Everyone occasionally goes through a food slump—for me, it’s now. My one-bedroom apartment, cozily filled with couch-crashing roommates, is hot. I mean, HOT. Even using the microwave seems to up the temperature a good five degrees. On the other hand, it’s summer! There are so many fresh fruits and veggies, summertime meals, evening cocktails and lighthearted stories to accompany, and I can’t take advantage of them until I get over this damn heat. Lucky for me, I have found the anecdotes to my food laziness. One is a window AC unit for my bedroom, and the other is foodie books.
The following are three books that I have read, am reading or plan to read that are lighting the proverbial flame underneath me and getting my butt back to cookin’. Add to the list or leave your own reviews!
Like Water For Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remediesby Laura Esquivel
This is one of the first foodie books I ever read. I picked it up in early high school, and have reread it many a time. A Mexican love story rich with heat and magical realism, a baby girl, Tita, is born of an early labor amidst a kitchen full of spices and food-fixin’s. Filled with love, food, recipes and culture, this is a book to grab for the beach—but, make sure you have a kitchen to go home to so you can try out all the recipes inside!
Pair it with…
Cinco De Mayo (300 W. Washington St., 610-692-4850). A tiny-but-packed (and inexpensive) Puerto Rican and Mexican grocer, they have a surprisingly large selection of ingredients for the tastiest of Esqivel’s recipes, like Chiles En Nogada.
Comfort Me With Applesby Ruth Reichl
I walked a warm chicken and broccoli potpie to WC Dish head honcho Mary’s house earlier this week and came back loaded with goodies—recipes, cds, a bottle of cranberry wine and a few books. Among them was Ruth Reichl’s “Comfort Me With Apples,” detailing her initial aversion and eventual passion for food writing. From LA to Paris and everywhere in between Reichl explores the things she does and doesn’t know about food and life. Each chapter has recipes for everything from personal favorites to takes on Wolfgang Puck’s early appetizers. I read this book in one sitting and can’t wait to check out her others.
Pair it with…
Gilmore’s Restaurant (133 E. Gay St., 610-431-2800). Reichl spent weeks in Paris during her early years as a food critic and it left me drooling for authentic French cuisine. Gilmore’s is arguably the best French restaurant in the area—read the book and treat a date to some foie gras, escalope de veau au madere and top it off with lemon crème brulee.
Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in Indiaby Madhur Jaffrey
This book is essentially my motivation to write today—once I finish this, I will be on my way to use my Barnes & Noble gift card to purchase this bad boy! The smell, taste and consistency of Indian cuisine just does something to me. Madhur Jaffrey, an Indian actress turned successful food writer, learned to cook while living in the United Kingdom via letter correspondence with her mother in India. She directly influenced the way the British view Indian cooking, and is responsible for the plethora of Indian ingredients in British supermarkets. The book focuses on her early life in Delhi, wandering the foothills of the Himalayans and traipsing through streets, and investigates the way food evokes memory—and in the process, shares family recipes that I know I’ll be dying to try.
Pair it with…
Indo-Pak Groceries (323 E. Gay St., 610-429-4110) Four blocks outside of town sits Indo Pak, a great little Indian grocery store that can help you with all your cooking needs. Note: If you are making chicken tikka masala, e-mail me. I will come for dinner at a moment’s notice!
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