The author of "Kitchen Confidential" explores how his life and the cooking world have changed since his last book, offering up candid assessments of such figures as David Chang, Alice Waters, and the "Top Chef" winners and losers.

"In Lost Feast, food expert Lenore Newman sets out to look at the history of the foods we have loved to death and what that means for the culinary paths we choose for the future. Whether it's chasing down the luscious butter of local Icelandic cattle or looking at the impacts of modern industrialized agriculture on the range of food varieties we can put in our shopping carts, Newman's bright, intelligent gaze finds insight and humor at every turn....

""In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing," writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. "Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing." The stories in this year's Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our...

A detailed reference on how to season ingredients to draw out the best possible flavors contains thousands of entries on how to combine flavors and make informed choices about herbs, spices, and other seasonings.