Best Food Writing 2006 [Paperback]

Holly Hughes (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Best Food Writing | Publication Date: September 28, 2006

Best Food Writing 2006 assembles, for its seventh year, the most exceptional writing from the past year's books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and Web sites. Included are the best writers on everything from celebrated chefs to the travails of the home cook, from food sourcing at the greenmarket to equipping one's kitchen, from erudite culinary history to food-inspired memoirs. Like past collections, the 2006 round-up will include pieces from food-writing stars such as Robb Walsh, Ruth Reichl, Thomas McNamee, John Thorne, Calvin Trillin, Amanda Hesser, Colman Andrews, Jason Epstein, and Jeffrey Steingarten. Opinionated, evocative, nostalgic, brash, thought-provoking, and sometimes just plain funny, it's a tasty sampler to dip into time and again, whether you're in the mood for caviar — or hot dogs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this excellent collection, Hughes brings together an eclectic mix of writing by restaurant reviewers, chefs, food writers and food lovers that succeeds in connecting distinctly different writing styles with a common thread of respect for and fascination with eating. Hughes separates the essays according to such themes as "The Food Chain," "Home Cooking," "Someone's in the Kitchen" and "The Restaurant Biz," and culls from publications as well-known as Bon Appétit to the lesser-known enRoute. The pieces range from technical ("The Blowtorch Gourmet" by Chris Johns) to intensely personal (Floyd Skloot's "Jambon Dreams"). In "Mama's House," Jason Sheehan cruises the streets of Denver in search of "Mama," a Ghanaian refugee who operates a kitchen out of her home, cooking at all times of the day for whoever shows up on her doorstep. Frank Bruni, the New York Times's dining critic, gets a look at how the other half lives in his humorous and humble "My Week as a Waiter." Other standout pieces include "A Mentor Named Misty" by Gabrielle Hamilton, and "The Egg Men" by Burkhard Bilger, which explores the cavernous kitchens of the Las Vegas hotel industry. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Good food writing stimulates all the senses. The reader smells, tastes, feels, sees, and even hears what printed words express. One kind of food writing evokes an experience, past or present. Memories rise from the depths of consciousness, bringing history to life. Another, more practical sort of food writing transforms the reader into a cook, summoning that reader out of the chair and into the kitchen to reproduce a recipe to share with family and friends. Thus, Jeff Gordinier recalls a meal at an expensive Manhattan sushi bar, where customers confront elemental tastes, not simply stuff their faces. From the standpoint of the cook, Julia Moskin documents two different approaches to macaroni and cheese. Of the forty essays in this anthology, all but two are written in first person, a sad commentary on the narrow, incurious, self-centered state of food journalism at a time when eating is one of the few cultural activities to which everyone lustily relates. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1 edition (September 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569242879
• ISBN-13: 978-1569242872
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars terrible reading, March 19, 2009

By 

Married to a Farmer Boy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Food Writing 2006 (Paperback)

I have read Best Food Writing 2005, which was excellent, and BFW 2007, which was terrible. and I finally got to read Best Food Writing 2006. Now I know what happened between 2005 and 2007, BFW 2006 happened - boring, spotty good articles, and even a missing recipe in "It Takes a Tough Man to Make Tender Tofu", p.118. The book starts ok, somewhat promising, but it dies in the middle. The second half of the book is teeth-grinding bad choices of food articles. Maybe, if they were mixed with other interesting articles, it would be more digestible, but it is just painful. I don't know what kind of tragedy happened to Holly Huges. Maybe she just got tired or got overwhelmed and can't see a good food article from bad. Maybe she needs a break. I definitely need a break from this series. I have invested a lot of my time in reading Best Food Writing and it has been a waste of my time mostly, except BFW 2005. So if you are exciting about reading all of them, skip 2006 and 2007. so you can still enjoy your food reading.

10 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrible beginning, tasty middle, November 10, 2006

By 

BostonJen "jensch" (Norton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best Food Writing 2006 (Paperback)

I like to read during my lunch hour at work, and usually choose something food-related to take me away from reality. I've read through my beloved Jeffrey Steingarten and Ruth Reichl's books, and thought this would be a good choice. Maybe you're thinking so too. Well, be advised it has a rough beginning. I nearly put this book away. I'm a meat-eater, but love the animal more than the food. I know where our meat comes from but really did not want to know how we force-feed geese for fois gras. I think I should accept this as education, and try to dismiss the trauma. The problem is that this story was preceded by one of a man killing nearly everything for an over-the-top meal. As I mentioned, I read over my precious lunch hour and these were not pleasant, escapism stories for me. The story about the man who ate raw tripe was funny, though, I think you'll agree. He was just as queasy as I was. So maybe enjoy on an empty stomach as I do now (you never know what you'll read). If you enjoy food writing as I do, I think you'll find this an overall good collection of wide-ranging culinary topics. Some are curiously included (blah, I could have done better) but most are worthy.