Weekend Cooking...with Ruth Reichl(!)

Have you read any of Ruth Reichl's books? The one that I have read the most recently is "Garlic and Sapphire's: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise." Before that, my mom had sent me "Tender at the Bone" and "Comfort Me with Apples" audio-books. I have not yet read her 2009, "Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way."

So, Ruth's mother is actually a good place to start talking about her books. Her mother loved cooking and entertaining. But, she had no concept of food safety. She would make food ahead of time, and let it sit out FOREVER. As Ruth got older, she would try to protect the guests by getting rid of certain things...it makes for hilarious reading!

This post was written as part of Weekend Cooking over at bethfishreads.com. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to head over to Beth Fish Reads, grab the button, and link up anytime over the weekend.  (The button is on your right...)

I "knew" Ruth Reichl best as the editor of Gourmet magazine. I don't want to get started here about Gourmet, because I used to read it cover to cover as a teenager and I am still pretty sad about it no longer being in publication.

But, before that she was - among other things - the restaurant critic for the New York Times! That is mostly what this book is about. When she first started she realized that she was being recognized and treated in a special way. So, she developed these great disguises to wear so that she could get the restaurant experience of the Ordinary Person.

To me, a bigger deal than the disguises was that she went out on a limb with the newspaper by not just reviewing the big deal restaurants, but by digging up diamonds in the rough - like great places for Korean barbecue - and reporting on those! I share her affinity for discovering the little hole in the wall restaurant with great food!

Ruth's writing is fun and foody! If you have not read her books yet, you may want to check them out!