Special Feature: Products Sally Recommends
American Cuisine Reading
introduction | cookbooks | reading
Smokestack Lightning
by Lolis Eric Elie
I haven't even read this book yet, but I already know
I love it both from a skim and from the reviews. In part I've postponed reading
it just to keep my salivary glands in check. There are recipes in the book, but
mostly it's about bumming from state to state and city to city in search of great
barbecue -- Texas, Tennessee, Chicago, St. Louis, Arkansas, the Carolinas. Barbecue
and history, barbecue and politics, barbecue and sex -- you get the picture.
The Taste of America
by John L. Hess and Karen Hess
The Hesses
make a convincing case that American food has been on a downward slide since the
eighteenth century and when they originally wrote this book (1972) things were
looking bleak. Beware of some vicious attacks on American culinary icons (James
Beard, Craig Claiborne, Julia Child). Buy their position or not, the book is packed
with information including the wealth and variety of early American food, the
industrialization of the American market, and the decline of the small farmer.
American Food, The Gastronomic Story
by Evan Jones
This is
my favorite kind of book, incorporating 200 pages of history and 300 pages of
recipes. Excellent history of American food along with a well selected group of
classical recipes from all over the country.
American Gourmet
by
Jane and Michael Stern
An amusing account of the rise and fall of the gourmet
movement in American eating beginning in the 1940's. Each chapter offers period
recipes, most of them surprisingly good.
The Tummy Trilogy
by Calvin
Trillin
Run, don't walk, to get your hands on anything by Calvin Trillin.
The Tummy Trilogy is a compilation of three earlier Trillin books: American Fried,
Alice, Let's Eat and Third Helpings. These in turn are compilations of articles
from the New Yorker and other magazines. Find out why we should eat spaghetti
carbonara at Thanksgiving instead of turkey and other historical profundities.
I kept falling out of my seat on the train over this book. Don't miss it.
America Eats, Forms of Edible Folk Art
by William Woys Weaver
A fascinating book linking folk cooking to folk art. Weaver explains the concept
of "groundedness" typical of the folk cook and explains how the loss
of groundedness leads to "ethnic" cuisine. Lots of period recipes at
the end of each chapter, many sounding delicious. I plan to try them.
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