Beer for Petes Sake or Zingermans Guide to Good Eating

Beer for Pete's Sake: The Wicked Adventures of a Brewing Maverick

Author: Pete Slosberg

Pete reflects on his life with beer, and shares everything he knows about beer and brewing. Written for the average person who doesn't know everything about beer, but would love to ask.

Book review: In My Kitchen or Tea

Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating: How to Choose the Best Bread, Cheeses, Olive Oil, Pasta, Chocolate, and Much More

Author: Ari Weinzweig

Hailed by the New York Times, Esquire, and the Atlantic Monthly as one of the best delicatessens in the country, Zingerman's is a trusted source for superior ingredients — and an equally dependable supplier of reliable information about food. Now, Ari Weinzweig, the founder of Zingerman's, shares two decades of knowledge gained in his pursuit of the world's finest food products.

In this fascinating resource guide, he tells you everything you need to know about how to choose top-quality basics that can transform every meal from ordinary to memorable: oils, vinegars, and olives; bread, pasta, and rice; cheeses and cured meats; seasonings like salt, pepper, and saffron; vanilla, chocolate, and tea.
How do you tell the difference between a great aged balsamic vinegar and a caramel-flavored impostor? How do you select an extraordinary olive oil from the bewildering array of bottles on the grocery shelf? Which Italian rice makes the creamiest risotto (and what are the tricks to making a terrific one)? Is there a difference between traditionally made pastas and commercial brands? How do English and American Cheddars compare? How do you make sense of the thousands of teas in the world to find one you love? What should you look for on the label of a good chocolate?
In Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating, Ari Weinzweig provides the answers -- and includes approximately 100 recipes, many collected from artisan food makers, from Miguel's Mother's Macaroni to "LEO" (lox, eggs, and onions) to Funky, Chunky Dark Chocolate Cookies.
This book is not only an indispensable guide to pantry essentials, it's an enthralling read. You'll visit artisanfood producers, learn fascinating facts, find sources for the best brands and food suppliers, and get valuable advice that will change the way you cook forever.

Publishers Weekly

Weinzweig is a founding partner of Zingerman's, a famed Ann Arbor, Mich., deli. His guide instructs on how to shop, not how to cook, and he opens up a world of gourmet particulars: he tells not just how to select a good olive oil or a real balsamic vinegar from the thousands on the shelf, but explains the differences among varietal honeys like chestnut, eucalyptus and lemon blossom; hot-smoked and cold-smoked salmon; Spanish and Iranian saffron; dry-cured and brine-cured olives. Weinzweig, who has a certifiable obsession with artisanal products, is at his best describing the often painstaking processes that transform raw ingredients into culinary phenomena. If globalization has made many imported foods both more available and less authentic, Weinzweig's paeans to San Daniele prosciutto and Cabrales blue cheese do much to restore the romance of the table. Weinzweig occasionally waxes pedantic or obvious ("better fish tastes better"), but his mouthwatering brand of fanaticism speaks for itself. Does it make sense to spend money buying a book that simply impels you to increase your grocery budget by 50%? Well, as Weinzweig would have it, "good food is for everyone"; when it comes to the luxuries of the table, there's no disputing taste. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Mario Batali

Ari Weinzweig is my favorite go to source for every single great gastronomic treasure on the planet, both for information and the actual stuff itself.  Zingerman's is the mecca for all foodies who really know that taste is not about fashion or style, but about flavor and impact. This book is the New Testament for the religion of the palette and should be used with a certain sacrament and a pinch of the profane

Paula Wolfert
In this marvelous book, the great food importer Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's draws on his great depth of knowledge about the many fabulous new culinary ingredients now suddenly available in the U.S.A. For anyone serious about food, this book will be a treasure.
—author of Mediterranean Grains and Greens

Rick Bayless
What a massive and wonderful book. It'll be a cherished resource in our library forever. Ari Weinzweig is our Indiana Jones, intrepid and wise, as he takes us to the heart of honest, delicious craftsmanship. Peppering Ari's chronicles and clear advice are concise, approachable recipes.
—author of Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen

Deborah Madison
This book is brilliant and so well informed that it only adds to the allure of the fundamental foods we love. Certainly anyone who seasons with salt, cooks with olive oil, bakes bread, or loves chocolate should have this in the kitchen.
—author of Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets

Table of Contents:

	A personal preface	ix
	Introduction	xiii
1.	Oils, olives, and vinegars
	Olive oil	2
	Olives	44
	Nut oils	59
	Balsamic vinegar and wine vinegars	66
2.	Grains and rices
	Bread	94
	Pasta	123
	Polenta	145
	Italian rices	158
	Spanish rices	175
	Really Wild wild rice	187
3.	Cheeses
	A guide to buying cheeses	202
	Parmigiano-reggiano cheese	215
	Cheddar cheese	226
	Mountain cheeses	236
	Blue cheeses	252
	Goat cheeses	269
4.	Meat and fish
	Prosciutto	280
	Serrano ham	291
	Salami	299
	Smoked salmon	308
5.	Seasonings
	Pepper	322
	Sea salt	335
	Saffron	349
6.	Honey, vanilla, chocolate, and tea
	Honey	364
	Vanilla	383
	Chocolate	399
	Tea	421
	Mail-order sources	446
	For further reading	455
	General index	458
	Recipe index	475