Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2016 Read Harder Challenge
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Task 22: Read a Food Memoir
I found Cooking With Memories: Recipes And Recollections on my own shelf at home. I think it would fit this task.
I'm planning on reading "The art of Soviet Cooking" - the author has a background very similar to my own, so I'm really looking forward to seeing if our experiences with food have been similar also.
I have a couple of choices from my TBR pile to pick from for this task. Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War or Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood or Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
I have enjoyed Ruth Reichl's books a lot, as well as Marcus Samuelsson. I think I may try to read one of Gail Simmons's books for this task. So many great food-related books to choose from for this one!
A chef friend of mine recommended Blood, Bones, and Butter: the Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton and that's what I'm reading for this task.
I think I'm going to go with Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson for this one. I've watched him on Top Chef Masters and always he comes across really interesting and articulate.
So many great ones to choose from! I think I'm going to read Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor, but if not, I'll try Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson, which I've been meaning to read for awhile.
I have this book, so it is my choice for the category: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
I love Kitchen Confidential, An Everlasting Meal, and anything by M.F.K. Fisher. For this task, I will try Toast or Day of Honey.
I've been pretty happy with Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty, so I'm going for Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper in this category. Should be an interesting read.
I wonder if Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir would work? I have that and Relish: My Life in the Kitchen sitting on my table right now so it'll probably be one of those and it'll probably be my first completed challenge of the year.
Krisha wrote: "I wonder if Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir would work? I have that and Relish: My Life in the Kitchen sitting on my table right now so it'll probably be one of those a..."Fresh Off the Boat would definitely work. I read that this past year. It's really good. He has a very unique voice.
I'll be reading You Deserve a Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart. Alcohol is food--right? ;)
This may be the one which least rings my bells... Thinking Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life because I assume I'm in safe hands with Barbara Kingsolver (although I was disappointed with The Lacuna and Flight Behaviour after the wonderful The Poisonwood Bible...)
Dom wrote: "This may be the one which least rings my bells... Thinking Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life because I assume I'm in safe hands with Barbara Kingsolver (alt..."Dom, I just added that Barbara Kingsolver book to my wishlist. Looks good.
The description of Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home certainly stirred something inside of me, so there you have it!
Am struggling a little in this task as while I really love cooking I never read food Memoirs. Would The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks count as such ....?
I've chose Julie and Julia for this one
I just read
(maybe I should say I listened to it) and I absolutely loved it.Also, the author reads the book and she's very good.
Maegan wrote: "Martha wrote: "I have this book, so it is my choice for the category: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life"I love this book! The audio is also great because Kingsolver rea..."
If this was an Audie award winner, this would make my day!
"Make the bread, buy the butter" by Jennifer Reese
Martha wrote: "I have this book, so it is my choice for the category: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life"I own it too. I listened to it first as an audiobook years ago, then bought a paperback.
Bea wrote: "Dom wrote: "This may be the one which least rings my bells... Thinking Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life because I assume I'm in safe hands with [author:Barbara Kingsolve..."It is!
Being a vegetarian, I'm having trouble finding anything in this genre that appeals to me, but I may try Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain just because I think it would be a challenge. Some other possibilities are My Life in France by Julia Child, Serve It Forth by M.F.K. Fisher, A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef by Marco Pierre White, and Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat by Grant Achatz.
Jaleenajo wrote: "I think I'm going to go with Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson for this one. I've watched him on Top Chef Masters and always he comes across really interesting and arti..."Me too! Another good one is Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras by Jeff Henderson.
I just found out about Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars, so I may give that one a go now.
Would Eat, Pray, Love fit this task? If not, I have Bones, Blood, and Butter on my list.
Bobby wrote: "Being a vegetarian, I'm having trouble finding anything in this genre that appeals to me, but I may try Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly I loved Bourdain's memoir (especially as an audiobook), but I can see how it might be hard to read as a vegetarian. Have you considered the graphic memoir/vegetarian cookbook, Dirt Candy?
Shortlist:Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites
Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood
Leslie Ann wrote: "Have you considered the graphic memoir/vegetarian cookbook, Dirt Candy? "Thank you! I never heard of that book, but it sounds perfect.
I'm going with Blood, Bones and Butter...
Trudie wrote: "Am struggling a little in this task as while I really love cooking I never read food Memoirs. Would The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks count as su..."I've read this book and thought it was fascinating. However, I would categorize it as a reference book rather than a memoir. It's put together almost as encyclopedic entries about how each type of plant is used in making various types of alcohol.
I love baking bread, especially sourdough, and would like to choose a food memoir that is relevant to that. Has anyone read In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker's Odyssey by Samuel Fromartz or have any other bread related recommendations?
I'm interested in Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage. Molly Wizenberg also wrote A Homemade Life which I loved!
This one has been sitting on my kindle for a while now. As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto: Food, Friendship, and the Making of a Masterpiece.
Shared this in the SE Asian group too - this food memoir is also written by a Singaporean author, so two categories ! A Tiger in the Kitchen.
Thinking of reading Anything That Moves: Renegade Chefs, Fearless Eaters, and the Making of a New American Food Culture for this one but not sure it counts. If not I'll do Yes, Chef or The Raging Skillet: The True Life Story of Chef Rossi
I'm going with the 100 mile diet: a year of local eating.
Any other vegans struggling to find a food memoir that is appealing?
I'm wondering if The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone counts as a memoir...
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Consider the Oyster (other topics)32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line (other topics)
A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family (other topics)
Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good: A Memoir of Food and Love from an American Midwest Family (other topics)
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Kathleen Flinn (other topics)Cat Cora (other topics)
Anthony Bourdain (other topics)
Lucy Knisley (other topics)
Lucy Knisley (other topics)
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A few resources to get you started:
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