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finkelitis's avatar

cookbook with memoirs?

Asked by finkelitis (1907points) February 28th, 2007
I would like a suggestion of a very particular kind of cookbook--the type that includes, with every recipe, a memory or anecdote. I'm interested in this more for the writing than for the food, but it's crucial that it involve recipes as well, and not just be, say, a chef's memoirs.
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13 Answers

nomtastic's avatar
the moosewood. or the silver palatte (i think.) the vegetarian epicure also.
JCS's avatar
It is more of a memoir of food with multiple recipes interspersed but Tender to the Bone by Ruth Reichl could fall into this category
finkelitis's avatar
moosewood isn't really what I'm looking for. Tender to the Bone looks closer (I think--just skimmed the first few pages online).
gailcalled's avatar
VEGAN W. A VENGEANCE, by Isa Moskowitz - she had her own public access cooking show; considers herself a "post-punker" and is very funny, breezy and Jewish to the core (w/o the chicken fat.) Book is filled w. anecdotes, mainly relating to her mother, grandmother and some other eccentric family members.
gailcalled's avatar
She has a sassy mouth and had me rofl.
occ's avatar
hmmm...what about the novel Like Water For Chocolate? It is a book about (among other things) cooking and love, set in Mexico, where the proseis interspersed with the recipes the main character uses. Not exactly a memoir, but a lovely book.
JCS's avatar
yum. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes (Paperback)by Shoba Narayan is all vegetarian but I can't vouch for the writing
mdlukas's avatar
You also might want to check out Madhur Jaffrey's new memoir, which is a memoir with recipes. Or any of Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid's amazing cookbook/travelouges.
kyen's avatar
I've always loved Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone. Jeffery Steingarten is another must for the writing.
lilakess's avatar
I've heard but haven't read Heartburn and there's a book I'm about to check out called, Cooking with my ex-boyfriends--I think...
gailcalled's avatar
Heartburn is very funny but the recipes are really dated and not tuned to the way in which most of us eat these days. Worth reading for the read, however.
lilakess's avatar
The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook, it's called, by Thisbe Nissen.
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