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Food Writing

1. Gumbo Life: Tales from the Roux Bayou

   Ken Wells

   A sprightly, deeply personal narrative about how gumbo—for 250 years a Cajun and Creole secret—has become one of the world’s most beloved dishes.More

2. Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food

   Ann Hood

   In this warm collection of personal essays and recipes, best-selling author Ann Hood nourishes both our bodies and our souls.More

3. Did You Just Eat That?: Two Scientists Explore Double-Dipping, the Five-Second Rule, and other Food Myths in the Lab

   Paul Dawson, Brian Sheldon

   Is the five-second rule legitimate?
   Are electric hand dryers really bacteria blowers?
   Am I spraying germs everywhere when I blow on my birthday cake?
   How gross is backwash?
   More

4. Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created

   Patrick E. McGovern, Sam Calagione

   One of Smithsonian Magazine’s Ten Best Books of the Year about Food
   A Forbes Best Booze Book of the YearMore

5. Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense

   Bob Holmes

   A journey into the surprising science behind our flavor senses.More

6. Eating Words: A Norton Anthology of Food Writing

   Sandra M. Gilbert, Roger J. Porter, Ruth Reichl

   “Food writing spans centuries and philosophies. . . . At long last there’s a Norton Anthology with all the most important works.”—EaterMore

7. Food City: Four Centuries of Food-Making in New York

   Joy Santlofer, Marion Nestle

   A 2017 James Beard Award Nominee: From the breweries of New Amsterdam to Brooklyn’s Sweet’n Low, a vibrant account of four centuries of food production in New York City.More

8. Ten Restaurants That Changed America

   Paul Freedman, Danny Meyer

   From Delmonico’s to Sylvia’s to Chez Panisse, a daring and original history of dining out in America as told through ten legendary restaurants.More

9. Pig Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat

   Barry Estabrook

   A Splendid Table Staff Book Pick of the Year
   
   "Estabrook, a reporter of iron constitution and persistence, has dug deep into the truth about the American pork industry without losing his sense of humor and humanity." —Christopher Kimball, Wall Street JournalMore

10. The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour through America’s Food

    Matthew Gavin Frank

    A richly illustrated culinary tour of the United States through fifty signature dishes, and a radical exploration of our gastronomic heritage.More

11. The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu

    Dan Jurafsky

    A 2015 James Beard Award Finalist: "Eye-opening, insightful, and huge fun to read." —Bee Wilson, author of Consider the ForkMore

12. Harvest: Field Notes from a Far-Flung Pursuit of Real Food

    Max Watman

    Max Watman’s compulsively readable memoir of his dogged quest to craft meals from scratch.More

13. Growing a Feast: The Chronicle of a Farm-to-Table Meal

    Kurt Timmermeister

    The story of a feast two years in the making, from the farmer who harvested the vegetables, raised the animals, and prepared the meal.More

14. The Wine Savant: A Guide to the New Wine Culture

    Michael Steinberger

    “Entertaining and edifying. . . . [Steinberger] deftly shows how any and all of us can be savvier about wine.”—Bill Ward, Minneapolis Star TribuneMore

15. The Culinary Imagination: From Myth to Modernity

    Sandra M. Gilbert

    From the recipe novel to the celebrity chef, renowned scholar Sandra M. Gilbert explores the poetics and politics of food.More