Joy the Baker Reads
Written by joythebaker on November 17, 2008 – 4:32 pm -
I know this book is one of my new favorites for two reason. I’ve had it for three days, I’m half way through reading it, and the cover is already bent beyond belief. I have a nasty habit of falling asleep with a book and then sleeping all over that book all night. For that reason, my favorite books, the ones I read over and over again, either have no covers or are bent beyond recognition. Some might call this habit of mine charming. It is.
Let me tell you about Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating. In two simple words: super awesome! It’s a book for people who care about food, where it comes from and how it’s made. This book makes food a story about people and places, time and craft.
Take traditional balsamic vinegars, for example. Traditional balsamic vinegars come from the town of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. That’s it! That’s the only place where traditional balsamic vinegars come from! Are you still with me? Balsamic vinegars weren’t even available for purchase until the 1980’s. For centuries, balsamic vinegars were lovingly crafted and passed down from family to family. Vinegars were carefully dema by the matriarchs of the family and kept under lock and key by the patriarch of the family. They were so essential to family history that they were often given as dowries.
See, I learned all that from Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating! The book is so inspiring! It makes me want to go out, ask questions and seek out shops that are as nutty about food as I am.
Nowadays you can hop down to your local grocery store and buy virtually everything you’ll ever need, including an unassuming bottle of balsamic vinegar. I have to tell you that this isn’t the stuff that old Italian women are making in their attics. The real stuff, the good Italian stuff, the stuff approved by the Italian government is expensive. While the price may deter most of us, the taste and the experience is absolutely astonishing. The brilliant part about beautifully crafted food is that it inspires others to create good food in its imagine. That’s when those of us with tighter pocket books win.
For those of us who can’t spend $200 on a small bottle of tradition balsamic vinegar, there are inspired artisan varieties that have some pretty sultry depths. A bottle of artisan Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar (made from elderberries instead of grapes) will set you back $40, for example. Totally doable!
The amazing thing about good food, prepared with care is that your tongue will tell you what’s what. You don’t have to be a fancy vinegar connoisseur, or a cheese expert to tell the good stuff from the crap.
What I love about Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating is its totally unpretentious and approachable attitude. It shows us that good food come from people who really care about it, and that care translates into the quality of their product. Good food comes from culture and time and tradition. Most importantly, good food is for everybody. This book totally warms my heart. Yea, it’s that good.
Tags: books, Thoughts
Posted in Thoughts | 24 Comments »
Thanks for the book recommendation. I’m always looking for good food literature that doesn’t make me want to scream at it’s pretentiousness. This sounds perfect, I’ll have to pick it up.
great find! i am adding this to my ever expanding book list.
Thanks for this post! I’m going to request it at the library! It sounds right up my alley. A lil food, a lil history/anthropology/folk studies. Awesome!
Ok looks like I found something for the Christmas list!
Hihi, now I think I’ve also something to wish for Christmas. Thanks
One of my life goals is to visit Modena. I have tasted 20 year balsamic from there and it is worth every penny. Of course I’d stop by the town of Parma first. Know what they make there?
Wow, sounds like an amazing book. And I feel like I just learned a whole lot about balsamic vinegar, I love mixing it with olive oil for a light bread dip.
Just want to brag because I live here in Ann Arbor – close enough to walk to Zingerman’s bakehouse and creamery (where they make awesome cheese and gelato!), a short drive from their restaurant, and, well, I make my husband drive me to their deli downtown beause parking is annoying. Their mail order is fabulous, and I highly recommend it!
Finally a food book that doesn’t make you want to give up eating some large category of food! I’m beyond over the past few year’s influx of books depicting the icky journey that some food takes on it’s way to our table. Thinking of little old Italian grandmas making vinegar is much more up my alley.
Zingerman’s is fantastic. We make a twice monthly trip to Ann Arbor for Zingerman’s and Trader Joe’s.
i live in MI and i love Zingerman’s! i will definitely check out this book. and i love the new look of your blog … a great, soft pink
cheers!
Adding this to my “to read” list…which is rather long right about now
I’m going to be the dissenting voice here – Zingerman’s is not about “good food for everybody”. Charging $50 for a pie is not for “everybody”.
very cool! i think i have found the perfect gift for my gourmet foodie friend.
p.s. i love the new layout.
Oh WOW!!! I just got back from Mexico, so I haven’t been able to read your blog in a few days…girl, I LOVE this new look!! Totally adorable!
I live in A2 also. LOVE ZINGERMANSSSSSSSSSSSS! *sigh* I need to go there now………….
Hey! Left you something over on my blog
I’ve always loved Zingerman’s but didn’t know they had a book. It sounds a bit like “How to Pick a Peach” but broader than just produce. I love books like that. That’ll be #17 on my Christmas list! My family thanks you for the tip.
wow what an interesting book. Wish to buy it. I ll search for it
I used to live in Ann Arbor as well and was at Zingerman’s almost every day. I loved some of the food there, but what I loved even more was the sense of community there. The people who worked there seemed happy as if they really enjoyed working there. I highly recommend their chocolate cake and their palmiers. AMAZING! But admittedly some of their prices are steep. I heard a rumor that they are opening a store or something in NYC. I hope so! Now that Ari has been on Oprah I wonder if they will blow up even larger. I recently saw some Zingbars at Whole Foods.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve added it to my Christmas wish list.
I bought this book on your recommendation and it really is amazing. I can’t stop reading it!
Wowie! What a charming book review. Know what? This book is available on Amazon.com for 51 cents. Ha ha ha ha ha. Plus $3.99 shipping, but so what. But that’s for a book in good condition, and that will never do, so I splurged and spent $1.00 for one that’s “like new” Yay! *dances* Plus $3.99 for shipping. With prices like that, how could you go wrong?
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m looking forward to it.
I have been scrolling through your blog and loving it. The pictures are delicious and the recipes inspiring. Nice work!