John Birdsall

Food in America and Europe has long been shaped, twisted and upended by queer creatives. John Birdsall fills the gap between the past and present, channelling the twin forces of criticism and cultural history to propel readers into the kitchens, restaurants, swirling party-houses and humming interior lives of James Baldwin, Alice B. Toklas, Truman Capote, Esther Eng and others who left an indelible mark on the culinary world from the margins. Queer food is the intention surrounding a meal, the circumstances behind it, the people gathered around the table. With cinematic verve and prose that dazzles, What Is Queer Food? is a monumental work: a testament to food’s essential link to a modern queerness that reveals how, like fashion or tastes in music, food has become a language of LGBTQ+ identity.

Food in America and Europe has long been shaped, twisted and upended by queer creatives. Beloved food writer John Birdsall fills the gap between the past and present, channelling the twin forces of criticism and cultural history to propel readers into the kitchens, restaurants, swirling party-houses and humming interior lives of James Baldwin, Alice B. Toklas, Truman Capote, Esther Eng and others who left an indelible mark on the culinary world from the margins. Queer food is brunch quiche à la Craig Claiborne, Richard Olney’s ecstatic salade composée and Rainbow Ice-Box Cake from Ernest Matthew Mickler’s White Trash Cooking. It’s the intention surrounding a meal, the circumstances behind it, the people gathered around the table. With cinematic verve and prose that dazzles, What Is Queer Food? is a monumental work: a testament to food’s essential link to a modern queerness that reveals how, like fashion or tastes in music, food has become a language of LGBTQ+ identity.

After the Second World War, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties were synonymous with the nation’s food for decades, even after his death in 1985. In the first biography of Beard in twenty-five years, acclaimed writer John Birdsall argues that Beard’s struggles as a closeted gay man directly influenced his creation of an American cuisine. Starting in the 1920s, Beard escaped loneliness and banishment by travelling abroad to places where people ate for pleasure, not utility, and found acceptance at home by crafting an American ethos of food likewise built on passion and delight. Informed by never-before-tapped correspondence and lush with details of a golden age of home cooking, The Man Who Ate Too Much is a commanding portrait of a towering figure who still represents the best in food.

After the Second World War, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties were synonymous with the nation’s food for decades, even after his death in 1985. In the first biography of Beard in twenty-five years, acclaimed writer John Birdsall argues that Beard’s struggles as a closeted gay man directly influenced his creation of an American cuisine. Starting in the 1920s, Beard escaped loneliness and banishment by travelling abroad to places where people ate for pleasure, not utility, and found acceptance at home by crafting an American ethos of food likewise built on passion and delight. Informed by never-before-tapped correspondence and lush with details of a golden age of home cooking, The Man Who Ate Too Much is a commanding portrait of a towering figure who still represents the best in food.

“An engrossing, page-turner of a cookbook.” —Brian McGinn, Emmy-nominated director and executive producer, Chef’s TableYou may not realize that Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group living in the United States, especially when you compare the number of, say, Japanese, Thai, and Korean restaurants to Filipino ones. There’s a lot of speculation about why Filipino food hasn’t taken off the way other Asian cuisines have, but one thing’s for sure: there’s something for everyone here. Lauded as the next big thing by the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold, Filipino food can be somewhat difficult to define, as it melds indigenous dishes with myriad foreign influences from Chinese and Spanish to South East Asian and even American. And as Filipinos have left their archipelago and set down roots all over the world, it has proven to be a highly adaptable cuisine, lending itself to different diets, preferences, and ingredients. The New Filipino Kitchen collects 30 recipes and stories from expat Filipinos, all of whom have taken their favorite dishes with them, preserving their food memories and, if necessary, tweaking their recipes to work in a new environment or, in the case of some chefs, a more modern context. With contributions from the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, Bocuse d’Or Europe winner Christian André Pettersen, 2015 MasterChef New Zealand runner-up Leo Fernandez, five-time Palanca Award winner and poet Francis Macansantos, and the “Food Buddha” Rodelio Aglibot, this is a multifaceted, nuanced introduction to the world of Filipino food and food culture.

From chef James Syhabout of two-Michelin-star restaurant Commis, an Asian-American cookbook like no other--simple recipes for cooking home-style Thai and Lao dishesJames Syhabout's hugely popular Hawker Fare restaurant in San Francisco is the product of his unique family history and diverse career experience. Born into two distinct but related Asian cultures--from his mother's ancestral village in Isan, Thailand's northeast region, and his father's home in Pakse, Laos--he and his family landed in Oakland in 1981 in a community of other refugees from the Vietnam War. Syhabout at first turned away from the food of his heritage to work in Europe and become a classically trained chef. After the success of Commis, his fine dining restaurant and the only Michelin-starred eatery in Oakland, Syhabout realized something was missing--and that something was Hawker Fare, and cooking the food of his childhood. The Hawker Fare cookbook immortalizes these widely beloved dishes, which are inspired by the open-air "hawker" markets of Thailand and Laos as well as the fine-dining sensibilities of James's career beginnings. Each chapter opens with stories from Syhabout's roving career, starting with his mother's work as a line cook in Oakland, and moving into the turning point of his culinary life, including his travels as an adult in his parents' homelands. From building a pantry with sauces and oils, to making staples like sticky rice and padaek, to Syhabout's recipe for instant ramen noodles with poached egg, Hawker Fare explores the many dimensions of this singular chef's cooking and ethos on ingredients, family, and eating well. This cookbook offers a new definition of what it means to be making food in America, in the full and vibrant colors of Thailand, Laos, and California.

Toimi oikein hätätilantessa on täydellinen selviytymisopas odottamattomiin ja vaarallisiin tilanteisiin. Mitä teet, jos joku pyörtyy viereesi kadulla, joudut yhtäkkiä keskelle terrori-iskua tai joku yrittää murtautua kotiisi? Saatat ehkä toimia väärin tai olla tekemättä mitään - mikä voi pahentaa asiaa. Tämän kirjan neuvoilla opit pysymään tyynenä, hallitsemaan tilanteen ja hakemaan apua oikeasta paikasta. Saat käytännölliset selviytymisohjeet myös lukuisiin arkisiin pulmatilanteisiin. Kirja kertoo, mitä tehdä, jos on tankannut vääränlaista bensiiniä tai jos rahat ryöstetään lomamatkalla. Kirja neuvoo myös, miten toimia lennon peruuntuessa, oudon laskun saapuessa tai saadessasi arveluttavaa roskapostia. Tämän kirjan avulla pärjäät tilanteessa kuin tilanteessa!