“Voilà Vegan,” written by an American expat patissière in Paris, is a new cookbook on plant-based deserts. The author, Amanda Bankert (a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef) has taken up the challenge —some might say quixotic—of convincing Parisians that vegan pastries (sans butter and eggs) are as tasty as traditional French patisseries. “When I was studying pastry at Le Cordon Bleu, flaxseed eggs and aqua-faba were not included on the syllabus.” says Bankert. “Yet, in a country that reveres butter and cream, my little vegan bakery is frequently included in lists of Paris’ top pastry destinations.” Continue reading “Voilà, a new vegan cookbook”
Roger Cohen’s Meditations on Life and Politics
“An Affirming Flame: Meditations on Life and Politics” is journalist Roger Cohen’s new book bringing together some of his best columns. The lengthy introductory essay —almost a mini-book in itself—is an insightful and somber reflection on the multi-interrelated crises urgently confronting America and the world today. Continue reading “Roger Cohen’s Meditations on Life and Politics”
The Gardener of Eden
A mysterious beachcomber, in “The Gardener of Eden,” appears one day on the coastal bluffs near the small town of Carverville, a place whose best days are long behind it. Who is he, and why has he returned after nearly forty years? The book is Paris-based author David Downie’s haunting, luminous novel set in a mythical Pacific Coast locale somewhere in Northern California. Continue reading “The Gardener of Eden”
The Invisible Killer
A new book by pollution scientist Dr Gary Fuller “The Invisible Killer, the rising global threat of air pollution… and how we can fight back” examines air pollution past and present while revealing the global magnitude of the pollution problem from London to Beijing to Los Angeles. Continue reading “The Invisible Killer”