BOOKS & MEDIA

Do cookbooks work?

I didn’t realise there was such a large difference between American cookbooks and European ones. According to Slate in its review of G, Americans don’t have scales so I presume they measure everything by volume. It doesn’t really matter as most cookbooks apparently don’t work, as Laura Shapiro says:

“Cookbook writers are different from you and me, even the ones who look oh so domestic on their book covers. They’re professionals, which means they’re in the habit of working efficiently. Speed is part of their batterie de cuisine, just like sharp knives. And while they’re constantly telling you the best way to chop an onion, or why you should always keep canned tomatoes around, the ones who write 15-minute recipes are never going to tell you the single most crucial thing about quick cooking, which is that 15-minute recipes are irrelevant.”

I must admit I have more than a few books with recipes that don’t work and Ramsay’s is one of them.

New model for cookbook publishers

The internet has changed publishing for ever. even if you are addicted to paper and binding, you can now produce your book on demand with very little effort at all. Michael Ruhlman, whose Elements of Cooking was recently published in Australia, looks at some of the new models adopted with Alinea in chicago taking a sensible DIY approach:

“Nick Kokonas, the restaurateur who, with Grant Achatz has created the restaurant Alinea in Chicago (pictured above), was unhappy with the conventional deals publishers were offering Grant for his cookbook. Kokonas figured, given that they have an in-house designer and photographer, they could do it themselves. They have hired several writers to handle various aspects of the text (myself included—I’m doing the intro and I also comment on the essays Nick and Grant are writing). The Alinea Cookbook is scheduled for a fall publication, and they are creating an intriguing website with demos and recipes and techinques to go with it.”

He also notes the new model adopted by Harper Collins in cutting the advance but increasing the payment per copy sold:

“Without these advances, I’d wouldn’t have been able to write the book. But that means I’ll have to sell a lot of copies in order for the book to earn out—that is, make back that advance at about $3 per book.

What this new group intends to do is to get rid of the advance but give the author a greater share of the profits.”

THE POLITICS OF FOOD

Bad food is better than bad sex

It is difficult to unravel the link between food and sex. If it didn’t lead to sex, I probably never would have botehred becoming a good cook or an exprt at eating out while in London. In The Observer Kathryn Flett and Alex James discuss “the joys of nude bubble and squeak, desert sex and why Last Tango in Paris should be full-fat only”.

James:

“Food and sex are close cousins. Our enjoyment of both depends upon who else comes to the table. Food shopping for one is more depressing than masturbation.”

Flett:

“Well, bad food is often worse than bad sex because women are quite often primed for bad sex but remain terribly disappointed by a crappy meal. And bad food cooked for you by the person who is also responsible for the bad sex is, probably, inevitable.

Good food, meanwhile, is obviously much better than bad sex, though good food is sometimes even better than good sex, especially while pregnant. And of course it goes without saying, though I shall say it anyway, that fabulous sex is better than almost everything… except great food cooked for you by someone with whom there is also the prospect of having fabulous sex.”

If you had the chance, would you punch chef Anthony Bourdain?

Real chefs cook in groundnut (peanut) oil. Bubbly chef Rachael Ray – indeed her entire family – cook in olive oil. This alone makes me suspect her. She ducks and dives and doesn’t really answer the questiions, including the one above, in Time:

“If you were stranded on an island but miraculously it had a refrigerator, what 10 ingredients could you absolutely not do without? Matthew LeMay PHILADELPHIA

I’d have to have olive oil, garlic, pasta, canned fish–anchovies if I had to pick just one–cheese. If my husband were on the island with me, then I have to have salami. I’ve got to have some prosecco and some other wine, and you need your roughage, so escarole–and I have to have some beans, so I’d pick white.”

Sorry about this one.

Cronyism in Farmers’ Markets while Slow Food only survives thanks to subs

The food world is a small one in Australia, tiny in Melbourne. The same goes for the food media. In these cramped conditions it is not difficult for cronyism to develop and you might look carefully when you visit the farmers’ market this weekend. I for one wonder why Phillipa’s a company that makes excellent bread is there. Her products are made in a factory and are available in over 400 outlets. It’s actually quite a large company keeping out smaller producers who need the trade. This issue will no doubt become as big as Phillipa’s.

As Stickfingers at Deep Dish Dreams said, attracting some controversial comments on the local Slow movement:

“Then the organisers of the market decide that the vendor has grown too big for the circuit and tell them that they are not to return. What does that farmer do when removed from their customers? In one case they have gone bust, have had to liquidate their assets and lay off staff at the farm. They have no other outlet for their product.
Perhaps I’m a soft touch, but once again I find myself questioning the qualifications of the people who make the decisions pertaining to the running of the markets.”

In comments:

“Your story about the markets is a great example of what goes on in slow as well. You not quiet “slow enough” kinda crap. Which is very funny really. She who must be admired and is also dull can be tiresome but power will corrupt.
The politics are hard “you are either with us or against us” type of deal. Are you willing to risk your business’s reputation (income) by rocking the boat? I was not. If you are not in the inner royal circle it can be very confusing and even then it is hard, you never really know what is going on…
The fundamentals of slow in Australia are flawed, 35% of the subscription fee go to Italy ( a lot of that used to end up as “Admin fees” (but by good they were good dinners) and free subscriptions to the “right kinda people” I am very sure that doesn’t happen now of course. One of the previous el presidents was sacked by the state government because they could not work with her highness. The whole slow food festival is dead with out Government funding. “Culinary welfare for the well fed” very odd really when you think about it.”

Ben Shewry showcased

Making a connection with memories…

He’s probably the hottest chef in Melbourne right now. When Michel Roux recently visited eating at Attica in suburban Ripponlea was a stand out for him. Gourmet Traveller lauded New Zealander Ben Shewry as best new talent. And when I had to decide where to eat for my birthday last year I ate at Attica, as did my good friend the Martini Monster. John Lethlean writing in Gourmet Traveller:

” …we ask him how at the age of 30 his food is developing, having wowed fans at Melbourne’s Attica over the past two-and-a-half years with highly original dishes reflecting diverse interests and influences…

Shewry says: “I know it sounds all New Age and pathetic,” he says, “but I’m really trying to make it more emotional. I’m starting to try and make a connection with memories. Not just making a dish visually appealing and with great flavours, but also trying to evoke other emotions.”

GT also has an exclusive video of Shewry here.

Attica, 74 Glen Eira Rd, Ripponlea, Vic, (03) 9530 0111