Consider the Oyster or Tao of Cooking

Consider the Oyster

Author: MFK Fisher

M.F.K. Fisher, whom John Updike has called our "poet of the appetites," here pays tribute to that most delicate and enigmatic of foods---the oyster. As she tells of oysters found in stews, in soups, roasted, baked, fried, prepared à la Rockefeller or au naturel--and of the pearls sometimes found therein--Fisher describes her mother's joy at encountering oyster loaf in a girls' dorm in he 1890's, recalls her own initiation into the "strange cold succulence" of raw oysters as a young woman in Marseille and Dijon, and explores both the bivalve's famed aphrodisiac properties and its equally notorious gut-wrenching powers. Plumbing the "dreadful but exciting" life of the oyster, Fisher invites readers to share in the comforts and delights that this delicate edible evokes, and enchants us along the way with her characteristically wise and witty prose.

James Beard

She writes about fleeting tastes and feasts vividly, excitingly, sensuously, exquisitely. There is almost a wicked thrill in following her uninhibited track through the glories of the good life.

Patricia Storace

M.F.K. Fisher ... brings onstage a peach or a brace of quail and shows us history, cities, fantasies, memories, emotions.

Shana Alexander

M.F.K. Fisher is our greatest food writer because she puts food in the mount, the mind and the imagination all at the same time. Beyond the gastronomical bravura, she is a passionate woman; food is her metaphor.

New interesting book: Economics or The Political Economy of Trade Protection

Tao of Cooking

Author: Sally Pasley

Legendary vegetarian cookbook.

Dawn Hewitt - Herald-Times

[T]he recipes - all vegetarian - are as yummy as ever.

Table of Contents:

Foreword
Introduction
Menus
Breakfast
Breads
Eggs, Omelets and Quiches
Sandwiches and Snacks
Appetizers
Soups
Entrees: Vegetable Dishes
Entrees: Mexican Dishes
Entrees: Pasta, Gnocchi, and Noodles
Vegetables and Side Dishes
Salads
Desserts
Glossary of Ingredients
Index