There are many ways we feast: most days with our tongue, often with our eyes, and on good days, on journeys through the mind. A love for food is cultivated through a deeper understanding of other culinary journeys, and what better way to do it than with a book and a good cup of coffee? We present a short list for you to get off Amazon or your favourite bookshop this weekend.
Cr: Phaidon
A Day at elBulli: An Insight into the Ideas, Methods and Creativity of Ferran Adria by Ferran Adrià
elBulli, formerly the best restaurant in the world, may have closed its doors for now, but the magic of head chef Ferran Adria lives on in this tome. A Day at elBulli is part photobook, all philosophy, and features 30 dishes that represent a full menu at a restaurant notorious for its hard-to-get reservations. The 600-page book has more than 800 photographs, menus, recipes and diagrams which will take you through a full working day at elBulli in just a few words. You might not get to taste Adria’s food, but you just might learn a thing or two about the thought processes behind his molecular gastronomy techniques. (P.S.:If you prefer something more accessible, try his homestyle cookbook, The Family Meal.)
Get it here!
Cr: Amazon UK
Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
Determined to see his culinary hobby turn into something more, New Yorker writer and home cook Bill Buford takes up a stint at Mario Batali’s three Michelin stars restaurant in New York, Babbo. The result is a hilarious memoir documenting the mistakes, humiliations, and disappointments — but also the skills and triumphs — on his learning journey. It also serves as a biography for Batali, a larger-than-life character both in and out of the kitchen. The book is a breezy read, but also raises interesting questions about what and why we eat.
Get it here!
Cr: Amazon
In Defence of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That’s Michael Pollan’s answer to what we should eat, in a world saturated with what the journalist-activist calls “edible foodlike substances”. Pollan presents the original ‘eat clean’ guide, and he urges us to eat things our ancestors would recognise. He also argues that despite the West’s obsession with nutrition — not about food itself — it has ironically ended up less healthy. If you’re a foodie, read this to know why good, fresh ingredient are critical to amazing food.
Get it here!
Cr: Amazon
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
From the writer of classic rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle comes a side-splitting novel about the disintegration of marriage. Cookbook writer Rachel Samstat discovers her husband is in love with another woman, and dives into her recipes for solace and an attempt to win him back. It’s no secret that this book is a thinly veiled account of Ephron’s own breakup with her husband, so the ending is bittersweet. But she writes with such candour, humour, and strength that, like all good dishes, you can’t help but want more.
Get it here!
Cr: Goodreads
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang
If you’re a fan of the American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, then this memoir, which the show is based on, is perfect for you. Huang is profane and profound, musing about the difficulties of growing up as a second-generation Taiwanese-American as, in the same breath, he rhapsodises about his favourite rapper and basketball team. Food is a subtle undercurrent in the book, one of the places in which he tries to fit in — Huang later goes on to open a barebones ‘bao’ eatery called BaoHaus. As he puts it, this is a story about finding love in family, friends, food, music, and culture, “and a million other surprising places.”
Get it here!
