Art and Cook or Best of the Best from California

Art and Cook: Love Food, Live Design and Dream Art

Author: Allan Ben

Ever notice the way a school of dome-shaped jellyfish floating in water looks like wild mushroom soup? Or the way a creamy, cratered moon can look like a crispy pita just waiting to be dunked into a swirl of hummus? If you haven't, let Art and Cook open you to a disconcertingly fresh and strange world of correlations. Packaged appropriately in an egg carton, this quirky book serves up art the way it does food—in an eccentric, engaging, and witty manner.
Inspired by Dadaist and Surrealist ideals, Art and Cook aims to "fuse together conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely, joining the everyday rational world in an absolute reality, a surreality." It melds pop art and food to create original works of art that do what any good art intends to: explore new territory, cause controversy, and make people think differently about how we consume food and about the world around them. Art and Cook is not your ordinary cookbook, but it is a totally satisfying and fulfilling experience.

See also: Steeped or Moms Secret Recipe File

Best of the Best from California: Selected Recipes from California's Favorite Cookbooks

Author: Gwen McKe

For hundreds of years people have flocked to California in search of fame and fortune. From the gold rush trails to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, farms and vineyards to Silicon Valley, California cooking is truly a melting pot of flavors.

Best of the Best from California preserves the unique taste of California's food heritage with over 500 favorite recipes from more than 100 of the Golden State's most outstanding cookbooks.

There are many recipes that originated in California, like Cobb Salad, Cioppino, Crab Louis, fish tacos, date shakes, sourdough bread. Plus dishes from countries all over the world . . . from sushi to souvlaki . . . that bring their own spices and methods to the California table. Set your taste buds to enjoy fresher, lighter, healthier, prettier, more delectable cuisine than ever before—Fisherman's Wharf Garlic Prawns, Pebble Beach Pineapple Pizza, Espresso Pecan Fudge Pie, and many more. There are also beautiful photographs, original illustrations, fascinating and informative facts about the state, plus a convenient cross-reference index. The catalog of contributing cookbooks is a cookbook lover's dream.

From the slow cooking of the Gold Rush Days to faster-paced meals of the computer age, California cuisine has always been something to write home about . . . and still is. From designer to down-home, here is the Best of the Best from California has to offer.