As this weekend's weather proves, things are already starting to get unbearably hot. With the summer season come roughly 1,000 reading lists, including several focused on cookbooks.
According to both NPR and the New York Time's list, the majority of cookbooks this summer will focus on basics, comfort food and growing your own food. Gone are the hedonistic days of celebrity chefs and expensive ingredients. Bang for your buck is in.
Take Preserved, which focuses on the old-fashioned art of preserves and canning. T. Susan Chang at NPR says she's read "at least six new books on canning and preserving, and Preserved is
the one that sold me. It was the fruit leather recipe -- I had no idea I
could make fruit leather at home, nor that it could be so easy."
The Times recommends a different book on the same subject Well Preserved: Techniques for putting up small batches of seasonal food, saying it "demystifies canning for those who didn't grow up at their grandmother's
elbow, front-loading the book with how-to's accompanied by answers to
commonly asked questions." The Times also says these recipes are easy to follow.
OK, I get it. You don't want canning -- you just want something simple to prepare after a day at the beach.
As an upscale version of Rachael Ray (that's meant as a compliment) the Times suggests British writer and mom Diana Henry's Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless meals every day, specifically recommending the roast potatoes with chorizo. But some
of the other dishes are misses. "Henry is either effortless to the
point of carelessness, or her metric conversion software is on the
fritz."
Several books turn up on both lists, including the Greek how-to Vefa's Kitchen; Tacos, which teaches the art of taco trucks; and the sizzling N'awlins Real Cajun: Rustic home cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana, which NPR praises for its amazing sausage recipes. Adds New York Times
writer Christine Muhlke, "before I knew it, I was frying up spicy
hush puppies and serving chicken and sausage jambalaya while drinking
Abita beer." That, to me, is the perfect summer night.
If you still need something else to read -- cookbooks or otherwise -- check out this round-up of more than 25 "must read" summer lists.
Image via Flickr: CmcGouth
Comments (0)