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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
COMFORT EATING WITH NICK CAVE: VEGAN RECIPES TO GET DEEP INSIDE OF YOU
Comfort Eating with Nick Cave: Vegan Recipes to Get Deep Inside of You by Automne Zingg, Joshua Ploeg Microcosm Publishing 2016, 128 pages, 6.1 x 0.6 x 6.3 inches, Hardcover
It seems silly: a parody book that matches drawings of moody rock legend Nick Cave to basic vegan recipes, like mashed potatoes and French toast. And it is silly, with drawings of Cave crying while eating Mexican food or making comments like “erotic buns” while enjoying a cinnamon roll. The recipe descriptions are light-hearted as well. The chimichangas are said to be “especially great if your heart and soul are kind of famished,” while the frosting is “nothing fancy, but you don’t drive no Cadillac!”
But apart from gently mocking the goth who lives inside so many of us, this cookbook has serious origins. The introduction explains that the artist, the amazingly named Automne Zingg, found herself in a period of depression, listening to a lot of Nick Cave, drawing pictures of him, and eating comfort food. The combination consoled her during a tough time.
These drawings aren’t going to win any awards, but they’re not meant to. These simple black, white, and red illustrations are basically doodles, and display wit and personality rather than artistry.
I look forward to trying out all the recipes in Comfort Eating with Nick Cave. It’s obvious what the soundtrack to all this cooking will be.
– Christine Ro
A HANDBOOK, A COOKBOOK, AN EGGBOOK: THIS QUASI-ENCYCLOPEDIC OVARIAN OVERVIEW IS THE ONLY TOME YOU NEED TO OWN
All About Eggs: Everything We Know About the World’s Most Important Food by Rachel Khong, the editors of Lucky Peach Clarkson Potter 2017, 256 pages, 6.8 x 1 x 8.8 inches, Hardcover
There is something irresistibly gross about Lucky Peach food photography. The bizarre lightening and color correction, the styling that fluctuates between offbeat and grotesque. It’s so weird, it’s amazing. Aside from it’s unique visual appeal, Lucky Peach is consistently packed with culinary expertise and damn good journalism. Though the magazine will soon be gone, the brand’s fourth (and presumably final) book, All About Eggs, embodies everything that was great about the publication compiled in a kelly green hard cover.
All About Eggs really is all about eggs. It examines the egg from every angle. There are essays on the evolution of the egg tart in Asia, an egg-fueled murder in a San Francisco diner, and the egg throughout time. There are guides on deciphering egg carton labels, egg varieties, and egg substitutes. The bright yellow yolk at the center of the book houses strangely photographed finished recipes ranging from deep fried Filipino Kwek Kwek to classic, crisp French Meringues. The egg white pages on either side of the recipe section are generously peppered with egg photo illustration—egg art objects, repurposed egg shells and cartons, egg ephemera, and many, many altered photos of eggs (anthropomorphized, animalized, and otherwise reimagined). If you are at all interested in eggs, you need this book!
