Endless Feasts: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet

by Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl (Editor)

As Gourmet magazine celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, Modern Library Food series editor and bestselling author Ruth Reichl has compiled an enchanting compendium of food and travel essays from the magazine’s extensive archives. Spanning time and place, the writers showcased in Endless Feasts share their memories of exquisite meals and experiences in far-flung locales. Featured are essays such as M.F.K. Fisher’s marvelous “Three Swiss Inns,” about three exceptional restaurants she encountered while traveling through Switzerland. In the most out-of-the-way gasthaus, she finds trout swimming in a seemingly decorative tank, but in the flash of an eye the fish are scooped up in a net and carted off to the kitchen, to appear minutes later cooked to such delicate lightness and tender perfection that one could never hope to duplicate it. Ruth Harkness’s “In a Tibetan Lamasery” is the story of her travels as a single woman exploring Tibet during the Second World War. She describes her crumbling accommodations, the unusual animals caught by hunters, and the estimated ten thousand dollars’ worth of rare pheasants she ate during one winter.

Complete with a new Introduction by Reichl and a sampling of original recipes, this savory collection contains essays by Anita Loos, James Beard, Madhur Jaffrey, Robert P. Coffin, Laurie Colwin, and many others. Sure to become a classic, Endless Feasts is comprised of beautifully rendered stories and descriptions of wonderful food in the most interesting and unlikely places.

Contributors to Endless Feasts
James Beard / Cooking with James Pasta
Ray Bradbury / Dandelion Wine
Robert P. Coffin / Night of Lobster
Laurie Colwin / A Harried Cook’s Guide to Some Fast Food
Pat Conroy / The Romance of Umbria
Elizabeth David / Edouard de Pomiane
M.F.K. Fisher / Three Swiss Inns
Ruth Harkness / In a Tibetan Lamasery
Madhur Jaffrey / An Indian Reminiscence
Anita Loos / Cocktail Parties of the Twenties
George Plimpton / I, Bon Vivant, Who, Me?
E. Annie Proulx / The Garlic War
Claudia Roden / The Arabian Picnic
Jane and Michael Stern / Two for the Havana, North Dakota
Paul Theroux / All Aboard! Crossing the Rockies in Style

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Food Writing, Essays, Cooking, Travel, Short Stories

416 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2002

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation of essays from Gourmet Magazine took me a long time to get through. Some essays were visionary expositions on food, its creation, and its impacts on people and relationships. Others were dull rehearsals of the lives of egomaniacal gourmands whose gluttinous corpulence and dandyish ways made my skin crawl. Very uneven.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a terrific collection of stories. The level of writing is superb and makes me long for the days where our writing level needn't cow-tow to the 6th grade reading level currently prescribed to. Makes me hungry the whole time I'm reading it and longing for adventures.

[Julie Richert-Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide ranging, from the charming recollections of childhood food experiences to detailed, exhaustive tracking of Michelin Star achievements. Generous in conjuring all the emotions that food and drink and the company in which we enjoy them can become so formative.
Not to be missed: Robert P. Coffin's "Night of Lobster", Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" and Mary Cantwell's "Dining Alone".
Also, thought provoking to notice how much the language of the essay and travel journalism have transformed in eighty years.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book to dip into occasionally.
There a reviews, stories, experiences and recipes all carefully laid out for the reader. Some pretentious irritating lectures from people who appear to be needing validation for their use of big words and seemingly superior knowledge of wines (For example).
Others wonderful tales of adventures had that make you want to follow in their footsteps.
Recipes to try and writers who's words inspire you to find more of their works.

[Gerda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried branching out to new types of non-fiction.
Food non-fiction might not be a branch I should have tried climbing.

A few of the essays were somewhat interesting, because of the time period in which they were penned, but on the whole it was very dry' and at times even slightly tone deaf.

[Heidi Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the stories in the beginning chapters most of all and skipped the biographies and recipes. That’s the nice thing about reading an anthology—you can skip to the parts you like without losing the plot!

[Monica Delehanty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting compilation of food reviews from Gourmet magazine - from the 40's to the 80's - from the Ritz to hunting in Maine - characters, recipes, prohibition, great stories.

[Judith Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ruth culled the best articles from 60o years of Gourmet. Miss this giant. Really enjoyed the longo artcles about MFK and James Beard.

[Jilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed.

[ruereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

60 years of food writing — in a golden compilation capturing food publication Gourmet’s most deliciously epic moments. I have this book to thank for a (rather delayed, I know) introduction to the absolutely wonderful, legendary food writer who is MFK Fisher. So. Many. Good. Lines! That the stories span from the 50s all the way up to the millennium is also captivating, especially when you realise that what food was to people then is still very much what it is to us now. It’s a way of life, the reason for coming together at the table and a language of love.

All good things aside, there are some pieces in the book that didn’t really speak to me, which I ended up just skimming through. I think it was because they are so entrenched in American culture — think stories of fishing contests and campfire cookouts — that it’s difficult for an Asian girl like me to relate wholeheartedly. Still a winner to pick up when you’re feeling peckish for a tasty read!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read every selection, but here are those that I feel are worth recommending:

"Mexican Mornings" and "In a Tibetan Lamasery" by Ruth Harkness, "The Garlic War" by E. Annie Proulx, "Dining Alone" by Mary Cantwell, the profile of M.F.K Fisher (though not MFK's contribution, strangely) by Elizabeth Hawes, and "I, Bon Vivant, Who, Me?" by George Plimpton.

Most are short, just a few pages, and get you thinking about the world around you.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag. I picked it after leaving Reichl's Tender at the Bone unfinished finding that book both pretentious and boring. After the first two essays in Endless Feast I thought -- ack! -- more of the same until I started to skip around and read the essays out of order. I was surprised to see E. Annie Proulx, Ray Bradbury, and Pat Conroy in the table of contents. All three provided excellent stories. I rather enjoyed Robert P. Coffin's Down East Breakfast, too.

[Novità Narrativa Biblioteca di Concesio]

Ruth Reichl, autrice di romanzi di tema culinario e direttrice della rivista "Gourmet", ha raccolto in questo libro gli interventi - già pubblicati nella rivista - in cui grandi scrittori si sono cimentati nel raccontare ricordi, impressioni di viaggio, o semplicemente le loro ricette preferite. Ne esce un delizioso viaggio attorno al mondo attraverso i sapori, i colori, i piaceri della tavola. Una lettura distensiva per chi ama la buona cucina e i viaggi.

[Kimberly Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and entertaining albeit older essays on food. Great pieces by and about my hero MFK Fisher. Lovely essay on lumberjack breakfasts. Great survey of Indian bread throughout the Southwest. So much diversity of the writing. And some neat biographical articles of which I learned James Beard was a singer prior to a famed foodie. Really great book for food lovers. Breadth and depth of subjects.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for it's variety of stories and mouth-watering descriptions that make food such a wonderful universal topic for connection. Still reading about the life of James Beard which is interesting but I have to say I'm more of a Julia Child fan and I'm disappointed they don't have an article on her. Now I'm interested in reading more in the Modern Library food series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some essays were much better than others. I especially liked the first section that read more like a travelogue. Some of the others told me way more than I ever want to know about people like James Beard.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting glimpse at travel, food, drink, and more food from the first sixty years of Gourmet magazine. If you're nostalgic for the days when sushi was still italicized, this is the book for you.

[May-Ling · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had to stop this one, because it just wasn't that interesting to me after reading about 5 of the stories. maybe if i had read this one in the wintertime instead of summer with its distractions, i might have plowed through the whole thing.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give up on this book, other than reading about James Beard, I did not really enjoy many of the other essays that I read. I read perhaps half and turned it back into the library for the Paris version of Gourmet's Sixty Years of Writing.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

excerpts form gourmet magazine form lots of heavy hitters of foodie world, many of them groudbreakers and frontliners trying to change for the better foodways in usa. lots of recipes. quite a bit of hyperbole. but a good reference.

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to love this but I found it hard to get into. I gave up 3/4 of the way through. Maybe someday I'll pick it up again.

[Joannmullis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few of my favorite people contributed to this book edited by Ruth Reichl. Anecdotes and recipes.

[Alyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun read- especially the pieces from MFK Fisher, James Beard, Ray Bradbury, and the truly sexist Robert Coffin. In the wake of Gourmet's demise, I relish these tidbits more than ever.

[Mamama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to pick up and put down for a while. Read ANY selection of these great stories from Gourmet Magazine's 60 years.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection of essays on food collected over 60 years--some classic chefs, some great stories, and well worht reading.

[g]

cause luxlotus says so http://www.luxlotus.com/lux_lotus/201...

[BeckyT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best of the collection: Robert Coffin's essays about Maine and Laurie Colwin's "A Harried Cook's Guide to Some Fast Food."

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just what it says it is and some of the article were interesting, others not so.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This can be taken one chapter at a time, I believe it is a collection of her columns.
Some of them I would like to read out loud matching the theme to the tastes of those gathered around.

[Ivonne]

12.95