Best Food Writing 2011 by Holly Hughes

Best Food Writing 2011 Reviews

• 
  Logan

  This collection defied my preconceptions that I'd be reading about food reviews or restaurant surveys. Contained with in are several fantastic essays that skip between philosophical ruminations (Reconsider The Oyster by Tim Hayward, a really incredible piece), hilarious experiments in desserts (Purple Reign by Alan Brouilette), and wacky cook biographies (I Believe I Can Fry by Katy Vine) -- among many other varieties of writing. I definitely learned a lot more about food, where it comes from, how we eat, how we judge it.
  
  Not every essay was interesting. I skimmed a few and stopped reading one or two that sputtered my attentions. Recommended to (I hate this term) "foodies" and culinary neophytes alike. There's sure to be a handful of writings that will impart knowledge, good humor, and a rumbling appetite.
• 
  Ashley

  This is a fun, interesting, and informative collection of writing about food, cooking, restaurants, farms, food blogging, and the food industry. The nice mix of personal stories and professional reports kept me entertained and taught me some new things. I'll be picking up next year's edition.
• 
  Holly

  2020 reread: still holds up
• 
  Rogue Reader

  I love Holly Hughes' writing, and always enjoy her New York Times columns. I've been saving the Best Food Writing anthologies for a couple of years, and for whatever reason, decided to start with the 2011 collection.
  
  How fun! In the Foodways section - Loved Alan Brouilette's Purple Reign (thinking about the purple carrots I found last year at the Portland Farmers Market), Rick Nelson's From Kenya, With Love (Kenya shaping a Minneapolis suburb). Stocking the Pantry gave me Livingston's Broccolini (just the answer to Randy P question on why he can't find it in the grocery), A Tomme at Twig Farm (also a gift to Randy, who's making cheese in his garage), and loved the ancient, humanity of the perfect ripeness of fruit in Nabhan's A Fig By Any Other Name. Food Fights was hilarious, a real rip on the new media (though Anderson's piece was a pleasure). Pang's Tater Tots piece was fun in Guilty Pleasures (just had to have them last night!). Chang-Rae Lee's Magical Dinners made me want to smack him, and Golden Silver Palate by Ann Hood has me hunting for that cookbook. And for On Toast, thank you Michael Procopio, for such a simple statement of love and caring.
  
  You'll find your own special notes in this wonderful anthology. Now to 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000, carefully paced to last until 2012 is released.
  
  
  --Ashland Mystery
  
  
  
• 
  Monica

  I hate to say it, but if this was the best food writing of 2011, I'd hate to see the worst food writing of 2011. Ok, that's a bit harsh. This is a book of essays, so naturally each essay will be hit or miss. But, even the editing of this book was bad. There were lots of typos, and some of the essays just didn't make sense thematically in the section in which they were placed.
  
  On the bright side, there were some essays that I did like, particularly "The Apostle of Indulgence," which was a chef profile of Martin Picard, chef and owner of Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal. It was hilarious to read about the ways that Chef Picard literally stuffs his guests to gills, including vodka shots and foie gras in almost every course throughout the entire 16 course meal. I was in stitches reading the author's adventure through a Picard dining experience and longed to be Chef Picard's next victim. There were others less amusing but insightful essays, including "A Tale of Two Dairies," which extolls the hardships of our nation's dairy farmers and how the farmers are getting together to try to more actively regulate the cost of dairy, or "Life in a Food Desert," which outlines the problems of living in a part of the country where there is no supermarket for miles and no easy access by public transportation.
  
  Overall, though, I found the collection disappointing.
• 
  JDK1962

  Good writing for the most part, thought there were exceptions. For example, "We Shall Not Be Moved," on soul food, read like a badly written term paper, and "The Feed Frenzy" read like it was written by someone with ADHD (no coherent thought or flow, just paragraphs thrown at the wall like spaghetti in the apparent hope that a few might stick). Due to my own food aversions, I found Christopher Kimball's article on mock turtle soup to be well-written and utterly disgusting, and "Befriending Your Palate" bored the crap out of me, as anything that waxes rhapsodic on wine is bound to do (jesus, drink a glass of Welch's grape juice and get over yourself already).
  
  I wouldn't classify most of this as the "best" food writing (too few gems), but if you like food, it'll pass a few hours enjoyably enough.
• 
  Liz

  Like most anthologies, a mixture of enjoyable and forgettable. The oyster piece is great, as are Chang-Rae Lee's memoir of a Korean family's Thanksgiving and a daughter's quest to sort out the mystery of her non-cooking mother's "Sklootini" recipe; all are about more than food. A couple are hilarious, like "Purple Reign," about a mammoth sweet potato baking endeavor that occurred in Sheboygan, WI, and the portrait of the Texas State Fair's champion fry chef. Many of the pieces are less than a handful of pages, too short to develop much interest. Some, thankfully not too many, are filled with the pompous and fawning tone applied by nascent foodie writers, and one, a review of a restaurant on an island north of Seattle, left my tummy seriously growling.
• 
  Melanie

  If you are a foodie, there is always some real gems in these Best Food Writing nonfiction collections...........along with some essays that aren't as interesting. I always enjoy the humorous and poignant ones but tend to skim through the strictly 'this is the meal I ate' ones. (Which are only a small percentage of what's in there.) There is one essay on dairy farmers in here that was so shockingly emotional and starkly horrifying that I will probably never forget it. And that is why I keep coming back to collections like these - you come across things that you probably never would otherwise. It really opens your eyes to what is going on in the heartland with our food growers/collectors.
• 
  Sharon Secor

  Food writing is a quirky and esoteric genre. Despite the writer's best intentions, after all, you can't taste the food. So the best writers are those who lead you into a full blown experience...tramping through a dairy barn to capture fresh milk, exploring the scientific intricacies of the perfect french fry. Holly Hughes culls every literary water to collect those stories year after year and, even if I didn't want to shoot that wild boar, I have trailed along on the hunt and will enjoy the luau all the more in the future.
• 
  Tracey

  Again, another great collection of food-related essays. I admit that I couldn't finish the one by Christopher Kimball - too much discuss of brains, and the idea of turtle soup makes me kind of ill, anyway.
  
  I especially enjoyed a couple of the food-specific essays in the "Pantry" section - tater tots (heh) and Vienna sausages (it's been decades since I ate one, and I still remember the taste and smell).
• 
  Theresa

  If you're a foodie, you have to read this. If you aren't, you have to read this, because it will convince you. The writing is excellent, the pieces interesting, informational and philosophical. Food is culture, sitting around a table with people to eat is important, and more than that, food is a time machine that ties us to our pasts. I want to buy this and I never buy books.
• 
  E

  Lots of fun. Each story introduced me to a kind of food or cooking or an approach to cooking. More importantly, each story conveyed memory or culture or the context of the food to make my inner anthropologist happy. Some were foods I want to eat, and drooled over the pages. (Seafood in Venice, bread in family kitchens, pie, Chinese dumplings) Others, not so much (mock turtle soup, foie gras)
• 
  Elizabeth

  Nice collection of essays about, around, and involving food. Somewhat uneven, but when it's good, it's very good indeed. Writing about something as purely sensory as food can be challenging. It was enjoyable seeing the different approaches these writers took to their subject.
• 
  Maryann

  Very useful book that offered a variety of examples of food writing. I used this in my first interterm offering of Food Writing. Would definitely use it again, though I may also want to check out other years to add to my collection.
• 
  Clare

  Like any annual anthology, it can be uneven, but the standout pieces—“Fruits of Desire,” “The Famous Recipe,” “Magical Dinners,” and “I Believe I can Fry”—are thought-provoking, mouth-watering, and a lot of fun. Worth investigating if you’re into food writing.
• 
  Mysteryfan

  It was a nice collection of essays on all aspects of cooking - politics, recipes, more.