We're nearing the end of Hanukah and are coming up on a week before Christmas. I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow for a week for work. I have done no shopping (and with the dollar the way it is, I’m sure not doing any there!). I am, you might say, in a total frothy holiday panic. Which, of course, is exactly why the Internet was invented—saving last-minute shopper dopes like me from having their families invest in annual lumps of coal.
There were a lot of books to love this year, not the least of which were in the food, wine, and spirits category, many of which I’ll be ordering tonight (and will hopefully find them waiting for me when I get back home early next week!). If you’re looking for ideas, too, here’s my fast-and-loose list for the culinary curious in my life:
Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails edited by Anthony Giglio and Jim Meehan: I love this book. Love, love, love it. Not only are two of the most talented guys in the imbibing industry at work behind it, but it’s filled with great classics done well like hot buttered rum (which, you know, would taste pretty good right about now) and Irish coffee (simple and sinful with Irish whiskey, simple syrup, freshly brewed coffee and fresh whipped cream—yum.), to mixables that will make you look like the coolest host on the block (case in point: the Ginger Mac—a gorgeous, warmed concoction that’s made up of tawny Port, cloves, ginger preserves, Scotch, orange Curacao, and an orange twist—oh my). It’s not a jam-packed be-all end-all book and it doesn’t want to be—it’s a well-chosen, good-ingredient consortium of cocktails.
The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox: I’ve had so much fun with this book this year. DeMasco and Fox explain things so clearly and well, that even if you’re afraid of an Eazy-Bake Oven you’ll find yourself coaxed in by their obvious love of the topic. The recipes are approachable, delicious, but not without sophistication and the benefit of DeMasco’s obvious tried-and-true techniques (she’s won a Beard Award, for heaven’s sake!).
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham: I had some friends over for dinner this past weekend and one of them asked me what my go-to Bible of a cookbook was. After having been without my kitchen and, thus, my cookbooks and being so very grateful to be able to pluck them from a shelf whenever I need to now, I ever-more appreciate the wisdom of this book. I use it for everything—questions about measurements and conversions; practical information like when certain vegetables are in peak season to what constitutes offal; great basic recipes that never steer me wrong. I missed ol’ Marion while she was packed away. I hope we will never be separated again. I have an awful lot of cookbooks, but Fannie and me, we got a good thing goin’.
For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose: Grab a cup of your favorite brew, hunker down in your most comfortable, cozy chair, and get ready to fall under the spell of Rose’s incredible research into the history and adventure of this world-changing botanical and Robert Fortune, the Scottish plant hunter (!) who pursued some of China’s rarest seeds in what Rose appropriately calls "one of the most daring acts of corporate espionage in history." It makes the Boston Tea Party look like Sunday brunch and you easily picture the movie version with its Indiana Jones for the botany set. Who knew tea could be so…hot?
Which cookbooks are you giving (or hoping to receive) this year?
Amy Zavatto has been writing about wine, spirits, and food for ten years. Her work appears in Imbibe, Gotham, and Every Day with Rachael Ray, among others. She is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bartending and the co-author of The Renaissance Guide to Wine & Food Pairing.
