Batali is the host of Molto Mario on the TV Food Network, author of Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages (Clarkson Potter, 1998) and Mario Batali Holiday Food (Clarkson Potter, 2000). He is the chef/owner of Babbo, Lupa, and Esca restaurants and Italian Wine Merchants in New York City.
There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
—George Bernard Shaw
INTRODUCTION
The Highway to His Heart
The purpose of a cookery book is unmistakable. Its object can conceivably be no other than to increase the happiness of mankind.
—Joseph Conrad
Before sex, before sports, before Corvettes, Hummers, and Harleys—before the beginning of recorded time—men have loved food. They have loved how its taste soothed them, they have loved who made it for them, and they have enjoyed how important they felt when it was served to them. As children, food made them feel nourished and happy. As adults, men thrived on the thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of providing a bountiful meal, and the fortitude of camaraderie at the feast. Food and love, hunger and passion, pleasure and fulfillment have always preoccupied the male psyche and soul.
The great statesman, Winston Churchill, was known to ascribe satisfaction and happiness in his life to “hot baths, cold champagne, new peas, old brandy.” Across the ocean, as Churchill basked, President Harry Truman's love of tuna noodle casserole endeared him to a nation of homemakers: If it was good for Harry, it was good for their husbands. The great mythological gods of yore drew their sustenance and power from debauching on nectar and ambrosia, while action hero Popeye claimed spinach made him “good to the finich” and polished it off straight from the can. And, of course, the fate of mankind was sealed when ol' Adam of Eden simply could not resist taking a big bite of Eve's sweet, juicy apple when she offered it to him—or was that a slice of apple pie?
Food Men Love is a lively tribute to men and the tastes that make them happy—an entire cookbook dedicated to men's favorite foods. Since the day when, as a young girl, I discovered that I could trade cookies for privileged information and access (like the location of and honorary entry into the “No girls allowed” secret fort) from the boys in the neighborhood, I have been intrigued with the effects of food on the male body and spirit. For years, I owned and operated bakeries, spending my days gathering stories, recipes, and insights while experimenting with and preparing favorite foods and observing their results. I consequently now find myself particularly interested in the aphrodisiacal qualities of certain unconventional “love potions”—cinnamon rolls, apple pie, tiramisu, and any most cherished or desired fare—and truly enjoy talking to men about the foods they love and serving it forth.
To truly understand a man, I believe it is essential to know the foods that jumpstart his heart—the foods that satisfy his soul, pleasure his senses, and make him feel nourished, strong, and comforted. Grandma knew it too: The sure-fire way to keep a man's heart on is to fire him up through his stomach.
When interviewing hundreds of men for this book—via e-mail, letters, in person, over the phone—I asked two simple questions:
1 What foods do you love to eat (What you would want if you were to request your “last meal”?), and
2 Do you have a favorite dish or recipe you like to prepare?
Besides a few cheeky requests for Nascargo, Testosteroni, or MAN-icotti, most men wanted an honest serving of a favored food that turned them on: yes, meat and potatoes, divine desserts, comfort foods, food that Mom made, breakfasts in bed, grilled fare. In fact, at one point in my cookbook research process, I had over 200 recipes and requests for meat dishes—and two for vegetables. The rest is culinary fodder and history.
Though I can't lay any grand scientific or sociological food claim to fame, I will tell you this: In general, men love their meat, they prefer to be served rather than to serve, and the food they love to eat is immeasurably different than the food they like to cook. And though the overall zest of the book might tend to reflect the tastes of the hundreds of gentlemen I interviewed and entertained, I did keep the other 3,058,028,688 males in the world in mind—and do hope to hear from them someday, too!
The recipes in these pages are tried-and-true man-pleasers, the “best of the best.” Among the signature recipes of esteemed chefs and kitchen wizards, there are favorite feel-good feasts of superstars, sports heroes, luminaries, grill gurus, starving artists, burger kings, and every man in between. Throughout, I've sprinkled in some interesting food lore and tantalizing tidbits for the reader to enjoy and savor, and I also tossed in a few practical aphrodisiacs from several kitchen goddesses for good measure. As for the recipe content, I make no apologies. I am merely the messenger reporting from the ranks and a few Mobil five-star kitchens on the side. At its finest, though perhaps not gourmet to the gills, this book affords a captivating glance at the gastronomic universe of man.
Food Men Love is about the epicurean glories of indulging in favorite, beloved dishes and basking in the satisfaction that eating them brings. It is a delicious romp for the senses stirred up for all the men out there who were hoping for sexual favors and a leather jacket for their birthdays but ended up with a “King of the Grill” apron, matching mitts, and this cookbook instead. In essence, this spirited anthology of the honest pleasures of men's lives and palates is an open invitation to all men and those who love and cook for them to be more creative, passionate, and playful in the kitchen and in every aspect of life. Food Men Love is the highway to a man's heart for those who choose to cruise. Do enjoy the ride!
Bread and Break fast
All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
—John Gunther
Feel-Good Fare to Jump-Start His Heart
HE LOVES…
The Real Way to Rise and Shine
