Umami Mart

Books featuring descriptions of food often leave me drooling. In fact, what you read about in books are often more mouthwatering than the real thing. I still remember dreaming about the ‘ices’ which the Famous Five used to scoff down in the summer hols in Enid Blyton’s books and was more than a little disappointed […]

You know it’s the festive season when you start seeing images of Christmas puddings and mince pies everywhere in London. This year Heston Blumenthal of the three Michelin starred The Fat Duck in Bray produced an extra special Christmas pudding with a whole Valencia orange inside for Waitrose (an upmarket supermarket) but it sold out […]

One of the things I keep coming across when reading English literature of the early 20th century is reference to something called ‘the Gentleman’s Relish’. Often in stories similar to those of P.G. Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh where lazy gentlemen are served gentleman’s relish spread sparingly on hot buttered toast by their butlers. How so […]

I am happy to announce that Korean Cuisine, a cookbook I photographed, has just been published. The author is chef and food writer/educator Yongja Kim. I developed a new found LOVE for Korean food because of this book, and I hope you will, too. For two weeks last fall in a kitchen in Greenwich Village, […]

A couple nights ago, I had the great pleasure of going to hear a talk by veteran gardener and food writer Barbara Kingsolver (Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams) at Cooper Union Hall in NYC. She is easily one of my favorite authors, and to hear her read from her new book, Animal, Vegetable, […]

For the last several months, I have been working with Will Goldfarb (who worked with Ferran Adria at the much celebrated El Bulli restaurant in Spain) and his wonderful staff to produce a short cookbook, featuring about 12 of Will’s wildly innovative dishes from his dessert restaurant, Room 4 Dessert. Below are 3 of my […]

With the success of her latest tell-all book for foodies, Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl talks about her new movie (will Julia Roberts play Ruth?), and her experiences as the editor in chief at Gourmet Magazine for the last 8 years, in this article. This woman seriously ROCKS. thanks Jim for this.