Five notable cook books

Liz Crain is the author of Food Lover's Guide to Portland. A longtime writer on Pacific Northwest food and drink, her writing has appeared in Cooking Light, Budget Travel, VIA Magazine, The Sun Magazine, The Progressive, Portland Monthly, and Culinate. She is also an editor and publicity director at Hawthorne Books, an independent literary fiction and non-fiction house in Portland.

John Gorham is a four-time James Beard nominee. He is the chef and owner of Portland’s beloved Toro Bravo and Tasty N Sons.

Crain and Gorham are the authors of Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull.

One of their favorite cookbooks, as shared with The Daily Beast:

Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point

This book can give the most burnt out chef a fresh look at the kitchen. My [Gorham] favorite part is Fernand Point’s notebook. It’s an inside look at a master chef’s thoughts and beliefs. One of my favorite quotes from the book: “If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony.”

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue