This Month

It's all a matter of taste this month. A biography of Alice Waters gives a rosy-spectacled view of the life and times of a titan of American cuisine. Those who are gourmet-inclined but easily intimidated should pick up How I Learned to Cook, which asks top chefs how they honed their craft; the responses prove that even the professionally trained didn't always get it right the first time. Equally illuminating are two behind-the-scenes looks at iconic meals: Sasha Issenberg dissects the history and economy of sushi, while, on the other side of the palatability spectrum, Steve Ettlinger takes on the humble Twinkie. We're also offering Sweet and Low, a memoir of family history and artificial sweeteners. Proving there's life after the feast, photographer Ralf Schmerberg serves up strangely compelling images of leftovers, but you'll find plenty of meat in our interview with the editors of Diner Journal, a fresh and quirky periodical of essays and recipes. We're running out of food puns, so we're sticking a fork in this intro.