On Wednesday, the James Beard Foundation announced its cookbook, journalism, and other media awards nominees — which gives me the opportunity to take a look back at some of the best food books to buy. (A James Beard-nominated cookbook isn’t a bad Mother’s Day gift, either…)
In 2022, the list includes 33 titles from the past two years, given that there were no awards in 2021. You’ll likely be familiar with many of them (I know I’ve spotlighted quite a few here) so rather than call them all out, I’d like to draw your attention to the foundation’s writing award category, which honors nonfiction books about food, including memoirs, culinary tourism, investigative journalism, and food advocacy. Although they may not be your typical beach reads — tackling food insecurity and the ills and goods of capitalism, among other thorny issues — if you’re looking for a book to add to your rotation as you plan summer trips, consider these now award-nominated titles: Getting Something to Eat in Jackson: Race, Class, and Food in the American South by Joseph C. Ewoodzie Jr.; The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard by John Birdsall; and Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain. For a preview of those latter two, click through to these excerpts on Eater.
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The Le Puzz Big Sally puzzle, the Great Jones x Deep Black spoon rest, and Mr Eatwell's Duke's collaboration. |
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Have you considered buying your fish frozen, not fresh? If not, Caitlin Raux Gunther might convince you with this list of high-quality frozen-fish purveyors. Frozen fish, you’ll see, has come a long, long way from Gorton’s.
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Uncommon Goods, the crafty online marketplace, has launched the Uncommon Table, a collection of dinnerware sets.
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Food-themed streetwear brand Mr Eatwell has a new
collaboration with Duke’s Mayonnaise, with 10 percent of proceeds donated to food bank Second Harvest. There are a few tees, including a couple tie-dye options (a real trend in merch these days), but I’m particularly fond of the slides featuring a jar of Duke’s and juicy tomato.
- Le Puzz is now selling its
second series of puzzles, and as with the first line, there’s more than one with a food focus. The salad shot on Big Sally is a collaboration with food stylist Tyna Hoang, who recently worked on Eric Kim’s highly regarded cookbook Korean American; Have a Groovy Day includes a recipe for a fake chicken salad; and Sweet Tooth is ideal for the person who’s all-in on gummies.
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Material, the direct-to-consumer designy kitchenware brand, has a new product. The Forever Peeler is billed as the last vegetable peeler you’ll ever need. It certainly looks better than most other peelers out there, coming in three stainless steel shades with replaceable blades.
- Brightland has a brand new olive oil. Castelvetrano is actually the first in a series of special-edition drops made in partnership with small producers, in what Brightland is calling its Paragon Collection. The olives in this first bottling are a particular Sicilian variety grown for both snacking and oils.
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In one more bit of culty direct-to-consumer brand news, Great Jones has partnered with Sherród Faulks of Deep Black on a spoon rest and accompanying wooden utensils. The set comes with the ceramic spoon rest in blueberry or olive, and a ladle, spatula, and slotted spoon. It’s a splurge, but that’s precisely what might make it a nice gift for Mother’s Day (or any other gifting occasion you’ve got coming up).
That’s all for this week. If you liked this email, please forward it to a friend. — Monica |
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