Another little treasure from the same publisher was “Hugh Fearlessly Eats It All” weighing in at a whopping $5.00! This book has great articles on enjoying less popular treats such as junk food, hash brownies, brains, kidneys, fugu, trotter, sweetbreads* and yes, even reindeer. An entertaining read with a great big bag of humour being emptied onto the pages.

For $11.80, you will have some very tasty tidbits to enjoy! (All books found and purchased from Book Warehouse in Vancouver.)

*for Foodists interested in a dinner featuring Offal on July 7th, please see the Foodists Forum!

I would be quite remiss if I failed to write about food books that DO include visuals, whether it be sumptuous food photography by the likes of John Sherlock & Quentin Bacon or excellent how-to, step-by-step demos that seem simple but go so much further when art directed well. Here are some of my recent faves:

Best food/cookbook design & typography:
Hands down, anything from the D&M Publishers creative team of art director Peter Cocking, and designers Jessica Sullivan & Naomi MacDougall: Vij’s, Feenie’s, Fresh, The Cannery, Vancouver Cooks & Cioppino’s (2008 Alcuin Book Award winner). They take book design & art direction to a whole different level of art while celebrating local cooking talent. Tasty typesetting and classical page design with exquisite photography. They make it look easy but it’s definitely not. Looking forward to the upcoming Blue Water Café Seafood Cookbook.

Best Japanese food photography:
- Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto
- Nobu Now by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

Both of these guys don’t know the meaning of holding back or lazy plating. Each culinary creation is showcased with up front and personal photography, that you just wanna look at it for a couple of minutes in silence. And then feel sad that you can’t taste it right after. Morimoto’s book also excels in some of the great step-by-step technique photography I’ve seen and even devotes a spread to soy sauce.

Best How To/Food Education:
- Martha Stewart’s Cooking School by Martha Stewart & Sarah Carey
- Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making you a Better Cook by Jamie Oliver
- Tools & Techniques by Thomas Keller, Williams-Sonoma, Chuck Williams, and Jennifer Newens
- Appetite by Nigel Slater (still available in paperback at Amazon.co.uk)

Always more to learn about technique, the how and whys, and food education in general by those devoted to sharing their brainpower. All 4 of these books are big heavy reads worth taking the time for (I’ve only finished reading one of them).

Best books to simultaneously inspire & intimidate:
- The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, or Under Pressure by Thomas Keller
- Gordon Ramsay’s Three-Star Chef
- Au Pied de Cochon by Martin Picard

You know who these guys are. They’ve all been featured on Food Network at some point or another, my favorite being Martin Picard whose restaurant is featured in the Quebec episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations (you absolutely MUST watch this!). I love how he sent more than 10 different foie gras dishes to Bourdain, giving the directive to staff: “Kill him.” Nice.

Best books about food & travel:
Their series of large coffee table books from Toronto writers, Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid, authors of Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Mangoes & Curry Leaves and their latest, Beyond the Great Wall. They’ve spent a huge chunk of their lives traveling throughout India, Bangladesh and mainland China exploring villages rarely seen or visited by westerners in the pursuit of authentic flavors and cooking. The travel and food photography in their books are highly sensual and absolutely breathtaking.

I’m sure you have your own favorites that aren’t on this list. Share your own faves and why you love ‘em. Sigh. So many great books. So little time. Man, I’m so hungry, I could eat a book.

Though maybe technically a cookbook, it’s not really. The Album celebrates the 5th anniversary of Au Pied de Cochon and chronicles life at the restaurant over a one year period. It features numerous stories, hundreds of photos and dozens of illustrations (that sure look Steadman-esque) and cartoons. Oh, and a foreword by Anthony Bourdain. I found this quote about the book:

Upon reading the innocuous-sounding Beans and Meatballs recipe that starts “using a saw, cut the top off the piglet skulls to remove the brains” and ends “decorate the dish with the fried ears,” I knew this book was truly special.

My wife will hate it, and the fact it’s going to take up another slot in her bookshelf.

I’ve mentioned Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuck here before. He’s one of the original local competitive bbq gurus, and author of two, dare I say, defacto, books on bbq: Barbeque Secrets and Planking Secrets. He’s also been basically missing from the scene for over a year, until now. Just now, mere days leading up to the Canadian National BBQ Championships in Whistler, BC (Yes, of course I’m going), I received an email from Ron announcing his return to the circuit at this year’s competion, but also a new cookbook featuring recipies from both books plus a whole bunch of new ones.

Called Barbeque Secrets Deluxe, seems like it should maybe be called, The Barbeque Secrets Bible. Would be even more fitting in the religious south, bbq’s birthplace. You can follow along with Ron’s progress on the book and new recipies on his blog, Barbeque Secrets. And that’s not all! Ron’s been busy creating a line of sauces. I’m a huge fan of House of Q’s sauces, so am anxious to try Ronnie & Denzel’s line. I’ll pick some up in Whistler if he’s selling them out of the Butt Shredder’s tent. I’ll let you know how they compare, and report back on Whistler next week.

Confused yet?

In his recent article in the London Review of Books, Stephen Shapin gives us his thoughts on Bill Buford‘s rather lengthily titled Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker and Apprentice to a Butcher in Tuscany. Buford, former fiction editor at The New Yorker, has spent the last few years doing things that amateur chefs like me only dream of. Taking orders from Mario Batali at New York’s Babbo, apprenticing with Italian pasta masters, and learning to butcher a pig, Buford spares himself very little sweat and discomfort in his search for cooking in it’s purest of forms. Shapin’s review considers not only the book itself, but also the curious explosion in popularity of cooking in general. It’s an excellent read, and has certainly convinced me to put Heat on my most-wanted list.