over a minute, Brown mentions several interesting items. Here are two that especially intrigued us: First is the question: What if a recipe could take any of three paths to completion:? "And you got to choose your path… read more

The NY Times gives Guy Fieri’s restaurant the cattiest review ever

November 14, 2012 by
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We'll confess that every now and then cattiness makes for a fun read. Dorothy Parker made a whole career out of it - as in once reviewing a Katherine Hepburn performance as "running the gamut from A to B." And there was always Alice Roosevelt's pillow ("If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me"). In… read more

Is Paula Deen’s restaurant really that trashy?

October 18, 2012 by
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Food Republic's Joshua Stein recently took a trip to Savannah to visit Paul Deen's iconic restaurant, The Lady and Sons, and reported in full in A Voice From Within the Paula Deen Wilderness. His report has created a bit of a storm on the internet, given its portrayal of a massive, volume-driven operation that seeks to drive people into the… read more

Michael Ruhlman mulls over whether food writing is important

September 25, 2012 by
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Over at the HuffPost, Michael Ruhlman has a very thoughtful essay carrying on a discussion that should strike a chord with all our members. He simply asks "Is Food Writing Important?" We'll leave it to you to read his insightful comments, but couldn't help but reproduce the following - a mantra I believe we all can stand behind: "I dream… read more

Dorie Greenspan expands her cookie reach

September 14, 2012 by
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Famed baker Dorie Greenspan, author of the wonderful book Baking: From My Home to Yours and the blog In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie (recipes indexed on EYB), had a pop-up cookie store in NYC for a while.  It would appear around celebrations such as Christmas and Valentine's Days.  Now she has teamed up with her son and a business… read more

Confessions of a Nigella Lawson addict

August 27, 2012 by
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In a recent article in The Observer, Viv Groskop confesses to being a Nigella Lawson addict. In a world where the Kardashians and other non-notable celebrities receive far too much press, we're happy to find someone who adores a celebrity for all of the good things she brings (besides her photogenic qualities). For example, Groskop writes: "Her approach to food… read more

The question, Is there too much food television? has elicited some controversy

August 17, 2012 by
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Over at EATER, they asked five chefs, "Is There Too Much Television?" In general, the answer was yes, even from those on television. Per Andrew Zimmern, "I will say that a lot of producers are making shows where people who have no understanding of food culture are talking about food in terms that misguide the public." Christina Tosi at Momofuku Milk… read more

The EYB 100th birthday tribute to Julia Child

August 15, 2012 by
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The word "legend" is a bit overused these days (yes, we're thinking of Usain Bolt), but in Julia Child's case, it's spot on. Even though she passed away several years ago, Julia's name lives on brighter than ever, even meriting an Academy Award nominated role by Meryl Streep. So today, her 100th birthday, we would be very remiss if we also… read more

Baked chicken and lazy summer pudding

July 29, 2012 by
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Having imbibed the Olympics spirt, we thought these two recipes from Nigel Slater in The Observer serves two purposes. First, they cater to our British frame-of-mind and, second, the recipes are easy enough to be able to prepare with minimal viewing time lost. Slater describes The Baked Chicken with Summer Vegetables as  follows: "I rubbed a load of chicken pieces, mostly… read more

Wine helps prevent bone loss & thank you Marion Cunningham

July 12, 2012 by
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Two news items recently caught our attention  - one good news (for many of us, at least) and one sad. On the good news front, Salt at NPR reports that drinking a moderate amount of wine helps women prevent bone loss: "A new study of women in their 50s and early 60s finds that moderate alcohol consumption may help prevent bone loss.… read more

Remembering Nora Ephron

June 28, 2012 by
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Nora Ephron's death reminded us of the pleasure that she brought with such movies as Julie and Julie, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. And, of course, if for nothing else we'll remember her for teaching us how to make great vinaigrette in Heartburn. In this interview at Epicurious she talks about childhood dishes, favorite cookbooks, and food. And the Huffington Post… read more
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