Diggin' in and Piggin' Out: One Man's Love for Real Food, Home Cookin', and High Spirits

There was a time when men-in America at least- had to pretend certain things about food. There were canonical prefences-steaks, bourbon, eating beans directly from the can. There were also aversions: fuss, vegetables,anything called a sauce. All these pretenses were the real barriers to actually enjoying food and so of course there were men who defied them, but didn't really want to lose their masculinity merit badge in the process. Welsch's good old boy cred is entirely intact-he even has a picture of a grill and an outhouse on the cover of his book, but he's showing the beginnings of a real interest in the way things taste. I cannot imagine a better gourmet book club choice for a men's club-we can laugh or for a woman's- they can gather ammunition. The Foreword is by Jim Harrison whose own The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand is still one of the best books about men and food. Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG

This wonderfully entertaining book reveals the relationship that men have to food in our culture, laid out through a hugely entertaining set of stories and recipes. It explains why my friends' father-daughter Indian Princess group lasted so long - men's relationship to food is to food-as-ceremony. The book is primarily hilarious, with recipes that aren't precise but more of artistic directions - feel free to make your ribs with plenty of bourbon for the cook and a hammock and an old dog at your feet!