"A foodie's library" by Food Forum

If you were a dedicated foodie and you were building a library to reflect your favorite authors and topics, what books would be indispensable?

I’d want M.F.K. Fisher’s “The Art of Eating” and of course, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.

And for frequent consultation while actually cooking, perhaps Marion Cunningham’s centennial update of “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.”

Maybe something by James Beard and, from the contemporary, Simon Hopkinson’s “Roast Chicken and Other Stories,” modestly subtitled “The Most Useful Cookbook of All Times.”

What’s on your wish list?

Kabuki moves

Kabuki, the Japanese and Korean cuisine restaurant formerly on Route 9 in Clifton Park, has found a new home in Latham. The restaurant was dislocated by plans for a strip mall but has reopened in the Peter Harris Plaza on Route 7.

I have a copy of the new menu, and there are lots of teriyaki and tempura dishes to choose from, along with a wide range of sushi selections, and in the Korean section of the menu, there are many dishes featuring kimchi, Korea’s fiery national dish of fermented cabbage highly seasoned with garlic and chiles.

In its Clifton Park days, Kabuki was a great place to go for shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings) and teppanyaki dishes — food cooked on a sizzling grill right at your table with fancy knifework and lots of flourish. (Think "Iron Chef"). Unsure if there’s hibachi cuisine at the new Kabuki, but let us know if you’ve dined there.

Bread and salt

Friends moved into a new home last week and I dropped by to get in the way of their unpacking and to present them with a traditonal housewarming gift: bread and salt.

Not just any bread, of course; it was a savory round loaf of sourdough infused with rosemary and olive oil. And the salt was a sel de mer.

The tradition of presenting bread and salt to new homeowners is centuries old and is usually ascribed to Russia from where it migrated east to other parts of Europe.
There are variations. In China, it’s customary to present rice, but that’s more for newlyweds since rice is symbolically tied to fertility. That’s why we throw it at weddings. Some cultures present honey to wish the new homeowners a “sweet life.”

Wine is always a good idea. What food gifts do you give? Is there a story behind them? We’d love to hear.

Napkin Notes

Tiznow restaurant, the Saratoga Springs bistro that once was a machine shop, has a new chef, Brent Black, and a new spring menu, both of them introduced earlier this month at a cocktail party where Asian hors d’oeuvres were served. I haven’t made it there since the changes but will let you know what’s up once I do.

Pianist Cole Broderick, who performs from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays during brunch at Chez Sophie in Saratoga Springs, collaborated with vocalist Cheryl Clark to produce a CD of jazz, including songs by the Gershwins and Cole Porter. Clark, co-owner of Chez Sophie with husband Paul Parker, who’s the chef, has a musical background, and her smoky vocals, which you can sample at chezsophie.com, are quite fun.

May 13, 2008
9:44 p.m.

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mhowie ( Mindy Howie ) says...

I have "I'm Just Here for the Food" by Alton Brown, which I think is very useful in an educational way -- I've made few of the recipes, but the book has a lot about the science and technique of cooking that can be applied with other dishes. I think the standard Betty Crocker cookbook is good to have, just as a basic foundation. And I have "Cookwise" by Shirley Corriher and "The Bread Bible" by Beth Hensperger on my wishlist.