Beard on Food

In Beard on Food, one of America's great culinary thinkers and teachers collects his best essays, ranging from the perfect hamburger to the pleasures of oxtails, from salad dressing to Sauce Diable. The result is not just a compendium of fabulous recipes and delicious bites of writing. It's a philosophy of food-unfussy, wide-ranging, erudite, and propelled by Beard's exuberance and sense of fun.

In a series of short, charming essays, with recipes printed in a contrasting color (as they were in the beloved original edition), Beard follows his many enthusiasms, demonstrating how to make everyday foods into delicious meals. Covering meats, vegetables, fish, herbs, and kitchen tools, Beard on Food is both an invaluable reference for cooks and a delightful read for armchair enthusiasts.

Often referred to as the dean of American cookery, James Beard authored dozens of books on cooking and food before his death in 1985. Today, his Greenwich Village town house is home to the James Beard Foundation, the country's preeminent performance space and center for the culinary arts.

Mark Bittman is a food columnist for the New York Times Magazine and an opinion columnist. He previously wrote the "Minimalist" column for the New York Times dining section for over 13 years. His recent books include Food Matters and The Food Matters Cookbook. He is also the author of the bestselling cookbook How to Cook Everything, among others.