51. Here Comes the Bribe
It's like the world's most corrupt PBS pledge drive
Once again, I find myself apologizing for not delivering a fresh Plate Cleaner to your inbox in a more timely manner. But the monthlong festivities marking our 50th issue have just drawn to a close and what a month it has been. I hope you were able to attend at least a few of the events we held. Equally, I hope that none of your clothes were permanently stained by the malfunction at the vermouth fountain. (If they were, let me know and I will make it right.) I really want to thank the good people at LVMH, the San Pellegrino Group, and Restaurant Brands International for their generous contributions to the anniversary gala. As well, it was just so touching to have Nigella Lawson, Phil Rosenthal, and “Hot” Doug Sohn come to say a few kind words about what The Plate Cleaner has meant to them. Words simply fail me.
Reality, of course, also fails me. The reason you haven’t received a Plate Cleaner in over a month is because I’ve been asking myself, “Where do we go from here?” Or, more precisely, “How do we get there from here?”
Because I know where I want to go: I want more people to read The Plate Cleaner. I want more people to know about my hatred of ounces as a unit of measure and about Sauergurkenzeit and about why “stuff-in-a-thing” is almost always better than “thing-in-a-thing”. I want to find the people out there who don’t know what they’re missing (yet). And after kicking around some ideas for the better part of June, I settled on what I think is the best way to grow my audience:
Bribery
It’s generally accepted that the best way to grow the audience for any creative project is through one-to-one recommendations. But I can be as guilty as anyone else of not always speaking up about the things I’m into these days. I’ve found myself thinking, “At the end of the day, what’s in it for me?” And that’s where bribery comes in.
In the plainest possible terms, here’s what’s in it for you: I will pay you to recommend The Plate Cleaner to anyone you think might like it. But not in money.1 In something some would say is more valuable than money: a free cookbook,2 hand-selected3 by me because it’s a volume I think everyone should have on their shelf.
How it will work
There are two ways you can get a book:
If you recommend The Plate Cleaner just generally on your socials, (“Hey everyone, if you’re interested in food and cooking, you might enjoy reading this.”) you can pick any one book from what I’m calling the trove (while supplies last).
If you recommend The Plate Cleaner (via email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Friendster, ICQ, etc.) to a specific person you think would enjoy it, you can choose two books from the trove, one for you and one for the person you’ve mentioned4 (also while supplies last). There are quite a few titles with multiple copies, so you might want to choose two of the same so you and your pal can cook along and compare notes.
In either case, tag me in some way. I can be tagged at:
Insta: @the_plate_cleaner
Threads: @the_plate_cleaner
FB: @takasaki
LinkedIn: Mike Takasaki
Sorry, no Twitter/X
Or email me a screenshot at mike [at] takasaki.ca or even just reply to this message to let you know you’ve posted something or who you’ve recommended it to.
I’m going to keep the whole thing a little loosey-goosey because, and I can’t stress this enough, this is not a contest. I make no money from The Plate Cleaner and every book I’m giving away is one I have thrifted5 with my own money. It will be first-come, first-served on the titles while supplies last and I will do my best to make sure that however you contact me, I will respond in the order messages are received.
Now that the (non) terms and conditions (Not a contest!) have been established, let’s take a look at what’s on offer.
The Netflix Star
Salt Fat Acid Heat — Samin Nosrat (1 copy)
It’s a book! It’s a website! It’s a TV series! It’s a cultural phenomenon! One of the most influential cookbooks of the last ten years. SFAH breaks down cooking to its most basic elements to show you how to manipulate each one to create great flavour. Also, Samin’s laugh is the best.
For the Tomato Sauce Alone
Essentials of Italian Cooking — Marcella Hazan (2 copies)
Yes, it contains the recipe for her famous tomato, butter, and onion sauce, but it also contains recipes for pretty much all of the foundational recipes in Italian cuisine. One of those books that serves as the jumping-off point for everyone who came after her.
The Juggernaut
Hot Sour Salty Sweet (2 copies), The Seductions of Rice (3 copies6), Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World (1 copy), Flatbreads & Flavors: A Baker’s Atlas (1 copy) — Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
The globetrotting duo of Alford and Duguid have put out so many gorgeous, delicious cookbooks that changed how every other book looked and read, and won just about every cookbook award there is in the process.7 Often as much travelogues as cooking guides, they’re sumptuous in every way. Many of them are also very heavy, so I beg of you, if I’m going to have to ship a book to you, maybe choose something else.
A Trio by a Duo
The Silver Palate Cookbook (5 copies!), The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook (2 copies), The New Basics Cookbook (3 copies) — Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins
I’ve written about how much The New Basics means to me. Colu Henry has posted about how The Silver Palate Cookbook, source of the ever-popular Chicken Marbella, is among her top five ever. I’ll be honest: I only just got a copy of Good Times for myself recently, but I have to believe it’s just as great.
The Standard Reference
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (1 copy) — Harold McGee
If you’ve ever read someone’s scientific explanation for why something happens during cooking, the odds are it was first written about in this book. It goes deeper than any other book I’m aware of to separate myth from fact in the kitchen. Absolutely indispensable if you want to know why as well as how you’re doing things. If you’re into J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s work, you might enjoy this, although it goes much harder on the science and much lighter on the Beatles metaphors.
For the Backyard (or Balcony)
Smoke & Spice (1 copy) — Cheryl and Bill Jamison
All of the fundamentals of low-and-slow cooking, from the standards to new ideas, plus sides and drinks. It’s a summer afternoon in a book! It’s the first book on barbecuing I bought and one I still refer back to when I have questions.
And for the meatless…
The Moosewood Cookbook (2 copies) — Mollie Katzen, Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special (1 copy) — The Moosewood Collective, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (1 copy) — The Moosewood Collective
From Ithaca’s famed vegetarian restaurant, these are books that launched a thousand second-year university potlucks. The first cookbook is a classic that I know many vegetarians still love using today. The Daily Special book features their rotating roster of soups, stews, and salads. Cooks at Home, Beth tells me, has her all-time favourite recipe for pepper soup.
Level Up Your Skills
Jacques Pepin’s Complete Techniques (1 copy) — Jacques Pepin, Essentials of Cooking (2 copies) — James Peterson, The Cook’s Handbook (1 copy) — Prue Leith
I’ve also written about how much I enjoy cookbooks that don’t centre themselves around recipes but instead focus on technique.8 If, like Moira and David Rose, you’ve ever wondered what folding in the cheese actually means, all three of these teach you just that. Jacques Pepin’s book covers pretty much everything you need to know for all the French classics. James Peterson’s is more modern and less Francocentric and includes very clear colour photos to demonstrate. And Prue Leith’s also contains many esoteric but oh-so-British skills like skinning eels.
Bocuse the Night
Paul Bocuse in your Kitchen (1 copy) — Paul Bocuse
If you’ve ever wanted to impress your dinner guests with dishes created by the man for whom Bocuse d’Or, the world chef championships, are named after, now is your chance. But as the back cover says, with “no truffles, no caviar, no foie gras, no lobster.” Approachable French cuisine from the man they call “the pope of gastronomy.” I just picked up a copy for myself as well, so maybe we can both cook something and compare notes.
More than just the Butter Chicken Lady
Indian Instant Pot Cookbook (2 copies) — Urvashi Pitre
Online she’s known as “The Butter Chicken Lady” because of her widely-used recipe. But with her cookbook, she proves that she’s so much more. In the last five years, I doubt I’ve used another cookbook as much as this one. If your Instant Pot is tucked away in a cupboard because you felt it never lived up to the hype, get it down and get a copy of this book.
Food for Thought
The Art of Eating (1 copy) — M.F.K. Fisher, The Man Who Ate Everything (1 copy) — Jeffrey Steingarten
Not cookbooks, but books about food, cooking, and eating from very different eras. I first read M.F.K. Fisher, who published from 1937 until 1991, after I had read Jeffery Steingarten’s book. At the time, Steingarten and Calvin Trillin were the only writers I have ever read who wrote as much about the enjoyment of eating as about cooking. (In Trillin’s case, exclusively about eating.) It was so novel to me that I imagined they were the first to do it. So it was a revelation to me to learn that Fisher had been doing it long, long before either of them. Fisher’s writing strikes a perfect balance of keen observations about food and keen observations about life that I definitely aspire to. Steingarten, on the other hand, demonstrates a level of obsession that is both admirable and slightly terrifying. I could read both repeatedly forever.
A Star-Studded Finale
Cravings (1 copy), Cravings: Hungry for More (1 copy) — Chrissy Teigen
As longtime readers may have already noticed, I have tried doing giveaways to boost readership before. The two books I gave away, while definitely great and worthy, were a little dated. When I happened upon the second of Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings books, I picked it up for the sole purpose of running a giveaway with it. But then I started cooking from it and it is a solid book from back to front. Her mom’s red chicken curry was a big hit and, having stained that page, I had to find another copy because I was definitely keeping the first one I bought. Which I did. And then I found the first one, which has just as many bangers.9
There’s something for everyone, in the trove, by my lights. If you want to see what’s still available, you can check here.
Ordinarily I would end this issue with the “What I’m consuming” and “What’s on the menu” sections, but I feel like this whole issue has been “What I’m consuming,” so I will leave it out this time. Rest assured it, and the rest of The Plate Cleaner, will be back soon.10
Have you seen the freelance copywriting market lately?
Or, in some cases, book about food.
Hand-thrifted, to be more precise. When thrifting to fill out my own library, I often happen upon books that I know would make great additions to other people’s libraries. (Only ones in very good condition, of course.) And like the person who can’t stop bringing home stray animals, I am unable to resist bringing home these books. I am compelled to find a good, loving home for them.
Or both for you. I’m no snitch.
Many are in like-new condition. Most show barely any sign of use. All are at least in very good condition
I found a third copy while this issue was being edited!
I was once at an engagement party that was being held at, I had been told, the house of a friend of the bride’s. As I walked past the kitchen, a few plaques on the wall caught my eye. Holy crap! They were James Beard awards! Holy crap! They were Naomi Duguid’s James Beard awards! (Suffice it to say, the food at the party, which Naomi Duguid was hosting, was very good.)
And I already gave a copy of Complete Techniques away to a lucky reader at the end of last year.
In the cool, much-younger-than-me sense of “bangers” not the sausage sense.
Unless the budget for our 51st-Anniversary gala gets approved by Eataly accounting department.