Gabrielle Hamilton: Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

From The New York Times: Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef of the wildly popular and highly influential restaurant Prune on East First Street in Manhattan's East Village, where long lines are the norm, especially at brunch time. Ms. Hamilton opened Prune in 1999, she once said, "to cook for my neighbors." But her success attracted food lovers from all over the borough, the city and the state, as well as other chefs and food writers, "enchanted," as Frank Bruni wrote in The New York Times in 2005, "by the lack of pretense in Ms. Hamilton's preparations, by the simplicity and gusto of what she served: sardines on Triscuits, warm monkfish liver on toast, pâté sandwiches and deviled eggs." Prune, Mr. Bruni continued, "quickly morphed from adorable notion into formidable influence, a small restaurant with a large footprint. The proof was in the emulation, in the other restaurants that rightly began to accord homey cooking as much honor as haute cuisine: not a novel ethic, but one that Ms. Hamilton gave fresh currency."





Hamilton wrote "A Rogue Chef Tells All: Debunking the myths about life in a restaurant kitchen" for Food & Wine magazine, in which she laments: But I have seen chefs screaming in the kitchen, and I've even read that these fits, inordinately rageful and intent on humiliation, are all part of the great familial bond of life in a restaurant. When I hear about a chef reaming out his staff, I can only think that he could use a good day off. If his menu looks exactly like a dozen others in town, all $40 foie gras and wild baby whatever, and his tables are empty, he needs to get out and see the eager people queuing up for a Nathan's frank and let that spark his imagination. And his staff and his customers need to let him do this.

Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

In December, 2010, the author was a guest on NPR program, Talk of the Nation. There, the author said this about corking champagne: Well, I was in another part of the experiment because Dick's French friends said that the best way to keep a semi-finished bottle of Champagne fresh was to put a silver spoon in the neck. And we thought that putting a cork in the neck would clearly do a much better job of keeping the carbon dioxide in the bottle. So we did a blind tasting. We got some friends together who were interested in this kind of science and did a blind tasting. Some bottles, we opened freshly. Some bottles, we left open overnight. Some bottles, we emptied partway and then put a cork in the neck and let that sit overnight. And we were surprised to find with American sparkling wines, anyway, that some of the bottles that were left open or with a spoon in the neck actually did taste better than bottles that had been recorked. The podcast of that Talk of the Nation episode is posted below.

Gary Taubes: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It

In "Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?", Gary Taubes wrote this, for the New York Times:

Once upon a time, women took estrogen only to relieve the hot flashes, sweating, vaginal dryness and the other discomforting symptoms of menopause. In the late 1960s, thanks in part to the efforts of Robert Wilson, a Brooklyn gynecologist, and his 1966 best seller, “Feminine Forever,” this began to change, and estrogen therapy evolved into a long-term remedy for the chronic ills of aging. Menopause, Wilson argued, was not a natural age-related condition; it was an illness, akin to diabetes or kidney failure, and one that could be treated by taking estrogen to replace the hormones that a woman’s ovaries secreted in ever diminishing amounts. With this argument estrogen evolved into hormone-replacement therapy, or H.R.T., as it came to be called, and became one of the most popular prescription drug treatments in America.

Read Taubes' NYT piece here. The author was also a guest of NPR's Talk of the Nation in 2007. The podcast of that show is posted/embedded below. See also: Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage), Nobel Dreams: Power, Deceit and the Ultimate Experiment, Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion, The Diet Delusion: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Loss and Disease.

Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food

For most cooks, food is a question of how. How many teaspoons? How many pounds? How many degrees? For geeks, food is fundamentally a question of why. Instead of "How do I brine a turkey?" it's "Why does osmosis push moisture back into the bird?" Instead of "How should I brown these potatoes?" it's "Why does a Maillard reaction make food tasty?" Food geek Jeff Porter delves into these questions and more in his book "Cooking for Geeks" (O'Reilly, $34.99), an excellent walk through the science of food and the basic techniques to turn that knowledge into flavor. Now, to be sure, Harold McGee (who appears in an interview in the book) traveled down the science portion of this path already in his seminal "On Food and Cooking." But Porter taps into the trend of food experimentation and gadgetry that has invaded our kitchens. "Overly intellectual. Obsessed with details. Going beyond the point where a mainstream user would stop," Porter writes. "A geek is anyone who dwells with some obsession on why something works and how to make that something better. And it's become a badge of honor to be a geek."

That's out of The Herald, in Monterey, California. You can find the rest of that article here.

'Jamie's America' Found Through Food And Families from NPR Podcast Talk of the Nation

When British chef Jamie Oliver took a road trip in search of quintessential American food, his biggest discovery was that there was no such thing. He visited American families to gather a diverse and delicious group of recipes that make up his new book, Jamie's America.

Download the podcast here. See also: Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals, Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, Jamie's 30-Minute Meals

Some Books Considered - Program 057 from TPR: Some Books Considered

October 11, 2010 · Dan Skinner talks with author and cooking teacher Nancie McDermott about Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan. McDermott talks about the sweet, rich history behind the deserts, including George Washington Carver’s recipe for sweet potato pie. The book contains 60 recipes for both old-school and new-fangled pies for bakers of all skill levels. More information is available at nanciemcdermott.com.

Listen to the podcast here.

Recipes by Melissa Clark from Lopate - Underreported by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Melissa Clark shares some of her appetizing recipes with us, from her new book: In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. Note: These recipes are from In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark. Copyright © 2010 Melissa Clark, Inc. To be published in September, 2010 by Hyperion. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved.

Listen to the show here.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Lopate - Underreported by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Wine expert Harry Karis talks about the French wine region: Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The Chateauneuf-du-Pape Wine Book gives detailed information on over 200 winemakers, and an in-depth look at climate, soil, grapes, and winemaking.

Download the podcast here. See also: Exploring Wine: The Culinary Institute of America's Guide to Wines of the World, The Wine Bible, The Little Black Journal of Wine: A Wine Lover's Record Keeper (Little Black Books) (Guided Journal Series), Wine Tasting Notebook

Charlie Rose's Wednesday, July 14, 2010 conversation with Chef Rick Bayless

CHARLIE ROSE: Rick Bayless is here. In 1987 after six years of
research in kitchens across Mexico he published his first cookbook. It was
called "Authentic Mexican." "New York Times" food critic Craig Claiborne
called it at that time "The greatest contribution to the Mexican table
imaginable."

That same year Bayless opened his first restaurant that has become one
of America’s most famous Mexican eateries. Today he commands a food empire
that includes three Chicago restaurants, a television series, seven cook
books, a line of food products, and now a new radio series. Here is a look
at his PBS program, "Mexico, One Plate at a Time."

Read the full transcript here. See the full conversation, interview here. See also: Mexican Everyday (Recipes Featured on Season 4 of the PBS-TV series "Mexico One Plate at a Time"), Fiesta at Rick's: Fabulous Food for Great Times with Friends, Mexico One Plate At A Time

Charlie Rose's Tuesday, June 22, 2010 greenroom conversation with Frank Bruni - Food, Books

You can view the full interview here. There isn't a transcript for this interview. Be sure to check these links out as well: Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite, Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush, Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite, Italy: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times, A Gospel of Shame: Children, Sexual Abuse, and the Catholic Church, Charlie Rose - Discussion about Obama's media strategy / Frank Bruni (September 18, 2009), Charlie Rose - Discussion about Obama's media strategy / Frank Bruni (September 18, 2009)

Charlie Rose's Monday, June 14, 2010 conversation with Mario Batali

CHARLIE ROSE: Mario Batali is here. In 1993 he borrowed, $20,000
from three friends to open Babbo, a small Italian eatery in downtown
Manhattan. Today his empire consists of more than a dozen restaurants in
New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, including his flagship establishment
Babbo.

He’s also the author of eight cookbooks that offer a unique take on
traditional Italian cuisine. His latest is called "Molto Gusto -- Easy
Italian Cooking." I am pleased to have him back at this table. What is
this about? And I know we want to talk about other things?

MARIO BATALI: That is about American’s overreliance on protein as
part of the way they eat.

Check this interview out here, in its entirety. You can also view and read the full transcript here. See also: Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home, The Babbo Cookbook, Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages, Spain...A Culinary Road Trip

Book review: Jamie's Ministry Of Food: Anyone Can Learn To...‎ Scotsman - Oct 6, 2008

LAST WEEK, the telly chefs began their annual assault on the Christmas best-seller charts. Rick Stein, Gary Rhodes and Nigella Lawson all launched their latest recipe books – but the one to watch remains Jamie Oliver, because he at least is doing something different to the rest. Naturally, it ties into a new TV show. In 2006, the Jamie's School Dinners campaign to improve the school meals system resulted in angry parents in Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, supplying their children with contraband burgers and chips over the school wall. "Children are locked up like caged animals inside there, starving all day," complained one mum, Julie Critchlow, furiously blaming Jamie Oliver. "It's him that started it."

Check the full story out here.

01-15-07: The Wine and Food Lover's Diet and Stuff On My Cat: The Book from Chronicle Books podcast

1-15-07 In this episode, we talk to Philip Tirman, M.D. about his new book, The Wine and Food Lover's Diet. Tirman, a sports doctor, turned his attention to nutrition when he was fighting his own battle to lose weight. He's written a diet that he says will appeal to foodies- and allows you to have a glass of wine with dinner. Our Worst-Case Scenario this week helps you deal with that nightmare customer, and finally we talk to Mario Garza about the Stuff on my Cat phenomenon.

Download the podcast here. See also: Exploring Wine: The Culinary Institute of America's Guide to Wines of the World, The Little Black Journal of Wine: A Wine Lover's Record Keeper (Little Black Books) (Guided Journal Series), World Atlas of Wine