Heat

I imagine most cooking enthusiasts have at times imagined working in a restaurant or even owning one.

I've had several restaurant concepts, though have always realized I would be ill-suited to actually work in a restaurant.

Nothing has ever brought the reality of the restaurant cooking experience to life for me as well as the book Heat by Bill Buford.

When it came out, this book gained notoriety as an expose about Mario Batali. But it's really not that at all. Yes, Batali plays a major role in it, but really this is the story of one man's search to know food in a way it can only be known by hands on experience in the kitchen with great cooks, or in one case, a butcher.

Buford is a superb writer, and this book was by turns visceral, funny and heartwarming. As much as it made even clearer that restaurant cooking is very hard work, it made me wish even more that I was suited to it.

Books About Food & Life

My favorite food books are the ones that demonstrate the soul deep role of food in life -- beyond physical nourishment or even creating cooking. Here are three that come to mind:

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell
Powell was a secretary in New York who decided to make every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. Powell's writing is honest, earthy and very funny. I just saw her discuss and read from her book at the Tattered Cover, and she was as engaging in person as in her writing.




The Food of Love by Anthony Capella
A novel about food, love and life in Italy, completely sensuous and very sweet.







Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria by Mark Rotella
Rotella searches for his roots and finds them in a piece of the world lost in time.