Bill Addison
Los Angeles Times
Cookbooks are always about connection â written to share the love of a cuisine or celebrate ancestry, or sometimes to eulogize broken bonds and safeguard history.
If you ve run out of ideas or motivation for preparing your next meal, if you re longing to be somewhere far away or want to explore fresh approaches to comfort food at home, or if you re thinking about the broader context of food in our troubled culture, take heart and inspiration from these 11 books of the season. Baking at the 20th Century Cafe Admit it, begins the jacket copy of Michelle Polzine s hefty, handsome book. You re here for the famous honey cake. Well, yes and no. The 10-layer version of the Russian cake that Polzine serves at her cafe in San Francisco s Hayes Valley, given mysterious depths by caramelizing the honey and lightened by dulce de leche in the frosting, deserves its legendary status.
âIn the European narrative of food, you d never assume French and Italian chefs cook the same dishes,â says Marcus Samuelsson. âBut for Black food in America, it often boils down to one thingââa set of heavy Southern dishes. In his new cookbook,
, the Swedish Ethiopian chef who modernized soul food with his Harlem restaurant, Red Rooster, rips that idea to shreds, with the help of James Beard Awardâwinning writer Osayi Endolyn. The book contains profiles of the country s leading chefs of color along with their recipes, spotlighting the range and nuance of Black cuisines. Here, three of its subjects share their feelings about where they fit in the culinary scape of their cities and other local chefs of color they admire.
Looking for some last minute Christmas stocking stuffers? Check out these books
Books make great last-minute stocking-stuffers. Here are a few suggestions for every type of reader, young, old and everything in between. Hint: You can also use this column for some ideas on how to spend those book store gift certificates that you find in your own stocking this year.
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Terri Schlichenmeyer / The Bookworm Sez | 12:00 pm, Dec. 20, 2020 ×
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Some family members won t be there. Others are coming, regardless of whatever s going on in the country. Still others are sending their regards and a box of presents, which is something you might do, too. And here s the good news: books are easy to wrap, easy to box, and easy to ship. Why not try one of these great books for that person who can t make it to your table this holiday season?