Cooking: A Love Story

One of my favourite books I received this year for Christmas was a very special cookbook called Gluten-free girl and the chef: a love story with 100 tempting recipes by Shauna James Ahern and Daniel Ahern. Now, I don't want to get into specifics, as this blog is not about me or any medical issues I may or may not have, but suffice it to say that I have been put on a gluten-free diet by my doctor. (Which basically means no wheat, rye, barley, or products derived from those grains.)

To someone who likes food, this can be a severe blow. And while I may not worry so much about bread, I will miss cake in all its forms. But it means the question "What's for dinner?" just became a slight bit more complicated.

Enter this lovely, lovely cookbook. Daniel Ahern is the chef, Shauna James Ahern is the gluten-free girl, and this cookbook is the story of their romance and their romance with food, illustrated with recipes. The fact that the cookbook happens to be gluten-free is almost an afterthought, really. The focus, and point, of the book is the love story between these two unlikely people.

I enjoy sitting down and reading a cookbook from front to back. This is one of those cookbooks that flows like a story and can be, is meant to be, read from back to back. Each pivotal event in their relationship is followed by the recipe for the dish in that pivotal moment. So, we have the story of the first time Shauna cooked dinner for Daniel, followed by the recipe of the dish she made. (Baked Eggs with Taleggio, pg.16.) We have the tender and humourous story of their proposal, followed by the recipe of the dinner they were eating at the time. (Pan-seared beef tenderloin with port sauce and balsamic onions, pg.54.) Their love for each other and for food comes through clearly on every page.

This is more than just a gluten-free cookbook. Sure, there are specific recipes for bread, pasta, muffins, and carrot cake that are specifically gluten-free. But there are plenty of recipes that are gluten-free but that have always been gluten-free because they never contained wheat, such as rice, veal, and fish dishes. The authors stress the importance of cooking in season, with local ingredients, and working slowly, carefully, over your food. It is important to put your love for your friends and family into your food.

This is a cookbook for people who love food first, and people who need gluten-free food second. It is a fantastic book filled with many recipes that I cannot wait to try. (The pan-seared beef, the risotto, the carrot cake....I could go on!) In short, this is a terrific cookbook and one I would recommend to anyone who loves food, loves romance stories, and may or may not want to/need to learn how to cook gluten-free. It is a book I plan to cook out of a lot - for friends, for family, for me.

Cook Bookery

If there's one thing I like almost as much as reading, it's eating. (I especially enjoy reading while eating.) The worlds of eating and reading combine in the cookbook - which is why I have a whole shelf of cookbooks in my kitchen. However, in my world, cookbooks are not just for cooking out of. They are for reading, too.

I especially like to read the cookbooks by Nigella Lawson. She is one of my favourite British cooks. The photography in her books is beautiful and many of the photos could hang on one's wall as art. However, her books are also entertaining to read as well. She writes her recipes in a conversational, flowing style which make them interesting to read when one is not cooking. In fact, I may have done more reading than cooking out of her cookbooks! In part, this is due to the British convention of using weight to measure flour and other baking ingredients, whereas in North America we tend to use cups. And I don't own a kitchen scale. (Yet.)

Of Nigella's books I own Forever Summer, How to Eat, Feast, How to be a Domestic Goddess, and Nigella Christmas. I think my favourite is How to be a Domestic Goddess as I enjoy baking. Nigella Christmas is also interesting because of all the extra baking and cooking that gets done at Christmas. I enjoy reading about all her ideas for various Christmas dinners and her interesting use of spices. I like using lots of spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg at holidays. There is something very medieval about using all those spices - they were very expensive to come by and so were only used at special occasions. Now, of course, cinnamon is fairly cheap on the spice rack, but it is still fun to use a lot of spices at Christmas for that festive feeling. I also enjoy Nigella's books for the look into British cooking. She uses a lot more fish and seafood than I think we do here (or at least in my landlocked province!) and some different ingredients. Her temperatures are all in Celsius or "gas marks" which I have no idea what those are. Further, she has access to some different fruits that I am not sure I could find in a supermarket here, such as gooseberries, currants (fresh, not dried) and quinces. I would love to actually cook in England out of her cookbooks when I have the ingredients!

Another British cook whose books I enjoy is Jamie Oliver. Yes, I like his shows too, but we have two of his cookbooks. The one, Jamie at Home, we have not cooked out of much (nor have I read it much either), but we cook out of Jamie's Food Revolution all of the time. In fact, it is sitting open to Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce (pg. 52) in my kitchen at this moment. You know a cookbook is well loved when the pages are beginning to stick together! The recipes in this book are great - quick, simple, and delicious. I've loved almost everything I've tried. Many of the recipes are for two which is handy when cooking for two or for one - good portion sizes. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. One my favourites and kitchen essentials. (Note: in the above recipe, since creme fraiche is so expensive to get here [another British ingredient that doesn't translate into North American kitchens] we just use sour cream. Still yummy!)

One of my favourite Food Network personalities is Alton Brown and my husband is a fanatical devotee of his show, Good Eats. We have a few of his cookbooks which demonstrate the same scientific tenacity to figuring out a fool-proof recipe that works. Both I'm Just Here for the Food and I'm Just Here for More Food are excellent teaching cookbooks for anyone interested in the science of food. His book Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run is more of a book about food than a cookbook. Alton Brown did two motorcycle trips which he filmed for Food Network: one trip across America and the other along the Mississippi River. This particular book is from the Mississippi trip and is more of a travelogue of food and some recipes. Good reading.

Of course, my survey of cookbooks is not complete without a mention of the grandmother of all cookbooks, the indispensable reference that has graced many a kitchen: the Joy of Cooking. Currently, it is beside the bed where I was looking up recipes for pie last evening. (Don't ask.) While I may not cook many recipes from it, Joy is the first book I turn to when I have a question about food. It discusses every ingredient in detail, gives you basic ways to cook it, and then goes into the recipes. It is my right-hand man in the kitchen.

And finally, just to show that my nerdiness extends even to cookbooks:

Yes, it's The Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes. The real treat is the photos inside which have Star Wars models posed in action scenes with the various finished dishes one makes from the book. I think the book is actually for kids, but it's fun to have. A little whimsy is part of any fully stocked kitchen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go learn how to make Boba Fett-uccine (pg.41).

Julia!

I tend to read books in themes. Usually that occurs because something tweaks my interest; I read one book on it, which then leads to further reading on the subject until I have fully satisfied my curiosity.

One such subject that tweaked my interest recently is Julia Child. I vaguely remember seeing her on TV when I was little, and my parents had one cookbook of hers that I used to read quite often. I had even read a biography about her. What tweaked my interest this time was watching the movie Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep did an excellent portrayal of Julia. I wanted to visit Paris - not today, but the Paris of the 1940s-1950s when Julia was there. I also wanted to read Julie Powell's book on which the movie was based.

This I did shortly thereafter when lent the book by my sister-in-law. She explained that the book was quite different from the movie and I have to agree. The Julie in the movie seemed to be a very sweet girl, the Julie of the book less so. I liked the way the movie really cut between scenes of Julia and Julie, really establishing the storyline about two characters of equal strength , whereas the book focused much more on Julie as opposed to Julia.

Being more interested in Julia, I did not read Julie Powell's next book, but turned to the biography of Julia Child which I had previously read: Appetite For Life, by Noel Riley Fitch. As far as I know, it is the only biography out there on her. It is a good and interesting read because Julia Child really had an interesting life. She was born Julia McWilliams in Pasadena, California, shortly before the First World War. She followed all the usual steps for a girl of privilege, but ended up working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS - spy agency) during the Second World War as she was too tall to join the other branches of the service. Julia was at least 6 foot 1. She was posted to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) with the OSS. There she met Paul Child. Their romance blossomed when both were transferred to China. At the end of World War Two, they were married. Paul continued working for the government and was posted to Paris. There Julia's love affair with French food began, and continued despite subsequent postings to Marseilles, Germany, and Norway. The rest of the story is well known: Julia writes a cookbook or two and ends up on PBS with her own cooking show.

The biography discusses Julia's family history and sheds light on her early life that may be unknown to many readers. Julia began her career relatively late, but the biography takes a well-rounded view on her life, not shirking the earlier time for the time when she was more famous. By the end it does disintegrate a little to a list of Julia's various cooking appearances, engagements, and television shows, but is still engaging.

What comes out clearly throughout the book is the special relationship Julia and Paul had together. Despite his initial reluctance to think of her as a partner, he eventually came around and realized they were right for each other. And partners they most assuredly were. For all the fame Julia realized, Paul was right there behind her. He was at every taping of her show, assisted with all of her cookbooks and accompanied her to every cooking demonstration and book signing. He truly was her right-hand man and the Julia Child we know and love today could not have existed without Paul's constant and unwavering support. He threw all his energies and talents into promoting Julia and her cooking. The two had a perfect marriage of partnership and passion. It is heartbreaking in the biography when Paul has a heart attack and requires an operation in 1974. He suffered a number of small strokes during the operation which affected his memory. Julia's partner and right hand man can no longer provide her with the support she needs. He lived on until 1994, growing more irascible and irritated every year as he struggled to cope with the changes to his mind. The marriage of equals was no more.

I did not realize before reading the biography just how involved in his wife's career Paul Child was. Really, it was their career - their joint effort in the world of French cookery. I would like to see a biography of the two of them: Julia and Paul Child. He was a talented and interesting man is his own right, who has received short shrift by history in not acknowledging his vital role in the development of Julia Child, the brand. This biography is great, but I think the need is there for a joint biography to recognize Paul's contributions and his own role in the story.

For those of you who are more interested in what Julia has to say, you should check out a charming little book, My Life in France, by Julia Child and her nephew Alex Prud'homme. This is a lovely little book about Julia's time in France: her first time living there with Paul in both Paris and Marseilles, and her discovery of the Cordon Bleu and French cooking, and her second time in France when she and Paul built a vacation home in the south of France and lived there for part of the year. This delightful book was written by Julia and Alex shortly before she died and is written in Julia's own voice. She comes across as an earthy and humourous lady with a soul of steel. Her efforts in testing and retesting every recipe for Mastering the Art of French Cooking were nothing short of heroic! She was intense and interested and always wanted to know why. Why this flour and not that, why whisk here, why this heat, why this ingredient, why this method. A cook who is similar today is Alton Brown of Good Eats, with his scientific discussions of cooking and how ingredients interact with each other. Julia wanted to know why the ingredients behaved they way they did and how the French recipes could be translated to American ones. She was a hard worker, but she seemed like a lot of fun to get to know.

Much is made in the book Julie & Julia about the scene where it is revealed that Julia Child does not like Julie Powell's blog. If that is true, one gets the reason after reading this book. Julie Powell comes across as a little bit slap-dash in her approach to the recipes. She often doesn't read them the whole way through and doesn't take into account the time needed to cook or let the ingredients set. Julia Child thoroughly tested and honed every recipe. She expected her cooks to have the same love of food and attention to detail that she did. As she says at the end of My Life in France:

"Good results require that one take time and care. If one doesn't use the freshest ingredients or read the whole recipe before starting, and if one rushes through the cooking, the result will be an inferior taste and texture - a gummy beef Wellington, say. But a careful approach will result in a magnificent burst of flavor, a thoroughly satisfying meal, perhaps even a life-changing experience." [J. Child and A. Prud'homme, My Life in France, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009) pg.302]

Julie Powell did not always take time and care with her recipes. Nor did she seem to have the love of food which really influenced Julia Child to make the education of Americans about French cooking her life's work. If it is true that Julia Child did not respond favourably to Julie Powell's cooking efforts, this is perhaps why.

What about me? Will I try any of Julia's recipes? I am still on the hold list for Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One (now very popular at the library) but I did manage to take out Volume Two. This is the book with the infamous French Bread recipe that took Paul and Julia many years to perfect. It takes 7 hours. The croissants, 11. While the recipes may be extensive, Julia's wit and humour come through on every page. She is there to guide you and help you through her recipes, as long as you give her the respect her work deserves. I may not try the bread (at least not during the summer anyway!) but there's a cake or two I've been eyeing, and I would like to try the famous Boeuf Bourguignon from Volume One. However, when I try her recipes, I will keep in mind Julia's words and take time and care. This is her life's work, and it deserves our respect in the kitchen.