[.ca] The Artful Eater: A Gourmet Investigates the Ingredients ... (ISBN 0974784109)

Food Essays:
"The Artful Eater" is similar to "The Man Who Ate Everything" in its detailed, perhaps obsessive attention to things gustatory. Behr's writing tends to be more serious, less irreverent and self-deprecatingly humorous than Steingarten's. He approaches food with gravity and curiosity but certainly not with the righteousness and pompousness of Christopher Kimball. He has collected here essays that each explore in detail a single food type, such as apples, eggs, walnuts, or vanilla beans. He infuses his writing with interesting facts about using the ingredient, how it produced, and ways of discerning quality. I imagine any experienced cook would enjoy the book as a gift.