New Arrivals, New Shelves, New Cookbooks & Kids' Books

We just spent the last week and a half building new shelves up at Main Street to accommodate a recent influx of cookbooks and kids' books, including out-of-print back issues of Art Culinaire magazine, a recent Cordon Bleu guide, and specialty titles by Rob Feenie, John Bishop, Charlie Trotter, Michelin three-star Pierre Gagnaire & etc. About 200 books in all.

Used Cookbook Collection in @ Main Street

Big collection of quality used cookbooks just arrived at Main Street, including lots of French/Italian/Spanish specialty titles, some of which have been inexplicably out of print for years. Also in over the last few days: about 750 recent pocket books (mysteries, thrillers, science fiction & fantasy), a dozen different Bukowskis, mostly modern Ecco Press reprints, and a collection of twenty different Philip K. Dick paperbacks, including my favorite Dick title, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, a collection of late stories bundled with the heartbreaking autobiographical introductory essay, "How to Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later."

We probably saw 40 different vendors yesterday, a more or less typical Saturday of nonstop buying/cleaning/pricing/filing.

New Dispatches From The Land of Molecular Gastronomy

2008's best cookbook, now available in a relatively affordable ($50 CDN, after our standard 20% discount) trade hardcover edition.

Heston Blumenthal's magnum opus, a blend of autobiography, full-color food porn, recipes for oak tree essence, Bacon and Scrambled Egg Ice Cream, "jelly of orange and beetroot," snail porridge, etc., and 100+ pages of kitchen science (detailed instructions for working with vacuum sealers, liquid nitrogen, agar, dehydrators, centrifuges, etc. etc. etc.). Plus illustrations by Dave McKean.

Blumenthal, whose Fat Duck earned three Michelin stars in 2004, never went to cooking school; he's positive proof that genuine fascination counts for more than education.

Make Your Own Bread, Miso, Kimchi, Sauerkraut...

Sandor Ellix Katz's Wild Fermentation. Part cookbook, part ecological manisfesto, part biochemistry textbook. Another one of those titles that we finally broke down and ordered new after being asked at least twice weekly for it. Also includes recipes for delicious alcohol, including coffee-banana flavored t'ej (Ethiopian honey wine). Awesome bibliography and supplier lists, too, if you can't wait to get started making pickles, brined meats, yogurt, gv-no-he-nv (Cherokee sour corn drink) & etc.

Are You Still Buying Books?

We consider books for purchase up to 5pm on any day of the week, including the first of the month, which means lots of new stock on the shelves. Today's arrivals include a run of David Gemmell pocket fantasy paperbacks, lots of new titles by Steve Erickson and Terry Pratchett (20+ titles!), and much interesting nonfiction, including facsimile reprints of Canadian classic cookbooks The Five Roses Cookbook and the Purity Cookbook (above).