Bon Appetit
Edited by Holly Hughes
Lifelong Books, $15.99, 381 pages
Best Food Writing 2013 from Editor Holly Hughes serves up a feast of delicious morsels which will have you thinking about food like never before, unless you happen to be a serious foodie. Assembled is a smorgasbord of all sorts of inspired writing by foodies and critics from all over the country. There are recipes and humor, as well as some of the politics that affect the food world. Sadly missing this year is a piece about The Sustainable Seafood Movement. Some folks mention vegetarianism, but most of the book is tailored for those who are thinking about something special to eat. Some unusual stuff is on the menu here like squirrel, deer, veal, and snails, but nobody is interested in trying out some endangered species.
“The vegetables were beautiful this year, fat lush heads of argula and romaine, gleaming taut-skinned squash, lusty round beets, impudently tall leeks with loamy soil still clinging to their hairy roots.”
Missing is some of the writing from the big national magazines. The book however covers the whole country and abounds in the communal experience of eating. There are road trips here and family gatherings. This is not a vegetarian book, which will make one feel guilty about eating whatever strikes their fancy. Food is political, but more so it is essential and one can bask in its variety. This book will be like a feast with evocative language that one cannot digest in one sitting.
Reviewed by Ryder Miller
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