Jeffrey Steingarten goes on the Master Cleanse regime

The Master Cleanse is one of those fad/extreme diets that seems to pop up every ten years or so. Currently, it's hot -- with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé rumored to follow the regime. It's a simple diet, just consume 6 to 12 drinks day, making the drink from water, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The… read more

Who’s the richest chef?

Over at Eater, they've calculated who the richest chef in the world is. Admittedly, we were surprised. Yes, Wolfgang Puck made the list, as did Rachael Ray, but who would have guessed Jamie Oliver? Check the names out here. read more

How much celebrity chef news can you take?

As reported in the New York Times, a new website, The Braiser will go live in a couple of weeks with constant coverage of "chefs who have cultivated a worldwide reputation".  It will be interesting to see if they can come up with enough news and features on a daily basis to fill an entire site. Or will they end… read more

A tour of Mario Battali’s kitchen

Most of us who love to cook have experienced kitchen envy. And editors know this; glossy tours of famous chefs' kitchens have been standard articles in food magazines and online. So while this tour of Mario Battali's home kitchen from Chew is not unusual, we found it had a few surprises. First, it's not full of monstrous, gleaming commercial appliances;… read more

What do celebrity chefs eat when they get the munchies?

The people at Eatocracy (CNN) asked numerous celebrity chefs - Daniel Boulud, John Besh, Michael Chiarello, Gail Simmons, Marcus Samuelson among others - what they eat when they get the munchies. They confess to eating the same things most of us resort to when we want to indulge; but the funniest part of the whole video is at the beginning,… read more

Where are cookbooks headed?

  Cookbook author Denise Vivaldo is the owner of more than 1,000 cookbooks and the author of several herself.  In her article today in the Huffington Post she explains why holding a cookbook in her hands is so important to her. read more

It’s all competition, cleavage, nastiness

Mark Bittman, long time columnist for The New York Times and author of How to Cook Everything had a frank discussion recently with Ruth Reichl. The subject of Food TV came up and Bittman held nothing back. Besides commenting that "it's all competition, cleavage, nastiness" he added that no one could even learn how to scramble an egg from the… read more

A peek into America’s Test Kitchen

  Dianne Jacob of the Will Write for Food blog interviews Doc Willoughby, Executive Editor of the Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines.  He explains how they test recipes (over and over and over) and shares his thoughts on free recipes.  And you can calculate how much they earn from their websites - it's stunning! read more

Advice for future food writers

In Cooking From Every Angle, Advice for Future Food Writers, Food 52's Amanda Hesser gives indepth and realistic advice to anyone looking to make a career in food writing. Of particular interest is that she notes how much her advice has changed from just a few years ago. Besides the explosion of food writing online (blogs, etc.) there is also… read more

Anthony Bourdain is much more than just a not so pretty face

Like him or loathe him, Anthony Bourdain is one of the most fascinating figures in the food world today. After exposing the "seamy underbelly" of a commercial kitchen in Food Confidential, he moved on to traveling the world and introducing lesser-known food and cultures. But he has taken on other personas, including being the voice that punctures the adoring fan… read more

IACP expands its awards to infinity and beyond (or at least the new media)

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has traditionally handed out annual cookbook awards, among the most prestigious in the industry. Additionally, they have honored great culinary writing with the Bert Greene Awards. This year, in a further outreach, they expanded their awards to include "New Media and Broadcast," a group containing online food blogs, websites, and culinary video and… read more

Are food blogs over?

Adam Roberts, over at The Amateur Gourmet (@amateurgourmet), has been a successful and popular food blogger since 2004 and has experienced first-hand the explosion of food blogs over the internet. He has just published a thoughtful piece of whether food blogs are passé. As he comments, "Food blogs couldn't be huger; everyone with a camera and a soft palate has one."… read more

The favorite cookbooks of Jeremiah Tower

  Jeremiah Tower, the founding chef at Chez Panisse and the founder of the legendary Stars restaurant in San Francisco, has now retired from professional cooking.  But he is still writing and reading and he shares in Eater's column The Cookbook Shelf, which are the most important books he owns. read more

Gail Monaghan on what makes a great chef

In this brief (less than 2 minute) video, Gail Monaghan explores the mind of a chef, including the difference in mentality between a pastry chef and a cook. She also gives some basic tips that any good cook should follow to become a great cook, including a visual aid for adding the right amount of salt and a reminder to trust… read more

Andrew Carmellini comes clean on ghostwriters

I just saw a funny tweet where chef Andrew Carmellini owns up to the important role his co-writer played in the writing of his two cookbooks.  If only all cookbook "authors" were this honest.  Though in full disclosure, his co-writer is also his wife! read more

Now Gwyneth too denies using ghostwriters

Gwyneth Paltrow has added her voice to the chorus of cookbook authors denying they use ghostwriters.  It is interesting though that her book My Father's Daughter was used to illustrate the article in the New York Times that stirred up this hornet's nest.  What exactly did her co-writer Julia Turshen do if Gwyneth wrote every word herself, as she now claims? read more

Heston Blumenthal on the Olympics

Heston ruminates in the Financial Times on what the Olympics will mean for London.  He also explains how he and Simon Hulstone, a young chef he mentored, have developed a new menu for British Airways, an Olympics sponsor, to be served July to September. Four of the recipes are included in the article. read more

A very special dinner

Every so often we get to do something that is so special we can't believe it's really happening.  I had that feeling this weekend when I had the privilege of attending a dinner cooked by two of the world's greatest chefs - Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller.  They had got together at a beautiful spot on the east coast of New Zealand at… read more

Eat Your Books Award at IACP

We just got back from the IACP Cookbook Awards where I presented the Eat Your Books Award.  All the nominees were tremendous books - we were delighted to present it to Stephanie Alexander for Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion.  Well, I would have done if she had been there so it went to Lauraine Jacobs from New Zealand (an ex-IACP… read more

EYB at IACP

We had our first day today at the IACP Conference in Portland, Oregon.  It was a packed and exciting day.  Lots of networking and meeting interesting people.  And tonight there was the opening reception where Portland's finest chefs and vineyards produced the food and wine.  Excessive sampling of everything ensued.  But the highlight for me was that I met Madhur Jaffrey -… read more

Jamie Oliver’s petition to improve children’s eating habits

Jamie Oliver has launched an online petition to improve the eating habits and lifetime health of America's children.  This ties in with his new TV show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution which is currently showing on ABC.  Jamie hopes to present the petition to Barack & Michelle Obama at the end of the series. You can see how many votes your state has generated - if you live… read more

James Beard Book Award nominations announced

The nominations for the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Awards were announced today.  They can be viewed on our JB Awards nominations page.  We will be attending the awards in New York on May 2nd which is going to be exciting.  We have also created a page listing all the IACP Award nominations which includes the Eat Your Books Award. read more

Rose Gray of The River Cafe has died

I am so sad to hear that Rose Gray has died of cancer at the age of 71.  In my expense-account days in the TV industry in London, I would eat often at the River Cafe.  I can remember the first time I went there - it was so novel to have an Italian restaurant that was modern, classy and the… read more

Ruth Reichl on what cookbooks mean to her

Ruth Reichl didn't like Adam Gopnik's article in The New Yorker and on her blog she explains how her approach to cooking differs. I'm definitely in Ruth's camp - cooking because you love to do it and because you love feeding other people good things to eat. Adam's constant striving for perfection, and disappointment that each recipe never quite takes him there, doesn't connect… read more
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