The debut cookbook from the restaurant Gourmet magazine named the best in the country.
A pioneer in American cuisine, chef Grant Achatz represents the best of the molecular gastronomy movement--brilliant fundamentals and exquisite taste paired with a groundbreaking approach to new techniques and equipment. ALINEA showcases Achatz's cuisine with more than 100 dishes (totaling 600 recipes) and 600 photographs presented in a deluxe volume. Three feature pieces frame the book: Michael Ruhlman considers Alinea's role in the global dining scene, Jeffrey Steingarten offers his distinctive take on dining at the restaurant, and Mark McClusky explores the role of technology in the Alinea kitchen. Buyers of the book will receive access to a website featuring video demonstrations, interviews, and an online forum that allows readers to interact with Achatz and his team.
"Achatz is something new on the national culinary landscape: a chef as ambitious as Thomas Keller who wants to make his mark not with perfection but with constant innovation . . . Get close enough to sit down and allow yourself to be teased, challenged, and coddled by Achatz's version of this kind of cooking, and you can have one of the most enjoyable culinary adventures of your life." --Corby Kummer, senior editor of Atlantic Monthly
"Someone new has entered the arena. His name is Grant Achatz, and he is redefining the American restaurant once again for an entirely new generation . . . Alinea is in perpetual motion; having eaten here once, you can't wait to come back, to see what Achatz will come up with next." --GourmetReviews & AwardsJames Beard Foundation Cookbook Award Finalist: Cooking from a professional Point of View Category James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef Award "Even if your kitchen isn't equipped with a paint-stripping heat gun, thermocirculator, or refractometer, and you're only vaguely aware that chefs use siphons and foams in contemporary cooking, you can enjoy this daring cookbook from Grant Achatz of the Chicago restaurant Alinea.. . . While the recipes can hardly become part of your everday cooking, this book is far too interesting to be left on the coffee table. As you read, a question emerges: Is Alinea's food art? . . . I go a little further, describing Achatz with a word that he would probably never use to describe himself: avant-garde, as it defined art movements at the beginning of the last century--planned, self-concious, and structured attempts to provoke and shake the status quo. Just as with those artists, the results are not necessarily as interesting as the intentions and concepts behind them. In this sense, this volume constitutes a full-blown although not threatening manifesto."--Art of Eating

Immigrant children first speak the language of their mothers, and in Toledo, Ohio's Little Syria neighborhood where Joseph Geha grew up, the first place he would go to find his mother would be the kitchen. Many of today's immigrants use Skype to keep in touch with folks back in the old country but in those "radio days" of old before the luxuries of hot running water or freezers, much less refrigeration, blenders, or microwaves, the kitchen was where an immigrant mother usually had to be, snapping peas or rolling grape leaves while she waited for the dough to rise. There, Geha's mother took special pride in the traditional Syro-Lebanese food she cooked, such as stuffed eggplant, lentil soup, kibbeh with tahini sauce, shish barak, and fragrant sesame cookies. As much a memoir as a cookbook, Kitchen Arabic illustrates the journey of Geha's early years in America and his family's struggle to learn the language and ways of a new world. A compilation of family recipes and of the stories that came with them, it deftly blends culture with cuisine. In her kitchen, Geha's mother took special pride in the Arabic dishes she cooked, cherishing that aspect of her heritage that, unlike language, has changed very little over time and distance. With this book, Geha shares how the food of his heritage sustained his family throughout that cultural journey, speaking to them-in a language that needs no translation-of joy and comfort and love.

Food is not just a way to fill our stomachs but is representative of the culture and time we live in. It tells a story and can act as a catalyst for social engagement. As the impact of mass food production on the environment becomes ever more apparent, movements advocating organic farming and local, small-scale food production are finally receiving an ear. The appeal of exotic, imported foods is fast becoming less popular than a preference for being able to meet the producer and quickly find out the processes and supply chain involved. Gather & Nourish presents a chance for you to meet some of those makers and discover more about how they cultivated their business and why they believe ethically sourced and produced food is important. A smorgasbord of artisans - including a beekeeper, a distiller, a dairy farmer, and a winemaker - enthusiastically share their appetite for food and creativity while offering an insightful and tasty slice of the world of urban agriculture, small-scale farming, and sustainable living.

Ghulam Bombaywala sells bagels in Houston. Demetrios dishes up pizza in Connecticut. The Wangs serve tacos in Los Angeles. How ethnicity has influenced American eating habits-and thus, the make-up and direction of the American cultural mainstream-is the story told in We Are What We Eat. It is a complex tale of ethnic mingling and borrowing, of entrepreneurship and connoisseurship, of food as a social and political symbol and weapon-and a thoroughly entertaining history of our culinary tradition of multiculturalism. The story of successive generations of Americans experimenting with their new neighbors' foods highlights the marketplace as an important arena for defining and expressing ethnic identities and relationships. We Are What We Eat follows the fortunes of dozens of enterprising immigrant cooks and grocers, street hawkers and restaurateurs who have cultivated and changed the tastes of native-born Americans from the seventeenth century to the present. It also tells of the mass corporate production of foods like spaghetti, bagels, corn chips, and salsa, obliterating their ethnic identities. The book draws a surprisingly peaceful picture of American ethnic relations, in which "Americanized" foods like Spaghetti-Os happily coexist with painstakingly pure ethnic dishes and creative hybrids. Donna Gabaccia invites us to consider: If we are what we eat, who are we? Americans' multi-ethnic eating is a constant reminder of how widespread, and mutually enjoyable, ethnic interaction has sometimes been in the United States. Amid our wrangling over immigration and tribal differences, it reveals that on a basic level, in the way we sustain life and seek pleasure, we are all multicultural.

Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods takes readers on a journey through 3,000 years of the history of chocolate. It is a trip filled with surprises. And it is a beautifully illustrated tour, featuring 132 vibrant color photographs and a captivating sixty-minute DVD documentary. Along the way, readers learn about the mystical allure of chocolate for the peoples of Mesoamerica, who were the first to make it and who still incorporate it into their lives and ceremonies today.
Although it didn't receive its Western scientific name, Theobroma cacao--"food of the gods"--until the eighteenth century, the cacao tree has been at the center of Mesoamerican mythology for thousands of years. Not only did this "chocolate tree" produce the actual seeds from which chocolate was extracted but it was also symbolically endowed with cosmic powers that enabled a dialogue between humans and their gods. From the pre-Columbian images included in this sumptuous book, we are able to see for ourselves the importance of chocolate to the Maya, Aztecs, Olmecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs who grew, produced, traded, and fought over the prized substance.
Through archaeological and other ethnohistoric research, the authors of this fascinating book document the significance of chocolate--to gods, kings, and everyday people--over several millennia. The illustrations allow us to envision the many ancient uses of this magical elixir: in divination ceremonies, in human sacrifices, and even in ball games. And as mythological connections between cacao trees, primordial rainforests, and biodiversity are unveiled, our own quest for ecological balance is reignited. In demonstrating the extraordinary value of chocolate in Mesoamerica, the authors provide new reasons--if any are needed--to celebrate this wondrous concoction.

The food that Jewish people eat is part of our connection to our faith, culture, and history. Not only is Jewish food comforting and delicious, it's also a link to every facet of Judaism. By learning about and cooking traditional Jewish dishes, we can understand fundamentals such as kashrut, community, and diversity. And Jewish history is so connected to food that one comedian said that the story of Judaism can be condensed into nine words: They tried to kill us. We survived. Let's eat. Let's Eat follows the calendar of Jewish holidays to include food from the many different Jewish communities around the world; in doing so, it brings the values that are the foundation of Judaism into focus. It also covers the way these foods have ended up on the Jewish menu and how Jews, as they wandered through the world, have influenced and been influenced by other nations and cuisines. Including over 40 recipes, this delicious review of the role of food in Jewish life offers a lively history alongside the traditions of one of the world's oldest faiths.

Ranging from the imperial palaces of ancient China and the bakeries of fourteenth-century Genoa and Naples all the way to the restaurant kitchens of today, Pasta tells a story that will forever change the way you look at your next plate of vermicelli. Pasta has become a ubiquitous food, present in regional diets around the world and available in a host of shapes, sizes, textures, and tastes. Yet, although it has become a mass-produced commodity, it remains uniquely adaptable to innumerable recipes and individual creativity. "Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food" shows that this enormously popular food has resulted from of a lengthy process of cultural construction and widely diverse knowledge, skills, and techniques.

Many myths are intertwined with the history of pasta, particularly the idea that Marco Polo brought pasta back from China and introduced it to Europe. That story, concocted in the early twentieth century by the trade magazine "Macaroni Journal," is just one of many fictions umasked here. The true homelands of pasta have been China and Italy. Each gave rise to different but complementary culinary traditions that have spread throughout the world. From China has come pasta made with soft wheat flour, often served in broth with fresh vegetables, finely sliced meat, or chunks of fish or shellfish. "Pastasciutta," the Italian style of pasta, is generally made with durum wheat semolina and presented in thick, tomato-based sauces. The history of these traditions, told here in fascinating detail, is interwoven with the legacies of expanding and contracting empires, the growth of mercantilist guilds and mass industrialization, and the rise of food as an art form.

Whether you are interested in the origins of lasagna, the strange genesis of the Chinese pasta bing or the mystique of the most magnificent pasta of all, the "timballo," this is the book for you. So dig in

For cooks everywhere who are falling in love with cast iron comes will it skillet? The new cookbook from Daniel Shumski, who last applied his out-of-the-box food-loving sensibility to Will It Waffle? With 92,000 copies in print. Here are 53 original recipes that are surprising, delicious, and ingenious in their ability to capitalise on the strengths of cast iron. The simplicity of Toast with Olive Oil and Tomato, because you just can't achieve that perfect crust in a toaster. A gooey, spiraled Giant Cinnamon Bun with a surprise swirl inside. Popcorn taken to another level with clarified butter. Homemade Corn Tortillas that use the pan to flatten and cook them. A Spinach and Feta Dip that stays warm from the residual heat of the pan. Plus, pastas that come together in one skillet - no separate boiling required; beautiful breads and pizzas; luscious desserts and more, along with detailed information on buying, seasoning, and caring for your cast-iron cookware.

Discover the surprising reason restrictive diets don't work-and a practical, science-based guide to reclaim your health through the power of real food. Carbs aren't causing your weight gain. Dairy may not be the reason for your upset stomach. And your liver isn't fatty because of the occasional hamburger. It's time to enjoy eating everything again-and to reclaim our health along the way. Eat Everything offers a better alternative to complicated, minimally effective, and highly restrictive diets. Physician Dawn Harris Sherling lays out compelling new evidence implicating food additives as the real culprits behind diet-related diseases and shares simple, actionable advice to heal. We're constantly told to fear carbs, gluten, and dairy, and we turn to strict diets to solve our health problems. Yet Americans still have one of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the world, and millions suffer from digestive ailments like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Digging into emerging research, Dr. Sherling realized it's not the foods but the food additives, especially emulsifiers, that are at the root of our problems. Our bodies can't digest them, but they feed our microbiomes and they're everywhere in the ultra-processed foods that make up about half of our daily diets. In this refreshing and accessible guide, readers will learn: How to lose weight without a restrictive diet Why so many popular ultra-processed foods are actively harmful to our bodies How to navigate eating at restaurants-for any meal or occasion Tips for filling our grocery bags with real food Why avoiding food additives is beneficial for our bodies and minds How to embrace healthful cooking at home, with 30 delicious recipes Dr. Sherling lays out the research on food additives and offers a straightforward guide to eating just about everything (yes, even bread, pasta, and ice cream!) without pain, worry, or guilt. This isn't just another restrictive diet in disguise; it's a call to rediscover our love of real food.

For centuries, the food and culinary delights of the Byzantine empire - centred on Constantinople - have captivated the west, although it appeared that very little information had been passed down to us. Tastes of Byzantium now reveals in astonishing detail, for the first time, what was eaten in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire - and how it was cooked. Fusing the spices of the Romans with the seafood and simple local food of the Aegean and Greek world, the cuisine of the Byzantines was unique and a precursor to much of the food of modern Turkey and Greece. Bringing this vanished cuisine to life in vivid and sensual detail, Dalby describes the sights and smells of Constantinople and its marketplaces, relates travellers' tales and paints a comprehensive picture of the recipes and customs of the empire and their relationship to health and the seasons, love and medicine. For food-lovers and historians alike, Tastes of Byzantium is both essential and riveting - an extraordinary illumination of everyday life in the Byzantine world.

"My sister is pregnant with a Lemon this week, Week 14, and this is amusing. My mother's uterine tumor, the size of a cabbage, is Week 30, and this is terrifying." When her mother is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Karen Babine-a cook, collector of thrifted vintage cast iron, and fiercely devoted daughter, sister, and aunt-can't help but wonder: feed a fever, starve a cold, but what do we do for cancer? And so she commits herself to preparing her mother anything she will eat, a vegetarian diving headfirst into the unfamiliar world of bone broth and pot roast. In these essays, Babine ponders the intimate connections between food, family, and illness. What draws us toward food metaphors to describe disease? What is the power of language, of naming, in a medical culture where patients are too often made invisible? How do we seek meaning where none is to be found-and can we create it from scratch? And how, Babine asks as she bakes cookies with her small niece and nephew, does a family create its own food culture across generations? Generous and bittersweet, All the Wild Hungers is an affecting chronicle of one family's experience of illness and of a writer's culinary attempt to make sense of the inexplicable.

Almost any deep-fried or oven-baked dish can be made in an air fryer. Preparing your favourite keto dishes in record time with little clean-up has never been easier. Maria shows you how to do it all seamlessly, step by step. She gives you her best tips and tricks for success on the keto diet and offers up a wide variety of delicious dishes, from air fryer classics like onion rings and chicken wings to unexpected additions like cookies and even omelettes. Keto Air Fryer will help you make quick and delicious meals, save time in the kitchen, and enjoy life!

Feasting and Fasting in Opera shows that the consumption of food and drink is an essential component of opera, both on and off stage. In this book, opera scholar Pierpaolo Polzonetti explores how convivial culture shaped the birth of opera and opera-going rituals until the mid-nineteenth century, when eating and drinking at the opera house were still common. Through analyses of convivial scenes in operas, the book also shows how the consumption of food and drink, and sharing or the refusal to do so, define characters' identity and relationships. Feasting and Fasting in Opera moves chronologically from around 1480 to the middle of the nineteenth century, when Wagner's operatic reforms banished refreshments during the performance and mandated a darkened auditorium and absorbed listening. The book focuses on questions of comedy, pleasure, embodiment, and indulgence-looking at fasting, poisoning, food disorders, body types, diet, and social, ethnic, and gender identities-in both tragic and comic operas from Monteverdi to Puccini. Polzonetti also sheds new light on the diet Maria Callas underwent in preparation for her famous performance as Violetta, the consumptive heroine of Verdi's La traviata. Neither food lovers nor opera scholars will want to miss Polzonetti's page-turning and imaginative book.