But Bittman’s latest book, “Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2021; $16,80 Amazon price) isn’t a doorstopper tome. It doesn’t even have recipes. But what it lacks in size—though it is over 300 pages–it more than makes up for as a call to arms about what’s wrong with our food system and how dangerous it is to both our health and also our planet.
“Big Ag has a huge role in greenhouse gas emissions, even rivaling those of the oil and gas companies,” says Bittman talking about the impact of emissions on global warming. “The top five meat and dairy companies combine to produce more emissions than ExxonMobil, and the top twenty have a combined carbon footprint the size of Germany. Tyson Foods, the second-largest meat company in the world, produces twice as much greenhouse gas as all of Ireland.”
Bittman, who recently founded The Bittman Project with the ultimate goal of creating a road map that leads us to a healthier food system, says he can envision a positive way for us to go forward. But first he explains how we got to where we are and how deadly it is.
Junk food, born in America, has spread throughout the world and though Bittman, who has written 30 cookbooks, says he doesn’t typically like to use statistics, he offers some whoppers. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries where more people die of diseases linked to being overweight than ones linked to being underweight.
“The global number of people living with diabetes had quadrupled since 1980, and since 1990 deaths from diabetes-caused chronic kidney disease have doubled,” he writes, adding that both global sugar consumption and obesity have nearly tripled in the past half-century.
American fast food chains increased their international sales by 30% from 2011 to 2016 and the international fast-food market is expected to approach $700 billion dollars by 2022.
In all, it sounds depressing, particularly when you realize that as far back as the early 1900s, Upton Sinclair, author of “The Jungle,” was also warning about our unhealthy food system.
It’s essential, says Bittman, that we have a just food system, one ensuring everyone has access to nourishing, wholesome, sustainable, and affordable food.
He points to the President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and the benefits it still provides us today including Social Security. We can do the same with food, he says.
“Food needs to be grown in a way that’s sustainable and protects the land,” says Bittman. “And that the industries that involve food provide more dignified and well-paying jobs in food and farming.”
At first, the story she was going to tell was that of Beatrice Chanler, a success London actress with a troubled marriage who received the Legion of Honor for her philanthropic service during World War. But then Dray discovered a packet of love letters that were not between Chanler and her husband and she knew she would have to start all over.
Ultimately, Dray would write the stories of two more women whose connection through the centuries was the French country chateau of the Marquis de La Fayette, one of the heroes of the American Revolution. And each time, she would set that book aside as more details emerged.
“Chateau is set in three time periods–during the French Revolution, World War One, and World War Two,” says Dray whose previous books include “My Dear Hamilton,”
In each period, there was an extraordinary woman who rose to the occasion. The first was Adrienne Lafayette, the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. More than a spouse, she was her husband’s political partner and, like him, faced the danger of the guillotine during the French Revolution. The third woman is Marthe Simone, a teacher and writer, who at first wanted to avoid any activities that could put her at risk from the Nazis during World War II but then becomes an active participant in helping hide Jewish children at the chateau.
“She, like the other two women, deserved to have her own book,” says Dray. “But then I saw the importance of telling all their stories in one novel. I was a government major in college and then I went to law school, but I was really only a lawyer for ten minutes. But I’ve always been interested in government as people, this story is about the rise of the republic and the continued survival of the public.”
Writing about the Chateau Lafayette became so much a part of Dray’s every day living that when she saw the castle for the first time she was so nervous she had to have her husband hold the camera.
“All the video I took is very shaky,” she says.
Indeed, she becomes so immersed in her stories that when she was writing “America’s First Daughter,” she found herself speaking with a southern accent. That passion is evident in one of the take-aways she hopes readers get from reading The Women of Chateau Lafayette.
“The Franco-American alliance saved this country three times over,” says Dray. “This book is relevant to those in powdered wigs and those today.”
Virtual event with Stephanie Dray.
When: April 3 at noon
What: Barbara’s Bookstore with Stephanie Dray in virtual conversation with Lauren Margolin “The Good Book Fairy” blogger.
<p value="<amp-fit-text layout="fixed-height" min-font-size="6" max-font-size="72" height="80">FYI: The event is free. All registrants receive 10% off book purchase with code ‘EVENT’FYI: The event is free. All registrants receive 10% off book purchase with code ‘EVENT’
Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of American Book Fest said this year’s contest yielded over 2,000 entries from mainstream and independent publishers. These were then narrowed down to over 400 winners and finalists in 90 categories.
“The 2020 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States,” says Keen about the awards, now in their 18th year. Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: HarperCollins, Penguin/Random House, John Wiley and Sons, Routledge/Taylor and Francis, Forge, Hay House, Sounds True, Llewellyn Worldwide, NYU Press, Oxford University Press, John Hopkins University Press, The White House Historical Association and hundreds of Independent Houses contribute to this year’s outstanding competition.
“Our success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise,” says Keen.
American Book Fest is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community.
Best New Non-Fiction The Book of Help: A Memoir of Remedies by Megan Griswold Rodale Books/Penguin Random House
Biography T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer by David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito Independent Institute
Business: Careers TIP: A Simple Strategy to Inspire High Performance and Lasting Success by Dave Gordon John Wiley and Sons
Business: Communications/Public Relations The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can’t Stop Saying It by Cary Cooper & Sean O’Meara Kogan Page
Business: Marketing & Advertising The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI by Carlos Gil Kogan Page
Business: Motivational Unlock!: 7 Steps to Transform Your Career and Realize Your Leadership Potential by Abhijeet Khadikar Vicara Books
Business: Personal Finance/Investing Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States: Leveraging Reverse Mortgages, Delaying Social Security, and Exploring Continuous Work by Chia-Li Chien, PhD, CFP®, PMP® Palgrave Pivot
Business: Real Estate Market Forces: Strategic Trends Impacting Senior Living Providers by Jill J. Johnson Johnson Consulting Services
Business: Reference The Non-Obvious Guide to Virtual Meetings and Remote Work (Non-Obvious Guides) by Rohit Bhargava IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Sales The Visual Sale: How to Use Video to Explode Sales, Drive Marketing, and Grow Your Business in a Virtual World by Marcus Sheridan IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Technology Amazon Management System: The Ultimate Digital Business Engine That Creates Extraordinary Value for Both Customers and Shareholders by Ram Charan and Julia Yang IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Writing/Publishing Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves: Criteria-Driven Strategies for More Effective Fiction by Larry Brooks Writer’s Digest Books (a division of Penguin Random House)
Children’s Educational Galileo! Galileo! by Holly Trechter and Jane Donovan Sky Candle Press
Children’s Fiction Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets by Sherrill Joseph Acorn Publishing
Children’s Religious That Grand Christmas Day! by Jill Roman Lord, illustrated by Alessia Trunfio Worthy Kids
College Guides Diversity At College: Real Stories of Students Conquering Bias and Making Higher Education More Inclusive by James Stellar, Chrisel Martinez, Branden Eggan, Chloe Skye Weiser, Benny Poy, Rachel Eagar, Marc Cohen, and Agata Buras IdeaPress Publishing
Cookbooks: General Recipes from the President’s Ranch: Food People Like to Eat by Matthew Wendel The White House Historical Association
Cookbooks: International Cooking with Marika: Clean Cuisine from an Estonian Farm by Marika Blossfeldt Delicious Nutrition
Cookbooks: Regional The Perfect Persimmon: History, Recipes, and More by Michelle Medlock Adams Red Lightning
BooksCurrent Events In All Fairness: Equality, Liberty, and the Quest for Human Dignity, edited by Robert M. Whaples, Michael C. Munger and Christopher J. Coyne Independent Institute
Education/Academic The EQ Intervention: Shaping a Self-Aware Generation Through Social and Emotional Learning by Adam L. Saenz, PhD Greenleaf Book Group
Fiction: Young Adult The Return of the Dragon Queen by Farah Oomerbhoy Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Health: Addiction & Recovery Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation by Marilea C. Rabasa She Writes Press
Health: Aging/50+ EIGHTSOMETHINGS: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness by Katharine Esty, PhD Skyhorse Publishing
Health: Alternative Medicine Have a Peak at This: Synergize Your Body’s Clock Towards a Highly Productive You by Said Hasyim Self-Published
Health: Cancer All Of Us Warriors: Cancer Stories of Survival and Loss by Rebecca Whitehead Munn She Writes Press
Health: Death & Dying Aftermath: Picking Up the Pieces After a Suicide by Gary Roe Healing Resources Publishing
Health: Diet & Exercise Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Breakthrough Dietary Lifestyle to Treat Root Causes of Overeating, Overweight and Obesity by Deborah Kesten, MPH and Larry Scherwitz, PhD White River Press
Health: General True Wellness for Your Gut: Combine the best of Western and Eastern medicine for optimal digestive and metabolic health by Catherine Kurosu, MD, L.Ac. and Aihan Kuhn, CMD, OBT YMAA Publication Center
Health: Medical Reference The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook: Your Guide for Everything from Hangovers to Homesickness by Jill Grimes, MD Skyhorse Publishing
Health: Psychology/Mental Health The Big Bliss Blueprint: 100 Little Thoughts to Build Positive Life Changes by Shell Phelps Positive Streak Publishing,
LLCHealth: Women’s Health The Book of Help: A Memoir of Remedies by Megan Griswold Rodale Books/Penguin Random House
History: General Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France: Tyranny and Resistance by Stephen P. Halbrook Independent Institute
History: Military 40 Thieves on Saipan The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII’s Bloodiest Battles by Joseph Tachovsky with Cynthia Kraack Regnery History
History: United States Liberty in Peril: Democracy and Power in American History by Randall G. Holcombe Independent Institute
Home & Garden My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation by Donald M. Rattner Skyhorse Publishing
Humor Struggle Bus: The Van. The Myth. The Legend. by Josh Wood Lucid Books
Law Banned: Immigration Enforcement in the Time of Trump by Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia NYU Press
LGBTQ: Non-Fiction Our Gay History in 50 States by Zaylore Stout Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Multicultural Non-Fiction Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles: Boldly Claiming the Facets of an Extraordinary Life by Nesha Pai SPARK
PublicationsNarrative: Non-Fiction Sola: One Woman’s Journey Alone Across South America by Amy Field WanderWomyn Publishing
New Age: Non-Fiction Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness by Keri Mangis Curiosa Publishing, LLC
Novelty & Gift Book The Official White House Christmas Ornament: Collected Stories of a Holiday Tradition by Marcia Anderson and Kristen Hunter Mason The White House Historical Association
Parenting & Family Why Will No One Play with Me? The Play Better Plan to Help Children of All Ages Make Friends and Thrive by Caroline Maguire, PCC, M.Ed. with Teresa Barker Grand Central
Photography Beautiful Living: Cooking the Cal-a-Vie Health Spa Way by Terri Havens Cal-a-Vie Health Spa
Poetry Five Oceans in a Teaspoon, poems by Dennis J. Bernstein, visuals by Warren Lehrer Paper Crown Press
Religion: Christian Inspirational Extraordinary Hospitality for Ordinary Christians: A Radical Approach to Preparing Your Heart & Home for Gospel-Centered Community by Victoria Duerstock Good Books
Religion: Christianity Come Fill This Place: A Journey of Prayer by Stacy Dietz KP Publishing Company
Religion: Eastern Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam by A. Helwa Naulit Publishing House
Religion: General Esoterism as Principle and as Way: A New Translation with Selected Letters by Frithjof Schuon World Wisdom
Science Bliss Brain: The Neuroscience of Rewiring Your Brain for Resilience, Creativity and Joy by Dawson Church Hay House
Self-Help: General Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done by Charlie Gilkey Sounds True
Self-Help: Relationships The Remarriage Manual: How to Make Everything Work Better the Second Time Around by Terry Gaspard Sounds True
Social Change I Am Not Your Enemy: Stories to Transform a Divided World by Michael T. McRay Herald Press
Spirituality: General The Universe Is Talking to You: Tap Into Signs and Synchronicity to Reveal Magical Moments Every Day by Tammy Mastroberte Llewellyn Worldwide
Spirituality: Inspirational Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution by Jennie Lee Sounds
TrueSports The Martial Arts of Vietnam: An Overview of History and Styles by Augustus John Roe YMAA Publication Center
Travel: Guides & Essays Exploring Wine Regions — Bordeaux France: Discover Wine, Food, Castles, and The French Way of Life by Michael C. Higgins, PhD International Exploration Society
Women’s Issues Muslim Women Are Everything: Stereotype-Shattering Stories of Courage, Inspiration, and Adventure by Seema Yasmin, illustrated by Fahmida Azim Harper Design, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Young Adult: Non-Fiction My Life, My Way: How To Make Exceptional Decisions About College, Career, and Life by Elyse Hudacsko Self-Published
Lust, who teaches Italian at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire and also cooking classes, grew up in an Italian-American family, learning to cook from her mother and grandmother whose recipes were written by hand on little notecards. Wanting to discover and delve into Italian cuisine because of its meaning to her, she learned to speak Italian and traveled through the country of her ancestors.
“I wanted to see and feel the connections to the traditions and geography of the regions,” says Lust, whose previous book, Pass the Polenta: and Other Writings from the Kitchen, was praised by Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun and Julia Child.
Going deep, she visits relatives and meets the people of the regions’ small towns, going into their kitchens to watch as they prepare food. It’s a constant learning process about the intricacies not only of the broad regional cookery of Italy that many of us are familiar with—that of Florence, Naples, or Sicily but of such places as Maremma, an area in western central Italy bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea and Le Marche, a region sandwiched between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains.
“Italian food is very regional, and even in the regions its broken down by cities, and then gets smaller and smaller until each dish is an expression of oneself and it can be an affront and violation if others add ingredients or make changes,” she says. “There’s an integrity to the dish.”
It’s not the way we think of food here. Indeed, to me a recipe is to be altered by ingredients I have on hand so the idea of not changing is a thoughtful concept, one that I will think about. But then again, I’m not making family recipes dating back centuries and besides, old habits die hard.
In Camerano, a town in Le Marche, an 80-year-old woman shows Lust how to hand-roll pasta with a three-foot rolling pin. In Manciano, she masters making Schiacciata All’Uva, a grape flatbread with honey and rosemary that back home in New Hampshire takes her two days to complete.
But, Lust says, you only spend a few minutes in active work as if it were as easy as popping a frozen dinner into a microwave.
Intrigued by the food philosophy of the people she cooks with, she goes beyond recipe and its ingredients to their history and what they represent.
“Acquacotta—such a beautiful word and beautiful dish–but then you find out what it really means–cooked water and that it was born out of poverty made by people who had nothing,” Lust tells me when we chat on the phone.
In her description, acquacotta is a rustic soup that nourished generations of the area’s shepherds and cowhands. It’s her way of adding poetry to food and to people who take such pride in what they cook.
Lust includes recipes in her book, but this is not a glossy cookbook, but rather a lovely and thoughtful journey of rediscovering roots and meaning.
The two of us discuss growing up with ethnic relatives and how important the culture of the table was for us when young. It does seem to be something that is missing from our daily lives and Lust is hoping to reconnect people to food and help them see the importance of taking the time to bring friends and family to the table to enjoy a meal.
In the cooking classes she teaches she demonstrates how to make Italian food and encourages participants to talk to her in Italian. She feels that she is helping forge an important connection that way.
“I have people contact me through the website who said they tried the gnocchi and though they never thought they could make it, they found it was easy for them,” she says with a touch of pride.
Mainstream & Independent Titles Score Top Honorsin the 17th Annual Best Book Awards
HarperCollins, Penguin/Random House, John Wiley and Sons, Routledge/Taylor and Francis, Forge, Sterling Publishing, Hay House, Sounds True, Llewellyn Worldwide, NYU Press, Oxford University Press, John Hopkins University Press, The White House Historical Association and hundreds of Independent Houses contribute to this year’s Outstanding Competition!
Best New Non-Fiction The Book of Help: A Memoir of Remedies by Megan Griswold Rodale Books/Penguin Random House
Biography T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer by David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito Independent Institute
Business: Careers TIP: A Simple Strategy to Inspire High Performance and Lasting Success by Dave Gordon John Wiley and Sons
Business: Communications/Public Relations The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can’t Stop Saying It by Cary Cooper & Sean O’Meara Kogan Page
Business: Marketing & Advertising The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI by Carlos Gil Kogan Page
Business: Motivational Unlock!: 7 Steps to Transform Your Career and Realize Your Leadership Potential by Abhijeet Khadikar Vicara Books
Business: Personal Finance/Investing Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States: Leveraging Reverse Mortgages, Delaying Social Security, and Exploring Continuous Work by Chia-Li Chien, PhD, CFP®, PMP® Palgrave Pivot
Business: Real Estate Market Forces: Strategic Trends Impacting Senior Living Providers by Jill J. Johnson Johnson Consulting Services
Business: Reference The Non-Obvious Guide to Virtual Meetings and Remote Work (Non-Obvious Guides) by Rohit Bhargava IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Sales The Visual Sale: How to Use Video to Explode Sales, Drive Marketing, and Grow Your Business in a Virtual World by Marcus Sheridan IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Technology Amazon Management System: The Ultimate Digital Business Engine That Creates Extraordinary Value for Both Customers and Shareholders by Ram Charan and Julia Yang IdeaPress Publishing
Business: Writing/Publishing Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves: Criteria-Driven Strategies for More Effective Fiction by Larry Brooks Writer’s Digest Books (a division of Penguin Random House)
Children’s Educational Galileo! Galileo! by Holly Trechter and Jane Donovan Sky Candle Press
Children’s Fiction Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets by Sherrill Joseph Acorn Publishing
Children’s Religious That Grand Christmas Day! by Jill Roman Lord, illustrated by Alessia Trunfio Worthy Kids
College Guides Diversity At College: Real Stories of Students Conquering Bias and Making Higher Education More Inclusive by James Stellar, Chrisel Martinez, Branden Eggan, Chloe Skye Weiser, Benny Poy, Rachel Eagar, Marc Cohen, and Agata Buras IdeaPress Publishing
Cookbooks: General Recipes from the President’s Ranch: Food People Like to Eat by Matthew Wendel The White House Historical Association
Cookbooks: International Cooking with Marika: Clean Cuisine from an Estonian Farm by Marika Blossfeldt Delicious Nutrition
Cookbooks: Regional The Perfect Persimmon: History, Recipes, and More by Michelle Medlock Adams Red Lightning Books
Current Events In All Fairness: Equality, Liberty, and the Quest for Human Dignity, edited by Robert M. Whaples, Michael C. Munger and Christopher J. Coyne Independent Institute
Education/Academic The EQ Intervention: Shaping a Self-Aware Generation Through Social and Emotional Learning by Adam L. Saenz, PhD Greenleaf Book Group
Fiction: Young Adult The Return of the Dragon Queen by Farah Oomerbhoy Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Health: Addiction & Recovery Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation by Marilea C. Rabasa She Writes Press
Health: Aging/50+ EIGHTSOMETHINGS: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness by Katharine Esty, PhD Skyhorse Publishing
Health: Alternative Medicine Have a Peak at This: Synergize Your Body’s Clock Towards a Highly Productive You by Said Hasyim Self-Published
Health: Cancer All Of Us Warriors: Cancer Stories of Survival and Loss by Rebecca Whitehead Munn She Writes Press
Health: Death & Dying Aftermath: Picking Up the Pieces After a Suicide by Gary Roe Healing Resources Publishing
Health: Diet & Exercise Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Breakthrough Dietary Lifestyle to Treat Root Causes of Overeating, Overweight and Obesity by Deborah Kesten, MPH and Larry Scherwitz, PhD White River Press
Health: General True Wellness for Your Gut: Combine the best of Western and Eastern medicine for optimal digestive and metabolic health by Catherine Kurosu, MD, L.Ac. and Aihan Kuhn, CMD, OBT YMAA Publication Center
Health: Medical Reference The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook: Your Guide for Everything from Hangovers to Homesickness by Jill Grimes, MD Skyhorse Publishing
Health: Psychology/Mental Health The Big Bliss Blueprint: 100 Little Thoughts to Build Positive Life Changes by Shell Phelps Positive Streak Publishing, LLC
Health: Women’s Health The Book of Help: A Memoir of Remedies by Megan Griswold Rodale Books/Penguin Random House
History: General Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France: Tyranny and Resistance by Stephen P. Halbrook Independent Institute
History: Military 40 Thieves on Saipan The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII’s Bloodiest Battles by Joseph Tachovsky with Cynthia Kraack Regnery History
History: United States Liberty in Peril: Democracy and Power in American History by Randall G. Holcombe Independent Institute
Home & Garden My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation by Donald M. Rattner Skyhorse Publishing
Humor Struggle Bus: The Van. The Myth. The Legend. by Josh Wood Lucid Books
Law Banned: Immigration Enforcement in the Time of Trump by Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia NYU Press
LGBTQ: Non-Fiction Our Gay History in 50 States by Zaylore Stout Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Multicultural Non-Fiction Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles: Boldly Claiming the Facets of an Extraordinary Life by Nesha Pai SPARK Publications
Narrative: Non-Fiction Sola: One Woman’s Journey Alone Across South America by Amy Field WanderWomyn Publishing
New Age: Non-Fiction Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness by Keri Mangis Curiosa Publishing, LLC
Novelty & Gift Book The Official White House Christmas Ornament: Collected Stories of a Holiday Tradition by Marcia Anderson and Kristen Hunter Mason The White House Historical Association
Parenting & Family Why Will No One Play with Me? The Play Better Plan to Help Children of All Ages Make Friends and Thrive by Caroline Maguire, PCC, M.Ed. with Teresa Barker Grand Central Publishing
Photography Beautiful Living: Cooking the Cal-a-Vie Health Spa Way by Terri Havens Cal-a-Vie Health Spa
Poetry Five Oceans in a Teaspoon, poems by Dennis J. Bernstein, visuals by Warren Lehrer Paper Crown Press
Religion: Christian Inspirational Extraordinary Hospitality for Ordinary Christians: A Radical Approach to Preparing Your Heart & Home for Gospel-Centered Community by Victoria Duerstock Good Books
Religion: Christianity Come Fill This Place: A Journey of Prayer by Stacy Dietz KP Publishing Company
Religion: Eastern Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam by A. Helwa Naulit Publishing House
Religion: General Esoterism as Principle and as Way: A New Translation with Selected Letters by Frithjof Schuon World Wisdom
Science Bliss Brain: The Neuroscience of Rewiring Your Brain for Resilience, Creativity and Joy by Dawson Church Hay House
Self-Help: General Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done by Charlie Gilkey Sounds True
Self-Help: Relationships The Remarriage Manual: How to Make Everything Work Better the Second Time Around by Terry Gaspard Sounds True
Social Change I Am Not Your Enemy: Stories to Transform a Divided World by Michael T. McRay Herald Press
Spirituality: General The Universe Is Talking to You: Tap Into Signs and Synchronicity to Reveal Magical Moments Every Day by Tammy Mastroberte Llewellyn Worldwide
Spirituality: Inspirational Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution by Jennie Lee Sounds True
Sports The Martial Arts of Vietnam: An Overview of History and Styles by Augustus John Roe YMAA Publication Center
Travel: Guides & Essays Exploring Wine Regions — Bordeaux France: Discover Wine, Food, Castles, and The French Way of Life by Michael C. Higgins, PhD International Exploration Society
Women’s Issues Muslim Women Are Everything: Stereotype-Shattering Stories of Courage, Inspiration, and Adventure by Seema Yasmin, illustrated by Fahmida Azim Harper Design, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Young Adult: Non-Fiction My Life, My Way: How To Make Exceptional Decisions About College, Career, and Life by Elyse Hudacsko Self-Published
“When I was a kid my mother would cut up hot dogs to add to canned split pea soup for me to eat,” Ina Garten tells me from the barn in West Hampton, New York where she creates and tests the recipes published in her cookbooks, including the latest Modern Comfort Food and on the her Food Network show Barefoot Contessa.
French Chicken Pot Pie for Barefood Contessa’s Frozen Food Packaging 2013
I tell her that I ate so much split pea soup when I was a kid that my mother told me I was going to turn green. Garten laughs though it really isn’t very funny. It’s just the way she is. Polite and friendly, as if she and I are good friends rather me interviewing her in a spot where her phone gets very poor reception. That’s for sure. During the course of a 45-minute call, we get disconnected at least five times.
But back to the split pea soup. When Garten was thinking up recipes for “Modern Comfort Food,” the 12th in her Barefoot Contessa series, it was one of the dishes she wanted to include. But not just any old split pea soup.
“My soup is from scratch and instead of hot dogs, I sauteed kielbasa,” she says. I love the way crispy sausage and the creamy soup contrast with each other.”
Using her culinary magic, among the 85 recipes in her book she transforms the grilled cheese of childhood into Cheddar & Chutney Grilled Cheese and the frozen pot pies your mom kept in the freezer in case she was late getting home morph into Chicken Pot Pie Soup with Puff Pastry Croutons. Burnt hamburgers made by your dad the one time he tried to grill are now Smashed Hamburgers with Caramelized Onions.
When I mention that I love her recipes because they always work and that often with celebrity cookbooks it’s just the opposite, she responds with a laugh, saying “ya’think?”
Her recipes, on the other hand, are strenuously tested. It took her six years to perfect her recipe for Boston Cream Pie. She just couldn’t get it right until she finally found the exact flavor matches for the cake, chocolate glaze and pastry cream layers.
Some, no make that most, of us would have given up or just said “good enough.” But not Garten which is why the Boston Cream Pie she hoped to put in two cookbooks ago didn’t make it until this one.
“Sometimes it takes me a day to create a recipe that works just right, sometimes weeks or even months,” she says, noting that she loves getting up in the morning knowing she has a long list of recipes to test.
She also has advice on how to use her recipes.
“Do it once the way it’s written using the same ingredients, then you’ll know the way it is supposed to be,” she says, noting that someone once complained about one of her recipes not working and when she drilled down as to why, discovered that out of the seven ingredients called for, they didn’t use three. “It’s like someone saying the chocolate cake didn’t turn out and then they tell you they didn’t use any chocolate in it.”
Recipes courtesy of Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.
Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Serves 6
3 chicken breasts, skin-on, bone-in (2½ to 3 pounds total)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
5 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (3 leeks) (see note)
4 cups chopped fennel, tops and cores removed (2 bulbs)
3 cups (½-inch) diced scrubbed carrots (5 medium)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
¼ cup Wondra flour
¾ cup cream sherry, divided
7 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (2 × 3-inch) piece of Italian
Parmesan cheese rind
1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas
1 cup frozen whole pearl onions
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the chicken on a sheet pan skin side up, rub the skin with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes, until a thermometer registers 130 to 140 degrees. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken in 1-inch dice. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium (11 to 12-inch) heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add the leeks, fennel, and carrots, and sauté over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are tender but not browned.
Stir in the garlic and tarragon and cook for one minute. Sprinkle on the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add ½ cup of the sherry, the chicken stock, 4 teaspoons salt, 1½ teaspoons pepper, and the Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.
Add the chicken, peas, and onions and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Off the heat, remove the Parmesan rind and add the remaining ¼ cup of sherry and the parsley. Serve hot in large shallow bowls with two Puff Pastry Croutons on top
Note: To prep the leeks, cut off the dark green leaves at a 45-degree angle and discard. Chop the white and light green parts, wash well in a bowl of water, and spin dry in a salad spinner. Wet leeks will steam rather than sauté.
Puff Pastry Croutons -Makes 12 croutons
All-purpose flour
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farm, defrosted (see note)
1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream, for egg wash
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Lightly dust a board and rolling pin with flour. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry on the board, dust it lightly with flour, and lightly roll the pastry just to smooth out the folds.
With a star-shaped or fluted round cookie cutters, cut 12 stars, or rounds of pastry and place them on the prepared sheet pan. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Defrost puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator. You want the pastry to be very cold when you bake it. make ahead: Prepare the pastry cutouts and refrigerate. Bake just before serving.
Boston Cream Pie
Makes one 9 – inch cake / serves 8
For the cake:
¾ cup whole milk
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon grated orange zest
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
for the soak:
¹⁄₃ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¹⁄₃ cup sugar
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
For the chocolate glaze:
¾ cup heavy cream
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, such as Nestlé’s (7½ ounces)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, such as Lindt, broken in pieces
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant coffee granules, such as Nescafé
Grand Marnier Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round baking pans, line them with parchment paper, butter and flour the pans, and tap out the excess flour. Set aside.
For the cake, scald the milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat (see note). Off the heat, add the vanilla and orange zest, cover the pan, and set aside. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, until thick and light yellow and the mixture falls back on itself in a ribbon. By hand, first whisk in the warm milk mixture and then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. Don’t overmix! Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a baking rack, flipping them so the top sides are up. Cool to room temperature.
For the soak, combine the orange juice and sugar in a small (8-inch) sauté pan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Off the heat, add the Grand Marnier and set aside
For the chocolate glaze, combine the heavy cream, semisweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate, corn syrup, vanilla, and coffee in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, just until the chocolates melt. Remove from the heat and set aside for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is thick enough to fall back onto itself in a ribbon.
To assemble, cut both cakes in half horizontally. Place the bottom of one cake on a flat plate, cut side up. Brush it with a third of the soak. Spread a third of the Grand Marnier Pastry Cream on the cake. Place the top of the first cake on top, cut side down, and repeat with the soak and pastry cream. Place the bottom of the second cake on top, cut side up. Repeat with the soak and pastry cream. Place the top of the second cake on top, cut side down. Pour the ganache on the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Set aside for one hour, until the chocolate sets. Cut in wedges and serve.
Grand Marnier Pastry Cream
Makes enough for one 9-inch cake
5 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1½ cups whole milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
1 teaspoon Cognac or brandy
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Beat the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, until very thick. Reduce the speed to low and add the cornstarch.
Meanwhile, scald the milk in a medium saucepan. With the mixer on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture starts to thicken. When the custard starts to clump on the bottom of the pan, stir constantly with a whisk (don’t beat it!) to keep the custard smooth.
Cook over low heat until the custard is very thick like pudding. If you lift some custard with the whisk, it should fall back onto itself in a ribbon. Off the heat, stir in the butter, heavy cream, Grand Marnier, Cognac, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Cool for 15 minutes. Place plastic wrap directly on the custard (not the bowl) and refrigerate until very cold.
Ina Garten is doing a virtual Modern Comfort Food tour.
It’s a place many of us have been in–counting calories, obsessing about what we ate and shouldn’t have and still seeing the scale tip higher and higher. There’s a different way according to Chef Daniel Orr, owner of FARMbloomington, an award winning restaurant in downtown Bloomington, Indiana and Kelley Jo Baute, owner of A Splendid Earth Wellness, a company she runs offering wellness coaching to individuals and businesses and workplace ergonomics consulting in Seymour, Indiana. The two, who are friends, melded their skills in creating MyTendWell Lifestyle Plan, a program focusing on eight different wellness factors — social, occupational, intellectual, physical, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and nutritional. That in turn led to writing The Wellness Lifestyle: A Chef’s Recipe for Real Life.
Daniel Orr and Kelley Jo Baute
“We’re really unique because there are no books where there’s really an exercise scientist working with an international chef,” says Baute.
When she says international, she means it. Orr, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, a culinary school in Providence, Rhode Island, has worked in France at such restaurants as Auberge des Templiers, Restaurant Daguin and three-star L’Esperance, and Belgium’s three-star Restaurant Bruneau. After that he worked as an executive chef at several high end New York restaurants and becoming executive chef of the Cuisinart Resort & Spa in Anguilla, BVI in the Caribbean.
For her part, Baute was working on her PhD at Indiana University Bloomington when she was diagnosed, at age 41, with Stage 2 breast cancer and embarked upon a rigorous regime of chemotherapy and a year of Herceptin treatments. Doctors also removed a tumor and surrounding lymph nodes and she underwent a bilateral mastectomy. Though ongoing tests showed her to be cancer free, for the next five years she had further biopsies, a hysterectomy, and other surgeries. Despite this, she managed to complete her PhD in kinesiology and start her own business. In other words, she says, she wasn’t going to let cancer define her.
Pulling on their diverse backgrounds, Baute and Orr created an easy-to-follow book designed for those who want to enjoy food and also have a healthy and fulfilling life.
“It’s about taking care of yourself and taking care of each other, reaching a handout to help others,” Baute says.
“The Wellness Lifestyle is an all-in-one life-long wellness plan,” says Orr. “Dr. K and I wanted to create something that was a one size fits all in both understanding health and enjoying life. A lot of that is food. The fresher your food is the more nutritious it is. Many of the antioxidants are most available in the whole raw ingredient of fresh fruit and vegetables. Growing and cooking your own food is the number one thing you can do to live a healthier lifestyle.”
If you can’t grow your own, you can still cook fresh foods found at supermarkets and farm stands.
It’s important to plan a schedule of exercise, wellness and eating healthy and stick to it says Baute.
“Wellness is a lifestyle, so get started and stay committed,” she continues. “Encourage others to join you. Just keep moving.”
“I didn’t come out of the womb craving Oreos,” says comedian and journalist Chloe Hilliard, who is launching her new book,F*ck Your Diet and Other Things My Thighs Tells Me, this Monday and Tuesday at Zanies Comedy Night Club in Chicago. “Our food choices and our image of ourselves are part of our culture.”
Hilliard, who writes about Hip Hop culture and has been featured on C-Span, CNN Headline News, ABC News and Our World with Black Enterprise, has long had an adversarial relationship with food. Over 6-foot tall at the age of 12, she also wore both a size 12 dress and shoe at that time. In other words, she was different and she knew it.
“Fitting in was never an option for me,” Hilliard said in a phone interview, noting that she was the loser of the fat trilogy—someone with a slow metabolism, baby weight that didn’t go away and big bones. “Growing up, it was unfair that people said just do this or that to lose weight. But now I understand it’s about acceptance, to be comfortable and to be healthy and okay with who you are.”
It was a truth that Hilliard came to only after a long time of trying to change her body with the help of fad diets, intense workouts, starving herself and consuming diet pills. Now she looks at her body image in a different way and understands how much our culture negatively impacts the way we perceive ourselves, how corporations including the diet industry also reinforces our image of ourselves. It was enlightening and freeing. But it wasn’t easy.
“I thought the book was going to be way more lighthearted,” says Hilliard. “I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to write. But it helped me understand where I was at different times in my life.”
But being Hilliard, who made her national TV debut on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” the book is not only informative but laugh out loud funny as well. Afterall, she has a message for readers—you’re okay.
“I use a lot of facts and figures,” she says. “I didn’t want the book to be voyeuristic, I wanted it to be about how culture effects our relationship with food and our waistline and teaches us that we are nothing without a perfect body. I want to help people get away from that. Be healthy, be fit. It’s a new year but you don’t need to be a new you, just yourself.”
Ifyougo:
What: Chloe Hilliard is launching her new book and performing at Zanies Comedy Night Club.
When: Monday, January 6 and Tuesday, January 7 at 8 p.m.
I was going to write a column about New Year’s Eve celebration foods but got distracted by Ten Restaurants That Changed America by Paul Freedman (Liveright 2018; $23.95), a look at how food evolved in this country. I’m going to be interviewing the author after I finish the book but instead of reading it from front to cover as soon as I read the introduction I turned to the chapter on Howard Johnson’s because those orange roofed restaurants and lodges are part of my youth. I worked at HoJo’s when I was a teen and as a young girl, when we traveled to New York, Connecticut and along the eastern seaboard, we typically stayed at their lodges.
I remember the sparkling pool, so inviting after a long day in the car, trying to read a book or do crossword puzzles while whizzing along—we only had an AM radio in the car and my mother didn’t like the noise of it when she was driving. Dinner was typically fried clams, hamburgers or clam chowder and always one of their many flavors of ice cream. Probably most famous for their clam dishes, the chapter about Ho Jo’s in Freedman’s book is titled Howard Johnson’s: As American As Fried Clams. If you’re wondering about all the clam dishes, Johnson was from Massachusetts and the chain started off in New England. And maybe people ate more clams back then.
At one time, according to the book,
during the 1970s, Howard Johnson had 929 restaurants and 526 motor lodges
stretching across the U.S. In the 1960s, the restaurants served more meals
outside the home than any company or organization except for the U.S. Army.
There actually was a Howard Johnson (his middle name was Deering) and he was
born in 1897 and though he liked to present himself, even at the height of his
company’s success, as a simple man, he married four times, owned a yacht, three
houses and a substantial art collection. Oh, and he didn’t really eat at Howard
Johnson’s much. Instead he liked high-end French dining like Le Pavillon and
the Stork Club, both fancy and ultra-expensive New York restaurants.
I’m not quite sure if there are any
HoJo’s left. There were a handful less than a decade ago including on in Times
Square and another in Bangor, Maine but those are gone. A Google search
indicates that the last one, in Lake George, New York, was, as of earlier this
year, was up for sale as a possible site for redevelopment. It had just
re-opened the year before after being closed for four years. Unfortunately the
person who had re-opened it had some legal issues. For more information, check
out hojoland.com, a Website for all things Howard Johnson’s.
Occasionally I see a building that
looks like it was once a HoJo but has been converted to another use and the
orange roof has usually been replaced. Because there are websites for almost
anything, there are a few identifying converted HoJo’s as well.
Though the restaurants are gone, many of the recipes remain and I looked up a few that I remember enjoying way back when and was fascinated to find out that the legendary French chef Jacque Pepin once worked at HoJo’s, a time he talks about in his memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen. Pepin, who would make their clam chowder in 3,000-gallon amounts, recreated the recipe for home cooks, saying he makes it “when a bit of Howard Johnson’s nostalgia creeps in.” His contains pancetta which I’m guessing is a substitute for the bacon in the original recipe and he also uses Yukon Gold potatoes and I don’t think that variety was common back in 1929 when Johnson opened his first restaurant.
Jacques Pepin Howard Johnson’s Clam Chowder
5 quahog clams or 10 to 12 large cherrystone clams
4 cups water
4 ounces pancetta or lean, cured pork, cut into 1-inch pieces
(about ¾ cup)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 large onion (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1-inch
pieces (1-1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
(2-1/4 cups)
1 cup light cream
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Wash the clams well under cold water, and put them in a saucepan
with 2 cups of the water. Bring to a boil (this will take about 5 minutes), and
boil gently for 10 minutes. Drain off and reserve the cooking liquid, remove
the clams from their shells, and cut the clams into 1/2 –inch pieces (1-1/2
cups). Put the clam pieces in a bowl, then carefully pour the cooking liquid
into another bowl, leaving behind any sediment or dirt. (You should have about
2-1/2 cups of stock.) Set aside the stock and the clams.
Put the pancetta or pork pieces in a large saucepan, and cover
with the remaining 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, and boil for 30 seconds.
Drain the pancetta, and wash it in a sieve under cold water. Rinse the
saucepan, and return the pancetta to the pan with the oil. Place over medium
heat, and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the onion
and garlic, and continue cooking, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the flour,
mix it in well, and cook for 10 seconds. Add the reserved stock and the thyme,
and bring to a boil. Then add the potatoes and clams, bring to a boil, cover,
reduce the heat to very low, and cook gently for 2 hours.
At serving time, add the cream, milk, and pepper, bring to a
boil, and serve. (Note: No salt should be needed because of the clam juice and
pancetta, but taste and season to your liking.)
Howard
Johnson’s Fried Clams
1 cup
evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon
vanilla
Dash salt
and pepper
4 dozen
freshly shucked clams
1 cup cake
flour
1 cup yellow
cornmeal
Oil for
frying
Combine
evaporated milk and whole milk, egg, vanilla, salt, and pepper. Soak clams in
liquid and then dredge in combination of cake flour and cornmeal, fluffing them
in the flour mixture for light but thorough coverage. Shake off excess flour
and fry in oil. Serve with French-fried potatoes, tartar sauce, homemade rolls,
and butter.
Howard
Johnson’s Chicken Croquettes
6 tablespoons
chicken fat (can use butter instead)
1 ¼ cups
flour
2 1/4 quarts
chicken stock. hot
6
tablespoons chopped onions
2 tablespoons
chopped parsley
3 cups bread
crumbs
3 eggs
1 tablespoon
salt
1 teaspoon
black pepper
2 pounds
boneless chicken, finely minced
Sauté onions
in chicken fat but do not brown.
Make a roux
(recipe below). Add hot chicken stock, and add seasonings. Stir constantly
until mixture thickens and is well blended.
Add minced
chicken and chopped parsley. Cook 5 minutes more, then remove from fire and
chill. Scoop and shape into croquettes. Dip in flour, egg wash and bread crumbs
and fry in deep fat until lightly browned on all sides.
These were
served a cream sauce (see recipe below).
Roux
1/4 pound
butter
1 stalk
celery, minced
1 cup
all-purpose flour
Cream Sauce
2
tablespoons butter
3
tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon
salt
Dash of
cayenne pepper
1 cup
chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
Melt butter
in pan; stir in flour and seasonings. Cook on low until smooth; stirring
constantly, add broth and milk slowly; to maintain thickness, stir on medium
heat until all milk and broth is added and sauce is thick.
In a heavy
pot, melt butter and then add the minced celery. Stir in the flour and cook for
3 minutes., stirring constantly. Fold in the chicken meat and allow to cool.
Howard
Johnson’s Boston Brown Bread
1 cup unsifted
whole wheat flour
1 cup
unsifted rye flour
1 cup yellow
corn meal
11/2
teaspoon baking soda
11/2
teaspoon salt
3/4 cup
molasses
2 cups
buttermilk
Grease and
flour a 2 quart mold. Combine flours, corn meal, soda ,salt. Stir in molasses,
buttermilk.
Turn into
mold, cover tightly. Place on trivet in deep kettle. Add enough boiling water
to kettle
to come half
way up sides of mold; cover. Steam 3 1/2 hr., or until done. Remove from mold
to cake
After reading Martin Walker’s The Body in the Castle Well, the 14th book in the series about Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges, I Googled real estate listings in the Périgord, known for its castles, caves, gastronomy and lush landscape of rolling hills, woods and vineyards. From Walker’s description, this region in southwestern France seems like an ideal place to live even if you have to deal with the type such skullduggery as truffle fraud, archaeological vandalism, arson, drugs and even terrorists Bruno encounters on a regular basis.
“There’
so much inspiration and history here,” says Walker who, with his wife, splits
his time between Washington D.C. and Le Bugue, a small village in the Périgord
where they own a home. The home came about, says Walker who talks like he
writes, with many wonderful asides, when he was waiting in the Oval Office and
received a phone call from his wife.
“She said
I don’t care what you’re doing, get on the next plane and come here, I just
found our house,” he says, noting he explained to her he was meeting with the
president so it might have to wait just a while. Besides that, he didn’t even
know they were buying a house.
Of course,
they did and now live in an old farmhouse dating back to 1698 with several
newer outbuildings, if you consider the 1700s new and in France they do.
Of course,
there are always obstacles even in paradise.
“One of
the challenges for anyone writing crime stories is finding places for bodies,”
says Walker, who speaks French, Russian, English, Arabic, German and a just enough
of other languages to get himself in trouble. “I drive around with an eagle eye
looking for the perfect spot for a body. I was in Limeuil, a lovely village,
and there it was, the castle well.”
So that’s
where the body of Claudia, a young art student ends up, in what first looks
like an accident and turns out to be much more ominous.
“She’s
studying with Pierre de Bourdeille, one of the greatest art experts in the
world, a hero of the French Resistance,” says Walker. “She told Bruno a little
of her concerns about the attributions de Bourdeille made about his paintings
which drove up prices and then she turns up dead.”
Another suspect is a falconer (so we get to learn about the ancient art of hunting with falcons) who met Claudia the day after her got out of prison. As compelling as the mystery is, so is Bruno’s life. He’s a gourmet chef, has his own blog and a cookbook, written by Walker’s wife, which is a best seller in Germany where it’s sold 100,000 copies. But unless you read the language, don’t bother as it’s not published in English though Walker encourages people to call his publisher and demand that it be.
The Bruno
books are quite a segue for the Oxford educated Walker who served as bureau
chief in Moscow and the U.S. and as European Editor for The Guardian, a British
daily newspaper and wrote lengthy tomes (ponderous and boring he says, though
noting they won awards) like The Iraq War and The Makers of the
American Century.
“The 15th is already
done,” he says. “And I’m thinking of the next. They’re fun to write.”
Asked what his favorite is, he
replies, “my favorite is always the latest or the one I’m working on right now.”
Ifyougo:
What: Martin Walker: The Body in the Castle Well
When: Tuesday, June
Where: The Book Stall, 811 Elm St., Winnetka, IL
Cost: Free and open to the public, but The Book Stall asks
that you buy your books from them if you intend on entering the book-signing
queue.
Shelf Life 