349277 Fri Dec 08 01:03:46 -0800 2006 26 33 Food Media and News 0 2080463 This may sound like an odd request but I'm trying to teach my writing the group how to write passionately about food by using a variety of words, not just yummy or amazing. Any help would be great. I really like Tony Bourdain's writing and would welcome something literate and out of the ordinary. Fri Dec 08 01:03:46 -0800 2006 18056 Zengarden 1 2080477 Lots of M. F. K. Fisher's essays would qualify. Fri Dec 08 01:10:16 -0800 2006 2080463 11369 Robert Lauriston 2 2084473 there's mary frances and then there's everyone else. Sat Dec 09 13:58:59 -0800 2006 2080477 10730 byrd 3 2103702 Yes yes yes Fri Dec 15 21:31:45 -0800 2006 2084473 18154 prunefeet 1 2080582 Calvin Trillin's food writing is memorable, tho usually has a comic twist. A.J. Liebling wrote some great stuff about food, too. Fri Dec 08 01:48:21 -0800 2006 2080463 23430 Mr. Cookie 2 2080584 Trillin's a great idea, and you might want to consider the recently departed Apple as well. Fri Dec 08 01:49:06 -0800 2006 2080582 10985 MMRuth 3 2113302 Agreed. Trillin is IMO more accessible for young writers than Fisher, if only b/c his vocab/ syntax is more current. Apple is a great example if someone who was an great oustanding writer, who, fortunately for us finally got to writing about food. Tue Dec 19 18:31:48 -0800 2006 2080584 22627 MaspethMaven 2 2087077 There's lots of Trillin online: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=calvin+trillin+site%3Anewyorker.com Sun Dec 10 20:39:29 -0800 2006 2080582 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2080716 Try this written by our own Thi N. This pretty much blows away anything ever written about Langer's Deli, including one by Nora Ephron. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/60237 Fri Dec 08 02:37:13 -0800 2006 2080463 10023 Professor Salt 2 2084301 I had never read that before, thanks for the link. That was a great post. I think I might have to try Langer's when I'm in LA next month... Sat Dec 09 08:24:16 -0800 2006 2080716 21930 Dave MP 1 2080989 Go to your local library or bookstore and read the introduction written by Judy Rodgers to her Zuni Cafe cookbook. Read any of Michael Ruhlman's books, "Making of a Chef," "Soul of a Chef," or "Reach of a Chef," or scan his website for some of his blogs. Go to "The Delicious Life," Sarah's blog on blogspot. I particularly enjoyed the colorful descriptions in her review of Rick Bayliss's Frontera Grill in Chicago, from the fall of 2005. Fri Dec 08 05:15:56 -0800 2006 2080463 10855 nosh 1 2081072 I thought this was fun: http://corneliusbear.blogspot.com/2005/11/felled-by-mighty-carnaroli.html An old man on a diet who lives with an ambitious young chef. I like his style. Fri Dec 08 05:58:47 -0800 2006 2080463 43540 orezscu 2 2082871 Thanks! Drones Club indeed... Fri Dec 08 21:02:58 -0800 2006 2081072 10400 Aromatherapy 1 2081113 I think you can convince your group that "yummy" or "amazing" do not help explain what the writer experienced when he or she ate Food X. "Amazing" can describe a hot dog at Katz's or an outrageous confection at Alinea. Or a sunset. As a writer, your job is to share what you feel or think. If all of your descriptions are as fuzzy as "yummy," you simply can't succeed in your goal. Fri Dec 08 06:37:02 -0800 2006 2080463 10031 Dave Feldman 2 2082939 Of course, you could use the term "orgasmic" for Katz's... Fri Dec 08 21:20:34 -0800 2006 2081113 10312 applehome 1 2081408 I think John Thorne is an extraordinary writer on food (and life), especially his more recent work in _Serious Pig_ and _Pot on the Fire_. The final essay in the latter book, "Last Gleaning," is a meditation on his father's passing and on their shared love of "secret eating," and it's one of the best essays I've read on any subject. I also think that Jeffrey Steingarten is wonderful, though he's more of a love/hate proposition. He goes beyond passionate to full-blown obsessive, in the best possible way. It's in a different vein, but Steve Almond's _Candy Freak_ is also great food writing. He manages to be equally perceptive about himself and about the people he interviews - lots of writers can do one or the other, but being able to do both is special. Fri Dec 08 14:09:01 -0800 2006 2080463 10901 MichaelB 1 2083970 A good source of great food writing is Leite's Culinaria. Here's the link: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/writings/features/index.html Sat Dec 09 03:44:40 -0800 2006 2080463 10644 Nancy Berry 1 2085232 Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking, and More Home Cooking. Also, Elizabeth David's An Omelette and A Glass of Wine. Contrasting personalities and styles, both very worthwhile. Colwin was a New Yorker and about a generation younger than David, very much a Brit, who came to maturity during WWII. Sat Dec 09 21:05:50 -0800 2006 2080463 11335 oldhound 1 2087010 Lots of good suggestions above but don't forget Jeffrey Steingarten! Both of his books are fantasic, funny and informative (as is his regular column in Vogue). Gourmet routinely has great food articles. There is also the annual "Best Food Writing 200-". If this is so she can write reviews, that might be a little different than writing essays. Luckily you can read reviews from the major papers online. Also look at egullet.org-there is a whole forum devoted to food essays. Sun Dec 10 20:03:17 -0800 2006 2080463 12186 christy319 1 2087045 Calvin Trillin and Elizabeth David would be excellent to check out. Sun Dec 10 20:23:31 -0800 2006 2080463 23824 niki rothman 1 2089516 Elizabeth David should be filed under humor writing - her dress-downs and general musings are as biting and clever as you're likely to find anywhere. Mon Dec 11 18:57:47 -0800 2006 2080463 43540 orezscu 2 2103238 Calvin Trillin is also hilarious. Fri Dec 15 19:14:03 -0800 2006 2089516 23824 niki rothman 1 2112323 I'm currently reading "I Like You, Hospitality Under The Influence" by Amy Sedaris. If you enjoy humor with your food essay and a twist on hospitality..this is a newer offering. Tue Dec 19 12:56:57 -0800 2006 2080463 36312 HillJ 1 2114103 Also from Gourmet, Endless Feasts 60 Years of Writing. Tue Dec 19 21:57:16 -0800 2006 2080463 36312 HillJ 1 2967932 Just a thought but how about having them read some foodie's blogs. Some are very passionate about their food and well written, and others can be used as examples of what not to do. http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com Sun Sep 23 10:46:03 -0700 2007 2080463 108934 starkoch 2 2967938 I agree--it's so much more immediate and contemporary. Here's one: http://www.ohheygreat.com/leah/ -- the blogger teaches how to cook steak. Maybe they'll learn something about cooking, too! Sun Sep 23 10:50:17 -0700 2007 2967932 17493 lintygmom 1 2970107 You'll find no better--or funnier--essay on eating, on food writing, and, in fact, on writing in general than Roy Blount Jr.'s "The Way Folks Were Meant to Eat." Find it in his recent book "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches from Up South," and I think bits of it may be online too. Mon Sep 24 08:17:48 -0700 2007 2080463 114020 Barry Foy