Fluffbuff

Feather and Fan tagged me with a book meme a few days ago — I don't do memes much, but this is about books.

1. What book are you currently reading?
Right now it's all about food and cooking. You know me… I'm a serial monotasker.

Pure Dessert, by Alice Medrich
Ooh, baby… I just got this book yesterday and I'm already in love. Pure Dessert is about simple recipes, unadulterated flavors, quality ingredients of all kinds — finally someone is using chestnut flour, buckwheat, kamut and more — and desserts that are not overlayered, frosted, and filled ad nauseam with sugariness; my kind of dessert. No Italian connection here that I can see, but it is the kind of dessert that resonates with the Italian palate.

And it gets better. If you are new or relatively new to baking, you will love the introductory part with all the tips on mise en place, how to measure ingredients, what equipment is good for what and why, and how and where to shop for ingredients. I am going to have to write a full fledged review of this book on tanta robina.

Saha: a chef's journey through Lebanon and Syria, by Greg and Lucy Malouf
This I've only been leafing through and enjoying the beautiful photography and the exoticness of it all.

Digital food photography
One thing I'm going to have to do on a regular basis in culinary school is photographing my dishes, so I thought I'd get some good advice. Not that I have any intention of getting in the food styling business, but most of the information is good for amateur photographers as well. There's something disturbing about some of the "secrets" of food photography such as applying brown shoe polish to grilled steaks or soapy water to a cup of coffee. Yuk. The book is good, though.

2. When you think of a good story what are the first 3 books that come to mind?
I don't read much fiction, almost none in fact, but these are books I love.
The spy who came in from the cold, by John Le Carrè
Possibly the best spy story ever.

Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges
This is not a story, but a collection of short stories. Ficciones (Fictions) is one of my all-time favorite books. I linked the title to a particular edition because it's the best English translation I've found so far. Other translations leave much to be desired and don't do justice to the original.

3. Which 3 books would you recommend for summer 2008 beach reading?
Drawing a blank here; I'm not even sure what "beach reading" means. Maybe because I don't go to the beach?

4. Any knitting book(s) you care to share?
There are so many; these are just a few that are gorgeous to leaf through, inspiring, and more.

Poems of Color

北欧のニットこものたち
(Knitted Accessories from Scandinavia)

Knitting Nature

Norsk Strikkedesign

Poetry in Stitches

I know I am supposed to tag a few people in return, but I'm always shy about that, so consider yourself tagged if you like books and memes.