Salon.com > Cooking

Upcoming Paula Deen cookbook canceled

Sat, 29 Jun 2013 16:55:00 +0000

Paula Deen's empire continues collapse around her as Random House has canceled its plans to publish her upcoming cookbook, "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up," following revelations that Deen used racial slurs in her past. Though pre-orders boosted the book to No. 1 on Amazon, "after careful consideration," the publisher decided to pull the book, due out in October.

Sears, J.C. Penney, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Novo Nordisk, Smithfield Foods, Caesars Entertainment and The Food Network have all parted ways with the disgraced celebrity chef as well.

On the bright side, Deen might be going on more cruises this year.

“Cooked”: Michael Pollan takes kitchen duty

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Much food writing is little more than a gaseous substance that collects around recipes and advice. I like to cook and make most of my own meals, but I have no patience for the touchstones of foodie literature, like M.F.K. Fisher, with her preening sensuality, or the imperious fussiness of Richard Olney. Nigella Lawson's phone-sex cooing makes me grind my teeth. Just cut the mystification and razzamatazz, and tell me how to make a decent lentil soup, already! While we're at it, I also hate celebrity chefs and rhapsodic restaurant reviews. Especially during a week like the one we've just had, most food writing manifests a serious disorder of perspective, and its perpetrators come across as more navel-gazing and trivia-obsessed than the most self-involved memoirist.

Apart from flashing my curmudgeon credentials, I'm trying to say that in this department, my bar is set pretty high. There are three food writers I will listen to. Two are true cooks (not chefs): the peerless Mark Bittman, who understands what does and does not matter about how we cook and eat, and Martha Stewart, who -- say what you will! -- taught me everything I know about baking. (Julia Child seems delightfully down-to-earth, but I'm not very interested in French cooking.)

The baker’s lament

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:32:00 +0000

I used to be a pastry chef. It didn’t last—doing what you love for money ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, folks!—but it was an intensely gratifying experience. My very first gig was at a vegan restaurant more than an hour by subway away from my apartment, but I thought nothing of hopping on the train after my magazine job finished for the day, arriving at the restaurant, baking until near-dawn, getting an hour of sleep on the ride home, showering, and going back to my magazine job. I did this two or three times a week for months, and despite my cross-eyed fatigue, I loved the process. I loved—and still love—watching the magic of chemistry and labor. Chemistry: the rising of cake, the shortening of crusts; labor, measuring, the mixing, the juggling of pans, the exquisite feeling of slicing a pear just so and swirling the slices atop a tart. People always said to me, “Oh, I couldn’t be a pastry chef—I’d gain so much weight”; the truth is, professionals rarely eat what they create. That’s not where the pleasure is, even for a sweets lover like me. The joy lies in the creation.

“Fifty Shades of Chicken”: The BDSM recipe cookbook

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000

The book that spawned "mommy porn" has now given a new meaning to playing with your food. "Fifty Shades of Chicken" is a "Fifty Shades of Grey" cookbook featuring kinky recipes for America's favorite fowl.

You'll never look at chickens the same way again:

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Eat like a vampire

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Fans of America's sexiest vampire show "True Blood" have a new way to connect with the show: a cookbook. The show, which already has a line of fragrances and beauty products, has partnered with Cajun chef Marcelle Bienvenu to pair food and drink recipes that regularly appear on "True Blood" with scenes and excerpts from the show.

The recipes in "True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps" probably won't help you resemble trim stars like Anna Paquin or Stephen Moyer. The book features rich, southern Louisiana fare like jambalaya, andouille and crawfish dip.

James Costos, vice president of licensing and retail for HBO, told the Associated Press that a cookbook was a natural extension for the show."The senses play a huge part in ‘True Blood,'" he said.

HBO released a cookbook based on "The Sopranos" and is due for another Louisiana cookbook next spring to accompany the show "Treme."