Catching up with the IQ series, and immediately stumbled onto fried chicken. The first paragraph (in Prologue) discloses recipe and technique. Enough scrolling gets either/both visual/audio version:
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Just finished Mark Thielmanās latest national parks mystery The Firefall (Yosemite). Loved it. The characters just keep getting better, and I enjoy his plots that always include fascinating historical events. I would recommend starting with the first two books in the series, The Devilās Kitchen (Yellowstone), and The Hidden River (the Everglades).
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I finished The Birth of Venus, which was all kinds of problematic for me. Would not recommend:
Now into Yellowface, which Iām mostly enjoying, although itās a bit industry-insidery. I enjoyed Babel by the same author.
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The first 14 pages are side-splitting banter between Standing Bear and Walt.
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Unfortunately Iām almost at the end of Rottenkid: A Succulent Story of Survival. Iām a fan of hair raising memoirs, and this certainly qualifies. Thereās a fair amount of food discussion which is a plus.
āProlific cookbook author Brigit Binnsā coming-of-age memoirāco-starring her alcoholic actor father Edward Binns and glamorous but viciously smart narcissistic motherāreveals how simultaneous privilege and profound neglect led Brigit to seek comfort in the kitchen, eventually allowing her to find some sense of self-worth. A memoir sauteed in Hollywood stories, world travel, and always, the need to belong.ā
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Carl Hiaasen, Fever Beach (2025) at p. 183:
"Anyway, when I first met him heād just opened a restaurant called Tastes Like Chicken. The whole gimmick was they didnāt even serve chicken. It was frog legs, gator brisket, rabbit legs, beaver flanks, goat cheeks, whatever. Once a week they had a sauteāed iguana special, thirty-five bucks aā la carte for the tail meat . . . "
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This is a time commitment, but I found it hilarious.
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I just finished reading an ebook loan of this ā¦ came away with an intense dislike of the author. She acts so entitled, wants so much $ from her parents, very strained relationship with her mother. Keeps trying for something with her mother that is impossible, they just canāt get along.
Iām reading Kristen Kish memoir, Accidentally on Purpose, and enjoying. Her love of her parents, who adopted her when she was a few months old from Korea, is very heartwarming.
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Thanks for the recommendation, I downloaded the ebook loan from my library. Previously, Iād read through her cookbook ā¦ nothing grabbed me.
Keep āem coming!
Have you read The Apprentice, Jacques Pepinās memoir, or Julia Childās My Life in France? Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen?
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I also really enjoyed Laurie Wooleverās Care and Feeding about her working with Bourdain and Batali. Also The Editor by Sara B Franklin was about Judith Jones who kind of ādiscoveredā Julia Childs, 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert and I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally.
I read the first two, will check out the last one!
Iāve read all those except The Editor. If Iām ever in NYC again and have the funds, Iād love to go to Le Bernardin, guess itās difficult to get a reservation. I wish heād write a second book. How devastating it must have been to have a last dinner in Alsace with his best friend and have it end that way ā¦
Iād love to eat at Balthazar
The Tenth Muse, Judith Jonesās memoir, is well worth a read, too. She got her start in publishing living in Paris post-WWII, and sheās also responsible for rescuing Anne Frankās diaries from the slush pile.
Also look at Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey and Sharkās Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop.
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I have at least once or twice. Didnāt leave a huge foodie impression but it was fun. Had lunch at Pastis once (another McNally restaurant) and watched the arrival of Andre Leon Talley.
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Yes the whole book about her life in publishing was interesting. I remember her character in the Julia Childs series on HBO a few years ago.
It was fascinating to me that both Julia Child and Marcella Hazan grew up privileged with live-in cook for the family; they never learned to cook at all growing up. Both of them later on learned to cook to please their husbands (and perhaps themselves) as a way of showing love and care.
Their hobby brought them both a whole other life.
Ina Garten relates that her mother never wanted anyone to share her kitchen and she was very strict about a low fat diet. Ina branched out to the opposite, loving gourmet food and wanting to put on dinner parties.
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