“There’s nothing more political than food,” said Anthony Bourdain, the late chef, author, and TV personality. “Who eats? Who doesn’t? Why do people cook what they cook? It is always the end or a part of a long story, often a painful one.”
This is why Alice Waters’ new book, A School Lunch Revolution: A Cookbook (Penguin Press, October 14), couldn’t come at a better time. Waters is the celebrated founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California—a restaurant that made Americans rethink the way we eat, rediscovering local and seasonal foods. She also runs the Edible Schoolyard Project, a nonprofit that seeks to improve public education by fostering a love of gardening and an appreciation of healthy food that comes from it. Waters doesn’t address present-day politics in her book, but I think that its philosophy—and many delicious recipes—will be especially valuable now, given threats to education spending. “Education and food are two universal rights,” she writes. “All children deserve to go to school. And everyone deserves to eat nourishing food.”
Waters’ roots in helping children date back to her time as a Montessori teacher, and School Lunch Revolution shows that she understands kids. She isn’t out to lecture (Eat your vegetables, children!). Instead, she wants kids to enjoy themselves while learning about good food. A number of recipes make this clear, including fun-to-assemble carrot and cucumber sushi, kimchi, and (messy) barbecued chicken legs.
Across the bay from Berkeley, in San Francisco, is another restaurant that has built a loyal following since its opening in 1988: House of Nanking. Now fans of the no-frills and fast-paced Chinatown eatery—and those discovering it for the first time—can rejoice thanks to House of Nanking: Family Recipes From San Francisco’s Favorite Chinese Restaurant (Abrams, September 30). Chef and co-founder Peter Fang and his daughter, Kathy, share more than 100 recipes in the book.
Another book that I’m excited about is a debut by Pyet DeSpain: Rooted in Fire: A Celebration of Native American and Mexican Cooking (HarperOne/HarperCollins, November 18). A member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation who is also Mexican American, DeSpain taps into her heritage for such recipes as jalapeño bison jerky, deer chili, and watercress salad with pecans and prickly pear vinaigrette. Along the way, you’ll learn some Potawatomi terms, such as the euphonious word for wild rice: manoomin.
Phaidon Press, which publishes some of the world’s loveliest cookbooks, has a dazzling title coming out this fall: Vietnam: The Cookbook (October 22) by Anaïs Ca Dao van Manen. Colored the pleasing dark green of a banana leaf, the book showcases a whopping 445 traditional dishes from home kitchens. The eye-popping colors of its many photographs are a plus.
Perhaps you’d like a drink after preparing all this fare? Actor Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka are happy to oblige. The couple has collaborated on Both Sides of the Glass: Paired Cocktails and Mocktails To Toast Any Taste (Plume, September 30). Harris enjoys his cocktails, and Burtka abstains, so they’ve gathered 70 alcoholic and nonalcoholic recipes for “the sober, the sober curious, and the alcohol imbiber.” After all, everyone should feel welcome at the party.
John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.
