“Cooking in Paradise: Culinary Vacations Around the World”
(St. Martin’s Griffin, $15.95)
This entertaining guide contains more than 150 ideas for cooking vacations throughout the world. Authors Joel and Lee Naftali describe both famous and not-so-famous courses that range in length from two days to one month. Some focus on cooking only, others emphasize travel with cooking classes interspersed. Spend a week in a chateau in Provence while learning how to cook authentic Provencal cuisine. Other possibilities include staying in a farmhouse in Tuscany or participating in a “moveable feast” on Nantucket that includes stops at specialty food shops and a culinary bike tour of a nearby fishmonger, brewery, winery and farm that concludes with a gourmet meal of seaworthy proportions at a first-class restaurant. Many of the programs are taught by cookbook authors or celebrity chefs, such as Patricia Wells’ hands-on cooking lessons in her expansive 18th Century Provencal farmhouse. In the words of the authors themselves, the cooking vacations listed in this book celebrate “the joy of cooking and the bliss of eating.” Not a bad combination. Contains more than 50 recipes from the schools. (ISBN 0-312-24297-2)
“Eating and Drinking in Paris”
(Open Road Publishing, $9.95)
Those fearless culinary travelers Michael Dillon and Andy Herbach have done it again. This time they have ventured deep into the culinary heart of France–Paris to be exact–in search of authentic French cuisine. They have left no bistro, brasserie, cafe, cheese shop, chocolate shop, creperie, deli, food market, pastry shop, restaurant, rotisserie, sweet shop, tea shop or wine bar untouched while doing the research for this irresistible little guide. As with all titles in the series, it includes a pronunciation guide, a definition of menu terms and advice on restaurant etiquette. (ISBN 1-892975-47-5)
Music travel
“The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover’s Guide to the United States”
(Da Capo Press, $17.50)
The third edition of this music classic is a must for anyone who wishes to combine a love of jazz and blues with travel. It features descriptions of some of the best jazz and blues clubs, festivals, historic theaters, record stores, radio stations and musicians’ homes in the country. The “Guide” concentrates on 25 cities from New Orleans and Chicago to New York and Los Angeles as well as the Mississippi Delta. This edition is a bit different from previous versions in that author Christiane Bird has asked local experts to update their respective cities. The results are encouraging: With the exceptions of San Francisco and Kansas City, most cities have more venues than mentioned in earlier editions. Each chapter is divided into two sections. The first half briefly describes the history of jazz and blues in each city, the second half lists various sources, ranging from local publications to the best places to buy the music that you hear in the clubs and elsewhere. Impressive in scope and detail, it’s clear that everyone involved in this labor of love had a grand time putting it all together. Includes a listing of major festivals. (ISBN 0-306-81034-4)
England guides
“England’s Thousand Best Churches”
(Penguin, $20)
Author Simon Jenkins has traveled to every nook and cranny of England to come up with the most inspiring buildings of worship in what he calls “a personal odyssey through the landscape of England.” Organized by county, Jenkins’ account gives each church a star rating from one to five and describes the changes that both time and people have wrought on them. He also discusses the history of churches in England from the early church and the Reformation to the Victorian era and the present day. Some of the selections are well known, such as St. Giles, made famous by Thomas Gray’s celebrated elegy, or St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. But most are obscure or not quite as well known, from the simplicity of the whitewashed Quaker Meeting House in Cornwall with its sloping thatched roof to the magnificent tower of Christchurch’s priory on the eastern edge of Dorset to the exceedingly bawdy grotesque carvings that decorate the flaming red walls of Kilpeck’s “most perfect” Norman church. The entries consist of lovingly detailed and intelligently written descriptions, of Saxon naves and medieval iconography, of William Morris stained glass and carved Celtic crosses, of open-mouthed gargoyles and early Gothic spires. At slightly more than 800 pages, “England’s Thousand Best Churches” is a remarkable achievement. (ISBN 0-14-029795-2)
“The Amateur Historian’s Guide to Medieval & Tudor London”
(Capital Books, $20)
Best friends and co-authors Sarah Valente Kettler and Carole Trimble are also amateur historians. They have combined their interests and expertise to create this fun and highly enjoyable book. It not only describes medieval and Tudor age sites in London but also discusses historical events that occurred during those periods. Organized thematically and roughly by neighborhoods, it covers the period from 1066, the date of the Norman Invasion, to 1600. In these pages you will encounter the many places of old London: St. Bartholomew’s Fair, Gray’s Inn, Tyburn and its famous gallows, Shakespeare’s Globe and Thomas More’s Chelsea. The last chapter describes the museums where the city’s medieval and Tudor past are on full display, including the Museum of London, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum. (ISBN 1-892123-32-0)
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Contact Resourceful Traveler in care of Toni Stroud, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611; or e-mail tstroud@tribune.com.
