{"title":"On Food \u0026 Writing","description":"\u003cp\u003eEssays, memoirs, and literary explorations of food and culture — M.F.K. Fisher, Anthony Bourdain, Michael W. Twitty, and others who write about food as a way of understanding the world. Books for readers as much as cooks.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"gourmands-lemon-a-collection-of-stories-and-recipes","title":"The Gourmand's Lemon","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThe Gourmand's Lemon\u003c\/em\u003e is a luxurious celebration of the lemon, combining culinary recipes with visual storytelling and cultural exploration. Published by the acclaimed food and culture magazine The Gourmand, the book transforms a single ingredient into a multifaceted exploration of taste, history, and creativity. Through stunning photography and thoughtful narratives, it reveals how lemons have shaped cuisines and cultures around the world.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWHY WE PICKED IT:\u003c\/strong\u003e Because the best food books understand that cooking is storytelling, and ingredients carry histories. This collection treats the lemon not as a garnish but as a protagonist, showing us how something so ordinary can be endlessly fascinating when you pay attention.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS:\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: The Gourmand • Publisher: Taschen • Format: Hardcover \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44852479623212,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/Screenshot2025-10-13at10.59.58.png?v=1760367604"},{"product_id":"kitchen-confidential-adventures-in-the-culinary-underbelly-updated","title":"Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003eAnthony Bourdain's \u003cem\u003eKitchen Confidential\u003c\/em\u003e is a candid, darkly funny memoir revealing the chaos, addiction, and passion behind professional cooking. Through stories of kitchen life, drug use, and the pursuit of culinary excellence, Bourdain creates a narrative that demystifies restaurant culture while celebrating the people who dedicate their lives to feeding others. The updated edition brings new perspective to a classic that changed how we think about chefs and food.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWHY WE PICKED IT:\u003c\/strong\u003e Because Bourdain refused to romanticize kitchen life or pretend it's glamorous. This memoir reminds us that the people who create the food we love are often struggling, flawed, and brilliant, and that their stories deserve to be told honestly.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS:\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: Anthony Bourdain • Publisher: Ecco Press • Format: Paperback \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44867168206892,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/Screenshot2025-10-17at13.27.07.png?v=1760722034"},{"product_id":"the-anthony-bourdain-reader","title":"The Anthony Bourdain Reader","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe definitive, career-spanning collection of writing from Anthony Bourdain, assembled for the first time in book form, with an Introduction by Patrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnthony Bourdain represented many things to many people—and he had many sides. But no part of his identity was more important to him than that of a writer; it was one of the central ways he saw himself. Revealing Anthony Bourdain’s observant, curious, and hungry mind, The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a collection of Bourdain’s best writing and touches on his many pursuits and passions, from restaurant life to family life to the “low life,” from TV to travel through places like Vietnam, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith pointed opinions on the specific use of brioche buns, the devastation of Western foreign policy, and the pain and pleasure of hot pot, this new collection encapsulates the unique brilliance of a once-in-a-generation mind and one of our most distinctive writers. After Bourdain’s years of traveling the globe in search of the very best of cuisine and culture, The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a testament to the enduring and singular voice he crafted, with eclectic and curated chapters, including visceral graphic novel excerpts, some of his most well-loved recipes, and never-before-published pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEdited by Bourdain’s longtime agent and friend Kimberly Witherspoon, and with a new Introduction by Patrick Radden Keefe, this is an essential reader for any Bourdain fan as well as a vivid and moving recollection of his life and legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e • Author: Anthony Bourdain • Introduction by: Patrick Radden Keefe • Publisher: Ecco Press • Format: Hardcover • ISBN: 9780062863959 • Pub Date: October 28, 2025 • Ships direct from distributor in 3–7 business days\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280156778540,"sku":"9780062863959","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/9780062863959.jpg?v=1770914137"},{"product_id":"the-art-of-eating-50th-anniversary-edition","title":"The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"text\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 50th anniversary reprint contains what Julia Child referred to as \"the essence of M.F.K. Fisher.\" Fisher (1908-1992) was one of this country's earliest food writers; her eloquent yet unostentatious prose has charmed generations. The 784-page collection brings together five works originally published under separate titles: \"Serve it Forth,\" \"Consider the Oyster,\" \"How to Cook a Wolf,\" \"The Gastronomical Me\" and \"An Alphabet for Gourmets.\" There are also recipes scattered throughout. (\u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than 50 years after M. F. K. Fisher logged her musings an d memories on food, love, and life, her nuanced stories still entertain and enlighten. If you haven't yet read Fisher's work, you will thoroughly enjoy discovering its variety, richness, and honesty. If it has been a while since you last delved into her writing, you will be captivated once again. Here are a few passages:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSERVE IT FORTH\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\"The Standing and the Waiting\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\"We talked, and well, and all the dinner was most excellent, and the wine was like music on our tongues. Time was forgotten. . . . We watched as in a blissful dream the small fat hands moving like magic among bottles and small bowls and spoons and plates, stirring, pouring, turning the pan over the flame just so, just so, with the face bent keen and intent above.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCONSIDER THE OYSTER\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\"The Well-Dressed Oyster\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\"There are three kinds of oyster-eaters: those loose-minded sports who will eat anything, hot, cold, thin, thick, dead or alive, as long as it is oyster; those who will eat them raw and only raw; and those who with equal severity will eat them cooked and no way other. . . . The first group may perhaps have the most fun, although there is a white fire about the others' bigotry that can never warm the broad-minded.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHOW TO COOK A WOLF\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\"How to Boil Water\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Probably the most satisfying soup in the world for people who are hungry, as well as for those who are tired or worried or cross or in debt or in a moderate amount of pain or in love or in robust health or in any kind of business huggermuggery, is minestrone. . . . It is a thick unsophisticated soup, heart-warming and soul-staying, full of aromatic vegetables and well bound at the last with good cheese.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTHE GASTRONOMICAL ME\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\"The Measure of My Powers\" (1919-1927)\"\u003cbr\u003e\"The first thing I cooked was pure poison. I made it for Mother, after my little brother David was born, and within twenty minutes of the first swallow she was covered with great itching red welts. . . . The pudding was safe enough: a little round white shuddering milky thing I had made that morning. . . . I ran into the back yard and picked ten soft ripe blackberries. I blew off the alley-dust, and placed them gently in a perfect circle around the little pudding. Its cool perfection leaped into sudden prettiness. . . . Mother smiled at my shocked anxious confusion, and said, 'Don't worry, sweet . . . it was the loveliest pudding I have ever seen.' I agreed with her in spite of the despair.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAN ALPHABET FOR GOURMETS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\"G Is for Gluttony\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\"I cannot believe that there exists a single coherent human being who will not confess, at least to himself, that once or twice he has stuffed himself to the bursting point, on anything from quail financiere to flapjacks, for no other reason than the beastlike satisfaction of his belly.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: M.F.K. Fisher, Joan Reardon • Publisher: Harvest Publications • Format: Paperback\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45501923754028,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/71ngGulkuNL._AC_UF1000_1000_QL80.jpg?v=1777575922"},{"product_id":"consider-the-oyster","title":"Consider the Oyster","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eM.F.K. Fisher, whom John Updike has called our \"poet of the appetites,\" here pays tribute to that most delicate and enigmatic of foods---the oyster. As she tells of oysters found in stews, in soups, roasted, baked, fried, prepared à la Rockefeller or au naturel--and of the pearls sometimes found therein--Fisher describes her mother's joy at encountering oyster loaf in a girls' dorm in he 1890's, recalls her own initiation into the \"strange cold succulence\" of raw oysters as a young woman in Marseille and Dijon, and explores both the bivalve's famed aphrodisiac properties and its equally notorious gut-wrenching powers. Plumbing the \"dreadful but exciting\" life of the oyster, Fisher invites readers to share in the comforts and delights that this delicate edible evokes, and enchants us along the way with her characteristically wise and witty prose.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: M.F.K. Fisher • Publisher: North Point Press • Format: Paperback\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45502105583660,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/81UGu7aO0PL._AC_UF1000_1000_QL80.jpg?v=1777582498"},{"product_id":"the-gastronomical-me","title":"The Gastronomical Me","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1929, a newly married M.F.K. Fisher said goodbye to a milquetoast American culinary upbringing and sailed with her husband to Dijon, where she tasted real French cooking for the first time. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gastronomical Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a chronicle of her passionate embrace of a whole new way of eating, drinking, and celebrating the senses. As she recounts memorable meals shared with an assortment of eccentric and fascinating characters, set \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eagainst a backdrop of mounting pre-war tensions, we witness the formation not only of her taste but of her character and her prodigious talent.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: M.F.K. Fisher • Publisher: North Point Press • Format: Paperback\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45502122721324,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/71RfWbuV88L._AC_UF1000_1000_QL80.jpg?v=1777584786"},{"product_id":"our-knives-will-save-us-dispatches-from-a-white-mountain-apache-chef","title":"Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Indigenous chef Nephi Craig, a searing personal and cultural reckoning that demonstrates the power of food to heal intergenerational wounds\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt just eighteen years old, Nephi Craig was facing a felony charge that could have put him in prison for years. Having struggled with substance abuse throughout his teens, his life had come to a dizzying halt. So when a judge ordered three years of probation instead—on the condition he attend work or school—Craig took it as an opportunity for a new lease on life. Not long after, he enrolled in a culinary arts program a few hours from Whiteriver, Arizona, where he had grown up on the White Mountain Apache Tribe Reservation. Expecting little more than a means to an end, Craig quickly discovered a talent and passion for cooking. He also experienced a profound dissonance as the only Indigenous person in the kitchen, preparing European recipes that—disguised by their French and Italian names—relied on ingredients native to the Americas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCraig untangled the buried histories of Indigenous cultivars such as tomato, cacao, and amaranth, each one a portal into possibility as well as a marker of the violent legacy of colonization. As he did so, he found new ways to honor his Apache and Navajo roots and build Indigenous food sovereignty. His journey led him around the world, from top fine-dining restaurants in the United States to high-profile banquets in Brazil, England, Germany, and Japan. All the while, Craig wrestled with addiction, entering one treatment center after another in the hopes that he could get—and remain—sober.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWHY WE PICKED IT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the heat, frenzy, and collaborative energy of restaurant kitchens, Craig found a lifeline. But when he was faced with the difficult decision of choosing between a career-defining executive chef job and an opportunity to serve his community back on the Rez, he realized his true vocation. Interweaving personal reflection with illuminating cultural insight, Our Knives Will Save Us offers a vision of hope: one where food is decolonized and cooking is a pathway to healing for all of us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: Nephi Craig • Publisher: Penguin Press • Format: Hardcover\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45534108352556,"sku":"9780593831908","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/9780593831908.jpg?v=1778516717"},{"product_id":"the-cooking-gene-a-journey-through-african-american-culinary-history-in-the-old-south-a-james-beard-award-winner","title":"The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty","description":"\u003cp\u003eA renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSouthern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who \"owns\" it is one of the most provocative touch points in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes readers to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the tobacco and rice farms of colonial times to plantation kitchens and backbreaking cotton fields, Twitty tells his family story through the foods that enabled his ancestors’ survival across three centuries. He sifts through stories, recipes, genetic tests, and historical documents, and travels from Civil War battlefields in Virginia to synagogues in Alabama to Black-owned organic farms in Georgia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs he takes us through his ancestral culinary history, Twitty suggests that healing may come from embracing the discomfort of the Southern past. Along the way, he reveals a truth that is more than skin deep—the power that food has to bring the kin of the enslaved and their former slaveholders to the table, where they can discover the real America together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrations by Stephen Crotts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-1 mt-2 whitespace-pre-line leading-relaxed first:mt-0\" data-sentry-component=\"P\" data-sentry-source-file=\"p.tsx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e • Author: Michael W. Twitty • Publisher: Amistad Press • Format: Paperback\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Cedar Leaf Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45534110744620,"sku":"9780062379276","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0697\/2234\/1420\/files\/9780062379276.jpg?v=1778516870"}],"url":"https:\/\/cedarleafbooks.com\/collections\/on-food-and-writing.oembed","provider":"Cedar Leaf Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}