Cooking

Along with a foreword by Agustin Huneeus Sr., the renowned creator of Quintessa wine, 99 Bottles of Wine offers wine lovers, serious collectors, and design aficionados a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how contemporary packaging and innovative design are driving the success of today's leading wine brands.

Kate Hopkins knew there had to be more to whiskey than using it as a mixer. She had an unquenchable thirst to learn more about the drink and set out on an ambitious itinerary researching its history. Combining comprehensive research with informal narrative, Hopkins entertains and educates the readers on whiskey's place in the history of the world. She visited historians and pub owners, went to distilleries owned by corporations who sell thousands of gallons per day, and artisans who sell thousands of gallons per year, and interviewed the aficionados and the common drinkers, because one of the best aspects of whiskey is not just its taste, but the stories about the drink that are told around the bar. As an added bonus, she discusses the fine art of distilling, the proper ways to drink whiskey, and provides tasting notes on different brands, all in the hope of discovering the best shot of the liquor.

"An astonishingly accomplished exploration of flavors, ingredients, and traditions."--Katy Hui-wen Hung (洪惠文), co-author of A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai

"This is a beautiful love letter to Taiwan and a quietly uncompromising work of documentation."--Hannah Che, author of The Vegan Chinese Kitchen

George Lee grew up with his A-Gong (grandfather) in the quiet refuge of Tamsui, Taiwan. He took part in the myriad Taiwanese food traditions his A-Gong nurtured, until he was seventeen, when his A-Gong passed. In observation of the death, he and his family undertook a set of Buddhist funeral customs and abstained from eating meat. For a hundred days, they ate at the monastery and the nuns there taught him to cook.

Years later, he revisited the lessons and pieced them into the story of his family's cooking. Some recipes he shares here are directly from childhood: Han-tsî-bê, an everyday breakfast congee floating with fist-size chunks of golden sweet potatoes, and the quintessential preserve Tshài-póo, crunchy strips of sun-dried daikon radish that salt in the air for a few days in January. Others tread the boundaries between old and new, such as Sòo-lóo-pn̄g, a meatless rendition of the hand-cut pork bits his mom braised in soy sauce and ladled over rice.

While writing this book, George wandered all over Taiwan with his friend Laurent Hsia, who took photos along the way. Together, they sought out the foods and places tied to their memories growing up. Like the grandpa who slung a bag of apples along the zebra crossing to exit the morning market, or the old couple on the bus in black and white, sitting side by side and peering forward, the two found themselves . . . always afoot, traveling. A-Gong's Table follows the rhythm of their footsteps: a pulse that takes you quietly through the book and through Taiwan, from morning to night.

AARTI PAARTI: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul A collection of memories and 101 recipes from the popular blogger and Food Network personality. The recipes will make cooking with traditional Indian flavors and spices approachable for the US market. Aarti's stories will dissolve the foreign-ness of Indian flavors and make seemingly complicated technique and flavor accessible. She will take the intimidation factor out of cooking Indian food by simplifying traditional recipes, offering many specific how-to's, and also tips on using traditionally Indian spices in new ways, in everyday dishes. And there is a streak of Middle Eastern in some of these recipes given her youth in Dubai. Recipes include: Cornflake & Kaya French Toast, Real Deal Hummus, Masala Kale Chips, Mum's Everyday Dal, Sambar (Vegetable & Lentil Stew), Pregnancy Potatoes (Crispy masala potato wedges), Indian Street Corn, Saag Paneer, Quinoa Tabbouleh, Chickpea & Artichoke Masala, Tandoori Chicken, Bombay Sloppy Joes, Spicy Sticky Lamb Chops, Mango Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Masala Shrimp & Grits, Homemade Magic Shell with Garam Masala & Sea Salt, Strawberry-Rose Petal Shortcakes. Finally, the narratives that open each chapter are wonderfully evocative, telling the story of a woman who was an outsider experiencing many cultures and cuisines: an Indian in Dubai, going to a British school; an international student attending Northwestern University to become an American journalist; and a wife of a Los Angeles man who leaves her job at CNN and becomes a Food Network Star. She finds that food always saves her and encourages us all to find the warmth in cooking.

What is taste? Is it individual or imposed on us from the outside? Why are so many of us so intimidated when presented with the wine list at a restaurant? In The Accidental Connoisseur, journalist Lawrence Osborne takes off on a personal voyage through a little-known world in pursuit of some answers. Weaving together a fantastic cast of eccentrics and obsessives, industry magnates and small farmers, the author explores the way technological change, opinionated critics, consumer trends, wheelers and dealers, trade wars, and mass market tastes have made the elixir we drink today entirely different from the wine drunk by our grandparents.

In his search for wine that is a true expression of the place that produced it, Osborne takes the reader from the high-tech present to the primitive past. From a lavish lunch with wine tsar Robert Mondavi to the cellars of Marquis Piero Antinori in Florence, from the tasting rooms of Chateau Lafite to the humble vineyards of northern Lazio, Osborne winds his way through Renaissance palaces, $27 million wineries, tin shacks and garages, opulent restaurants, world-famous chais and vineyards, renowned villages and obscure landscapes, as well as the great cities which are the temples of wine consumption: New York, San Francisco, Paris, Florence, and Rome. On the way, we will be shown the vast tapestry of this much-desired, little-understood drink: who produces it and why, who consumes it, who critiques it? Enchanting, delightful, entertaining, and, above all, down to earth, this is a wine book like no other.

In Acid Trip, Michael Harlan Turkell takes readers on a fascinating journey through the world of vinegar. An avid maker of vinegars at home, Turkell traveled throughout North America, France, Italy, Austria, and Japan to learn about vinegar-making practices in places where the art has evolved over centuries. This richly narrated cookbook includes recipes from leading chefs including Daniel Boulud, Barbara Lynch, Michael Anthony, April Bloomfield, Massimo Bottura, Sean Brock, and many others. Dishes range from simple to sophisticated and include Fried Eggs with a Spoonful of Vinegar, Sweet & Sour Peppers, Balsamic Barbecued Ribs, Poulet au Vinaigre, Tomato Tarragon Shrub, and even Vinegar Pie. Turkell also details methods for making your own vinegars with bases as varied as wine, rice, apple cider, and honey. Featuring lush color photographs by the author, Acid Trip is a captivating story of an obsession and an indispensable reference for any food lover who aspires to make and cook with the best ingredients.