| Title | : | Best Food Writing 2015 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0738218642 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780738218649 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published October 20, 2015 |
Best Food Writing 2015 Reviews
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“Food is intimate. We take it into our bodies. When we gather at the table with friends and family, we’re gathering to affirm something.” The title doesn’t lie – these essays are terrific. There wasn’t a single one I didn’t find interesting, whether the topic was lab meat; seeking out the perfect burger, Bolognese sauce or gumbo; particular chefs or restaurants; food fads; starting a simple meatball supper club; or feeding picky kids. A couple favorites were “Finding Home at Taco Bell” by John DeVore and “The One Ingredient that Has Sustained Me during Bouts of Leukemia” by Jim Shahin. This series has been running since 2000, but this is the first time I’ve picked up one of the books. I’ll be looking out for it again next year.
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My favorite passage in this collection comes from Tamar Haspel's "How to Get People to Cook More? Get Eaters to Complain Less." In it she reflects upon the harried home cook (usually Mom) who, despite the insistence of food gurus everywhere that a good family meal is an easy prep, can't seem to manage to get a plate on the table that her loved ones don't groan about. Relentlessly.
I asked Daniel Post Senning, co-author of the 18th edition of Emily Post's Etiquette (and great-great-grandson of that etiquette icon), about complaining at the table, a practice so brazenly discourteous that mention of its prevalence left him "slack-jawed." When he recovered his wits, he had several suggestions for changing the family dinner dynamic. First, he seconded Fulkerson's strategy: "If you're not participating in the process, you don't always have standing to offer critique," he says. "Offer to participate in a meaningful way: planning and shopping, if not cooking."
And even then, be careful. "The compliment sandwich - praise, critique, praise - would be appropriate. There's always something you can thank someone for when they've worked on your behalf." Also, "have a solution." Don't care for creamed spinach? Volunteer to try roasting cauliflower.
Apart from the great amusement I derive from imagining a teenager, any teenager, grappling with the concept of his absence of standing in the arena of dinner critique, can I just say that I think it's downright grand to come across a person left "slack-jawed" by a bunch of folk who believe it's A-Okay to moan about a meal every night and still consider it their basic right to be served one tomorrow? That someone's out there who understands the audaciousness of this behavior and is genuinely stupefied by it? Why, it's enough to give you faith in the human race. And that's what I'm after come the holiday season. Just a little bit of faith.
Holly Hughes has once again edited together a marvelous group of essays on food, the culinary industry and the dining lifestyle. There's a rueful visit with Wylie Dufresne, the reigning master of molecular gastronomy, upon the closing of his restaurant. The proprietors of New York City's esteemed Eleven Madison Park discuss their in-house "Dream Weaver" and the incalculable benefit of going the extra mile. Several pieces are issue-focused, from veganism and the environment to the racism that still features in restaurant dining. We visit New Orleans to talk about gumbo, Seattle to talk about oysters, Peru to talk about meat, and the glorious region of Bologna in the hunt for the perfect ragu. Most difficult, perhaps, are the stories about food as an element in loss, sickness and grief. You'll find true substance here.
This is an extremely well-balanced selection of work; the caliber of writing is in every way above literary par. Dynamic, informative, fun. No need for that compliment sandwich on the menu today! -
While the 2014 collection seemed to delight in extremes, from insect foraging to the $4 toast craze, 2015 seems to be about stopping and rethinking basic premises about what and why we eat. Creating vegan versions of egg and meat as good as (or better than) the real thing, a recovering alcoholic who is also an innovative wine guru at the top of his game, a paean to Taco Bell, the cutting edge of molecular gastronomy, and even multiple articles questioning whether everyone really needs to be a brilliant home cook. I'm a sucker for recipes, and the ragu and meatballs both look really promising, but I was also hooked in by the story of a mom-and-pop oyster farm and the emerging beef culture in Peru.
One interesting feature of this collection: multiple articles on race and restaurants--decades after the fight to integrate lunch counters, how and why are restaurants working to include or exclude black clientele.
The writing throughout is solid rather than notable, but there's some great food for thought here. -
Something has happened to food writing over the past decade or so. So much of it now is dedicated to specialist topics such as sustainable farming, organic produce, head to tail cooking, dining experiences involving sous-vide or foam. These articles are like hanging out at a wine tasting where everyone is a wine snob and you don't know what they are talking about and you are reluctant to mention that your personal favorite is the vintage last year red that's sold in a jug.
I like stories about chili cook-offs or why someone decided to stop being a vegetarian or what it's like to be a wait person or dishwasher or busboy, which is what food writing was before the specialists got hold of it. Even the big chefs of old, Julia Child, James Beard, and other foodies like M.F.K. Fisher and Craig Claiborne, wrote essays that were about life beyond food, and they rarely took themselves too seriously.
This year's Best Food Writing starts out with the ponderous chef-heavy writing and works its way to the more personal essays. The best pieces are toward the back of the book. My favorite was an unexpected essay by comedy writer John DeVore. He declared that Taco Bell has the best Mexican food. Preposterous! Then he proceeded to back up his statement quite convincingly. The article started out with a dude-ish tone but quickly moved on to a more thoughtful and even touching conclusion.
Even Anthony Bourdain took a break from his tough guy posturing to write an ode to the clams of his childhood and the pleasure of passing on a tradition to his daughter. I also enjoyed the story of Friday Night Meatballs and that of Carolyn Phillips' connecting with her Chinese father-in-law by cooking a holiday meal with him.
There's enough variety in the collection to be sure that you won't walk away from Best Food Writing 2015 hungry.
(Thanks to DaCapo Books and Edelweiss for a digital review copy.) -
I like the organization of the book--the personal essays and the chef heavy stuff sorted into categories, and I do love the index of the included recipes!
The reads were, on the whole, much shorter pieces than the last anthology of food writing I read, which I think was 5 or so years ago. It's a welcome thing, as the essays read kind of like little snacks (to abuse a food metaphor) instead of big heavy meals.
There is, of course, always an agenda, whether I agree with it or not. It seems racism and virtue signalling about racism seep into some of the selections. Sometimes good--I'd never thought about coding of dinner for class, etc, and I know the history of the lunch counter sit ins, etc--but even the essays themselves fumble with the idea that their notion of 'black' is really, uh, kind of racist? Like the idea was that blacks in America don't go to high end restaurants because they're poor, ignorant, and socially unprepared. Uh. Yikes?
The other big theme, of course, are a few unsubtle digs at meat eating/slaughterhouses, everything from guilt about the carbon footprint to fecal contamination. Dude, I do yoga. I get enough shit from them about what I should eat, and such proselytizing really sits awkwardly next to essays celebrating the meat content in a Bolognese ragu or the new gourmands of meat in Peru.
I always have a double purpose when I read these books, and that's to find essays I might use in class, and the winners of that category are the one on the dreadfully trite Pumpkin Spice Latte, which I know my students will be into; a lovely essay about Friday Night Meatballs, and the essay that boldly argues that Taco Bell is awesome Mexican food. While I, personally liked the Yeast essay, it's a little grim. Some real winners, but clearly my taste is from a place where I want my students to enjoy reading and writing about food, not guilty or bad or preached to. -
If you have ever enjoyed a piece of food writing (whether by a food critic, a chef, or just a Yelp reviewer), I think I can guarantee you'll find something you enjoy in this collection. It's incredibly varied, and most surprisingly to me, represents a LOT of points of view.
There are the types of pieces I expected: a eulogistic article on the closing of Wylie Dufresne's avant-garde restaurant WD-50, for example. Or articles based around "the perfect recipe for ___".
Then there are some articles that really go beyond food itself, to plumb the anthropology behind what we eat, how we eat, and why we eat what and how we eat (I know, you may have to reread that sentence). The "coding" of restaurants in DC, for example -- how do you know if you're opening a restaurant that will be more "white" or more "black" in terms of what diners it attracts, and how do restaurateurs try to control that? I was fascinated by the examinations of aspects of dining that typically go unexamined.
And finally, there are articles that surprised me because they seemed so un-foodie-like. The history of Starbucks's Pumpkin Spice Latte. An argument for Taco Bell being the best Mexican food in the US. An article about depression that's food-related only in that the depressed writer is baking bread while contemplating his depression.
In short, there's definitely something for everyone. It's a great book to keep somewhere you might read for short periods, since each article is discrete and does not need to be read in order.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. -
A solid collection of observations, remembrances, discoveries, humor, lessons, actual recipes and just about everything else you'd want if you love to cook and love to eat. Some of the stories almost literally made my mouth water ("Hot Country," "Gumbo Paradise"). Many were touching. Others were not my cup of tea. But if you are looking for a change of pace from plot-driven storytelling, I found this book to be refreshing; i'd read a sad memoir, then a few of essays in this book, then a murder mystery, then back to some more food thoughts. A nice balance for the brain. I'd read other editions of this series.
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3* There is a variety included here, some of which I loved and a few I really disliked. So it averages out to 3 stars. I will try another 'Best Food Writing' if I come across it, sifting through it for the essays that speak to me.
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I used all but one chapter of this book as a text for my Food Writing class last year.
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Collection of essays on aspects of eating. Growing, cooking, restaurants foreign and domestic. Probably more interesting to eat than read about eating.
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these stories made me very hungry, more short-form than other "Best of" books I've read
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Favorite Excerpts
1. At Your Service? by Oliver Strand
"Ishikawa was practising what in Japan is called omotenashi, a term that is usually translated as 'hospitality,' which is a little like saying that Hermes sells bags-- it's a bland word for something so exquisite and refined that it's a source of obsession among some. Hospitality is regarded as an extra, a bonus a bit of pleasantry that is enjoyable, but in the end, superfluous to the transaction at hand. It isn't essential , especially in a restaurant: service is a footnote to the food and the room. Omotenashi describes a comprehensive approach to human interaction that values courtesy and helpfulness, and the integrates professionalism and how one conducts oneself-- grace and attentiveness are respected as much as skill and technique. In a restaurant, omotenashi isn't on the periphery, it's central: service is as important as the food and the room. To put it another way, it's illogical to say that a meal was fantastic even though the food was disgusting, because the food is the meal; once you understand omotenashi, it's just as nonsensical to say that a meal was fantastic even though the staff was rude, because the experience is the meal.
Omotenashi is complemented by omoiyari which is often translated as 'empathy' but refers to a sensitivity so acute that you can anticipate the needs and desires of others."
2. Leah Chase in Table Lessons by Allison Alsup
"Men are born dumb. I'm used to that. But women? I can't stand a dumb woman."
3. Finding Home at Taco Bell by John DeVore
"This is how I survived, because racism is easy. That's why is so evil. Judging people on the color of their skin is, literally, the least the human brain can do. Racism is the opposite of imagination." -
I love food and food preparation. The sights, smells, tastes, and sharing of good food are an important part of a happy life. A good cookbook will bring all of those pleasures quickly to the mind and heart.
This is the first time I’ve read a Best Food Writing collection, but it won’t be the last. The book is organized into several themes – “The Way We Eat Now,” “The Restaurant Biz,” Someone’s in the Kitchen,” “At the Stove,” “Traditions,” “The Family Table,” and “Life on a Plate.” There are fabulous essays in all of the sections.
Two of my favorites were about meat. The first, “The Meat Prophet of Peru,” by Nicholas Gill is about butcher Renzo Garibaldi’s creative meat preparation out of a small Lima butcher shop. The second, is Rowan Jacobsen’s “The Perfect Beast” about the Beast Burger a meatless, meaty burger made by Beyond Meat and Beyond Meat’s mission to make delicious vegan meat substitutes that will satisfy even the most hardcore carnivore. I am looking forward to trying the burger.
These are just two of the many mini-masterpieces I could have chosen. This book is highly recommended for the foodie in your life.
Full disclosure: Read the ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher. -
I love food writing and this was a solid collection of essays that varied from a company making vegan meats and eggs to the search for the perfect ragu. In fact, there were quite a few essays devoted to ragu this year which even as a vegetarian I enjoyed as it used to be one of my favourite dishes. While I enjoyed some essays more than others, it worked well as a collection and among the best were a travel diary through Bologna, a rather fascinating history of the now ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte, a moving meditation by a cancer sufferer on being brought food by loved ones during his illness, and my favourite, a vivid and quite heartbreaking account of a young woman's struggle to build a healthy relationship with food after a difficult upbringing (Elissa Altman's "Infrequent Potatoes"). You know a collection has some gems when you make a note to seek out some of the contributors' other work.
Enjoyable and satisfying, not unlike a good plate of food.
With thanks to the publishers for supplying me with a review copy via Netgalley. -
This is a really solid collection of food writing – there are nearly fifty essays in this book, and of them all, there were only a few I didn't really like. Part of what makes this collection so good, in my mind, is the incredible swath of topics and perspectives shown in this one book. Little glimpses into the the various worlds of food, like each one is a window into a completely different house, full of different people and cultures and knowledge. I learned from some, laughed at some, and was inspired by some. From what I've heard from people who have read others of this series, this one isn't as good as its predecessors... but for a first time reader of the “Best Food Writing” books, this one impressed me. Is it only “the best?” I don't know. There were certainly a few stories that were just “meh,” some writing styles that just didn't grab me, but overall, this is a great compilation. There are plenty of other good food writing collections out there, but this one is definitely deserves a place on the shelf. 3.5 stars.
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How do you review an anthology like this? I can't go into detail on each piece, because that would take ages, and you probably don't care. So let me just keep my review short and to the point -- I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of articles.
I didn't know what to expect going in, because I haven't read any of the previous Best Food Writing books. I love to cook, so I was thrilled to see articles about making a great bolognese, or how to make proper carnitas. Some were great life lessons too, like important things to know about cast iron pans. Others were great to think about, like why exactly people don't cook when they easily could.
When I finished this book, I actually felt like I had learned something about cooking, and about food culture in general.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy! -
As is the case with any collection of this type (especially one that draws on sources of every kind - from the largest publications to tiny websites) the work can be frustratingly uneven. That said, there are moments of real transcendence in this book, and it is well worth your time if you care about food and culture. The strength and the weakness of the book is its refusal to adhere to convention - this approach delivers some amazing pieces, like the memory about growing up as a second generation Mexican immigrant who loved Taco Bell, or the search for the best ragu in Italy. But it also gets us superficial pieces that don't really go anywhere. That said, the sum is greater than the whole, especially as a book that permits you to periodically take a peek at something different over a long period of time. Not great, but solid.
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(Watch as I tear through this anthology and then forget about food writing until the next edition.) "Coding and Decoding Dinner" was a most illuminating take on de facto segregation in restaurants. You can read it
online. Other highlights: the R&D behind the PSL, cast iron mythbusting, and veggie beef of the future. -
3.5 stars. my favorite? Finding Home At Taco Bell (let's be clear- I despise Taco Bell) What a wonderful piece that described all the nostalgia that comes along with foods and flavors. I always enjoy these collections of stories, travel, recipes, environment & science all wrapped up in the commonality that is food.
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Not as good as 2014, but good. Some beautiful pieces about the simplest things: a sled from Eleven Madison Park, gelatinous Osteria Francescana ragu, the Pumpkin Spice Latte history. 9/10, very enjoyable, very digestible, very emotional.
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This is always one of my favorite books of the year and this one did not disappoint. I like that popular food conversation is coming back to the homey and recognizable food vs all pork belly and lemon foam.
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This can be a great series, but it's increasingly turning to sad-bastard writing in what I guess is an attempt at pathos. I'd put the Sad Bastard Over/Under at 65 percent. Suggested title for the next edition: Impending Doom and Some Recipes.
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Loved reading all the stories about food and news techniques.
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A great selection of food writers from all culinary disciplines in this yearly publications.
