Open to two double-page spreads devoted to photo-graphs of bruschetta, that sublime slice of grilled sourdough bread, moistened with good olive oil, that is canvas here to 24 topping variations–figs and arugula; asparagus and parmesan; ricotta and red pepper–combinations that have a “why didn’t I think of that” obviousness. The restaurant (designed by Ruth’s husband, that Richard Rogers, of Pompidou Center fame) is a design experience, but not one where contorted flatware and X-Men lamps rule. It’s design that enhances the food experience. And so with the book, where each unadorned plate is a photograph, each page enhances our cooking and looking pleasure. Bring this book to a lucky summer host. Or better, give yourself the present.
Coincidentally, another favorite London restaurant has just published the American version of its cookbook. Fergus Henderson is chef-owner of the singular St. John, in the Smithfield meat market that has existed here since the 17th century. His book, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating ($19.95), deals with the foodstuffs of childhood rhymes: pig’s trotters, ox tongues, lamb’s brains, duck legs, jugged hare and hairy tatties (not to worry, it’s salt cod and potatoes). That litany may be more fun to read than to cook, but it states the obvious: Henderson is the real thing. In his restaurant, these preparations are as clean and confident as three radishes on a white plate with a square of butter.
This is indeed the summer of European books for the rest of us: the first two will satisfy if a trip to London isn’t in the cards, and Patricia Wells’s The Provence Cookbook ($29.95), if France is out of the question. Wells, whose seminal “Food Lover’s Guides” we still lug around on our travels, even though, sadly, they’re years out of print, just can’t stop herself from piling on the information. Her enthusiasm tugs at our sleeve, revealing secrets like her vegetable man’s asparagus flan. A method for seasoning goat cheese with fresh herbs prompts a three-page essay on “My Cheese Tray.”
As Eugenia Bone recounts the tale (with recipes; she’s the daughter of locally renowned cook Edward Giobbi) of her young New York City family’s move to Crawford, Colo. (population: 404), she proves she is heir, in a way, to Pat Wells and Peter Mayle. At Mesa’s Edge: Cooking and Ranching in Colorado’s North Fork Valley ($24) begins with her motive for the move: “Kevin [her husband] suffered from a kind of yearning without name, a desire he couldn’t articulate, a lack of vigor and contentment that would have been mopey in a lesser man.”
Be honest. Do you know which cut of beef to use for fajitas (skirt steak), or how to pan-sear a duck breast? In How to Peel a Peach ($29.95), well-known cooking teacher Perla Meyers answers those “and 1,001 other things every good cook needs to know.” It’s a whole year’s cooking class between two covers.
And here’s my vote for best beach read: Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque ($29.95). By Sirio Maccioni and Bloomberg radio’s food personality, Peter Elliot, it’s the dishy inside story of a simple Tuscan from Montecatini who made a restaurant that drew–and still does–the world’s boldest-faced names.
