Books for cooks

The other day while were wandering around Portobello Market I stumbled across Books for Cooks, a charming charming bookstore dedicated to, well, cooks.    It’s nearly directly across the street from the more famous Notting Hill Bookshop where Julia Roberts met Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.

The first thing you see in Books for Cooks is a bright, airy space filled with the colorful covers and spines of what appears to be and endless collection of books and with customers intently browsing their potential purchases.

Go a little deeper into the store and there’s a cafe in the back and a staircase leading upstairs to a kitchen for classes and demonstrations.  Unfortunately we couldn’t sample the store’s menu because the chef (how many bookstores have a chef?) was traveling but I promise you that the next time I’m in Notting Hill I’ll make a point of it.

I don’t want this to turn into too much of an advert but I wanted to share just how rich a resource this shop is.  Right inside the entrance is an entire section on food history with a good mix of academic and popular titles.  Across the aisle are dozens of books on food writing that span everything from memoirs to manifestos. The cookbooks are organized both topically and geographically and are appear curated to expose people who are fascinated by food to things they might not otherwise experience.

I bought Richard Olney’s classic French Menu Cookbook but I was also looking for a recipe for an eggplant salad we tasted on our trip to Istanbul two years ago. There were about a dozen cookbooks featuring a variety of Turkish cuisines and I got to spend a considerable amount of time exploring (and remembering) before making a decision.

While I was researching Turkish food, my true love came across a book featuring one pot/skillet recipes that can be prepared in 15 to 20 minutes. We have a clear division of labor in our house (he cooks, she eats) but there are times when we’re apart and this will provide an alternative to ready-meals for those occasions.

I haven’t come across a shop like this in the U.S.  If anyone knows about one, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll arrange a pilgrimage.  In the U.K., the closest I’ve seen is Foyle’s, the massive bookshop on London’s Charing Cross Road.  The selection of books about food and cooking is staggering, far beyond anything  that I’ve seen before.  Actually, the selection of just about everything there is staggering but as with  any store that size, there is a sacrifice in the area of warmth and intimacy.