Man with a Pan [Paperback]

John Donohue (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2011

Look who’s making dinner! Twenty-one of our favorite writers and chefs expound upon the joys—and perils—of feeding their families.

Mario Batali’s kids gobble up monkfish liver and foie gras. Peter Kaminsky’s youngest daughter won’t eat anything at all. Mark Bittman reveals the four stages of learning to cook. Stephen King offers tips about what to cook when you don’t feel like cooking. And Jim Harrison shows how good food and wine trump expensive cars and houses.

This book celebrates those who toil behind the stove, trying to nourish and please. Their tales are accompanied by more than sixty family-tested recipes, time-saving tips, and cookbook recommendations, as well as New Yorker cartoons. Plus there are interviews with homestyle heroes from all across America—a fireman in Brooklyn, a football coach in Atlanta, and a bond trader in Los Angeles, among others.

What emerges is a book not just about food but about our changing families. It offers a newfound community for any man who proudly dons an apron and inspiration for those who have yet to pick up the spatula.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Inspirational, heartwarming tales of fathers in the kitchen…An engaging collection that should
inspire comfort for the man who cooks while his baby bangs on the pots and pans.”—Kirkus Reviews
(Kirkus Reviews )

“Throughout the book, what comes across strongest is the authors’ love for the joy of providing for
their families in a newly satisfying way. Mario Batali explains it perfectly: ‘The best reason to cook,
besides its being delicious and good for you, is that it will automatically make you look good. You’ll
look like a hero every day.’ It’s a wonder, in fact, that we let women in the kitchen at all.”—Saveur


(Saveur )

“Donohue piles his plate high with writers, chefs, artists, and businessmen to serve up this
multi-author work devoted to modern fathers everywhere…Readers won’t have any trouble
recognizing which pieces came from professional writers and which from stock-exchange gents, but
they will hungrily anticipate each man-with-a-pan’s “signature dish,” placed at the end of his chapter,
along with a recipe and a list of some of his favorite cookery books.”—Booklist
(Booklist )

"This well-organized compilation breaks free from its tidy package with adaptable, exciting recipes like Beer-Can Chicken, Peanut Butter Soup, Carbonara de Zucchine, and Mexican Chocolate Pie. It trades stereotypes for truisms and is all the more authentic for it. Highly recommended."—Library Journal
(Library Journal )

“It’s a really great rhyme, so what’s not to love? This isn’t one of those best-of collections filled with essays that have already been anthologized to death, but an intimate sprinkling of bites and bits put together by John Donohue a New Yorker editor, who says that he does almost all the cooking for his family.”—The Daily Beast (The Daily Beast )

“Man With a Pan: New Yorker editor John Donahoe offers this collection of essays—and yes, a few recipes—in which notable personalities from author Stephen King to chef Mario Batali open up about their foibles and triumphs in the kitchen. If nothing else, it reinforces the idea that learning how to make meals for loved ones is a wonderful way to provide for one’s family.”—The Smithsonian (online) (The Smithsonian )

“Fathers from chef Mario Batali to novelist Stephen King offer up tips for putting supper on the table.”—USA Today (USA Today )

“The book is a clever mixture of food stories from a variety of guys - including Stephen King (with a recipe for Pretty Good Cake, and no one dies) and Bittman himself.”—Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Inquirer )

“Thirty-four writers share their kitchen war stories and their recipes in this delightful anthology, perfect for any dad who's had to whip up a weekday supper.”—Newsday (Newsday )

“For the thinking man/chef, Man with a Pan is an honest collection of essays and recipes by fathers who cook.”—Daily Candy (Daily Candy )

“[A] delightful story collection by men whose professions (may) involve a lot of writing and who all love to cook.”—Epicurious
(Epicurious.com )

“Culinary anecdotes and stories from foodie fathers like chef Mario Batali.”—Entertainment Weekly (Entertainment Weekly )

“Donohue cleverly peppers the text with funny, sophisticated cartoons, making Man with a Pan uniquely smart and also very useful. A must-have for kitchen-friendly dads, this volume should reap rewards down the road for family appetites everywhere.”—BookPage (BookPage )

“A rangy, toothsome, timely…collection of essays by kitchen dads…Man With a Pan contains essays (and recipes) by marquee names including Stephen King — isn’t it time he set a scary novel in a Hardee’s? — and Mario Batali. But the best pieces here, the line-caught beauties, are by people you’ve probably barely heard of.”—New York Times (New York Times )

“Essays [that] are always entertaining... Man with a Pan can be enjoyed for its culinary essays, its recipes, or its cartoons, but taken as a whole is one of the food books of the year.”—Largehearted Boy (Largehearted Boy )

“An entertaining look at the widening world of dads-in-the-kitchen.”—Wall Street Journal (Wall Street Journal )

About the Author

John Donohue, an editor at the New Yorker, has been passionate about food all his life. He worked at a retail fish market when he was in college and was a short-order cook after graduation. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters. He blogs about the cooking he does for his family at www.stayatstovedad.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (May 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565129857
• ISBN-13: 978-1565129856
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SHEER DELIGHT! May 12, 2011

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

There's Stephen King whose "weapon of choice is the frying pan." As he says, "You can call it sauteing if it makes you feel better - but it's really just educated frying." It seems you can give him a fry pan, a hunk of butter, and he can cook anything. His tips on preparing an omelet are not only on target but as fascinating to read as his fiction. Mario Batali's kids are served monkfish liver and foie gras for breakfast - why not?

We thoroughly enjoyed every story from the dad who managed to cook with a toddler crawling around his ankles to the fellow who simply can't seem to get enough to eat and doesn't understand why everyone isn't the same way.

Each commentary is followed by a recipe or three. These range from the extremely simple to gourmet. Writer John Donohue is also a cartoonist of note and peppers his book with smile producing illustrations ( a favorite shows a torture chamber with the victim bound and at the mercy of a villainous looking fellow who says, "You can stop the pain, Marcel. Just show us how to crust a sea bass."

Don't miss "MAN WITH A PAN"!

- Gail Cooke

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Foodie Pick March 20, 2012

By pamelathompsonblogger

Format:Paperback

Man With a Pan
edited by John Donohue
Algonquin
2011
326 pages

This is a great gift for upcoming Father's Day or any man's/boy's birthday:

Humorous, touching, quirky, and comforting, Man With a Pan is a satisfying collection of twenty-one famous authors' and cooks' stories of their own cooking adventures for their families. Throw in Mario Batali and season well with some spicy Stephen King and you have a great simmering pot of literary and culinary "tales of fathers who cook for their families."

I truly enjoyed reading tales of woe and tales of human kindness. From Sean Wilsey, living in NYC when the World Trade Center was hit on 9/11, he says, "the first thing I did was boil a pot of pasta. I made ravioli at ten thirty in the morning....and began to grasp what was happening." Pasta, it seems, helps in a crisis, even one as huge as that horrific event in American history. Each father/cook shares his favorite recipes and what's on his culinary bookshelf as well. Foodies will be sure to devour their stories and want to try their hand at some of the recipes. An interesting recipe that sounds delicious from Wilsey is "Pistachio Pesto" which I wouldn't even consider a pesto since there's no basil. He substitutes Bottarga di muggine which is gray mullet roe available on the web or in Italian specialty stores.

From Daniel Moultroup, recipes include an easy recipe for pickles and how to can fresh tomato sauce; from Christopher Little--a delicious sounding Low Country Boil featuring sausage, crawfish, shrimp and beer. Stephen King gives directions on the proper care of cooking an omelet with only a few expletives and how to prepare fish in the microwave, yes...the microwave, and a wonderful recipe for chocolate cake he calls "Pretty Good Cake."

More than one father/cook stresses the importance of getting the kids to help prepare the meal, whatever it is. This helps them take ownership and they are more likely to try what's on the menu if they help in the prep. Mario Batali tells readers not to make any new ingredient a big production. Simply prepare it and put it on the table. If the kids ask what it is, you simply say, "pesto" or "cardoons." A cardoon is a little like an artichoke in appearance or a tall stalk of celery and Batali swears they are great sauteed and then hit with a bunch of fontina cheese. I mean, what isn't delicious with fontina?

Teens who love food and have an apetite for culinary adventure are sure to be fans of Man With a Pan. With more and more fathers involved in child-rearing and cooking, more boys may pursue careers in kitchens around the world. The Food Network has made cooking cool, and chefs like Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay--wildly popular chefs with restaurants and cookbooks and huge empires making serious bank--have teen fans--many of them male--who are watching and learning.

Highly, highly recommended grade 8-up. One or two mentions of sex but no details. Some language--especially Stephen King--you gotta love him.

See my other reviews at "Young Adult Books--What We're Reading Now" Pamela Thompson

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Men's tales from the heart...of the kitchen June 14, 2011

By Colleen Peterson

Format:Paperback

I have never described a book as being cute before, but this is a cute book. But, A Man with a Pan - Culinary Adentures of Fathers Who Cook for their Families, is a delightfully cute book. The longer essays by seasoned writers are interspersed with experiences from men "in the trenches", your average dad who works 9 to 5. Each is capped off by a foodie cartoon from the New Yorker, and many have divulged their best recipes along with their favorite food books. As a warning, if you are vegetarian or vegan, some of the descriptions might be a little off-putting, but not so much that they make you sick. Still, all of the stories are told with a real frankness about the desire to cook and the love of good foodstuffs. I would definitely recommend this book as quick, summertime read.

You could eat this book up in delightful snack sized bits or in four course meal style. These short essays are written by men who cook for their families; how they started to cook, why they like to cook, plus the troubles and tribulations of cooking for kids. It can really be read as an anthropology lesson on what it meant to become a man after the first wave of feminism in the 60's. The fact that this book was made at all is a testament to how men in the kitchen is still seen as gender-bending. But, thankfully, you see the generational differences in norms from the various men's stories; The older writers were likelier to talk about how their fathers never even entered the kitchen, while the younger ones often write that they learned to cook from their fathers. The men discovered they could 'find themselves' in the kitchen. They also discovered that they could make the lovers in their lives happy by taking on some of the chores in the house.

[It's akin to the finding that in cultures where the women are in charge or seen as equals (read: separation of household chores), men report feeling happier and having more sex. Think about it guys!]

Other stories are just great peaks into the life and mind of the daily grind of cooking for loved ones and yourself. Though, my favorite may not be one of the essays, per say, but the screenplay about the psychotic grill. You'll just have to read it, really.