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Buttermilk graffiti : a chef's journey to discover America's new melting-pot cuisine / Edward Lee.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Artisan, a Division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. 2019Copyright date: ©2018Description: 311 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781579659004
  • 1579659004
Subject(s):
Contents:
Pilgrimage for a beignet -- The pugilist and the cook -- The unfamiliar noodle -- The accidental fast -- Exile and cigars -- Slaw dogs and pepperoni rolls -- A kibbeh in Clarksdale -- Matriarchs of Montgomery -- A lesson in smen -- Death and aquavit -- Trawling for shrimp -- The immortality of Paterson -- Nigerian hustle -- German mustard -- The palace of pastrami -- A tale of two cornbreads.
Summary: Describes the author's two-year journey around the United States learning about the different cultures and traditions reshaping American cuisine.Summary: "American food is the story of mash-ups. Immigrants arrive, cultures collide, and out of the push-pull come exciting new dishes and flavors. But that surprising first bite is only the beginning. What about the people behind the food? What about the traditions? What about the memories? For two years, Edward Lee, as gifted a writer as he is a chef, traveled the highways and byways of America to seek out foods that open a window onto a whole other way of cooking, of eating, of living--a way that's unique and quintessentially American. Lee visits a Cambodian couple in Lowell, Massachusetts, re-creating the flavors of their lost home land while helping to inject new vibrancy into a fading mill town. He travels, like so many music lovers, to Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of the blues and now home to America's best kibbeh and other Lebanese specialties. He learns how to make the mysterious fermented butter called smen from a young Moroccan immigrant living in Westport, Connecticut, then treats her to her first taste of New Haven white clam pizza--an iconic American dish created by an immigrant of a previous generation. And a beignet from Café du Monde, as potent as Proust's madeleine, inspires a time-traveling narrative from New Orleans's original Creole culture to the author's first job working the breakfast shift at a coffee shop in a dicey New York neighborhood. With his compelling voice and unique perspective--as a Korean-born, Brooklyn-bred chef who found his soul in Kentucky--Edward Lee offers sixteen vibrant chapters in the fascinating and ever-evolving story of American cuisine. And forty recipes, created by Lee and inspired by the people he met around the country, bring these stories right into our own kitchens."--Dust jacket.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 641.59 L477 Available 33111009343498
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 641.59 L477 Available 33111009132768
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner, 2019 James Beard Award for Best Book of the Year in Writing



Finalist, 2019 IACP Award, Literary Food Writing



Named a Best Food Book of the Year by the Boston Globe , Smithsonian , BookRiot, and more



Semifinalist, Goodreads Choice Awards



"Thoughtful, well researched, and truly moving. Shines a light on what it means to cook and eat American food, in all its infinitely nuanced and ever-evolving glory."

--Anthony Bourdain



American food is the story of mash-ups. Immigrants arrive, cultures collide, and out of the push-pull come exciting new dishes and flavors. But for Edward Lee, who, like Anthony Bourdain or Gabrielle Hamilton, is as much a writer as he is a chef, that first surprising bite is just the beginning. What about the people behind the food? What about the traditions, the innovations, the memories?



A natural-born storyteller, Lee decided to hit the road and spent two years uncovering fascinating narratives from every corner of the country. There's a Cambodian couple in Lowell, Massachusetts, and their efforts to re-create the flavors of their lost country. A Uyghur café in New York's Brighton Beach serves a noodle soup that seems so very familiar and yet so very exotic--one unexpected ingredient opens a window onto an entirely unique culture. A beignet from Café du Monde in New Orleans, as potent as Proust's madeleine, inspires a narrative that tunnels through time, back to the first Creole cooks, then forward to a Korean rice-flour hoedduck and a beignet dusted with matcha.



Sixteen adventures, sixteen vibrant new chapters in the great evolving story of American cuisine. And forty recipes, created by Lee, that bring these new dishes into our own kitchens.

Originally published in hardcover by Artisan in 2018.

Pilgrimage for a beignet -- The pugilist and the cook -- The unfamiliar noodle -- The accidental fast -- Exile and cigars -- Slaw dogs and pepperoni rolls -- A kibbeh in Clarksdale -- Matriarchs of Montgomery -- A lesson in smen -- Death and aquavit -- Trawling for shrimp -- The immortality of Paterson -- Nigerian hustle -- German mustard -- The palace of pastrami -- A tale of two cornbreads.

Describes the author's two-year journey around the United States learning about the different cultures and traditions reshaping American cuisine.

"American food is the story of mash-ups. Immigrants arrive, cultures collide, and out of the push-pull come exciting new dishes and flavors. But that surprising first bite is only the beginning. What about the people behind the food? What about the traditions? What about the memories? For two years, Edward Lee, as gifted a writer as he is a chef, traveled the highways and byways of America to seek out foods that open a window onto a whole other way of cooking, of eating, of living--a way that's unique and quintessentially American. Lee visits a Cambodian couple in Lowell, Massachusetts, re-creating the flavors of their lost home land while helping to inject new vibrancy into a fading mill town. He travels, like so many music lovers, to Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of the blues and now home to America's best kibbeh and other Lebanese specialties. He learns how to make the mysterious fermented butter called smen from a young Moroccan immigrant living in Westport, Connecticut, then treats her to her first taste of New Haven white clam pizza--an iconic American dish created by an immigrant of a previous generation. And a beignet from Café du Monde, as potent as Proust's madeleine, inspires a time-traveling narrative from New Orleans's original Creole culture to the author's first job working the breakfast shift at a coffee shop in a dicey New York neighborhood. With his compelling voice and unique perspective--as a Korean-born, Brooklyn-bred chef who found his soul in Kentucky--Edward Lee offers sixteen vibrant chapters in the fascinating and ever-evolving story of American cuisine. And forty recipes, created by Lee and inspired by the people he met around the country, bring these stories right into our own kitchens."--Dust jacket.

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