Spitz is neither a chef nor a food critic. No, Bob Spitz is something we don’t get to review here often, a “serious” author. I say that tongue and cheek of course - for many years, food writers were looked down upon by novelists. They were lumped into a subspecies alongside sports journalists and the lady who does the advice column. Anyone who has ever read Jeffrey Steingarten knows that food writers are serious authors.

Spitz is the award-winning author of Barefoot in Babylon, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!, and the New York Times bestseller The Beatles. He has written for virtually every important magazine and newspaper in the country. But he does not have a formal culinary background and perhaps that is what makes his tale so companionable. Because it is so much like that of every other American who has fallen victim to gastronomy.

The story begins with his personal life in shambles – the eight years of travel and research for The Beatles has cost him a marriage and his current romance is a house of cards. The only things keeping him from falling apart altogether are his love for haute cuisine and his daughter, Lily, of whom he writes:

At least my daughter gave me strength. Most nights, I still cooked for Lily, and most mornings I sent her off to school with a lunch bag full of leftovers, the most gratifying moments of my day. Only eleven years old, Lily was a chef’s ideal at the table, game for trying all my crackpot creations. She was the only kid I knew who’d attack garlicky escargots, a seared foie gras, or a dozen raw oysters with fearless relish . . .

The fervor of his burgeoning foodieness manifested itself through his regular Friday-night dinners in which friends and loved ones from the city would venture to his cozy Connecticut cottage for an evening of conversation and Epicureanism. It was at just such a party that he receded from the political debate, withdrawing inwardly to evaluate the meal, his romance, his life. The others raved about the food but he knew that he had missed the mark. He looked at his girlfriend, Carolyn, who thought of food, like so many Americans, as nothing more than fuel, a necessary evil, and realized something was missing. He then announced to the table, “I’m going to Europe, to learn how to cook.”

Over the course of three months, he traveled through France and then Italy, attending classes at a multitude of cooking schools. Some were designed to humor American tourists, at which he encountered more than one brain-dead trophy wife or wannabe Martha Stewart. Some were serious schools where lessons were not just learned but ingested.

He worked in the kitchens of everything from French culinary icons like Le Moulin de Mougins to a tiny family-run trattoria on the Amalfi Coast. He cooked side by side with the likes of Bruno Söhn, Alain Llorca, and Kate Hill. Along the way he transformed from a novice trying to impress beyond his means to a world-class cook, and as mentioned above, he learned a little something about life.

In Apprentice, Spitz manages to capture the essence of each province without sounding like a Mobil Travel Guide. Images burst off the page in full color, allowing you to clearly see the blinding speed of a chiffonade. At times you can almost feel the sensual effect garlic has on the olfactory senses when it hits a hot pan of fruity olive oil. In a word it is captivating.

I found the text most compelling whenever I sensed a change of scenery. I read with absolute anticipation for his descriptions of the legendary locals of cooking Provence, Tuscany, Paris, Naples – I saw them all through Spitz’s eyes. My only regret, why not a month in Spain or a few weeks in the Greek Isles?

On the back cover, Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything, says of the Saucier’s Apprentice, “Just like Spitz: personal, clever, witty, enthralling, and lovable. Why he didn’t invite me along, I’ll never know.”

I feel like he did.

Photo courtesy of W. W. Norton.

• With all of the hullabaloo right now about salmonella tainted tomatoes the good folks at Domino magazine come to the rescue in their August ’08 issue with an article for uses of heirloom tomatoes. For those who do not know, heirlooms are what tomatoes were like before scientists decided that they should be round, red orbs. After consulting with “culinary guru” Susan Spungen, they dished up five very innovative dishes using locally sourced heirlooms including a Warm Caprese Salad where the tomatoes are grilled and the amazing Gazpacho Bloody Marys. More importantly they tell you how to find local produce by offering the link localharvest.org.
• Russ Parsons, the renowned food and wine columnist for the LA Times is also an award-winning author having snagged multiple James Beard awards. He appears to have hit another home run with his book How To Pick A Peach, which he describes as a cook’s look at agriculture. As he explained to Daniel Boulud on his MOJO series After Hours with Daniel, it is about, “. . . how we got to the point we are today with the kind of the split between super market produce sections and the farmer’s market and how the farmer’s markets are influencing super market produce sections and vice versa.” Adding that, “The chefs influence the farmers and the farmers influence the chefs.”
• Barbecue “professor” Steven Raichlen is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the release of his James Beard Award-winning The Barbecue! Bible by revising the grilling guide which has sold more than 4 million copies and has been translated into 14 languages. Raichlen says that so much of Americans’ understanding of how to cook over an open flame has changed over the past decade that it was time to update his mammoth opus.  In a recent interview with David Holloway of the Mobile Press Register he explains his motivation for the makeover, “People now have a much greater understanding of barbecuing and grilling. When I first wrote the book, I had to go into great detail to explain indirect cooking: now it’s pretty much common knowledge.” Holloway sums up the book by saying, “If you could only buy one book on how to grill, smoke, or barbecue, this would be it.”

The July/August ’08 issue of Draft magazine has an extensive list of major upcoming beer festivals divided geographically. For July there is the Oregon Brewers Festival (24^th – 27^th) in Portland. On the 12^th head to Flagstaff, Arizona, for the Made in the Shade Beer Festival or the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival in Charlotte, NC. On the 19^th Indianapolis stages the Indiana Microbrews Festival. New Englanders get into the act at the Vermont Brewers Festival in Burlington on the 18^th and 19^th. For those traveling abroad, be sure you make a quick stop by the Festival of Beer and Flowers to be held in Laako, Slovenia, the 9^th through the 13^th.  Remember, there is no reason to drink responsibly if you take a cab.

In the July ’08 issue of Bon Appetit, Jamie Purviance gives you a step-by-step guide to making the ultimate barbecued brisket in the article “Brisket, Low & Slow.” Purviance, a grilling guru who has written a handful of cookbooks for Weber, provides a recipe that includes alterations for either gas grillers or charcoal purists and features an intense ancho chili sauce which is described as, “part barbecue sauce, part red wine reduction.” The article also includes tips to help ensure that your brisket is tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Just in time for barbecue season.

Recently Playboy began a series designed to help you create the ultimate home bar. Their first installment was in the June ’08 issue where they began building the perfect beast with Chelsea Handler’s favorite swill, vodka. The article features three drink recipes including the original Bloody Mary from the St. Regis Hotel in New York. Their suggestion for best shot is Stolichnaya Elit and for mixed drinks they recommend Absolut 100. For a classic vodka Martini they say use Ketel One for your daily happy hour and Kauffman Vintage for special occasions. They also advocate that, “a unique bottle is always a good icebreaker. She’s never heard of Reyka ($26)? Well, it’s grain vodka made from pure glacial water, distilled using geothermal heat in the tiny Icelandic village of Borgarnes and filtered over 4,000 year-old lava rock.”

In the May/June ’08 issue of Draft magazine, Bruce Paton helps everyone with the often daunting task of what wild food should be paired with each obscure micro-brew. He suggests pairing wild blackberries with Maylon’s Dragoon’s Dry Irish Stout, trout with Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale (a no-brainer), figs with Urthel Samaranth, pine nuts go with Stone Pale Ale, and of course, if you are drinking Marin Point Reyes Porter, you will need plenty of Morel mushrooms.

Blogger and food writer extraordinaire Molly Wizenberg explains in the July ’08 issue of Bon Appetit that she realized she had met the man of her dreams when he made her marshmallows . . . from scratch. Wizenberg then goes on to offer a brief but informative history on what the French once called pâté de guimauve, perfect for those wondering just what the heck a marshmallow actually was.

Sergio Esposito’s new book Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy is being well received. Bill Buford (the food writer not the drummer from 70s art rockers Yes) states, “Without qualification, the best book about Italian wine today, if only because Sergio Esposito understands that its mysterious greatness is in its poetry – the earth, its diurnal magic, the ghosts of great-grandfathers. A beautiful, boldly sentimental memoir.” Passion on the Vine is the latest in the growing genre of “culinary adventure” that began with Buford’s bestseller Heat and continues with other publications like Bob Spitz’s the Saucier’s Apprentice which I am currently reading.

A recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated had Christopher Kimball and crew (specifically Erika Bruce and Adam Ried) rating the world of Dijon mustard. Their findings? While they rated France’s Roland Extra Strong Dijon Mustard as their #1 pick, their top 5 was dominated by American-made Dijons headed by Grey Poupon, which is manufactured by Nabisco. Who knew?

In 2008 two college friends combined their international backgrounds, love of great food, and need to feed busy families to produce a collection of recipes using the many amazing prepared foods to be found in Trader Joe’s Grocery Stores.

Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati created Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s (Brown Bag Publishers, LLC) because as they say, “Time and time again, as we shopped the aisles at Trader Joe’s, we overheard people saying, What do you do with quinoa? How do you use tapenade? What goes well with ricotta-stuffed chicken? Before we knew it, we were writing a cookbook.

“Through necessity, as our lives became more hectic juggling kids and full-time jobs, we discovered ways to become fast and efficient cooks. Rather than resort to fast-food or frozen dinners, we found that if we used a little help with prepped ingredients at Trader Joe’s, suddenly it became completely doable to still feed our families healthy, homemade meals every day.”

“What I love most about this cookbook is that every recipe can be made with ingredients that are available at Trader Joe’s,” says Miniati. “As a mom of two young kids, I don’t have the time to shop at multiple grocery stores. We specifically wrote each recipe using ingredients Trader Joe’s carries, from specialty sauces like Trader Ming’s Soyaki to staples like milk, flour, and spices.

“So this cookbook is a great time-saver, not only because the recipes themselves are easy and fast, but also because you only have to shop at one place to make these fabulous meals.”

Fans of Trader Joe’s rejoice for Dunn and Miniati have conjured their own book of magic. And the two are not done, either, they are already working on the next edition and plan to publish new recipes regularly, showcasing new items as they appear.

I thumbed the recipes in the book and found their variations on one of my favorite soups, Black Bean. The soup was dark and exotic . . . just the way I like it. Try it yourself, then go buy the book.

Black Bean Soup

• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped, or 2 cups bagged Freshly Diced Onion
• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 clove crushed garlic, or 1 tsp jarred Crushed Garlic
• 2 (15-oz) cans Organic Black Beans (do not drain)
• 1 cup (half a jar) Chunky Salsa
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
• Plain yogurt, such as Plain Cream Line Yogurt, or sour cream

In a medium pot, sauté onions in olive oil until they are soft and translucent.

Sprinkle in cumin and garlic and sauté for a minute; pour in black beans (including juices), salsa, and lime. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.

Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a dollop of yogurt. Chili and Lime Tortilla Chips or other white corn tortilla chips go nicely on the side.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Hands-off Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 to 6

Photo courtesy of cookingwithtraderjoes.com.