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Great books on grilling for end of summer
By Doug Mosley
doug_mosley@hotmail.com
The last throes of summer are here. September may mark the calendar for many things, like back to school and the end of the vacation season, but what it truly marks is the last of summer and the onset of fall. The daylight hours will soon begin to noticeably shorten and the temperatures will ratchet down. However, there’s still time to enjoy the grill before our northernmost readers will have to don their parkas and galoshes for their hardiest of cookouts.
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With that in mind, let me recommend to you some great books on grilling. The first comes from the folks who put out Cook’s Country magazine, the delightful sister publication to Cook’s Illustrated and of the same family as the great PBS television show America’s Test Kitchen. Cook’s Country Best Grilling Recipes: More Than 100 Regional Favorites Tested and Perfected for the Outdoor Cook ($29.95, America’s Test Kitchen, 244 pp.) is by the editors of America’s Test Kitchen. If you’re a fan of the before-named magazines, then the style in which this book is written will be very familiar. Every recipe is a story accompanied by instructive illustrations. Plus you get those extra bonus sidebars that further discuss a technique or detail a condiment that just so makes the dish. Even if you’re not already a fan of Cook’s Country, Cook’s Illustrated or America’s Test Kitchen, this is a book you’ll really enjoy.
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Everybody loves a good burger at a casual cookout, right? Let me next tell you about a pair of books featuring this ever-popular puck-on-a-bun. The first is by an author already very well-known in this space, Bobby Flay. The Food Network icon already has a solid track record of excellent books and he’s turned in another winner with Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson ($25.95, Clarkson Potter, 160 pp.). I’ve already told you how much I enoyed his previous books like Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook, Bobby Flay’s Grill It, and Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill (notice a common theme here?). I found each one to be highly creative and entertaining and it’s the same with his latest offering. The next time you fix burgers and fries won’t be the “same old, same old” after you read this book.
When you want to take the creativity to the extreme, a good resource to turn to will be Burger Bar: Build Your Own Ultimate Burgers by Hubert Keller with Penelope Wisner ($22.95, Wiley, 168 pp.). French-born chef Keller is the creator and owner of Burger Bar, upscale restaurants in Las Vegas, San Francisco and St. Louis that bring the familiar hamburger to new heights. Keller really pushes the envelope with what he offers, with examples such as Burger Au Poivre, Fleur Burger with Truffles, Mustard Seed Chicken Burger, Crab Sliders and Brazilian Rock Shrimp Burger. When you really want to one-up the neighbor, this is the place to turn.
While we’re on the topic of burgers, let’s get academic. After all, what would impress your cookout company more than to be able to quote some hamburger history and at the same time turn out one of the gourmet burgers from the above books.
I can recommend to you not just one, but two books on hamburger history. The first is The Hamburger by Josh Ozersky ($14, Yale University Press, 148 pp.). Ozersky goes beyond just telling the history of the hamburger to educating us on how the hamburger has become an intrinsic part of our American culture, even finishing with a take on the movie “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.” This is a well-written book and I found it a joy to read, even in the opinions I didn’t necessarily share with Ozersky.
After reading Ozersky’s book, I next read Hamburger: A Global History by Andrew F. Smith ($15.95, Reaktion Books, 152 pp.). This came from a British publisher, so there was no surprise that the hamburger’s legacy was covered not just within the borders of the U.S.A. The surprise was that even after reading the Ozersky book, I found this book was still able to break new ground for me. It was as if these were practically written to be read in tandem with one another (even though I know they weren’t). Plus, this book offered some full-color pictures that the former didn’t. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed both books.
From the same publisher as the latter also comes Hot Dog: A Global History by Bruce Kraig ($15.95, Reaktion Books, 144 pp.). Constructed very similarly to “Hamburger”, this also is a very fact-driven look at another of our grilling favorites.
By the way, you’re gonna’ need a side to go with these burgers and dogs, so what could be more apropos than a book titled Potato Salad: 65 Recipes from Classic to Cool by Debbie Moose ($16.95, Wiley, 128 pp.). Everybody already has their own regular potato salad recipe, so to its credit this book doesn’t focus much on those; rather, author Moose uses these pages to tell you something you didn’t already know. Carolina BBQ Potato Salad, Buffalo Chicken Spuds, Prosciutto and Parmesan Salad, Sweet Potatoes with Lime Vinaigrette and Wasabi Spuds – these are just a sampling of some of the recipes that guarantee no one will call boring.
Let’s shift gears here and talk Oktoberfest. I know, I know, y’all are thinking I’m a month early. After all, Oktoberfest is in October, right? Wrong! The world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, is typically held in the latter half of September. This year’s event – the 176th edition – will open on September 19 and run until October 4.
OK, now that we have that established, let’s focus in on one of the most important items to have for just about any Oktoberfest celebration (and also barbecue cookoffs) – beer. In advance of this annual celebration, let me point you in the direction of some excellent references on the topic of beer.
The first is a neat little book from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), a British group that has had several beer travel guidebooks previously positively reviewed in this space. The Book of Beer Knowledge: Essential Wisdom for the Discerning Drinker by Jeff Evans ($19.95, 160 pp.) is the updated printing of a book that goes back 20 years. It’s obviously earned its keep as a must-have reference to have garnered that many printings and it boasts “…more than 200 entries to enjoy the international world of beer from your armchair…”. If you enjoy being able to slip in such tidbits to your conversations as “Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar in Havana was the El Floridita” or naming the whole rosters of regulars at “Cheers”, then this is the book for you.
However, if that seems a bit lowbrow for you, then let me alternatively point you to Froth!: The Science of Beer by Mark Denny ($24.95, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 184 pp.). Even though I considered myself to be a long-time homebrewer and in turn a reader of “beer science”, this book really blew me away. Denny walks you through the nitty gritty behind what makes barley, malt, hops and water into beer and to his credit does so in a very readable way. This is the book I wish I’d had the chance to read when I was just starting out as a homebrewer or when I was taking that second-year chemistry class in college.
Of course you already knew that you can cook with beer, so let me next recommend to you some beer cookbooks. The first is a pair of books by the same author and publisher and very similarly titled. The Beer Lover’s Cookbook ($14.99, 248 pp.) and The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook ($24.95, 352 pp.) are both written by John Schlimm and released by Cumberland House Publishing. Between the two there are nearly 800 recipes using beer, ranging from appetizers to entrees to desserts. The recipes are presented in a direct, easy-to-follow manner and are each very useful in offering a wide variety.
Then if you’d like to get a bit highbrow with what your cooking with beer, check out The Beerbistro Cookbook by Stephen Beaumont and Brian Morin ($40, Key Porter Books, 264 pp.). beerbistro is a Toronto restaurant that specializes in beer cuisine. This is a bit along the same lines as the books we compared in the opening piece: if you’re ready to really turn up the volume on cooking with beer, then this is it. Super creative with plenty of full-color pics to illustrate the dishes, you’ll give yourself a fun challenge with these recipes.
Finally, how about a book that is part regional beer directory, part beer recipes and part local beer guidebook. Sounds interesting so far? Well, what if the book were set entirely in Hawaii! Now I’ll bet you’re ready to go. The Hawaii Beer Book by Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi ($15.95, Watermark Publishing, 184 pp.) is without a doubt the ultimate guide to beer in our 50th state.
If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii and you enjoy partaking the local brews, then this book is a must-have to pack in your luggage. I wanted to tell you that my favorite part was the recipes, but then I also really liked the listing of the beers, but I also thought the pub guide was important and well done. And there’s plenty more besides all that!
Finally this month, I want to tell you about a book that I really enjoyed for a personal reason. I recently got a call from home saying that a beloved aunt of mine had received the news of terminal cancer from her physician. I was immediately shocked because although my Aunt Hiddie is 96 years old, she hadn’t slowed down at beat and even got down on the floor to play with my young son the last time we’d been home. But it’s hard to beat cancer, especially when you’ve stacked up that many years on your counter. Aunt Hiddie was given the choice of an invasive surgery that might give her some extra time but would no doubt force some drastic changes on her or to do nothing and let nature takes its course. Aunt Hiddie didn’t bat an eye when she told her doctor she’d just as soon pass on the surgery and live out her life as she was. My respect, admiration and love for her was already pegged at the far end of the gauge, but I’d had no idea she would be the bravest person I’ve ever known.
In Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home ($15, Free Press, 306 pp.), author Lise Funderburg chronicles the story of her own father’s battle with cancer and the role she played as the dutiful daughter. The book’s title comes from her father’s description of whole hog roasted in a La Caja China and much of the book revolves around his plans to hold massive barbecues featuring pig candy or some other delectable.
Georgia born and bred, George Funderburg moved away to Philadelphia where he met his wife, raised his family and made his fortune. Along the way, he ran a strictly disciplined home until he later divorced and moved out. A strained relationship in the interim later softened as he mellowed with age and especially when he received his diagnosis of cancer. He reconnected with his three daughters and that’s where we enter the story, with his girls escorting him on trips to the Georgia farm he purchased just outside his hometown.
Funderburg’s account is incredibly real and honest. She couldn’t have held back much of the detail about her father’s decline but presents it to the reader in a way that makes you feel you’re part of the family. Funderburg is an accomplished writer as evidenced by the work she’s had published in newspapers like The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer and magazines like Time. Even with those sort of chops, how complex and trying it must be to tell the story of your own father’s final days to his death. But Funderburg does it an incredibly beautiful and touching way. It must have been the hardest story she’s ever had to write, but it must have also been cathartic.
There was also another story wrapped into this book, one of race. The Funderburg family was of mixed race and that story weaves in and out of the pages.. You find out how race shaped George Funderburg and his family, how it affected their lives and beliefs and how they dealt with it.
I found it most interesting that through all of the difficulties experienced by George Funderburg in just getting on as his days counted down, the one thing that drove him to the next day and the next day and the next was to plan and host one more barbecue. That was the overriding theme of this book and it one that Lise Funderburg told oh so well.
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