Editor Holly Hughes' annual anthology "Best Food Writing 2013" captures with some success the mood in today's food world. "The season of foam and gels has passed," she reflects in the introduction, "and the Year of the Pork Belly has given way to the Year of Kale."
What follows is a collection of essays and articles by bloggers, journalists, big-name chefs and foodies alike all published within the last year.
People have also returned to slow foods, Hughes says, assuming they had previously left.
In the meditative essay "Slow
Cooking, Slow Eating," for example, Edward Behr encourages readers to take it
easy both in and out of the kitchen: "Slowness really means living at the right
speed for whatever you are doing, living more in the present moment, rather
than looking always ahead to the next thing... It means you pay
attention."
Further highlights include Michael Pollan's "Step Two: Saute Onions and Other Aromatic Vegetables," Jonathan Gold's profile of Kogi co-founder Roy Choi ("The King of the Food Trucks Hits Hawaii"), and Brett Martin's GQ article "Good Food Everywhere." They are topical, accessible and nicely done.
The eclectic anthology would not be
complete, however, without occasional paeans to questionable food items as well.
Katharine Shilcutt, for example, writes about McDonald's in "I Ate My First
McRib, and I Regret It." Dan Barry bemoans the Hostess bankruptcy in "Back When
a Chocolate Puck Tasted, Guiltily, like America."
Pieces like
these add lightness and levity to the volume as a whole. They provide necessary
balance, making it informative as well as entertaining.
(A version of this review appeared originally at Publishers Weekly.)
(A version of this review appeared originally at Publishers Weekly.)