Eat Your Books Blog

Should "amateur" food bloggers be paid to develop recipes?

2012-05-16T14:18:00Z

In an opinion column called "Faking It" at the IACP* site, Amy Reiley has stirred up quite a hornet's nest. Apparently she was unaware until the last IACP conference that, "major as well as small, well-respected organizations in the culinary business (like Kraft, the Got Milk? campaign, Kitchenaid, etc.) are contacting high profile food and lifestyle bloggers to endorse products, create recipes, photograph dishes made with the company's products, and conduct giveaways for reasonably substantial financial gain."

To say she was appalled is almost an understatement. Upon discovering that the bloggers are paid $500 - not enough to adequately develop and test a recipe in a fashion she approves of - she writes, " It shocks me that some of our industry's biggest and brightest companies are willing to farm out this kind of work to home cooks, whose skill in recipe development and writing haven't been proven - and, at least in the case of the examples discussed at the seminar, without any control over how well the recipes have been tested. The bloggers are, essentially, faking it. And then marketers are sharing these recipes with the public - and paying hobby cooks for the kind of skilled work most of us have spent a career developing."

Needless to say, this is not going over well with many readers who are roaring back. "You are venting (in an unkind way) against a make-believe enemy," is one of the milder comments.

The common ground appears to be that times are changing and professionals must change with it. We'd be very interested in hearing your opinions - do you think that paid recipe contributors should be held to a high professional standard and is this, as Reiley says, "a general 'dumbing down' of the culinary profession?" And, if so, what should that standard be?

*International Association of Culinary Professionals

Confused about salt?

2012-05-16T10:11:00Z

For an ingredient that was so mundane for so long, salt has really taken a starring role in cooking over the past few years. But choice brings confusion (and extra cost). So do you really need more than one type of salt in the kitchen? When is it worth the extra cost to use a boutique salt? Food52 and its members take a look at 10 salts you're likely to encounter in recipes and at the grocery store and answers the questions.

Three cheers for garden cookbooks!

2012-05-15T12:42:00Z

With spring firmly underway and greenery springing up in every direction, I'd like to say a few words in praise of one of my favorite types of cookbooks--kitchen garden books. Unlike, say, grill books or preserving books, it's not a densely populated category--there might be one every year or two. They're all roughly the same format: a focus on each vegetable or fruit, followed by recipes. Some are arranged alphabetically, some seasonally, some by plant family.

This year there are two that I know of--practically a bonanza for cooks who garden. The more hardcore one is Willi Galloway's Grow Cook Eat (Sasquatch Books). It's got tips and detailed cultivation notes worthy of the aspiring market gardener, as well as solid start-up advice for novices. But there's only one recipe for each crop; at least it's a well-chosen one in practically every case. It's the perfect kitchen garden book if you've already got plenty of vegetable recipes and just want to immerse yourself in the growing end of things.

Just the opposite in approach is the Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook (from the editors of Sunset magazine). It's absolutely chockful of well-constructed, reasonably new recipes. On the other hand, there's just a skeletal page on how to grow each one, emphasizing mostly why you would grow it and how you would harvest it rather than what you need to do to make it survive in your own patch. It's more of a cook's book, suitable for visits to your local farmer's market or CSA.

Regardless of their differences, I really like all kitchen garden cookbooks. Even though it happens every year in my own garden, I still like hearing about how the broccoli develops and how easy it is to grow radishes and how to successfully raise corn. When it comes to these stories about where our food comes from, I'm no different from my 5-year-old and her bedtime books. I could read them over and over again.

Cookbook collaboration: How it should work

2012-05-15T09:28:00Z

Andrew Friedman is a highly regarded cookbook collaborator and on his website, Toqueland, he's just finished a fascinating two-part series on how to create a unique cookbook. Admittedly spurred on by the recent controversy about cookbook collaborations, he presents the opposite story - how a good working relationship can produce a valuable and unique cookbook.

Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef's first season and current owner of two successful restaurants, approached Friedman looking for some help in writing his first cookbook. Dieterle needed to do it the old-fashioned way - starting with the need for a concept and proposal to sell to publishers, and then learning how to write the book for a general audience.

The two-part blog details the process, starting at the beginning when the main goal was to come up with an attractive concept that bridged what Dieterle did in his kitchen with what home cooks did in theirs. Two obvious approaches were immediately discarded - apparently restaurant cookbooks are no longer popular, and "Chef X cooks at home" is too generic. After several frustrating months, the idea hit:

"And then, one night, while poring over Harold's recipe lists at home, something hit me, a series of related ideas that followed one after the other in quick succession, like a line of mental dominoes tipping each other over: Each of Harold's dishes has one or two elements that really put it over the top, and (this was the key observation) might have multiple applications in other dishes. What if, I thought, we wrote a book in which we presented recipes for fully formed dishes on one page, and on the facing (opposite) page isolated the most potent and/or versatile element of the dish, wrote an essay about its charms, and offered a number of ways to deploy it?"

With the approach and title, Harold Dieterle's Kitchen Notebook, determined, the blog continues to detail how this concept was fleshed out. There are some great tips along the way; especially in Part II, where Friedman details the collaboration procedure on one recipe, Ricotta Cheese, Acorn Squash Tempura, Truffle Honey, Sunflower Seeds, and Grilled Bread. There's a 7-minute video where the two discuss the raw form of the recipe, and then an explanation and presentation of the necessary revisions to the recipe to make it home friendly and have Harold's voice. Then there's the accompanying detail of one ingredient, Homemade Ricotta.

This is a fascinating read and one that highlights why collaboration can be especially valuable when writing cookbooks.

New blog focuses on celebrity chefs

2012-05-14T10:45:00Z

A new blog, The Braiser, promises to bring a behind-the-scenes approach to the lives of celebrity chefs and those who support them. With an approach that looks to be a combination of People Magazine, the Buzz, and The Sun, the editor states as The Braiser's purpose, "to bring the personalities behind the food you eat and love (or hate!) to the forefront," as well as to "relish (ha) the opportunity to hold some of the biggest egos around accountable."

And the inaugural articles certainly bear out this promise. Here are three articles currently on the front page: The 13 Most Infamous Celebrity Feuds, A Brief History of Celebrity Chefs, 1577 - present, and Anthony Bourdain on Why the Best Celebrity Chefs Just 'Don't Give a F*ck.' Will this blog make Anthony Bourdain the next Kim Kardashian? The mind boggles.

And while contemplating that thought, we also thought we'd mention that EYB has now indexed 30 blogs, and more are coming continuously.

A Yankee finds a food paradise in Australia

2012-05-13T16:28:00Z

Over at the Salt, a visiting Yankee discovers that Australians have thrown off the remnants of bad British food, and learns that "stunningly fresh ingredients, cultural diversity, and inventive cooking are the new norms."

We're sure our Australian friends will enjoy this article, as will anyone planning to visit "Oz," but even if a visit to Australia is not in your immediate plans, this article (and the accompanying audio story) is very useuful -- you never know when you'll need to drop the words "yabbies" or "marrons" in a conversation.

Opera and food is a match made in heaven

2012-05-12T14:51:00Z

The New York Times has a delightful article, Don't Sing With Your Mouth Full, discussing how tightly entwined the worlds of opera and food are. As they write, "Opera, of all the art forms, is singularly associated with food, whether because of the appetites of well-girthed singers or the sensual pleasures celebrated in its rich ragout of music, emotion and stagecraft."

Besides the mouth-watering descriptions of some of the meals described in the operas, the article goes into detail on how to prepare food for the on-stage scenes. We loved that the Met orders from KFC for the chicken required in Bohème. And it's a major timing challenge for the singers to both swallow a bite and begin an aria.

Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention perhaps the most famous recipe associated with opera - Peach Melba - named for the Australian soprano, Nellie Melba. Here's a collection of recipes from books in our library for this notable dish.

For opera lovers, this is a must-read. And even if you're not, it's a fun insight on combining food and theater production.

Is it pretentious to assume that Bon Appetit is a better magazine than Paula Dean's or Rachael Ray's?

2012-05-11T09:45:00Z

Anna Brones over at the Huff Post sat down and took a hard look at three magazines: Cooking with Paula Deen, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and Bon Appétít. Among her questions, if they're promoting the same food, why do we have different reactions to them? For example, "Rachael Ray gives me a handful of fried chicken recipes and I cringe, but Bon Appétít says the food is "trending" and I start to think about what gluten free type of batter I can come up with?"

So are Rachael's and Paula's magazines (and, by extension, their TV shows) not really worthy of "serious" thought by sophisticated food types, or is it just a form of snobbish pretension? And should anyone feel "ashamed" for admitting to enjoying the Deen and Ray magazines? A lot of food for thought in this article.

And for those who haven't caught up on the latest activity at EYB, check out our growing magazine collection - we now have over 650 magazines indexed, and counting.

If an oyster cannot feel pain, is it OK for a "vegan" to eat it?

2012-05-10T21:38:00Z

Christopher Cox considers himself a vegan as he eats no meat, dairy or eggs. But he does love a plate of cold oysters. He puts up a fairly convincing argument on Slate.com that both in terms of its environmental impact and its own physiology, an oyster is as ethical a food item as a vegetable. As you would expect there has been some lively discussion (including a lot of science) following the article.

Cocktail preferences from famous fiction writers and from famous chefs

2012-05-10T15:32:00Z

Over at theKitchn, they're celebrating Cocktail Week. We found two of their articles, 10 Famous Fiction Writers and Their Cocktails, and 25 Food Writers Share Their Safety Drinks especially informative.

The first article deals with what famous fiction authors, e.g. Hemingway, Faulkner, Chandler, preferred to drink. Among some of the fun facts: James Bond ordered 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis during his career. And Edna St. Vincent Millay invented The Between the Sheets (the description of how she did so is definitely an R-rated image).

The second article looks at what chefs will order at a bar where they either don't know or have suspicions about the bartender. Beer would seem to be somewhat obvious, but greyhounds and Americanos? And while a gin (or vodka) and tonic is especially popular, it's very important that the tonic be from an unopened bottle and not from the gun.

And while we're on drinks, we'd like to remind you that we have numerous cocktail books in our library and are indexing more and more. One particular book that we've indexed is definitely in the running for one of the best titles in the library, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie - 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them.

Bottoms up, everybody.

A Cajun shrimper, 1st day of culinary school, and ironing with Jim Beam

2012-05-10T09:49:00Z

It's May 10 - National Shrimp Day. And what a better way to celebrate than with this fun story. To set the scene: It's the first day of culinary school in New Orleans, and the chef instructor informs the class in no uncertain terms that they must show up everyday in full uniform, including pressed and clean jackets. One student, obviously more than a little intimidated, asks "What if I don't have an iron?" A Cajun shrimper (think Bubba Gump) proceeds to lecture the class with two excellent pieces of advice on what to do -- including why Jim Beam is better to use than Jack Daniel's. Plus there's even a love interest. Read the complete story by John Malik on Huff Post Food.

And to honor National Shrimp Day, here are 1,111 full shrimp recipes we've indexed from our online sites; in particular, several of the shrimp recipes from Ina Garten rated 4 stars or more.

Busting kitchen myths: The great recipe swindle

2012-05-09T10:52:00Z

Should a recipe, if followed precisely, deliver culinary precision? Most experienced cooks realize that this kind of promise is actually not only unrealistic but also constraining. They use recipes as starting points, as inspirations. But cookbook authors, publishers, and sellers would have us believe that their cookbooks can deliver on such a promise.

The problem, as this article by Nicholas Clee in The Guardian points out, is that beginning cooks - the very ones that are likely to need instruction - can be woefully discouraged when a recipe doesn't work out. At the worst, they give up cooking altogether. And even with experienced cooks, many only use one or two recipes from a cookbook before abandoning it. So shouldn't we encourage cookbooks to teach and dispel kitchen myths rather than dictate a culinary regimen?

Here are three of Clees' tips for a good indication of a cookbook that tries to help and not discourage: point out that recipes are templates rather than the last word on any dish; offer "why you do it" sections with some simple kitchen science; and give an understanding of how dishes work rather than just a set of instructions. Clee's own book, Don't Sweat the Aubergine, is one example of such a book, we'd love to hear from our readers of others that they feel really helped them feel kitchen-comfortable.

Where are the summer cocktails?

2012-05-09T06:00:00Z

I'm a bit late with this week's post. It's because I'm in the final throes of the summer cookbook roundup, that mad mid-May marathon smackdown from which just ten perfect summer cookbooks will emerge on NPR's summer recommendation list. (All the runner-ups will appear in a shortlist on my blog).

I can't say what the theme is, or give away any of the top 10 titles, or tell you what the worst cookbook was. But I can share an observation: this year seems to mark the definitive disappearance of one of my favorite summer categories: the summer cocktail book.

If I'm not mistaken, the pool's been drying up for years. It used to be you could count on every summer ushering in a fleet of cute little drinks books with bright, tropical covers. Dead center in front would be a sweating glassful of ice, maybe adorned with a flourish of fruit or flags or parasols. Sometimes they came in sets. Sometimes they were tacky. But they just made you up and long for a tall, cool highball, the leisure to sip it, and someone to sip it with.

This year there's a nice book of fruit drinks. There's a nice book of beer cocktails. But the days of the fun-loving August libation, ready for its closeup on the set of "Sex and the City," seem to be behind us.

It may be that I miss those books precisely because their visions of lazy, companiable evenings seem so far removed from life right now, with the hectic end-of-year school schedule, the vegetable garden getting planted, the deadlines to meet.

Which makes me wonder: is it really the books that have disappeared? or the leisure to buy and enjoy them? Only the publishers know for sure (and maybe not even them.)

Did Rachael Ray exorcise Martha Stewart's evil spirits from her studio?

2012-05-08T10:28:00Z

I guess it's Wacky Tuesday, at least according to the New York Post. As reported in this article, "Tv chef Rachael Ray has asked staffers to perform a wacky exorcism ritual while planning her move into arch rival Martha Stewart's Chelsea studio, ordering them to burn bundles of sage to chase away negative 'spirits'." The Post goes on to quote an expert from the Sage Institute that, "Sage has a property that gives a certain kind of cleansing. The smoke goes up and enters into the spirit world as an offering." We should note that Ray's publicity people deny the story.

Should you choose to follow Rachael's practice (fictional or not), we'd like to add that at EYB there are ways to find some great recipes that use sage. In the library section, you can search for sage recipes in all our indexed books, or just yours. But what many users may not realize, you can also filter for magazine and online indexed recipes just using the filter tool in the right-hand column. For example, here are the 921 results of an online search for sage recipes. Enjoy!

Michael Natkin

2012-05-08T00:30:00Z

We visit with Michael Natkin, who left his job in software engineering to follow his passion for food and devote himself to an innovative vision of vegetarian cooking. He is the author of the immensely popular and award-winning vegetarian blog Herbivoracious and his new book, Herbivoracious, is out from Harvard Common Press in May.

As I've been working on Herbivoracious: A Flavor Revolution with 150 Vibrant and Original Vegetarian Recipes the past couple of years, it has been a lot of fun to see how everyone around me has gotten excited about it. Everyone has great questions, and believe me at the beginning of the process I didn't have any of the answers! This is my first cookbook. I knew how to develop recipes, photograph them and write them, but I really didn't have any clue about how the publishing industry works. I had the great good fortune to land with The Harvard Common Press, and they have led me through the entire rest of the process. I certainly have learned that an author is only as good as the team surrounding them. Without a great publisher, editor, designer and sales & marketing folks, you'll never produce a book you can be proud of.

One question *everyone* has is about the name, Herbivoracious. To make a long story short, when I launched the blog it was briefly called The Vegetarian Foodie, which I hated. I started looking for a new name right away, and a friend suggested Herbivoracious. I thought it was clever because it merges "herbivore" (which technically I'm not, I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian, not a vegan, but most folks get the idea) and "voracious" - which I definitely am! I never stop cooking, eating and learning about food. Folks do have trouble pronouncing the name, but on the upside once they get it, they will never forget it. I've made the mission of both the blog and the book to provide vegetarian recipes that are delicious, satisfying, and attractive so that anyone looking to make a meatless meal will find something exciting. This book is for omnivores and vegetarians alike.

My book is just about to hit stores, so this is a great time to reflect on what I liked most about the process. And for me, I don't think that has changed. What I love to do most is hit the great markets and stores around Seattle, see what is fresh and beautiful and create new dishes. I'm constantly reading about food, watching food shows, and eating at as many good restaurants as possible, so I keep my mental hopper full of ideas that I can play with to spur that creativity. So cooking, photographing the food, and sharing it remains the central spark.

As to what I didn't like, well that's easy: washing dishes. I've worked in a few restaurants, and let me tell you, being able to use whatever pots, pans, bowls and utensils you need and simply drop them off at the dish pit to be cleaned is a great luxury. Most of my recipe development for the blog and book has been done at home, often late at night, and I tell you, it is mighty disheartening to be done creating a dish, recording the ingredients and steps and getting a nice photo at 11 PM only to see the sink stacked high with pots that must be done before I can hit the sack!

Culinary intelligence - integrating real food into your daily life

2012-05-07T13:21:00Z

Courtesy of Michael Ruhlman, we're highlighting three thoughtful books today. In his blog entry, Culinary Intelligence - An Emerging Trend, Ruhlman reviews two books. Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy and Really Well, by Peter Kaminsky, talks about being smart about food, thinking sensibly about cooking and eating. As Ruhlman writes, " Getting middle-aged and plump myself, it was my kind of book (the subtitle says it all)."

And in French Kids Eat Everything, Ruhlman has found a book with the same goal but targeted for a different audience.The subtitle also says it all: "How our family moved to France, cured picky eating, banned snacking, and discovered 10 simple rules for raising happy, healthy eaters."

And finally, Ruhlman's own new book, Ruhlman's Twenty, 20 Techniques, 100 Recipes, A Cook's Manifesto, which just won the James Beard award for general cooking, is available again. It sold out almost immediately after publication, but has now been reprinted. Find out how just a few techniques - both obvious and not-so-obvious - make cooking easy. You can find more information here.

Happy reading!

Are these the ultimate - and easiest - brownies to make?

2012-05-06T13:03:00Z

Brownies may not be haute cuisine, but they have a lot going for them. They're a comforting bite in times of stress, induce chocolaty feel-good moments, fill the house with warm aromas, often bring back simple, childhood memories - yes, brownies are among the ultimate comfort foods. But while we may often impulsively want, even need, brownies, there's something about pulling down a prepared box of mix that detracts from the experience.

So we were delighted when Serious Eats published Mark Bittman's Brownies from his new book, How to Cook Everything: The Basics. It couldn't be a simpler recipe, requires no ingredients that you either don't usually have or can't easily keep on hand, and produces such pleasure with minimal effort. As Serious Eats wrote, "Easy, quick, and the most delicious, there's not a thing wrong with this recipe."

Enjoy!

A day in the life of Fany Gerson

2012-05-05T13:45:00Z

Fany Gerson, author of the delectable cookbooks Paletas and My Sweet Mexico shared a day in her life on Food52. It sounds completely exhausting between getting up at 6am, making and selling ices all day and retrieving her car late at night from the pound.

James Beard Award winners announced

2012-05-05T13:02:00Z

At a star-studded event last night in New York, the winners of the prestigious James Beard Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards were announced - see the list of cookbook nominees and winners. Cookbook of the Year went to the epic book Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold and crew. And the wonderful books by Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking were inducted into the Cookbook Hall of Fame. The full list of awards including online, press and TV are available on the JBF Blog.

Jeffrey Steingarten goes on the Master Cleanse regime

2012-05-04T14:49:00Z

The Master Cleanse is one of those fad/extreme diets that seems to pop up every ten years or so. Currently, it's hot -- with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé rumored to follow the regime. It's a simple diet, just consume 6 to 12 drinks day, making the drink from water, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The purpose of the diet is to detox your body from harmful bacteria. Why would Jeffrey Steingarten, Food Editor for Vogue and author of many food-loving articles and books (such as The Man Who Ate Everything) want to pursue the course?

He explains his motivation, the course, and the results in the latest online issue of Vogue. His conclusions were mixed. While his wife noted that towards the end, she "saw me napping and said it reminded her of David's painting The Death of Marat," he claims that his improvement in "personal beauty" was worth it. If you like reading Steingarten, this is a entertaining reading and, at least in our case, gave us plenty of reasons to pass on the course.