All About Cookbooks 🍳

[READER]( [Food & Drink]( For this week’s Books Issue, I wrote about [two cookbooks]( inextricably tied to the community events that inspired them, the Hideout’s Soup & Bread series, and weddings—specifically rust-belt weddings with magnificent potluck cookie spreads. These books are just as much about the cultures that keep them alive as the recipes therein. Two other new local “books” also dropped recently, both very different from the other two. Last month Craig “Meathead Goldwyn,” the barbecue impresario behind [AmazingRibs.com]( launched his second e-book: [Amazing Ribs Made Easy, Everything You Need to Know About America’s Favorite Food](. Unlike a community-oriented cookbook, this one is very process-oriented and fact-packed, full of all the food science you need to absorb like woodsmoke on a proper rack of ribs. There are recipes, of course, but it’s all about the fundamentals of ribbing. And it’s free. Speaking of soup, just this week Mike and Scott J. Satinover dropped [The Ramen_Lord Book of Ramen]( as an open-source Google Doc, free for all. Ramen_Lord is the former’s tongue-in-cheek handle on Reddit, where he’s become a vaunted ramen nerd over the years. In real life his ramen pop-ups sell out immediately (I still haven’t made it to one). Satinover, along with his PhD brother, dive down to the ocean floor and work their way up laying out the fundamentals of noodles, soup, tare, toppings, aroma oil, and composition. There are recipes here too, but this is practically a scientific paper. You might be missing the human elements of a cookie table or a soup swap, but you can lose yourself cooking with these two books. Maybe by now you’ve already finished [Leor’s book](. So if you’re in need of more sweet, sweet longform, next week the Reader’s dropping the second volume in its Best of collection, this one by a certain food writer who loves you and wants you to know that not everything is about food. But still, you can’t possibly have cooked all the way through the Reader’s [community cookbook]( by now. You know what would go over huge with your pod right now, now that basil is trying to take over the planet? Giuseppe Tentori’s Basil Pesto with Gnocchi. Sincerely, [Cookies keep you healthy, soup makes you sane]( Two books about cooking and community from Belt Publishing By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( [The Wurst has the best meats]( A small northwest Indiana butcher shop makes a go of it mid-pandemic with small farmers, small slaughterhouses, and naturally raised beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( [Uptown’s In-On Thai excels behind a dark dining room]( Its second incarnation abides with extraordinary carryout. By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( [Ina Mae Tavern’s Brian Jupiter turns some dry-ass chicken breast into the ultimate protein ball]( Chef Jup needs fuel. By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( [Wine, cheese, and]( The Chicago Board Game Cafe offers food and drink pairings to go with your new favorite games. By [Brianna Wellen]( [@BriannaWellen]( [Ethan Lim leans in to Cambodian food]( Hermosa’s chef makes space on his sandwich menu for the city’s only Khmer food. By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( 2011 [Key Ingredient: Malort]( Schwa's Michael Carlson takes on (and partakes of) the bitter booze By [Julia Thiel]( [@juliathiel]( [Issue of Jul 23 - Aug 5, 2020 Vol. 49, No. 40]( [The Books Issue]( This week’s issue was delayed going to press due to Comcast outages and technology issues. The physical paper will be distributed starting Thursday morning thru Friday at nearly [1,200 Chicago-area locations](. [Download Issue]( (PDF) [View this e-mail as a web page]( [DONATE]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2020 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Ste 102Chicago, IL 60616-3228 [Add us to your address book](