Sacre Cordon Bleu


Book Description

Michael Booth has had his fill of celebrity chefs and their 'on the table in five minutes' recipes. He wants to learn how to cook properly, so he burns his cookery books and, together with his young family, heads for a new life in Paris - reasoning that, if anyone can be trusted to make food complicated, it's the French. Embarking on the ultimate foodie's fantasy, he enrols at the world's most famous cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, where wise and battle-scarred French chefs commence their transformation of him into a professional cook. Along the way Booth shares the insider tips and secret techniques of classical cuisine. His odyssey takes him from trauma to triumph, ending in the white-hot heat of the Michelin-starred kitchen of the greatest chef in France.




A Half Baked Idea


Book Description

WINNER OF THE FORTNUM & MASON'S DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD 'A tender and beautifully written tour-de-force on love, grief, hope and cake. If this is not the book of the summer, I will eat my wig. An absolute triumph' THE SECRET BARRISTER 'An utterly beautiful, moving, bittersweet book on love and loss. I loved it' DOLLY ALDERTON _____________________________________________________ When Olivia Potts was just twenty five, her mother died. Stricken with grief, she did something life changing and rather ridiculous: she gave up a high-flying legal career to study at the notoriously difficult Le Cordon Bleu, despite not being able to cook. No one ever told Olivia you couldn't bake your way to happiness - but could you? _______________________________________________ 'A brilliant, brave and beautiful book: funny and charming; utterly inspiring and life-affirming' Olivia Sudjic 'A heart-wrenching yet humorous portrayal of grief, a delicious collection of recipes, an inspirational tale of changing careers, and a feel good love story' Vogue 'Funny, sharp and sad. I laughed so much (and I cried)' Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken 'An honest, brave and funny account of what it is to love, to lose love and how to make macarons' Red




The Homesick Texan Cookbook


Book Description

When Lisa Fain, a seventh-generation Texan, moved to New York City, she missed the big sky, the bluebonnets in spring, Friday night football, and her family's farm. But most of all, she missed the foods she'd grown up with. After a fruitless search for tastes of Texas in New York City, Fain took matters into her own hands. She headed into the kitchen to cook for her friends the Tex-Mex, the chili, and the country comfort dishes that reminded her of home. From cheese enchiladas drowning in chili gravy to chicken-fried steak served with cream gravy on the side, from warm bowls of chile con queso to big pots of fiery chili made without beans, Fain re-created the wonderful tastes of Texas she'd always enjoyed at potlucks, church suppers, and backyard barbecues back home. In 2006, Fain started the blog Homesick Texan to share Texan food with fellow expatriates, and the site immediately connected with readers worldwide, Texan and non-Texan alike. Now, in her long-awaited first cookbook, Fain brings the comfort of Texan home cooking to you. Like Texas itself, the recipes in this book are varied and diverse, all filled with Fain's signature twists. There's Salpicón, a cool shredded beef salad found along the sunny border in El Paso; Soft Cheese Tacos, a creamy plate unique to Dallas; and Houston-Style Green Salsa, an avocado and tomatillo salsa that is smooth, refreshing, and bright. There are also nibbles, such as Chipotle Pimento Cheese and Tomatillo Jalapeno Jam; sweet endings, such as Coconut Tres Leches Cake and Mexican Chocolate Chewies; and fresh takes on Texan classics, such as Coffee-Chipotle Oven Brisket, Ancho Cream Corn, and Guajillo-Chile Fish Tacos. With more than 125 recipes, The Homesick Texan offers a true taste of the Lone Star State. So pull up a chair-everyone's welcome at the Texas table!




The Almost Nearly Perfect People


Book Description

The Christian Science Monitor's #1 Best Book of the Year A witty, informative, and popular travelogue about the Scandinavian countries and how they may not be as happy or as perfect as we assume, “The Almost Nearly Perfect People offers up the ideal mixture of intriguing and revealing facts” (Laura Miller, Salon). Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, and what their quirks and foibles are, and he explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn’t easy being Scandinavian.




Three Tigers, One Mountain


Book Description

From the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People, a lively tour through Japan, Korea, and China, exploring the intertwined cultures and often fraught history of these neighboring countries. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, “Two tigers cannot share the same mountain.” However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and thought provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, is the enmity between these three “tiger” nations, and what prevents them from making peace. Currently China’s economic power continues to grow, Japan is becoming more militaristic, and Korea struggles to reconcile its westernized south with the dictatorial Communist north. Booth, long fascinated with the region, travels by car, ferry, train, and foot, experiencing the people and culture of these nations up close. No matter where he goes, the burden of history, and the memory of past atrocities, continues to overshadow present relationships. Ultimately, Booth seeks a way forward for these closely intertwined, neighboring nations. An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey through China, Japan, and Korea, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and in-depth look at some of the world’s most powerful and important countries.




France is a Feast


Book Description

From the coauthor of My Life in France, a revealing collection of photographs taken by Paul Child that document his and Julia Child’s years in France Through intimate and compelling photographs taken by her husband Paul Child, a gifted photographer, France is a Feast documents how Julia Child first discovered French cooking and the French way of life. Paul and Julia moved to Paris in 1948 where he was cultural attaché for the US Information Service, and in this role he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Brassai, and other leading lights of the photography world. As Julia recalled: “Paris was wonderfully walkable, and it was a natural subject for Paul.” Their wanderings through the French capital and countryside, frequently photographed by Paul, would help lead to the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julia’s brilliant and celebrated career in books and on television. Though Paul was an accomplished photographer (his work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art), his photographs remained out of the public eye until the publication of Julia’s memoir, My Life in France, in which several of his images were included. Now, with more than 200 of Paul’s photographs and personal stories recounted by his great-nephew Alex Prud’homme, France is a Feast not only captures this magical period in Paul and Julia’s lives, but also brings to light Paul Child’s own remarkable photographic achievement.




Eat Pray Eat


Book Description

World-weary, distracted and more often than not the worse for wine, Michael Booth really needed to make some major changes to his life. Instead, he embarks on an over-ambitious, self-indulgent attempt to write the definitive book on Indian food, taking his wife and two young children in tow. They criss-cross India, from mist-shrouded Delhi to Mumbai andthe slums of Dharavi, meeting the locals and samplying different cuisines along the way. However, his plan is derailed as he spirals deeper into his metaphysical middle-aged malaise, finally unravelling amid the sweltering heat of the Keralan backwaters. Fortunately, his wife takes control and enrolls her disintegrating husband in a hardcore yoga boot camp, enlisting a wise meditation guru who helps him chart a path towards enlightenment. But will Booth's cynicism and untrammelled appetites prove his undoing? Can he regain his balance, conquer his anxieties and face up to life as a husband and father?




Cooking Comically


Book Description

This is not your grandma’s cookbook. Cooking should be as much fun as reading a comic book. Recipes should be cheap and easy. And the food has to taste good. That’s where Cooking Comically comes in. Tyler Capps, the creator of recipes like 2 a.m. Chili that took the Internet by storm, offers up simple, tasty meals in a unique illustrated style that will engage all your senses. These dishes are as scrumptious to eat as they are easy to make. This collection includes all-time favorites and original recipes from Cooking Comically, including Sexy Pancakes, Bolognese for Days, Mash-Tatoes, Pulled Pork (aka Operation Man-Kitchen), and Damn Dirty Ape Bread. Perfect for those who can barely boil water but are tired of ramen and fast food. Stop slaving. Start cooking.




The French Chef in America


Book Description

This enchanting follow-up to My Life in France—the beloved bestselling memoir—chronicles Julia Child’s rise from home cook to the first celebrity chef. “Inspiring and engaging ... It’s impossible not to love Julia Child.” —The Wall Street Journal The story of a remarkable woman who found her true voice in middle age and profoundly shaped our relationship with food, The French Chef in America is a fascinating look at the second act of a unique culinary icon. While at the beginning of her career Julia’s name was synonymous with French cooking, she fashioned a new identity in the 1970s, reinventing and Americanizing herself. Here we see her dealing with difficult colleagues and the challenges of fame, and ultimately using her newfound celebrity to create what would become a totally new type of food television.




The Great Book of French Cuisine


Book Description

Thoroughly updated by James Beard Award-winning chef Jeremiah Tower, this is the Le Cordon Bleu founder’s classic cookbook and guide to French cuisine. In the nineteenth century, Henri-Paul Pellaprat founded Le Cordon Bleu. In the twentieth century, his landmark cookbook, L’Art Culinaire Moderne, wastranslated into English and acclaimed as the most comprehensive and authoritative book on French cooking and gastronomy ever written. This complete revision and updating by James Beard Award-winning chef Jeremiah Tower is a reference cookbook that continues to shape great chefs and great cooking in the twenty-first century. Pellaprat was the first chef to give the vast subject of French cuisine a logical and comprehensive underpinning by offering a complete education in the four basic subdivisions of French cooking, la haute cuisine, la cuisine bourgeoise, la cuisine régionale, and la cuisine impromptue, the inspired cooking that creates memorable dishes with easily available ingredients. Included are 2,000 recipes covering every aspect of gastronomy from sauces, soups, fish, grillades, and salads, to soufflés, cakes, and traditional French desserts. This new edition includes more than 600 easy-to-follow techniques and timesaving tips, and a complete lexicon of French cooking terms. Unparalleled in its scope and the authenticity of its information, The Great Book of French Cuisine remains a definitive work, the perfect reference for both amateurs and professional chefs, to be treasured and consulted throughout a lifetime of cooking.