My life in recipes Food, family, and memories

Add Nathan to the list of food writers who can also pen the most marvelous of memoirs. The author of a dozen cookbooks and winner of almost countless honors, including a Grande Dame of Les Dames d'Escoffier and a James Beard Award, Nathan has been a food writer for the New York Times and Washington Post, written for Julia Child's famed editor at Knopf, Judith Jones; and hosted a well-regarded PBS show on Jewish cooking. She drops some names--she shared a hello with Marilyn Monroe and a friendship with Jeane Kirkpatrick, the first woman ambassador to the United Nations--but it's not braggadocio; this has simply been her life. Rounding out her autobiography are nearly 100 recipes (two to eight per short chapter), dominated by ethnic foods and Jewish cuisine: German schnecken; Swedish limpa bread, passed down in her mother's family; Turkish scrambled eggs with tomato sauce; doro wat, Ethiopian chicken stew. Warm and wise anecdotes are sandwiched among the dishes; for instance, she writes of her husband's passing with sorrow and accepting elegance. Readers will find it difficult not to reread Nathan's journey of a lifetime with thanks and appreciation.

Part travelogue, part cookbook, and part family history, the latest cookbook from award-winning Nathan (King Solomon's Table) brings readers on a journey steeped in tradition, culture, history, and, most importantly, memorable meals. Nathan is both a well-traveled and a well-read chef, and this selection of recipes draws on her numerous international expeditions, research into vintage cookbooks and historical documents, and access to her family's own intergenerational collection of recipes. Those well-versed in Ashkenazi Jewish cooking will find new recipes for a bevy of beloved standbys such as savory noodle kugel, whitefish salad, and brisket. Additionally, Nathan includes less universal, yet nonetheless appealing, offerings such as "hippie" molasses muffins and Ann Arbor schnecken. Peppered with diary entries, personal letters, and family photos, the book serves as a retrospective of Nathan's impressive and sprawling culinary career. VERDICT For those seeking a healthy mix of typical yet well-executed European-Jewish dishes, paired with less familiar while still intriguing options, this will be a sure hit.--Ingrid Conley-Abrams