I’ve know a few starving artists in my day. In fact there was a time in the 90’s where I actually was one. Although todays newly minted “starving artists” don’t really seem starving and, not to be too judgy here but, no so much artists. More like graphic design graduates that took their senior project to ETSY, Bushwick or Instagram. It’s why Sara Zin and her The Starving Artist Cookbook gets props from the whole FT crew. Sometimes just making sh*t for YOU is the best foot forward. Way to keep it real and delicious Sara.
More Culture Stuff
Italian Street Food
Today’s post comes on the heels of two commingled happenings. First, My Head of Culinary is trouncing about in Parma checking out brown cows and pig legs. Second, The Food Book Fair kicks off it’s 2017 edition. So, a book on Italian Street Food is more than appropriate. If any of you have spent any time in Italy, as Paola, the author of this guide to goodness, has, you know getting a bad meal is tough anywhere on the boot. But, the culinary road less traveled lies in the nooks and crannies that are street food. A rice ball, a porchetta sandwich or a panini from a stand or off the beaten path vendor with a tiny hole in the wall (literally sometimes) shop are the true diamonds in the rough of this food gem country. Paola Bacchia was born Australian but has always looked to Italy as her Italian migrant parents made it impossible not to. Her book chronicles the recipes of these undiscovered street classics in a way that only an enamored 1st generation non-Italain can. If this book redlines your drool factor, Paola hosts a cooking school in Melbourne, Australia and annual workshops at the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in Sicily where you can taste some of the beauty this book reveals.
Food and the City Book
With the every exploding foodie craze devouring New York, a book like Ina Yalof ’s Food and the City is a peephole into the minds of those on the front lines. Cutting through the clutter of food tweets, Instagram gasto-sensational pics and verbose bloggers (present company included) Ina interviews New York’s pro chefs, restaurateurs, line cooks, street vendors, and purveyors getting to the root of their passion for their daily grind. In a lot of ways, this will reground us all to why we care so much about this newly crowned food lifestyle popularity in the first place.
Foodie Dice
Play culinary casino with your next meal and let fate decide your flavor. We’ll say it over and over again at FTHQ, playing with your food makes it taste better. Lady luck adds a bit of mystery and mayhem to that fun. Last time we rolled ‘em we wound up with a baked lemon, dandelion green salad. Double down on that.
Eat Delicious
We’ve been drooling over Dennis Prescott’s IG for the last few years. He has this knack of making everything look so perfectly crisp and juicy that we theoretically lose our minds and literally salivate. That pavlovian response has now been chronicled in a 125 recipe book, Eat Delicious, that reveals not only the food. Dennis also reveals his photography approach, technique and gear in achieving the ultimate in food porn perfection. Although he calls himself a chef first and photographer a close second we might be so mesmerized with his images to even take a bite. In a recent interview he said, “My passion is cooking and photographing large, feast-style scenes that highlight the community table.” That gets us right in the soul. Hey Dennis, any time you want to shoot one of our feasts, open invite buddy. If you’re not already a long time @dennistheprescott follower here’s your moment to jump in both digitally and with a printed home version you can drool all over in private.