Diet for a Small Planet was one of my very first cookbooks! I bought it in 1972 at the age of 17, and it was a game changer for me. The content is even more important than the recipes and is still relevant today. As for new cookbooks, I'm having a lot of fun with "Bittman Bread". On the light side of fiction, I've been reading Louise Penny's "Chief Inspector Gamache" series. Her food descriptions throughout the books are tantalizing and delightful. For more thought provoking historical fiction, I recommend "The Island of Sea Women" by Lisa See. It focuses on a group of Korean women divers on Jeju Island over the course of several generations, and how their matriarchal "haenyeo" system clashes with a changing culture forced upon them through war. The story and the history were both fascinating. And, yes, there was food!
Books, But Not Just for Cooks
Diet for a Small Planet was one of my very first cookbooks! I bought it in 1972 at the age of 17, and it was a game changer for me. The content is even more important than the recipes and is still relevant today. As for new cookbooks, I'm having a lot of fun with "Bittman Bread". On the light side of fiction, I've been reading Louise Penny's "Chief Inspector Gamache" series. Her food descriptions throughout the books are tantalizing and delightful. For more thought provoking historical fiction, I recommend "The Island of Sea Women" by Lisa See. It focuses on a group of Korean women divers on Jeju Island over the course of several generations, and how their matriarchal "haenyeo" system clashes with a changing culture forced upon them through war. The story and the history were both fascinating. And, yes, there was food!