10 DELICIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL READS NOW

If you are passionate about culinary delights, and love to settle back into a comfy chair and read about food, we’ve got some new deliciously Beautiful Reads for you. We gathered a sampling of 10 of the most beautiful new cookbooks as well as foodie inspired memoirs, novels and short stories that all take you both deep into and far beyond just plain edibles.

1. VEGETABLE LITERACY: COOKING AND GARDENING WITH TWELVE FAMILIES FROM THE EDIBLE PLANT KINGDOM, WITH OTHER 300 DELICIOUSLY SIMPLE RECIPES

Deborah Madison was one of the first chefs to elevate vegetarian cooking to a fine culinary art. She also was a major force in making vegetarian recipes accessible to everyone.

Now Madison is diving deeper to get a better read on the plants we eat. She does it beautifully in her new book, “Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes.”

Vegetarian Literacy examines the surprising relationships between vegetables, edible flowers, and herbs within the same botanical families and leverages their commonalities to develop incredible flavor. It’s a botanist’s approach to cooking. This, and gorgeous photography by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, make Vegetable Literacy a very Beautiful Read. 

Ten Speed Press  (2013)

2. MANRESA: AN EDIBLE REFLECTION

We’ve been waiting for “Manresa: An Edible Reflection,”by San Francisco Bay area star chef David Kinch. And it was worth the wait. Written with Christine Muhlke, with foreward by one of our favorite chefs, Eric Ripert, Manresa is a mega-beautiful masterpiece, just like its eponymous restaurant.

Kinch is a farm-to-table chef who focuses very locally on the terroir of the Northern California coast, where the Santa Cruz Mountains meet the sea. His food is as cerebral as it is experiential. He loves to spin off and create new ideas, new pairings, new paths.

Love Apple Farms supplies nearly all of the restaurant’s exquisite produce.  Other exceptional local producers take care of the rest. It is easy to see here how these are an intrinsic part of the creative culinary universe that Manresa operates within.

Ten Speed Press (2013)

3. A ROYAL COOKBOOK: SEASONAL RECIPES FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE

“A Royal Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes from Buckingham Palace,” by Mark Flanagan and Edward Griffiths is a beautiful read. It is the first-ever cookbook from the kitchen at Buckingham Palace.

Beyond sampling recipes that keep the royals happy, this book is studded with tips on presentation and entertaining from Deputy Master of the Royal Household Edward Griffiths.

Whether you cook or not, this book is a beautiful read.  It includes illustrations and explanations of the tableware, floral arrangements, and other decorative items that adorn the royal table throughout the year. The stories of royal dining will fascinate you.

Photographs from the history of royal dining were drawn from the Royal Archives and the Print Room at Windsor Castle.

Royal Collection Trust (2014)

4. A SIMPLE FEAST: A YEAR OF STORIES AND RECIPES TO SAVOR AND SHARE

“A Simple Feast: A Year of Stories and Recipes to Savor and Share,” by Diana Yen and the Jewels of New York, is a whole collection of Beautiful Reads, bound together in a gorgeous book. You’ll want to pass this one down to you kids, grandkids, their kids, etc.

This is a year of living and eating, as told through each season’s culinary adventures, stories, and recipes. Enjoy apple picking, a snow day, a tea party, date night, a rooftop barbeque, and more, vicariously. The writing and images are so beautifully executed, it is almost as if you were there.

“Diana Yen and The Jewels of New York share a fresh take on the classics in their new book A Simple Feast. With their beautiful way of seeing, they elevate the everyday to the exquisite—the photographs inspire and the recipes satisfy. It doesn't get better than that.”—Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, authors of Canal House Cooks Every Day

Roost Books (2014)

5.  THE HUNGRY EAR: POEMS OF FOOD AND DRINK

“The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink,” edited by Kevin Young, hit home for us, in our hearts and on our plates -- because beautiful food is, in fact, poetry.

The poems, some classic, some contemporary, cover the spectrum of food experience, including not only taste and mouthfeel, but growing, harvesting, cooking, politicking and more.

Poets include:

Elizabeth Alexander, Elizabeth Bishop, Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Gluck, Seamus Heaney, Tony Hoagland, Langston Hughes, Galway Kinnell, Pablo Neruda, Frank O'Hara, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, Theodore Roethke, Matthew Rohrer, Charles Simic, Tracy K. Smith, Gertrude Stein, Wallace Stevens, and Mark Strand.

Bloomsbury USA (2014)

6. THE ALL YOU CAN DREAM BUFFET

“The All You Can Dream Buffet: A Novel,” by Barbara O'Neal, is a foodie romance chic lit novel of sorts. It’s about a food blogger, named Lavender Wills who shares her floral name with her business, Lavender Honey Farms.

Our heroine has to battle her mean relatives who want to control the land but who could care less about the beauty of organic food. She beckons her foodie friends to help cook up a plan.

“Charming and genuine . . . Peppered with realistic details about organic farming, blogging, the Oregon landscape, and the very relatable sorrows and joys of being human, this is a sweetly engrossing read with which to curl up.”—Booklist

“[A] feel-good story . . . [The All You Can Dream Buffet] rings all the right bells.”—Kirkus Reviews

Bantam (2014)

7. RASPBERRIES AND VINEGAR (A FARM FRESH ROMANCE)

“Raspberries and Vinegar (A Farm Fresh Romance),”by Valerie Comer, is a down-home sweet story about friends who come together to renovate a dilapidated farm. They want to establish a sustainable lifestyle and spread it around to their neighbors. One particularly handsome neighbor, in particular, has captured lots of their attention. It’s a perfect picnic read for a summer afternoon under a shady tree.

Choose NOW Publishing (2013)

8. THE FOOD OF LOVE COOKERY SCHOOL

“The Food of Love Cookery School,” by Nicky Pellegrino, is a light novel, perfect for reading on an Italian beach while sipping some chilled Prosecco.   

Four women, each at a turning point in their lives, get away from it all for a weekend in Sicily where they’ve signed up for a cooking class. Luca Amore runs the cooking school using the very old Amore family recipes that have passed down to him.

The weekend is a bit of a romp as the women get to know each other and become fast friends.

Secrets unfold, hearts open up, and big changes are afoot -- all while cooking and eating their way to Sicilian bliss.

Orion (2014)

9. BEST FOOD WRITING 2014

“Best Food Writing 2014,” edited by Holly Hughes, is a fabulous collection of memoir snippets, blog posts, and musings from some of the best food writers in the world. Some are longstanding stars, some are emerging talents.

“[N]ot only will you pick up some great stories, but you will also be exposed to a range of writers who otherwise might get lost in the expansive field of food writing.”

—SeriousEats.com

Da Capo Lifelong Books (2014)

10. LUCKY PEACH ISSUE 11: ALL YOU CAN EAT

“Lucky Peach Issue 11: All You Can Eat,” edited by David Chang, Peter Meehan, and Chris Ying.

Lucky Peach is a quarterly journal of food and writing. Each issue focuses on a single theme, and explores that theme through essays, art, photography, and recipes. The theme for Issue 11 is All You Can Eat.

"A glorious, improbable artifact… Lucky Peach is not only something to behold, it is also something to hold, a reminder of print’s true wingspan.”

—The New York Times

"A masterpiece of modern-food culture."

—Time

“The magazine’s tone is so casual it’s almost drunken. Its aesthetic is a graphic pulp pastiche of drawings, photo essays and kitsch—you’ll discover traces of comic books, handwritten script and recipes presented in science-lab format.”

—The Wall Street Journal

Lucky Peach (2014)

Read more about Beautiful Reads, it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including The Best of Most Beautiful Reads.

And check out our list of the most Beautiful Books to give here.

Enter this week’s BN Creative Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Reads. Deadline is 03.30.14.

Photo Credits: 

1. Image: Courtesy of Ten Speed Press. Vegetable Literacy.
2. Image: Courtesy of Ten Speed Press. Manresa: An Edible Reflection.
3. Image: Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust. A Royal Cookbook.
4. Image: Courtesy of Roost Books. A Simple Feast.
5. Image: Courtesy of Bloomsbury USA. The Hungry Ear.
6. Image: Courtesy of Bantam. The All You Can Dream Buffet.
7. Image: Courtesy of Choose NOW Publishing. Raspberries and Vinegar.
8. Image: Courtesy of Orion. The Food of Love Cookery School.
9. Image: Courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books. Best Food Writing 2014.
10. Image: Courtesy of Lucky Peach. Lucky Peach Volume 11.