Ep. 31 - Laura Lucchese: Cooking the Books

There is a saying, “If you want a happy ending, read a cookbook”. Our guest, Laura Lucchese, is in a book club that always ends well because her group reads and then produces a group meal from cookbooks.

James Beard, the great culinary expert said, food is our common ground, a universal experience. In our mind, to bring books and food together is a match made in heaven.

Laura tells us how many cookbooks have a narrative story just like a traditional book, why cooking from a cuisine outside your own encourages discussion, and how modern cookbooks offer a different philosophy to entertaining that diverges from the older well-known cookbook authors like Martha Stewart.

Books mentioned in this episode:
Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Smitten Kitchens Cookbook by Deb Perelman
Dining In by Alison Roman
Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
Indianish by Priya Krishna
Bottom of the Pot by Naz Deravian
Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee
Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee
Everyday is Saturday by Sarah Copeland
How They Choked by Georgia Bragg
Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi
Do You Mind If I Cancel by Gary Janetti
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.