Books about Culinary from Amazon.com

Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it." --Sumi Hahn.
Price: $8.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

It was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.

In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux—one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson—went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. The discoverer of the bottle was pop-band manager turned wine collector Hardy Rodenstock, who had a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose. Why wouldn’t Rodenstock reveal the exact location where it had been found? Was it part of a smuggled Nazi hoard? Or did his reticence conceal an even darker secret?

It would take more than two decades for those questions to be answered and involve a gallery of intriguing players—among them Michael Broadbent, the bicycle-riding British auctioneer who speaks of wines as if they are women and staked his reputation on the record-setting sale; Serena Sutcliffe, Broadbent’s elegant archrival, whose palate is covered by a hefty insurance policy; and Bill Koch, the extravagant Florida tycoon bent on exposing the truth about Rodenstock.

Pursuing the story from Monticello to London to Zurich to Munich and beyond, Benjamin Wallace also offers a mesmerizing history of wine, complete with vivid accounts of subterranean European laboratories where old vintages are dated and of Jefferson’s colorful, wine-soaked days in France, where he literally drank up the culture.

Suspenseful, witty, and thrillingly strange, The Billionaire’s Vinegar is the vintage tale of what could be the most elaborate con since the Hitler diaries. It is also the debut of an exceptionally powerful new voice in narrative non-fiction..
Price: $14.05 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What Dr. Andrew Weil is to herbal medicine and Dr. Phil is to TV psychology, Dr. John La Puma is to culinary medicine. At thirty-five, after eating too much of the Standard American Diet (SAD, isn’t it?), Dr. La Puma had become SADly paunchy So he decided to research the science of nutrition while also going to culinary school to learn to cook. He created the revolutionary new concept of “culinary medicine”–recipes, foods, and meals that prevent or control common health conditions without sacrificing restaurant-quality taste.

Now you can use culinary medicine too. In ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, you’ll learn to stock the medicine chest in your kitchen, use the doctor inside of you, and create dishes that give you lifesaving benefits and truly dazzling flavor.

Dr. La Puma serves up a step-by-step eight-week plan to motivate you and help you change your life. Try Saffron Scallop, Shrimp, and Chickpea Paella. Or Sicilian Pasta with Swiss Chard, Goat Cheese, and Basil. Or Spicy and Rich Sausage and Kidney Bean Chili.

Anyone who loves food, wants to have more energy, wants to reverse his or her family health history, or wants to know what to eat to get and stay healthy should read this book. Its recipes, meals, and menus can work within minutes of eating them.

Experience food you can’t wait to make, and grab the energy and good health to reclaim your life.



Doctor, What Do I Eat for That?

Your kitchen needs a ChefMD. Renowned physician and professionally trained chef Dr. John La Puma has just the person for the job–you! By following the ChefMD Eight-Week Plan, you’ll find your inner doctor and learn to eat for optimal health and maximum satisfaction. Use ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine to:

• Discover what and how to eat for forty health conditions–starting with Acne, ADD, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, and Asthma
• Build a “culinary medicine chest” with fifty amazing foods that prevent or control common health conditions without sacrificing restaurant-quality taste
• Conquer fatigue, supercharge your immune system, and look and feel younger
• Get the most nutrition from the foods you eat
• Find the ChefMD Essentials–thirty-six healthful and flavorful brand-name foods in boxes, bags, and cans
• Fall in love with food again with fifty easy ChefMD recipes–and no guilt!

Eat and cook the ChefMD way and discover just how delicious life can be!.
Price: $13.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Fresh, wholesome meals that give little mouths something to smile about...

In The Petit Appetit Cookbook, mother and professional cook Lisa Barnes offers a healthy all-organic alternative to commercially processed, preservative-filled foods to help create delicious menus, nurture adventurous palates, and begin a lifetime of positive eating habits for children.

Includes:

- 150+ easy, fast, child-tested recipes for ages 4 months to 4 years
- Mealtime solutions for even the most finicky eaters
- Nutritional information for each recipe
- Time-saving cooking techniques
- The right age- and stage-appropriate food choices
- How and when to introduce solids to baby's diet
- Adapting family recipes for young children
- Recognizing signs of food allergies and intolerances.
Price: $6.67 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This insightful book presents 350 recipes, along with expert reviews of valuable techniques, for creating mouthwatering breads and desserts The use of volume and metric measurements suit the needs of large operations, small bakeshops, home kitchens, and classrooms. More experienced bakers can find advanced tips about chocolate, confections, and wedding cakes, as well as the CIA's approach to plating and decorating desserts. Hundreds of full-color photographs introduce the baking ingredients, offer step-by-step guidance through important techniques, and feature finished products..
Price: $31.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

By now the remarkable convenience of the slow cooker is no secret. It keeps the kitchen cool on warm days and is inexpensive and durable At last, vegetarians and anyone looking for healthy meal alternatives can take full advantage of this amazing appliance..
Price: $7.46 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"The perfect cup of coffee is a mystifying thing. To many of my customers, the entire process seems like some sort of alchemy they dare not try at home...." Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left an unhappy marriage along with a job she loved: managing the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in New York's Greenwich Village. For a decade, she was happy raising her daughter in the quiet suburbs of New Jersey; but now that Joy is grown and gone, life has gotten way too quiet for Clare. With a little cajoling from Madame, the Blend's flamboyant, elderly owner, Clare agrees to return to her old job, and right from the start she gets one heck of a jolt. On her first morning back as Village Blend manager, Clare unlocks the front door to find her beautiful, young assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store, coffee grounds strewn everywhere. As Anabelle is rushed to the hospital, police arrive to investigate, but Detective Mike Quinn finds no sign of forced entry or foul play, and he deems it an accident. Clare disagrees; and after Quinn leaves, there are a few questions she just can't get out of her mind, like why was the trash bin in the wrong place? If this wasn't an accident, are her other baristas in danger? And are all NYPD detectives this attractive?.
Price: $3.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Murder takes the plunge in the sixth book in the Coffeehouse mystery series.

Clare Cosi's daughter, Joy, is interning-and falling- for a top New York chef when his kitchen turns cutthroat, and Joy becomes a murder suspect Clare knows she must catch the real killer-even if it lands her in the hottest water of her life..
Price: $3.26 [Notify me when price goes down.]