Best Food Writing 2002

by Holly Hughes (Editor)

Best Food Writing 2002 assembles, for the third year, the most exceptional writing from the past year's books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and websites. Contributors include Jeffrey Steingarten, Ruth Reichl, Calvin Trillin, Amanda Hesser, and dozens more. Within its six sections—Stocking the Larder, Home Cooking, Someone's in the Kitchen, Dining Around, Food Fights, and Personal Tastes—read our best writers on everything from the year's most celebrated chefs to extraordinary restaurant experiences, from the latest trends in ingredients and equipment to unforgettable memoirs inspired by cooking and eating. Neither cook nor food lover should be without this remarkable annual collection.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Food Writing, Cookbooks

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2002

About the author

Holly Hughes has edited the annual Best Food Writing series since its inception in 2000. The author of Frommer's 500 Places for Food and Wine Lovers, she lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun read for the food tasters, the restaurant seekers, the food experimenters, the home chefs, and the critics. Short stories from high profile editors and chefs ranging from discovering a beautiful tomato to being utterly disappointed by a high end restaurant to talking about why kids can't appreciate a good meal.... Most stories had me laughing out loud like Stephanie Hartman's THE CHILD'S PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE on page 149.

Aphorisms of the Child
1. The introduction of a new dish does more to promote children's misery than the necessity of a bath.
4. He who eats a vegetable without first striking an advantageous deal with the parent is a fool.
8. A meal not served on one's favorite plate is like a birthday cake without frosting.

Many more on that story but I think the point has been made esp for those of us who regularly eat with kids.

I also enjoyed Mark Bittman from the New York Times story. COOKING LIKE A 3-STAR CHEF IN YOUR OWN HOME (ALMOST) on page 92. He talks about how cooking at home like a chef is impossible but you work with you have and it can be as delicious.

"It is, in fact, virtually impossible for any home cook to cook like a chef. In order to make his dry-ages sirloin with potato gratin, Mr. Moore employed nine people over two days. For the final preparation, he used 10 pans and a stove area about the size of an average Manhattan kitchen."

"And you, cooking at home? Before you finish peeling an onion, a chef is sauteeing it. While you are mincing an herb to get the teaspoon needed in a recipe, a chef is grabbing a pinch out of a little tray."

Made me feel better about my cooking, as we hardly go out to eat as a family unless it is a special occasion, such as a birthday. I love cooking and feeding my family but I also love the adventure of trying a new restaurant, trying out a new culture and seeing if I could replicate it in my own home. Living in L.A is like tasting every country you can possibly imagine without paying for a flight and hotel room. (And I do not mean that in a douchey, conceited 'I live in L.A' way.... I mean it in a multi-cultural way) We lived in Denver, CO and NO NO NO on food!!

Very light read while I was in the middle of other books. Longest story was about 7 pages.

[Kerith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like to read essays about food, whether it be about cooking it, eating it, or the restaurant business side of it, etc -- I thoroughly recommend the Best Food Writing essay anthologies. I am quite behind in my reading of these, but will catch up one of these days....