Books on food culture

[STEbbq]

This is an excellent thread for those on vacation that need recommendations. I’d add High on the Hog and Smokelore.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/restaurants-and-butchers/cookbooks-videos/1186933-high-on-the-hog

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/restaurants-and-butchers/cookbooks-videos/1125284-smokelore-book-review

I also just bought "Salt: A World History" thanks to the above recommendation. It is very good so far a few pages in.

Does anyone else want to add some new recommendations?

[hoovarmin]

"A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle. "A Table in Tuscany" by Leslie Forbes

[Reds Fan 5]

Daniel Vaughn’s Prophets of Smoked Meat is excellent.

[STEbbq]

And it is $1.99 on the Kindle. Score! 😃

[Texas Larry]

Here are a couple I have enjoyed and learned from about cooking and bbq from African American culture.

Black Smoke; African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, by Adrian Miller.

The Cooking Gene; A Journey Through African American Cooking in the Old South, by Michael Twitty.

[WillTravelForFood]

Black Smoke was just awarded a James Beard award, if that helps encourage its readership.

[SheilaAnn]

Texas Larry +1000 for Chef Twitty’s book!

[Mosca]

I’ve read both, both highly recommended.

[Draznnl]

Check out Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo: A Cookbook
Some great looking recipes and beautiful artwork as well as a glimpse into the culture of the time.

[FireMan]

Almost any book on Chinese cooking invokes history of the particular region you are dealing with. They seem to be as much on history as they are to do with the food. Ditto with Asian/Thai. I just picked up on on Kashmir, it also is loaded with cultural history. I do have a thing for Grace Young who has 3 books. She is a dear person, who lead me to the Wok Shop.

[STEbbq]

Follow-up: I'd recommend Salt: A World History.

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619/

There's zero discussion of BBQ, but it is a super-interesting and highly readable history of the development and uses of salt since ancient times. Lots of interesting details, and Mark is a skilled writer that keeps the story moving with compelling prose. A great vacation read.

[klflowers]

This is another one that I am going to pick up. My ex's cousins husband was gullah - he passed away a couple years ago - and man could he cook.

https://www.amazon.com/Gullah-Geechee-Home-Cooking-Matriarch/dp/1419758780/ref=asc_df_1419758780/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=533430572374&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10501246253110724850&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013302&hvtargid=pla-1440767480064&psc=1&ref_=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=a36eda7c-4d8e-4338-bc7d-2bee97205fbd

[Mosca]

I don’t know how I missed this, it’s one of my favorite topics.

Julia Child’s My Life In France. No explanation needed.

Calvin Trillin’s The Tummy Trilogy. This is his great set of books from the latter part of the 20th century: American Fried, Alice, Let’s Eat, and Third Helpings. It’s still amazing. His article written after Alice’s passing is great, and utterly heartbreaking.

[Mosca]

Trillin is responsible for the popularity of burnt ends. From Wiki, "Kansas City native Calvin Trillin is often credited with popularizing burnt ends. In a 1972 article he wrote for Playboy about Arthur Bryant's restaurant in Kansas City, he wrote: "The main course at Bryant's, as far as I'm concerned, is something that is given away free – the burned edges of the brisket."

[STEbbq]

Would you recommend his non-food work?

[Mosca]

STEbbq IDK, never read anything else by him. I’m enjoying the one you linked to me!

[Mosca]

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, by Ruth Raichl.

Blood, Bones, and Butter: the Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Give a Girl a Knife, by Amy Thielen.

All three are excellent.

[SheilaAnn]

I have liked everything I have read from Ruth Reichl

[STEbbq]

Mosca Well, "The Tummy Trilogy" dead-tree version is on its way as I couldn't resist after thinking about it for a few days. Thank you!

I did want to let you know that he published a later book of food essays in 2003 that is only $4.99 on the Kindle right now. I am reading it now, and it is excellent. Great way to pass the time until the trilogy arrives!

https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Yen-S...dp/B004SOVBAC/

[Mosca]

Thanks! I’ve always loved his writing.

[theroc]

Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food
Mary Taylor Smith

Popes, Peasants, and Shepards: Recipes and Lore from Rome and Lazio
Oretta Zanini De Vita

Both available on Amazon

[SheilaAnn]

Dang this thread…. It is an enabler to a similar malady… MBS More Book Sysdrom

[STEbbq]

Well now, you gotta let us know what you got.

[SheilaAnn]

The book on Sicily. Pomp and sustenance. Got it used for only $11.

Then I quickly closed Amazon.

[SheilaAnn]

pkadare and Spinaker have inspired me to do a banh mi (stay tuned). And I picked up a cookbook I haven’t cracked open in a long time. amazing read!