I'm Just Here for the Food (50 page)

The Joy of Cooking
(1962-1975 editions), Irma S. Rombauer

The only book on earth that tells you how to make marshmallows
and
skin a squirrel.

The New Food Lover’s Companion
, Sharon Tyler Herbst

The subtitle says it all:
Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6,000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms
. I keep mine in a cool little zippered carrying case designed for Bibles and I take it everywhere. Although I like to act like I know everything, it actually does.

The Food Chronology
, James Trager

Name a year, and Trager has charted its food-relevant events, broken down into classifications such as science, politics, economics, energy, medicine, religion, and so on. There are several great books on food history, but most of them spin their pages on analysis. Trager just says what happened, when, and to whom, and what. A food history Jack Webb would have loved.

The Visual Food Encyclopedia
, edited by Serge D’Amico and François Fortin

In addition to thorough histories and technical information, this weighty tome sports more than 1,200 entries with excellent color illustrations. When you need to know what spirulina looks like, you’ll have the answer right on your bookshelf.

The Frugal Gourmet
, Jeff Smith

This was my first cookbook. I don’t care what he does or did in his personal life. Everything in here worked back then and still does.

The New Southern Cook
, John Martin Taylor

I don’t usually buy cookbooks, especially regional ones, but this came to me as a gift. Once I tried a recipe, I cooked everything in it. Taylor has both knowledge and respect for Southern cooking, but he isn’t afraid to take modern approaches. The recipes are dead-on and never fail.

The Time-Life Good Cook Series
, Richard Olney, editor

This multivolume series from the 1970s covers everything from classic desserts to salads to sauces. Whenever I don’t understand a procedure involving a classic dish (a common occurrence), I go to these books. They feature extremely accurate and easy-to-follow photo-steps to teach basic procedures, which are followed up with zillions of recipes. This series has been out of print for a while now, but thanks to the Internet you can find them used.

The American Century Cookbook
:
The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century
, Jean Anderson

Those who do not cook their history are doomed to repeat it, which isn’t always a bad thing.

Fish and Shellfish
, James Peterson

For my money the best seafood book around. Peterson is a teacher rather than a chef, and I appreciate the difference.

Just before Dark
, Jim Harrison

The guy who wrote
Legends of the Fall
and
Wolf
is also a helluva food writer in a Hemingway kind of vein. His tastes run rich (foie gras, sweetbreads, half-rotted pheasants), but he writes about these foods with such gusto, such machismo that you want to go out and buy a couple of chest freezers and fill them with stuff you killed. Harrison used to write a column in
Esquire
called “The Raw and the Cooked,” and it was there I first read a review of Thorne’s
Outlaw Cook
.

Here are some additional titles I recommend adding to your library.

How Baking Works
, Paula Figoni

Foodbook and The Food Chronology
, James Trager

Hungry Planet
, Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio

Becoming a Chef and Culinary Artistry
, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

The Cook’s Essential Kitchen Dictionary
, Jacques L. Rolland

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
, Charles Panati

Schott’s Food and Drink Miscellany
, Ben Schott

Rare Bits: Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes
, Patricia Bunning Stevens

The Oxford Companion to Food
, Alan Davidson

The Omnivore’s Dilemma
, Michael Pollan

The Dictionary of American Food and Drink
, John Marianni

Food Lover’s Companion
, Sharon Tyler Herbst

The Visual Food Encyclopedia: The Definitive Practical Guide to Food and Cooking
, François Fortin

Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover’s Guide to the South
, John T. Edge

Sources

The following are sources for some of the items mentioned in this book and others that aren’t mentioned, but are in stock in my house at all times.

All-Clad Metalcrafters LLC

424 Morganza Road
Canonsburg, PA 15317
(800) 255-2523
www.allclad.com
Originally designed for the needs of
professional chefs, All-Clad provides
an assortment of quality cookware for
every chef—professional or self-taught.

Boston Vanilla Bean Company

P.O. Box 162
Berlin, MA 01503
(888) 808-2822
www.bostonvanillabeans.com
Mexican, Indian, Bourbon, Tahitian—
whatever your favorite type may be,
this company offers beautiful, plump,
and pliable vanilla beans.

Bragg Farm Sugar House

Route 14 North P.O. Box 201
East Montpelier, VT 05651
(802) 223-5757, (800) 376-5757
www.central-vt.com/web/bragg
Bragg Farm maple syrup amber grade
B—delicious. This is a true secret
ingredient, and I use it as a foil for
salty or hot flavors in a lot of dishes.

The Bread Beckers

305 Bell Park Drive
Woodstock, GA 30188
(770) 516-5000
www.breadbeckers.com
From grain mills and grains, to yogurt-makers
and raw honey, the Bread
Beckers sell a variety of equipment and
ingredients for healthy, natural eating.

CDN Thermometers

Component Design Northwest, Inc.
PO Box 10947
Portland, OR 97296
(800) 338-5594
www.cdn-timeandtemp.com
CDN stocks an exceptional array of
kitchen thermometers and timers.

Crown Jewel Gourmet Popcorn

(800) 653-9357
www.crownjewelgourmet.com
If you thought you knew gourmet
popcorn, think again. Crown Jewel sells
14 varieties of scrumptious popcorn,
including the world’s smallest popcorn:
Petite Princess Amber popcorn; and a
popcorn that tastes like its already
buttered: Fiery Garnet popcorn.

Farmers Fresh

(256) 449-9417
www.farmersfreshfood.com
Our own local CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture), Farmers Fresh provides us
with fabulous “fresh from the farm” ingredients.
It’s like Christmas every week!

General Electric Appliances

(800) 626-2005
www.geappliances.com
General Electric offers consumers
well-made appliances in a wide range
of styles, prices and designs.

The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc.

P.O. Box 876
Norwich, VT 05055
(800) 827-6836
www.kingarthurflour.com
For King Arthur Special Bread Flour
for Machines; great for loaves, lousy
for biscuits.

Lodge Manufacturing Co.

P.O. Box 380
South Pittsburgh, TN 37380
(423) 837-7181
www.lodgemfg.com
So you didn’t inherit the family cast-iron
cookware; don’t worry. Lodge has been
manufacturing cast-iron cookware for
more than 100 years, and stocks durable
griddles, skillets, Dutch ovens, and
much more.

Los Amigos Tortilla Manufacturing, Inc.

251 Armour Drive
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 876-8153
www.losamigos.com
If you don’t have time to grind your own
masa and press tortillas, Los Amigos
makes some of the best, all-natural corn
tortillas around.

Louisiana Gold Hot Pepper Sauce

Bruce Food Corporation
P.O. Drawer 1030
New Iberia, LA 70562-1030
(800) 299-9082
www.brucefoods.com

Neese Country Sausage

1452 Alamance Church Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27406
(800) 632-1010
Fax: (336) 275-0750
Neese’s sausage is North Carolina’s
finest. Their liver loaf is good, too.

Old Bay Seasoning

McCormick & Company, Inc.
211 Schilling Circle
Hunt Valley, MD 21031
(410) 527-6000
www.mccormick.com

Oxo

1 Helen of Troy Plaza
El Paso, TX 79912
(800) 545-4411
A great source for all those needed
(or wanted) kitchen utensils and
gadgets. Oxo carries an assortment
of user-friendly products.

Penzys Spices

18900 W. Bluemound Road
Brookfield, WI 53045
(262) 641-0999
(800) 741-7787
Fax: (262) 785-7678
www.penzeys.com

St. Ives Coffee Roasters

966 Dorsey Street
Gainseville, GA 30501
(800) 767-JAVA (5282)
Fax: (770) 287-3396
I’m still looking for the perfect bean,
perfect grind, and perfect roast, but I
am getting close because St. Ives Coffee
Roasters is getting close.

See’s Candy Shops, Inc.

(retail outlets across the United States)
Mail Order: (800) 915-7337
www.sees.com
Keep your fancy European confections—
my sweet teeth belong to the little
California company that Mary See
started back when women wore buns
and shawls.

Shiner Bock Ale

The Spoetzl Brewery
603 East Brewery Street
Shiner, TX 77984
(361) 594-3383
www.shiner.com

Shun Knives

18600 SW Teton Avenue
Tualatin, OR 97062
(800) 325-2891
www.kershawknives.com
The beauty of these knives is only
surpassed by their performance.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

1075 East 20th Street
Chico, CA 95928
(530) 896-2198
Fax: (530) 893-1275
www.sierranevada.com

The Spice House

1031 N. Old World Third Street
Milwaukee, WI 53203
(414) 272-0977
Fax: (414) 272-1271
www.thespicehouse.com
For your flavoring needs and questions,
The Spice House not only stocks a
variety of quality herbs and spices,
they also have a very knowledgeable
and helpful staff.

Staub

115 Pine Avenue, Suite 350
Long Beach, CA 90802
(866) 782-8287
www.staubusa.com
Staub offers stylish and durable enameled
cast-iron cookware for a range of
culinary uses—from a grill pan with
removable handle to a French oven
for stews and roasts.

Thermoworks

270 N. Main Street, Suite D
Alpine, UT 84004
(800) 393-6434
www.thermoworks.com
Need a fast, reliable and easy-to-use
digital thermometer? Try Thermapen,
a pocket thermometer widely used by
restaurants, health inspectors and
culinary professionals.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Company

Websterville, Vermont 05678
(800) 884-6287
www.vtbutterandcheeseco.com

The White Lily Foods Company

218 East Depot Street
Knoxville, TN 37917
(432) 546-5511
www.whitelily.com
For White Lily Self-Rising Flour;
great for biscuits.

On The Web

Consumer Reports

www.consumerreports.org
Ratings on food products, appliances,
electronics, and so on, to help
consumers make an informed choice.

Cook’s Illustrated

www.cooksillustrated.com
Wondering which skillet you should
spend your money on, or which red wine
vinegar to buy? Cook’s Illustrated has
conducted tests on a variety of equipment,
ingredients and recipes and
explains the pros and cons and the
whys and why nots.

Food History News

www.foodhistorynews.com
Food History News has links to food
historians, historical recipes, books,
museums, libraries, websites, and
much more.

Food Oregon State

www.food.oregonstate.edu
A resource frequently used, Oregon
State has information and links on
science and business in the food industry.

Food Reference