Endless Feasts: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet

by Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl (Editor)

Contributors to endless feasts include:

James Beard/Cooking with James Beard: Pasta
Ray Bradbury/Dandelion Wine
Robert P. Coffin/Night of Lobster
Laurie Colwin/A Harried Cook’s Guide to Some Fast Food
Pat Conroy/The Romance of Umbria
Elizabeth David/Edouard de Pomiane
M.F.K. Fisher/Three Swiss Inns
Ruth Harkness/In a Tibetan Lamasery
Madhur Jaffrey/An Indian Reminiscence
Anita Loos/Cocktail Parties of the Twenties
George Plimpton/I, Bon Vivant, Who, Me?
E. Annie Proulx/The Garlic War
Claudia Roden/The Arabian Picnic
Jane and Michael Stern/Two for the Road: Havana, North Dakota
Paul Theroux/All Aboard! Cross the Rockies in Style

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Food Writing, Essays, Cooking, Travel, Short Stories

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2002

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation of essays from Gourmet Magazine took me a long time to get through. Some essays were visionary expositions on food, its creation, and its impacts on people and relationships. Others were dull rehearsals of the lives of egomaniacal gourmands whose gluttinous corpulence and dandyish ways made my skin crawl. Very uneven.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a terrific collection of stories. The level of writing is superb and makes me long for the days where our writing level needn't cow-tow to the 6th grade reading level currently prescribed to. Makes me hungry the whole time I'm reading it and longing for adventures.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of early writing about food starting from Gourmet’s founding in 1941. The earliest are Frank Schoonmaker’s “American Names for American Wines” of March 1941 and M.F.K. Fisher’s “Three Swiss Inns” of September 1941.

The most recent are George Plimpton’s “Bon Vivant, Who, Me?” and James Villas’s “Lucius Beebe: The Last Magnifico” both of February 1998 and Edna O’Brien’s “The Ghosts of Taste: Recapturing the Flavors of Childhood” of September 1999.

The earliest are the most interesting, because they paint a very colorful picture of a style of enjoying food that is at worst quaint, and at best food as an amazing adventure. Irene Corbally Kuhn’s “Shanghai: The Vintage Years” (January 1986) is a very late but evocative example. She’s writing about “the Paris of the Orient” pre-1937 and describes the Shanghai that I thought only existed in movies—it matches very well, for example, the 1935 Shanghai of Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Joseph Wechsbert’s “Demel’s” (October 1967), about the famous Vienna pastry shop, paints a picture of an old world café that is both cinematic and inspiring.

To the right of the entrance are the first and second salons, in Regency style, with many mirrors. No checkroom for your topcoat. Keep it on your knees. At Demel’s you are not supposed to be comfortable; you should be glad to be there.

And he makes a timeless point about quality that is also timelessly forgotten:

People often speak about “the sweet secrets of Demel’s” as if the establishment had top-secret recipes. But their only secret is quality. Today as before, they use only the finest ingredients, and they work a little harder than everybody else.

Not all of the reminiscences are about lost experiences overseas. Louis Diat’s January 1951 essay covers his time at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel—from start in 1910 to finish forty years later. The Filet of Sea Bass (recipe included) that he designed for General Pershing looks amazing.

Anita Loos describes “Cocktail Parties of the Twenties” in her January 1970 essay, and it could come from any jazz age fiction.

The only thing really missing is World War II. The “American Scene” section skips from April 1941 (Frank Schoonmaker’s “The Vine Dies Hard”, about the American wine industry’s recover from Prohibition and phylloxera) to September 1946 (Robert P. Coffin’s “Night of Lobster”).

Coffin has three essays back to back, from lobster to venison to breakfast, all East Coast and all absolutely amazing.

It was a pioneer meal, that ancient breakfast, a meal for men who were carving a nation out of forests and earth and mountains. It was a prelude to the two-bladed axe, the cant dog, the crowbar, the scythe, or the adz. It was the only proper breakfast for the man with fists like mauls and thighs like young oak trees.
…
The Maine morning meal is like a tune on the bagpipes which calls the stouthearted Scot to war.

There is pretty much a full biography of James Beard in the late middle: three essays, each among the longest in the book outside of each other. The first two are by Jay Jacobs; the final essay is by Beard himself, a collection of his favorite pasta recipes, used to restore his appreciation for food. Raisin pine nut pasta sounds fascinating.

While there are recipes sprinkled throughout, such as Mildred Brummond’s Chocolate Beet Cake in Jane and Michael Stern’s July 1997 “Two For the Road: Havana, North Dakota”, the final section is dedicated to essays about particular foods and styles, such as Beard’s pasta or Eugene Walter’s April 1962 “The Gumbo Cult”, not just about making gumbo but about improvising gumbo around the world.

It’s interesting that in New York one can find authentic food of every country on earth, save of the South. What is advertised as Southern fried chicken is usually an ancient fowl encased in a cement mixture and tormented in hot grease for an eternity. Southern biscuits à la New York are pure cannon wadding. Gumbo they’ve not even heard of.

The book also reprints Ray Bradbury’s June 1953 submission to their magazine, Dandelion Wine. Gourmet was an amazing periodical in its day.

There are meals we never forget for the sheer delight, the astonishment, the novelty, of them… Oh, such feasts—meals in distant places, vegetables never before tasted, soufflés that literally took one’s breath away, and yet there is always a meal that one wants to repeat.— Edna O’Brien, “The Ghosts of Taste: Recapturing the Flavors of Childhood”, Gourmet, September 1999

[Julie Richert-Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide ranging, from the charming recollections of childhood food experiences to detailed, exhaustive tracking of Michelin Star achievements. Generous in conjuring all the emotions that food and drink and the company in which we enjoy them can become so formative.
Not to be missed: Robert P. Coffin's "Night of Lobster", Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" and Mary Cantwell's "Dining Alone".
Also, thought provoking to notice how much the language of the essay and travel journalism have transformed in eighty years.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book to dip into occasionally.
There a reviews, stories, experiences and recipes all carefully laid out for the reader. Some pretentious irritating lectures from people who appear to be needing validation for their use of big words and seemingly superior knowledge of wines (For example).
Others wonderful tales of adventures had that make you want to follow in their footsteps.
Recipes to try and writers who's words inspire you to find more of their works.

[Gerda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried branching out to new types of non-fiction.
Food non-fiction might not be a branch I should have tried climbing.

A few of the essays were somewhat interesting, because of the time period in which they were penned, but on the whole it was very dry' and at times even slightly tone deaf.

[Heidi Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the stories in the beginning chapters most of all and skipped the biographies and recipes. That’s the nice thing about reading an anthology—you can skip to the parts you like without losing the plot!

[Monica Delehanty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting compilation of food reviews from Gourmet magazine - from the 40's to the 80's - from the Ritz to hunting in Maine - characters, recipes, prohibition, great stories.

[Judith Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ruth culled the best articles from 60o years of Gourmet. Miss this giant. Really enjoyed the longo artcles about MFK and James Beard.

[Jilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed.

[ruereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

60 years of food writing — in a golden compilation capturing food publication Gourmet’s most deliciously epic moments. I have this book to thank for a (rather delayed, I know) introduction to the absolutely wonderful, legendary food writer who is MFK Fisher. So. Many. Good. Lines! That the stories span from the 50s all the way up to the millennium is also captivating, especially when you realise that what food was to people then is still very much what it is to us now. It’s a way of life, the reason for coming together at the table and a language of love.

All good things aside, there are some pieces in the book that didn’t really speak to me, which I ended up just skimming through. I think it was because they are so entrenched in American culture — think stories of fishing contests and campfire cookouts — that it’s difficult for an Asian girl like me to relate wholeheartedly. Still a winner to pick up when you’re feeling peckish for a tasty read!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read every selection, but here are those that I feel are worth recommending:

"Mexican Mornings" and "In a Tibetan Lamasery" by Ruth Harkness, "The Garlic War" by E. Annie Proulx, "Dining Alone" by Mary Cantwell, the profile of M.F.K Fisher (though not MFK's contribution, strangely) by Elizabeth Hawes, and "I, Bon Vivant, Who, Me?" by George Plimpton.

Most are short, just a few pages, and get you thinking about the world around you.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag. I picked it after leaving Reichl's Tender at the Bone unfinished finding that book both pretentious and boring. After the first two essays in Endless Feast I thought -- ack! -- more of the same until I started to skip around and read the essays out of order. I was surprised to see E. Annie Proulx, Ray Bradbury, and Pat Conroy in the table of contents. All three provided excellent stories. I rather enjoyed Robert P. Coffin's Down East Breakfast, too.

[Novità Narrativa Biblioteca di Concesio]

Ruth Reichl, autrice di romanzi di tema culinario e direttrice della rivista "Gourmet", ha raccolto in questo libro gli interventi - già pubblicati nella rivista - in cui grandi scrittori si sono cimentati nel raccontare ricordi, impressioni di viaggio, o semplicemente le loro ricette preferite. Ne esce un delizioso viaggio attorno al mondo attraverso i sapori, i colori, i piaceri della tavola. Una lettura distensiva per chi ama la buona cucina e i viaggi.

[Kimberly Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and entertaining albeit older essays on food. Great pieces by and about my hero MFK Fisher. Lovely essay on lumberjack breakfasts. Great survey of Indian bread throughout the Southwest. So much diversity of the writing. And some neat biographical articles of which I learned James Beard was a singer prior to a famed foodie. Really great book for food lovers. Breadth and depth of subjects.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for it's variety of stories and mouth-watering descriptions that make food such a wonderful universal topic for connection. Still reading about the life of James Beard which is interesting but I have to say I'm more of a Julia Child fan and I'm disappointed they don't have an article on her. Now I'm interested in reading more in the Modern Library food series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some essays were much better than others. I especially liked the first section that read more like a travelogue. Some of the others told me way more than I ever want to know about people like James Beard.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting glimpse at travel, food, drink, and more food from the first sixty years of Gourmet magazine. If you're nostalgic for the days when sushi was still italicized, this is the book for you.

[May-Ling · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had to stop this one, because it just wasn't that interesting to me after reading about 5 of the stories. maybe if i had read this one in the wintertime instead of summer with its distractions, i might have plowed through the whole thing.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give up on this book, other than reading about James Beard, I did not really enjoy many of the other essays that I read. I read perhaps half and turned it back into the library for the Paris version of Gourmet's Sixty Years of Writing.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

excerpts form gourmet magazine form lots of heavy hitters of foodie world, many of them groudbreakers and frontliners trying to change for the better foodways in usa. lots of recipes. quite a bit of hyperbole. but a good reference.

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to love this but I found it hard to get into. I gave up 3/4 of the way through. Maybe someday I'll pick it up again.

[Joannmullis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few of my favorite people contributed to this book edited by Ruth Reichl. Anecdotes and recipes.

[Alyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun read- especially the pieces from MFK Fisher, James Beard, Ray Bradbury, and the truly sexist Robert Coffin. In the wake of Gourmet's demise, I relish these tidbits more than ever.

[Mamama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to pick up and put down for a while. Read ANY selection of these great stories from Gourmet Magazine's 60 years.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection of essays on food collected over 60 years--some classic chefs, some great stories, and well worht reading.

[g]

cause luxlotus says so http://www.luxlotus.com/lux_lotus/201...

[BeckyT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best of the collection: Robert Coffin's essays about Maine and Laurie Colwin's "A Harried Cook's Guide to Some Fast Food."

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just what it says it is and some of the article were interesting, others not so.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This can be taken one chapter at a time, I believe it is a collection of her columns.
Some of them I would like to read out loud matching the theme to the tastes of those gathered around.