Have Fruit, Will Travel

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With summertime upon us, there are delectable local fruits on offer in markets and roadside fruit stands across Ontario, not to mention the extra helping of imported exotic fruits that line the grocery store shelves. But how many of us know the stories of adventure and commerce behind those pyramids of mangos and heaps of bananas? Or about the staggering cornucopia of outlandish fruits around the world that are not even represented on our grocery shelves? Who knew, for instance, there is such a specimen known as peanut butter fruit? Or a charichuela that tastes like lemonade-infused cotton candy? Or apples that tastes like cinnamon? This is only the tip of the iceberg of facts that crop up in Adam Leith Gollner’s book, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession. Read more

If You Can’t Stand the Heat

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Without formal cooking credentials to your name, it’s best to avoid inviting Mario Batali to dinner. Bill Buford, writer for The New Yorker magazine, knew the potential for humiliation, but he did it anyway. As if that wasn’t enough, he proceeded to get permission to work in the kitchen of Batali’s Manhattan restaurant, Babbo. For the enjoyment of restaurant enthusiasts everywhere, the details of this adventure are documented in his book, Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-quoting Butcher in Tuscany. Read more

Table for One Around the World

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Even as a reluctant celebrity, Anthony Bourdain continues to unwittingly mould his career as a chef into that of a renowned TV personality and bestselling author, who has been treating readers to his irreverent style of writing since 2001 when his book, Kitchen Confidential – about the darker side of restaurant kitchens – became a hit. Since then, Bourdain has had no shortage of writing credits to his name and he sets out to find the nasty bits that make cooking and travelling darkly entertaining. Bourdain is an executive chef in Manhattan, as well as a multi-tattooed, chain-smoking, well-travelled, wickedly funny writer. Read more

The Food Connection

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In no book has the phrase “You are what you eat” meant as much as in Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. This book needs no further accolades after receiving numerous awards in 2007, including the prestigious James Beard Award and a nod as one of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year. With all this formal recognition behind it, the book can accomplish what it set out to do: educate the masses about how the elements of a meal get to our plates. Combining science, philosophy, anthropology, and journalistic investigation, Pollan sets out to answer the question “What should we have for dinner?” Since humans are omnivores, it becomes far more complicated than need be; thus, the dilemma. He writes, “When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety.” Later, he concludes, “We’ve discovered that an abundance of food does not render the omnivore’s dilemma obsolete. To the contrary, abundance seems only to deepen it, giving us all sorts of new problems and things to worry about” (7). He tries to assuage our dilemma by inspiring a conscientious approach to meals by remembering that food comes from somewhere other than the supermarket or refrigerator. Read more

Waiter Secrets

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What are the secrets to being a great waiter? Phoebe Damrosch learned there’s more to it than writing “Thank you” in bubble letters next to a smiley face on the cheque at the end of a meal. By working her way into the restaurant of a celebrity chef and learning from the best in the field, she became privy to those secrets. Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter chronicles her success moving from English student busboy to dining room captain. Read more