“Haute cuisine” outside France and, maybe Italy, is all too often gimmicky, uses far too many weird sauces, juxtaposes too many inappropriate ingredients in a dish (surf and turf? Oh, dear!) and can sometimes seem like an elaborate joke by the chef at the expense of the diners. For a wonderful take-off of “adventurous” and less-than-successful cooking you must read “Cooking with Fernet Branca” by James Hamilton-Paterson, an Englishman living in Italy. It is hilarious! And very imaginative. You will laugh out loud. $10.61 from Amazon.com.
Strange ingredients. Gael Greene’s “Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess,” recounts encounters with French food and chefs from the 50s to the 80s. The NYC food critic knew a thing or two about both cuisine and chefs (even the sous-chefs).
This funny and often naughty read begins each chapter with a recipe the ingredients for which reminded me of the witches’ recipes in Macbeth. Wish I had the volume at my side for examples but antler of shrimp marinated in mistletoe oil isn’t far off the mark.
Does the Hamilton-Paterson book offer recipes AND humor?
Recipes AND humor. We need both.