What's your favorite Food Memoir?

[Nay_the_Teacher]

I recently finished the books The Story of Sushi and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I loved both of these so now I'm on this nonfiction food memoir kick. I just bought The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry and Immovable Feast. I am anxiously awaiting their arrival. So my question to you, fellow bibliophiles, is what is your favorite Food Memoir and why.

[Jon_B]

I haven't read a whole lot of them, and it's only partially a food memoir, but I was rather fond of A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle.  It's a bit cheesy but the descriptions of the food and wine in that book were wonderful.

[anna_g]

I *loved* the ''Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry.'' I just read that it is going to be made into a movie.

I also like Ruth Reichl's ''Tender to the Bone.'' I just got a copy of "Mediterranean Summer" as an early Christmas present, and so far it's great.

[Jilseponie]

Just finished The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry.  It was fantastic!  I wrote a review on it. 

I think my favorite would be Heat by Mark Buford.  The guy is a menace in the kitchen, but he dives in, works briefly in a Mario Batali restaurant, and travel to Italy to get a good grasp of real Italian food.  It's funny and informative.

[Timbuktu2]

I recently read Paula Deen's memoir and really liked it.  She intersperses recipes throughout and they were wonderful.

Another good book involving food but not exactly a memoir is Nora Ephron's Heartburn.  Love that book!  The movie was good too.

Her recent book about getting older, I don't Like my Neck, was really good too.  In it she describes her quest for the perfect cabbage strudel.  This set me off on my own quest which finally ended on 2nd Ave, at the very bakery where Nora gets hers.  It was ok.  Nothing could have measured up to her description.  I also made my own, again, ok.   

[Timbuktu2]

Now I'm reading Julia Child's My Life in France.  What a lovely life!  Young, in love and in Paris, she describes every street, every person she meets and most of all every meal she ate.

Vicarious enjoyment on a cold winter day!

[Maureen12]

A friend just passed me Cooking & Screaming by Adrienne Kane and I finished it in one sitting! The author suffered an AVM two weeks before she was to graduate from college, and the book follows her recovery-- through cooking. Each chapter begins with a recipe- chapter one starts with the tagliatelle w/ zucchini, which she made as a college senior (so good! I made it last night!) and chapter twelve opens with the roast duck w/ apples and sausage recipe that she made for a dinner party where she cooked all Julia Child food. This author's story is an inspiration, and was thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, the recipes were incredible- the perfect mix for a food memoir!

[BetsyInA2]

I've loved all of Ruth Reichl's memoirs, but was particularly taken with Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.  In addition to some wonderful food writing, there is a strong theme about personal identity.  In this installment of her memoirs, Reichl becomes the NYT food critic.  When she learns that her picture has been posted in the kitchens of every New York restaurant, she takes measures to disguise herself.  To her surprise, she finds that with every new disguise comes a different persona, and that people treat her very differently depending on how she presents herself.  Loved every page of this book.

[CulinaryScene]

I recommend a great new book I'm trying to turn people onto.  It's called "Baked-Off!: Memoirs of a Pillsbury Bake-Off Junkie" by Steve Grieger.  There's also "The Ungarnished Truth" by Ellie Mathews, also about the bake-off.  Both are fun to compare.  I also recommend "Julie and Julia."  Can't wait to see the movie with Meryl Streep as Julia Child!

[biblio_addict]

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee is a fun read.  The Sharper Your Knife is my favorite culinary memoir to date, though.