A totally random post…a Vietnamese dish and two book reviews for foodies.

this…

My First Vietnamese Phở (pronounced fuh) at Kapow! It’s noodles, bean sprouts, raw beef, tripe, culantro, and Thai basil in a beef broth served with a side of sweet and spicy sauces to kick the flavor in the direction of your choice. I like it spicy and I loved the addition of fresh culantro. [Culantro is an under-the-radar herb that I've only found used heretofore in Puerto Rican cooking.]

Phở seems to me to be the perfect ‘hangover’ soup for those in need of one.

that…

Christine Najac is one of my dear So FL Foodie friends. She is the publisher of South Florida Food and Wine and the author of the hot-off-the-press Food Lovers’ Guide to Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

More than a restaurant guide, the book is an entertaining read told in the edgy, funny and honest voice of the author. Features restaurants, markets, dining clubs, food trucks, events, beverages — and a special section on South Florida cocktails and recipes from local chefs (and a blogger you may know).

To order the book, click here.

and the other thing…

I’m only one-third through this book (I need a long plane ride), but I’m loving every morsel of it so I’m going to prematurely jump out there and recommend it. Put it on your list for Santa. It’s a fascinating read and delicious in every sense of the word.

From the publisher:

A breathtaking novel, rare and moving, about the world’s greatest chef and his unruly heart.

White Truffles in Winter imagines the world of the remarkable French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the Savoy and the Ritz.  A man of contradictions—kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry—Escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt and his wife, the independent and sublime poet Delphine Daffis, who refused ever to leave Monte Carlo. In the last year of Escoffier’s life, in the middle of writing his memoirs, he has returned to Delphine, who requests a dish in her name as he has honored Bernhardt, Queen Victoria, and many others. How does one define the complexity of love on a single plate? N. M. Kelby brings us the sensuality of food and love amid a world on the verge of war in this work that shimmers with beauty and longing.

Available on kindle.