A bookish baker's dozen

The proof of the book, Lucy Waverman says, is in the kitchen testing

LUCY WAVERMAN

Globe and Mail Update

December 6, 2007 at 2:06 PM EDT

When I read a cookbook, I want that sense of anticipation that makes my taste buds dance. It can come from the simplest books or the most complicated chef's tome. Sometimes it is just the way the recipe is written, or the attitude of the entire book.

There are also two ways of looking at cookbooks: Do they fire your imagination and make you want to cook? Or do you love to read them and savour the flavours but ignore the kitchen? If you want to cook from them, then the recipes need to work, and that can be a minefield in some cookbooks.

This year, the baking category is tops, followed closely by two captivating food memoirs (with exemplary recipes).

PURE DESSERT

By Alice Medrich, Artisan, 272 pages, $45

A brilliant teacher, Medrich imparts a sense of adventure in her search for perfection, and a thrill when she strikes the balance that excites the palate. Known for her previous books, Cocolat and Bittersweet, Medrich branches out in a new direction, organizing the book by flavour groups, from familiar citrus tastes, to flowers and leaves, grains and seeds. Shortbread purists may find the twice-baked shortbread recipe a touch too golden, but the simple yet innovative recipe produces an addictively good toffee crunch. Medrich's twists on basics, her desire always to find the best way of bringing out flavours and her more complex recipes will make this a favourite for true bakers.

A PASSION FOR BAKING

By Marcy Goldman, Oxmoor House, 320 pages, $34.95

Marcy Goldman has written the kind of book I love to have in my kitchen. With a breezy style, she unlocks the scientific mysteries of baking. You will want to make almost every dessert in the book as well as the breads. Full of excellent information especially for the beginning baker: Use double baking sheets for cookie-making and see the difference. The scones were superb, the serendipity bars serendipitously great, and I can't wait to make the cheesecake.

THE TENTH MUSE

By Judith Jones, Knopf, 290 pages, $32

After 50 years at Alfred A. Knopf, Judith Jones, the doyenne of American editors, has written a memoir. Although most closely identified as the editor of Julia Child's works, Jones edited almost every important cookbook author in the latter half of the 20th century: James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Claudia Roden, Marion Cunningham, Marcella Hazan, M. F. K. Fisher and Madhur Jaffrey are a few on a very long list.

A woman who grew up in a garlic-free zone, where discussing food was akin to talking about sex, does not seem the most likely candidate to edit the books that fuelled a food revolution. Like Julia Child, Jones arrived in Paris in 1948 and immediately fell in love with the French way of shopping for, preparing and consuming food. Back in the United States, she recognized the appeal of the work of Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholde. Believing that cookbooks should have recipes that work, she began testing the recipes in the books she edited, and that continued throughout her career.

Anyone hoping for dirt on the culinary icons with whom Jones worked will be sadly disappointed. She is nothing if not discreet. She sketches vivid but miniature portraits of the giants, only hinting at contretemps.

Even if Judith Jones had edited only cookbooks, her career would be highly regarded. But at the beginning of her career, while still in France, she read a manuscript submitted by a grieving father, and heard the universal appeal in the voice of Anne Frank. A wonderful picture of both Jones and the food world.

THE SEVENTH DAUGHTER

My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco

By Cecilia Chiang with Lisa Weiss, Ten Speed Press, 240 pages, $35

A moving memoir written by a courageous woman who started life as the daughter of a well-to-do Beijing family, crossed into unoccupied China by foot after the Japanese invaded, and eventually arrived in San Francisco. An accidental restaurateur, she was led by her food memories to open one of the first elegant and sophisticated Northern Chinese restaurants there, the Mandarin.

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