476252 Fri Jan 04 17:02:52 -0800 2008 46 33 Food Media and News 0 3262367 Sorry if this has already been done !!! The movie post got me thinking.....recent or favorite novels about food/restaurants/chefs etc....light and fluffy reads or serious reading. A few recents for me are: Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor Cooking for Mr. Right by Susan Volland Girl Chef ....can't remember the author. Fri Jan 04 17:02:52 -0800 2008 153184 im_nomad 1 3262388 The Food of Love by Anthony Capella A foodie take on Cyrano de Bergerac, it falls into the light-and-fluffy category of novels. Fri Jan 04 17:09:16 -0800 2008 3262367 120888 zerlina 2 3262819 Thanks for reminding me of Capella's book, Zerlina. A fun read that had me salivating for the foods of the various parts of Italy "Cyrano" traveled to. Fri Jan 04 20:04:04 -0800 2008 3262388 52642 intuitive eggplant 1 3262437 oops it's Girl Cook (not chef)...the author is Hannah McCouch Fri Jan 04 17:23:53 -0800 2008 3262367 153184 im_nomad 1 3264676 Here's a good thread to check-out: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/415892 And this one, too: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/302981 This is a link to a two-page .pdf that has some interesting ideas: http://www.mhl.org/read/lists/food%20in%20fiction.pdf A library list: http://www.multcolib.org/books/lists/foodfic.html Another list: http://nancykeane.com/rl/213.htm Interesting list from a Tasmanian library: http://www.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/whatdo/reading/novelapproach/food Fiction with Recipes: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flbklists/Recipes.html "Edible Fiction": http://www.webrary.org/rs/flbklists/Food.html Another library list: http://www.johnsburglibrary.org/food_fiction.htm Egads, I need to go shopping! Sat Jan 05 14:23:39 -0800 2008 3262367 58039 ElsieDee 1 3265034 If you are into New Orleans restaurant fiction, try Poppy Z Brite's Rickey & G-Man series (if three book is a series).I have finished LIQUOR and PRIME and loved them both, and have SOUL KITCHEN in the "to read soon" pile. Light, maybe, but not fluffy. Sat Jan 05 16:37:55 -0800 2008 3262367 10258 Fydeaux 1 3265959 Peter King has a nice series of mysteries, starring the "Gourmet Detective". He makes them fun by carrying the gourmet aspect over the top. Sat Jan 05 23:21:54 -0800 2008 3262367 13619 Sharuf 1 3266202 Like Water for Chocolate!!! Love it! Sun Jan 06 06:35:22 -0800 2008 3262367 147407 Apple.at.chin. 2 3273989 Ahhh my absolute favorite food/fiction book! And I like that it's not some BS chick-lit crap. Tue Jan 08 11:07:50 -0800 2008 3266202 67742 HungryRubia 1 3266376 Have to put in a plug for Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. Not specifically about food, but it is definitely an element. Sun Jan 06 07:57:28 -0800 2008 3262367 18069 Westy 2 3288610 There is a Nero Wolfe Cookbook out there, it was hatched by the publisher wyear.ith recipes for dishes mentioned in the series. I have been looking for a reasonably priced copy for the last year. Sat Jan 12 12:35:11 -0800 2008 3266376 11826 Phaedrus 3 3292854 Very findable. I grab a copy out of the library whenever I want a fix. Try a dinner party based on it. A BALL. Mon Jan 14 06:21:54 -0800 2008 3288610 18069 Westy 4 3495321 And kick ass recipes too...the Mushroom Tarragon Chicken and Nero's Scrambled Eggs in a Double Boiler are greats. Sat Mar 15 09:05:28 -0700 2008 3292854 26461 fooey 1 3266671 Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, by Jorge Amado. First novel I ever read that included recipes. Sun Jan 06 09:54:55 -0800 2008 3262367 138816 jlafler 2 3287780 that is a great book.. one of my favorites Sat Jan 12 06:19:44 -0800 2008 3266671 80290 Lightsuprooms 2 3314438 I haven't read the book, but the movie is pretty cool... Sônia Braga in her best days!!! Sun Jan 20 12:00:50 -0800 2008 3266671 100178 puffj 1 3267450 I really enjoyed How to Cook a Tart by Nina Killham. Sun Jan 06 14:46:33 -0800 2008 3262367 136117 vonwotan 1 3268516 This isn't a novel about food, but if Gone With the Wind doesn't have you wanting to go to an antebellum barbecue, or at least cook up something equivalent in your kitchen, then you may not have a soul. I have loved all the descriptions of oysters, pork barbecue, new potatoes, and many-layered cakes since I was thriteen. Sometimes when I'm cooking I think about whether or not Scarlett would want to eat it at Twelve Oaks. Then again, I'm from the South and I am legally required to love this piece of my history. Sun Jan 06 21:48:43 -0800 2008 3262367 132249 alysonlaurel 2 3268720 I can't imagine trying to feast after having my corset cinched into an 18" waist. Mon Jan 07 01:04:15 -0800 2008 3268516 13619 Sharuf 3 3269248 I know. It never made that much sense, but all those images were wonderful. The food images, I mean, not the images of Scarlett's corset being cinched. Mon Jan 07 08:20:06 -0800 2008 3268720 132249 alysonlaurel 2 3287667 Your mention of Gone with the Wind reminded me of Michener’s Chesapeake. Even though I read it quite a while ago, my mouth still waters recalling his description of she-crab soup and other delicacies of the area. Sat Jan 12 03:38:25 -0800 2008 3268516 131082 TomDel 3 3348773 Pat Conroy's "The Prince of Tides" -- many mouthwatering food scenes. Conroy's a real foodie who "wrote" a cookbook. Wed Jan 30 11:40:45 -0800 2008 3287667 10159 Ruth Lafler 4 3348779 I just bought Frank Stitt's Southern Table, and Conroy wrote a beautiful introduction to it - he actually met Stitt on a plane and started talking to him when he saw the stack of cookbooks that Stitt was looking through. Wed Jan 30 11:42:02 -0800 2008 3348773 10985 MMRuth 1 3273668 A book that comes to mind that I read last year is called "Mangoes and Quince" by Carol Field. It was an OK read but I did find the food passages really inspiring. The premise is about this woman and her daughter and her husband abandons the family to travel into this strange society somewhere off in the Pacific (the setting is a few decades ago) and the woman opens a small restaurant in Amsterdam and it becomes a success. I really found the descriptions of how she goes about creating recipes and menus and the people's reactions really fascinating as a foodie. Tue Jan 08 10:04:38 -0800 2008 3262367 43882 singleguychef 1 3274048 Try this one: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. Really, really good stuff. Tue Jan 08 11:19:35 -0800 2008 3262367 18069 Westy 1 3277021 Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran Wed Jan 09 08:28:38 -0800 2008 3262367 13396 Velda Mae 1 3287508 Enjoyed The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones, very interesting novel that incorporates a lot about traditional Chinese cuisine. Gone with the Wind is remarkable book for food. So are the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Buckwheat pancakes,anyone? Fri Jan 11 22:39:12 -0800 2008 3262367 138865 chef_max 2 3288347 I want to second the Little House books! Sat Jan 12 10:42:18 -0800 2008 3287508 131171 nofunlatte 2 3288357 Oops, didn't see this before I posted. But anyway, yes, especially Farmer Boy! Sat Jan 12 10:46:16 -0800 2008 3287508 138816 jlafler 1 3287707 "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" by Jorge Amado Was also made into a film in the 70s with Sonia Braga as Dona Flor. Great scenes of her preparing the famous dishes of Bahia, Brazil including Moqueca de Peixe. www.SouthAmericanEscapes.com/Blog Sat Jan 12 04:47:31 -0800 2008 3262367 99738 Jill Brazil 1 3287809 Atlhough not prominent in each of the books, food, wine and ejoying life are a thread through Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen books and, I find them a good read. Sat Jan 12 06:38:11 -0800 2008 3262367 136117 vonwotan 1 3288329 Hey, what about "Farmer Boy," by Laura Ingalls Wilder? There's a lot about food in all of her books, but this one (which was about her husband's childhood in upstate New York) is filled with loving descriptions of food from the point of view of a very hungry little boy. Sat Jan 12 10:35:30 -0800 2008 3262367 138816 jlafler 1 3334907 I'm in the middle of reading "Cooking with Fernet Branca" by James Hamilton-Paterson. Very satirical take on foodie novels complete with recipes such as Mussels in Chocolate and Otter with Lobster Sauce. Laugh out loud in places. Can't wait to see what the final dish will be. Sat Jan 26 07:49:24 -0800 2008 3262367 11115 Sloth 2 3335761 Sounds like a good one !! BTW, i forgot to mention Eating Crow... Sat Jan 26 13:34:49 -0800 2008 3334907 153184 im_nomad 1 3336147 Marlena de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" and "A Thousand Days in Venice". Not fiction, but great stories. Diane Mott Davidson's series of novels featuring Goldy the caterer solving mysteries and cooking up good food Sat Jan 26 16:14:46 -0800 2008 3262367 17682 torty 2 3336612 I had heard about Diane Mott Davidson's books. Are the mysteries any good? Sat Jan 26 19:59:41 -0800 2008 3336147 11826 Phaedrus 3 3345904 It is light reading that I find enjoyable, but it does not challenge the mind. Tue Jan 29 15:07:01 -0800 2008 3336612 17682 torty 4 3345916 I agree with torty's assessment. Not only is it light reading, they aren't written particularly well either - no real suspense or investment in the characters. There are much better mysteries out there. But, the interesting portions are when the protaganist, Goldy, is cooking or coming up with a recipe. Her thought process on the food and how it comforts her and helps her think. Her family also really enjoys her cooking and they all pitch in. The book usually has the menu that gets mentioned throughout the book as well as the recipes. I've never had any huge urge to make any of the recipes but I like that they are incorporated into the book. Tue Jan 29 15:12:23 -0800 2008 3345904 10214 beetlebug 5 3348855 I've quit reading the books but in fact tried some of the recipes, which were really quite good. Hers is still our usual recipe for pizza dough. Wed Jan 30 12:00:30 -0800 2008 3345916 96587 cmkdvs 3 3348756 I read a few fifteen years ago when foodie fiction with recipes was quite novel (so to speak). The food part was great. I had a problem with the self-pitying/dragon-slaying main character. Wed Jan 30 11:37:44 -0800 2008 3336612 54667 merlot143 1 3348765 I loved the James Herriott books about Yorkshire farms. True, they're not foodie books, but they do mention foods the people love like Wensleydale cheese and Yorkshire pudding. It made me want all these foods when I was a pre-teen, even though I had no idea what they tasted like. Wed Jan 30 11:39:26 -0800 2008 3262367 54667 merlot143 1 3495332 The antithesis of light reading, but surprised no one's mentioned Taquin Winot from John Lanchester's "The Debt to Pleasure". The character is Bezelbub in a haute couture chef's hat, but the food, oh!, the food... How can you resist a book with this opening line: "This is not a conventional cookbook..." Sat Mar 15 09:09:39 -0700 2008 3262367 26461 fooey 1 4008716 The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu Jaber Thu Sep 04 11:52:11 -0700 2008 3262367 45779 chutney 1 4412604 I just read the Lost Recipe for Happiness and really enjoyed it. http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Recipe-Happiness-Barbara-ONeal/dp/0553591681/ref=pd_sim_b_11 It was a fast, easy read and is sprinkled with delicious sounding New Mexican recipes.... Thu Feb 12 18:15:48 -0800 2009 3262367 20603 akp 1 4414375 I am currently reading The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark. Starts in 1498 in Venice. It's about cooking and alchemy. The main character is an apprentice Chef. Lovely vivid descriptions of the food. Fri Feb 13 10:08:11 -0800 2009 3262367 139219 Sooeygun 2 4414692 this sounds wonderful! Fri Feb 13 11:26:30 -0800 2009 4414375 20603 akp 1 4414605 The obvious answer is the Inspector Maigret mysteries by Georges Simenon. The French dishes are all classics of bistro and la femme cuisine. There was even a festival in DC in 1987. (A Celebration in Film, Food and Food for Thought) Fri Feb 13 11:02:48 -0800 2009 3262367 204226 Ideefixed