Our October/November 2015 Cook the Books Pick: "The Hundred-Foot Journey" by Richard C. Morais (+ Optional November Food 'N Flix Movie Tie-In)

I read all manner and genre of books but my favorites are the ones that sweep me away to different places, cultures, and foods. The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais doubly takes me away, combining the curries and spices of Mumbai with traditional French cooking in a small village in the French Alps. It took several recommendations and a viewing of the movie to push me to read this book--and to choose it for our Cook the Books: October/November selection--as nothing is more fun than having some wonderful friends along on a culinary reading journey. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey is the story of Hassan Haji and his family, who leave India after a family tragedy and end up settling in the small village of Lumière, France. They open a noisy family-style Indian restaurant just 100-feet across the road from the fancy and renowned restaurant of Madame Mallory. The 100-feet is at first a huge cultural divide between the Haji family and the prickly Mme. Mallory, but it inspires Hassan to learn French cooking before making his way to Paris to seek his success as a chef.

Another reason I chose The Hundred-Foot Journey was finding out that long-time CTB participant Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is hosting November's round of the monthly foodie movie event Food 'N Flix, and she selected the movie version of The Hundred-Foot Journey. (You can find her invite here.) We thought it would be a fun opportunity to pair up book and film for those of you interested in combining your book and movie worlds. 

Of course, it's strictly optional to do both events and how you do it (a combined post or two separate posts) is up to you!

If you want to join in the crossover fun:

• Read the book and watch the film, make a dish inspired by both, and post it by our joint event deadline of Monday, November 30th. 

• If you have one post for both the movie and book, email both Deb & Camilla (debinhawaii@gmail.com & constantmotioncamilla@gmail.com) with your entry and let us know that you are doing the combined event.

• Or, if you prefer to make two separate dishes and have a post for each event--one inspired by the book and one inspired by the movie, send each of your entries to the event's respective host. (Send your Cook the Books posts to debinhawaii@gmail.com & your Food 'N Flix posts to constantmotioncamilla@gmail.com) by Monday, November 30th. 

• I will be rounding up crossover posts and Cook the Books only posts here on the CTB site & Camilla will be rounding up crossover posts and Food 'N Flix only posts on her blog shortly after the joint deadline.

Again, watching the film and joining in Food 'N Flix is optional, so if you just want to read the book, that's perfectly OK--just send your CTB entry to me by Monday, November 30th.

Makes sense?! If not, feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post with your questions. 

We look forward to seeing what The Hundred-Foot Journey inspires you to create!

Aloha,

Deb
Kahakai Kitchen

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson Roundup

Welcome to the roundup of posts for the latest Cook the Books selection, Marcus Samuelsson's memoir, "Yes, Chef". It was a book about the extraordinary life that the restaurateur and chef has led so far and which has taken him to many countries around the world. I thought I would arrange the roundup of contributors' posts according to the different stages of Samuelsson's life that he described in this memoir.

I - Ethiopia

Our author began life in a small Ethiopian village. Sadly, his mother died from tuberculosis after trekking with him and his older sister to a hospital in the capital city of Adis Ababa.

Foodycat's Injera, Doro Wat and Lentil Salad made one Yes, Chef-inspired meal and then later she used some injera batter to make little injeras topped with creme fraiche and salmon roe with a nod to Samuelsson's Swedish heritage.

Deb at Eliot Eats, one of the four Cook the Books cohosts in the rotation, made several dishes for an Ethiopian Feast based on a restaurant meal they enjoyed on a recent trip to Denver.

Terri joins us for the first time here at Cook the Books, writing from her blog Our Good Life. Terri contributed an Omelet with Berbere seasoning, an Ethiopian seasoning blend that she used for the first time.

Vicki blogs at I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach and also joins Cook the Books for the first time. She made one of Samuelsson's recipes, a West African Chicken and Peanut Stew.

Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made a tasty dinner of Injera and Msriat.

II - Sweden

Marcus and his older sister were adopted by a Swedish couple and grew up in a much different culture, playing soccer, helping Mormor cook the weekly family meals and helping his Dad catch fish.

Simona of Briciole, a Cook the Books cohost, liked the passages about catching fish and made a batch of  Kokoda, an eye-catching marinated raw fish salad.

Blogging from Hawai'i at Kahakai Kitchen, another of my wonderful Cook the Books cohosts, Deb, drew on her own Swedish heritage to produce a luscious looking That's A Good Life Smorga - a smoked fish sandwich with homemade pickled cucumbers.

III - European Hotels and Restaurants

After studying food preparation in high school and at a local restaurant in Sweden, Samuelsson struck out for Austria and Switzerland and apprenticed in several fine dining establishments.

Amy's Cooking Adventures was inspired to tackle these lovely Classic French Croissants.

Cathy at Delaware Girl Eats paid homage to Chef Samuelsson's achievements in these highly demanding hotel and restaurant kitchens by making a Peach Nectarine Tart.

IV - Chasing the Flavors in New York City

Samuelsson moved to New York City and rose to be head chef at Aquavit, before setting out on his own with his Red Rooster Cafe.

Claudia of Honey in the Rock was inspired by Chef's description of exploring Puerto Rican cuisine, and whipped up a savory Pork Mofongo.

Over at my blog, The Crispy Cook, I layered on some more flavors to the Grilled Whole Chicken recipe that my husband and I have been tinkering with all barbeque season.

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla was inspired to chase some flavors around with her Bourbon-Pecan Pralines.

Please consider joining us as we read and cook from our next book selection, The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais. This next round will be hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen and entries are due November 30th. There is also a tie-in with Food n' Flix, to watch and cook from the film version of this book, starring the divine Ms. Helen Mirren.

Join us for our August/September Book Pick: Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson

I am pleased to officially announce our August/September Cook the Books reading selection: 

Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson. 

You may know Chef Marcus Samuelsson from hearing about his New York restaurant Red Rooster or his time as head chef at Aquavit or from appearances on Top Chef and Iron Chef, but I found the story of his youth tremendously interesting in his memoir, Yes, Chef. Marcus was born in rural Ethiopia and when he and his mother and older sister contracted tuberculosis in a 1973 epidemic, his mother walked 75 miles with her children to a hospital in the capital city of Addis Ababa, where she unfortunately succumbed to the disease. Marcus and his sister were adopted by a Swedish family, where he squeezed in Saturday cooking lessons with his grandmother, Helga, when he wasn't on the soccer field. A sports career didn't pan out, so he poured his extensive energies into cooking school and various apprenticeships at world-class hotels and restaurants around Europe.
Samuelsson is passionate about "chasing flavors", and experimenting with ingredients and cuisines from around the globe, and I learned a lot about layering taste and texture in dishes from this book. I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did.

As always, we welcome anyone to join our band of regulars in reading this great foodie book, blogging about it and cooking up something inspired from its pages. Just let me know that you have posted by our deadline below either by leaving a comment here or by sending me an email at: info@oldsaratogabooks dot coM. 
 
Submissions due: Wednesday, September 30, 2015

-Rachel, The Crispy Cook

The Wedding Bees: the roundup

It's time for the roundup of Cook the Books' Club June-July 2015 edition for which we read The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch.

For each contribution (given in order of publication), I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a brief quote from it — a teaser that will entice you to follow the link and read the details of the dish prepared and of how the reading inspired the activity in the  kitchen.

Now, please, make yourself comfortable, then follow me on a little literary / culinary journey to the queendom of bees.

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Rachel of The Crispy Cook was inspired to make Stuffed Cabbage

Rachel was flat out not prepared to like the book, "but then, this book snuck up on me... I had to make a Hungarian-inspired meal. One of the things I've always wanted to make was stuffed cabbage. Despite threads of Eastern European heritage that I carry in my DNA and have married into, no one in my family ever made galumpkes, though the word was thrown around now and then in relation to someone making a dumb decision; as in, 'Don't be such a galumpke!'."

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Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures  prepared Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

Amy loved this month’s book: "It is an absolutely perfect summer read! It’s a light, happy romance (without the smut) that leaves the reader happy and hopeful!... And as much as I wanted to choose a recipe with honey, I ended up making ice cream! It’s been on my bucket list for ages plus there’s a lovely ice cream scene in the book, full of quirky characters that had me laughing out loud!"

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Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made Baklava

Wendy read this book in one sitting, which tells you know just how much she loved it: "It is a love story with absolutely no smut included... The Wedding Bees is filled with tons of delicious food all described in mouthwatering detail.  The dish I decided to make was Baklava, a dish that showed up a few times in the story."

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Alicia of Foodycat made Honey Peanut Brittle

Alicia would not have cared for the novel under normal circumstances, but "reading it with the back-drop of a white supremacist trying to instigate a race war by murdering African Americans in Charleston meant that it was not the best of times... I think the shootings at Emanuel AME church have opened up so many conversations about race, heritage and different experiences of the deep South that I felt obliged to post. And I felt compelled to look for a recipe from African American food traditions."

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Claudia of Honey from Rock prepared Pineapple Honey Pavlova with Fresh Mint and Dark Chocolate

Claudia "loved how a little thoughtfulness, love and attention were so effective in working changes in those around [Sugar]. Actually, we could all benefit from application of the Sugar Wallace technique on those we encounter day to day... I love pavlovas, but had never made one with pineapple, or with mint and chocolate... They are also called Angel Pies, for good reason."

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Debra of Eliot's Eats prepared Honey Cookies

Although "about a little over halfway through the book" Debra "wanted to slap Sugar," she still "admired her sweet (pun intended) demeanor and eagerness to help all around her... I would classify The Wedding Bees as the perfect summer beach read. Of course I was inspired to make something sugary sweet and I thought these cookies fit the bill. Despite all the honey in these cookies, they are not as sweet as I imagined."

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Deb of Kahakai Kitchen prepared a Burnt Honey Bourbon Sour

Deb is "a fan of Sarah-Kate Lynch and her books--she has a talent for writing books that are filled with quirky, fun characters, a little bit of magic, and usually some pretty mouthwatering food mixed in, The Wedding Bees was no exception... I decided to make the drink and use some of the leftover burnt honey to make some Spicy-Sweet Honey-Glazed Pecans to nibble on while imbibing."

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Cathy of Delaware Girl Eats prepared Grilled Green Beans with Honey Vinaigrette 

When Cathy enjoys a book "it’s fun to read all the way to the end because you often find interesting post-scripts." The dish she shares "is not sweet really but made with a honey dressing. Folks don’t think about grilling green beans. But that charred flavor is really something, especially when you pair it with the dressing."

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Simona of briciole (your host) baked Cuchaule: Swiss saffron bread

Among the characters, Simona was particularly taken by "Ruby, a young woman robbed of their smile by anorexia. The few 1/8 of a rice cracker portions she doles out to herself daily made me want to bake bread for her, the quintessential nourishing food of the culinary tradition in which I grew up, and sweeten it lightly with honey. Its yellow color is a way of bringing a ray of light in Ruby's life."

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A great Thank you! to everyone who joined in this edition of Cook the Books.

I believe all the submissions I have received are presented in the roundup. However, mishaps are part of life, so if you find anything missing or in need of amendment anywhere in the roundup, please do let me know.

And now, I’ll turn things over to Rachel of The Crispy Cook for the August-September 2015 selection: Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson.

Arrivederci a presto!

A Feast of Four New Cook the Books Selections

Greetings Everyone! I hope you are all snuggling in with our current book selection, Sarah-Kate Lynch's The Wedding Bees and dreaming up something fun to cook and blog about. In the interim, I and my Cook the Books co-hosts have been rustling up some new book selections for us to read and cook from and I am pleased to announce the literary line up that will take us through the next year:

August/September 2015 Book Pick:

Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson (2012)
Hosted by Rachel, The Crispy Cook

You may know Chef Marcus Samuelsson from hearing about his New York restaurant Red Rooster or his time as head chef at Aquavit or from appearances on Top Chef and Iron Chef, but I found the story of his youth tremendously interesting in his memoir, Yes, Chef. Marcus was born in rural Ethiopia and when he and his mother and older sister contracted tuberculosis in a 1973 epidemic, his mother walked 75 miles with her children to a hospital in the capital city of Addis Ababa, where she unfortunately succumbed to the disease. Marcus and his sister were adopted by a Swedish family, where he squeezed in Saturday cooking lessons with his grandmother, Helga, when he wasn't on the soccer field. A sports career didn't pan out, so he poured his extensive energies into cooking school and various apprenticeships at world-class hotels and restaurants around Europe.

Samuelsson is passionate about "chasing flavors", and experimenting with ingredients and cuisines from around the globe, and I learned a lot about layering taste and texture in dishes from this book. I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did.

Submissions due: Wednesday, September 30, 2015

-Rachel

October/November 2015 Book Pick:

The Hundred-Foot Journey, by Richard C. Morais (2011)
Hosted by Deb, of Kahakai Kitchen

"People have recommended The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais as a great foodie read to me over the past few years but I just have not gotten around to reading it. I did see the film adaptation, and it made me want to delve into the book, so what better way to get it onto my reading list than to choose it as my October/November 2015 pick? From Bombay to Paris, this novel traces the culinary journey of Hassan Haji from his childhood above the humble family restaurant in India, to discovering French cooking in a small French village, and then finding celebrity as a chef in Paris. I think there will be plenty of delicious food to inspire us in this book.  

Special Note: The fabulous Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is hosting November's round of the monthly foodie movie event Food 'N Flix and has selected the movie version of The Hundred-Foot Journey. We will be pairing up and doing an optional tie-in of this book with Food ‘N Flix for those of you interested in both reading and viewing this charming story. Details to come!

Submissions due: Monday, Nov. 30, 2015

December 2015/January 2016 Book Pick:

A Place at the Table, by Susan Rebecca White
Hosted by Debra, of Eliot's Eats 

Do you like a good traditional pound cake recipe and inspired Southern cuisine?   Do you like a novel with Southern charm (and that Southern Gothic element as well)? What about a good quirky character ensemble?

Suzan Rebecca White's novel, A Place at the Table, combines all of these elements.   The novel's prologue describes a disturbing scene in Emancipation, North Carolina during the late 20s, but the bulk of the novel takes place during the 80s and 90s in Georgia, Connecticut and New York City.  How does a character from an era of lynchings and fear intertwine with more modern characters trying to make their way in NYC?  

I hope you enjoy finding out the answer and following the three main characters of Alice, Bobby, and Amelia as they all make their way to find peace with themselves and the world around them.

-Debra

Submissions due: Sunday, January 31, 2016

February/March 2015 Book Pick:

The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life, by Angelo Pellegrini (1948)
Hosted by Simona, of Briciole

What did America look like to an immigrant Italian child? How did this child applied his philosophy of life, rooted in Italy, to his new home in Seattle? In this book, the first he published, Pellegrini tells his story but also the way he sees life and in particular the way he approaches growing, making and eating food (and wine too).

Pellegrini’s prose is pleasant and precise (in his “day job” he was an English professor), with the affectionate intensity typical of Italians when they talk about things that are dear to them.

He was not part of any school of thought nor did he follow any fashion: with grace and kindness, he told things as he saw them and as he did them.

I hope you will enjoy this food writing classic.

Note: As this book was originally published decades ago, it exists in various editions, the most recent of which is part of Random House's Modern Library Food series(the ebook is also available). I have the 1984 edition, which has an afterword by MFK Fisher, describing the rather inauspicious beginning of her acquaintance, and later friendship, with Pellegrini. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Unprejudiced-Palate-Classic-Thoughts/dp/0812971558

-Simona

So there you have four mouthwatering books that we hope will tempt you to read, cook from and blog about in the months to come. Please join us at our virtual table with your submissions for the roundup every other month. New bloggers are always welcome. 

Gotta buzz off back to The Wedding Bees.....

-Rachel