We’re in crunch time now.  For the Korean foodie in your life, or for the food nut in general, here are some books that I have read and recommend.

Good Morning, Kimchi (Sook-ja Yoon)	The Grande Dame of Korean cuisine teaches the basics of making kimchi and the major styles.  She then shows how to bring the techniques forward to non-traditional vegetables, like asparagus, endive and cauliflower.
The Korean Kitchen (Copeland Marks)	The author traveled all over Korea collecting recipes.  This is a good source for regional dishes.  I also like this one because it gives recipes for basic household favorites, something that the touristy cookbooks neglect.  This is good down home country cookin’.  There are no pictures, but the descriptions and stories more than make up for that.
Authentic Recipes from Korea (David Cline Price, Masano Kawana)	This is another gorgeous picture book and one of the good ones that covers the basics, like bibimbap and  galbi jjim while throwing in some of the special dishes, like yukhui (Korean steak tartare).

And here some other great foodie books that everyone must have.

The Story of Sushi, aka The Zen of Fish (Trevor Corson)	Trevor Corson enrolls in a sushi school in California, tracking the progress of the students and relating a history of sushi from its pre-Japanese origins to its introduction in the U.S.  By the time you finish the book, you will find yourself looking at your sushi with a more critical eye towards how the fish is cut, the amount of wasabi and even the alignment of the rice.
Salt: A World History (Mark Kurlansky)	DON’T LAUGH!!  I’m serious.  Once you open this book, you’ll get addicted.  It uses salt as the platform to show how many of the world’s cuisines developed and is full of fascinating trivia, such as the origin of the word salary and the American Civil War history of the Tabasco company.  Deceptively boringly titled book that is a real page turner.
Kitchen Confidential (Anthony Bourdain)	Required reading.  This was the book that changed my life and influenced me to come to Korea and live it to its fullest.  No, Korea isn’t in there.  It’s the classic book that launched the international career of Anthony Bourdain and stuck him with the “bad boy chef” label.  This was written while Tony was still bustin’ his ass at the stove barely making ends meet and goes into all the stories of the wild roughneck world of cooks. Also recommended from Anthony Bourdain: A Cook’s Tour No Reservations
On Food and Cooking (Harold McGee)	I’m in the middle of this book now, and I wish I had gotten it before.  It explains in detail the science behind why food behaves and tastes the way it does and gives tips on how to make it better.  Did you know egg yolks have protein strings that attach to the ends of the shell to keep them suspended in the middle?  Did you know that the same substance gives the orange color to carrots and salmon?  Did you know that the anti-oxidant properties of green tea can help stifle the fishy smell of fish?  It’s food nerd porn.
On the Line (Eric Ripert and Christine Muhlke)	This is not a cookbook, even though it has some recipes.  It’s a behind-the-scenes look at one of the top fine dining destinations of the world.  It tells you the secrets of how they pull it off–and they may regret sharing them because now people will notice the magicians palming the cards.  It goes into the nitty gritty of the restaurant and kitchen layouts, how orders are called and the sequence of preparation, how to read the tickets and the 129 cardinal sins that they make all the employees know by heart.  This book is also interesting in that one of the background characters is Jennifer Carroll, who was one of the finalists in Top Chef Vegas.
The Flavor Bible (Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg)	This is a new one, and I’m working my way through it.  It’s a fascinating reference companion.  Here’s how it works.  You have an ingredient–say–crab.  You look it up, and it lists all the flavors that could work with it.  Classic flavors, like avocados, chives and lemon are in bolded caps.  Recommended flavors, like ginger, lemongrass and Dijon mustard, are bolded.  But it also gives some flavor additions you may not have considered, like apples, mangoes, and yogurt.  It’s compiled by surveying the world’s top chefs.  Really cool for the kitchen flavor Picasso.
The Perfectionist (Rudolph Chelminski)	The tragic story of the rise of one of the world’s top chefs and his success at turning an aging country restaurant into an international destination only to succumb to the pressures of being at the top.  Not only did I learn the story of the legendary Bernard Loiseau.  I learned a lot about the history and industry of French cuisine–from heavy brown sauces of the 19th century to the light haute cuisine of the latter 20th century.  Make sure to have a baguette and French onion soup close by when reading.
Peace, Love and Barbecue (Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe)	The book that has made me homesick.  Or which inspires me to go out and get some Korean smoked pork.  Written by one of the greatest living masters of the barbecue arts, it goes into the barbecue culture, the distinct regional styles, and it highlights some notable restaurants all over the U.S.  I particularly like it because it features Big Bob Gibson’s in Decatur, Alabama, where I grew up.  In fact, my first job at 12 years old was dressing up in a Popeye costume and waving at cars in front of a Popeye’s Chicken across the street from Gibson’s.  I can still smell the hickory.

These are some of the books on my bookshelf that have the ZenKimchi stamp of approval.  You can get them quickly through Amazon by clicking the book links.  If the person you are shopping for lives in Korea, I also recommend What the Book–though the delivery times will likely be two weeks.

What are your recommendations?

Tags: All Korean Food, christmas, cookbooks