Toro Bravo Cookbook Events

It's real! I got my first advanced copy of Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull and I couldn't be happier about it. Two and a half years in the making and it's finally here! The launch date is October 15th but you can pre-order copies from Powell's, McSweeney's and Amazon now.

We're going to seven cities so far for the book tour this fall -- New York, D.C., Baltimore, San Francisco, Boise, Seattle and Eugene. Below are events that we've already slated in Portland and beyond including the book launch party on Wednesday, October 15th at Toro. I'll keep updating with posts here as we add new events. If you're interested in having us visit for a book event or any sort of media please contact McSweeney's director of publicity Isaac Fitzgerald. You'll like him. He's really nice.

New York City James Beard House dinner + Toro Bravo cookbook previewEssence of Spain: Tapas to Sherry Thursday, Sept. 19th 7pm $130 for members, $170 otherwise Call 212.627.2308 to reserve a seat

Portland Powell's City of Books reading and signing Saturday, Sept. 21st 4pm

Portland Wordstock panel -- On and Off the Menu: PDX Chefs Sunday, October 6th noon John Gorham, Liz Crain, Gabriel Rucker & Meredith Erickson for the Toro Bravo and Le Pigeon cookbooks Moderated by Karen Brooks Wordstock event description: "Two famed Portland chefs. Two books hot off the cutting board! What does it take to convert perfect food from restaurant plate to cookbook page. These panelists are shaken not stirred."

Portland Farmers Market Cookbook Fest PSU Farmers market Sat., Oct. 12th, 9am-1pm

Portland Toro Bravo book launch party at Toro Music. Food. Drinks. Books. Partaaay! Tuesday, Oct. 15th, 5-10pm

San Francisco Omnivore Books on Food Toro Bravo dinner at Contigo + book signing Wednesday, Oct. 23rd Fixed price TBD

Brooklyn Powerhouse Arena book event Tuesday, Nov. 19th 7pm

Mario Batali thinks you should PRE-ORDER THE BOOK!

Toro Bravo according to him:

"These guys make Portland one of the most exciting restaurant cities in the world today." -Mario Batali

One of David L. Reamer's many amazing photographs in Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull.

Back of the book with all of the fantastic blurbs from Mario Batali, Cheryl Strayed, Gus Van Sant, Carrie Brownstein, Paul Bertolli and Karen Brooks.

And the beautiful spine. Love!

Toro Bravo Blurbs

I've been a little cross-eyed with work lately -- both of my current book projects' final deadlines are June 17th, next Monday! -- but I'm not letting the stress kick me especially not when we've been getting the most incredible feedback for the Toro Bravo cookbook (McSweeney's, October 2013) lately. Many of these blurbs below made me cry. I'm not embarrassed to share that. After working on the book for 2 1/2 years getting all of this praise from people I hugely admire, cultural heroes, is tears of joy inducing. I'll let them speak for themselves. The book comes out in October -- so soon now...

"John Gorham is a chef with a unique personality; he is magic. In his book Toro Bravo, he puts all his passion and soul into sharing Spanish cuisine with Americans. I'm certain both professional chefs and home cooks will love it."--Ferran Adrià, head chef at ElBulli

"Having gone to high school in Spain, some of my most vivid food memories are conjured by Spanish flavors. Gorham's dishes are not replicas of those in Barcelona or San Sebastian but their flavor and sensibility are as Spanish as anyone’s. These guys (and their stories) make Portland one of the most exciting restaurant cities in the world today."--Mario Batali

"John Gorham's cookbook is as outrageously delicious as his food, as lively as his restaurant (my second home in Portland), and as personable as he is. It is a shining testament to authentic cooking. Paying homage to the Spanish tradition and expressed in personal terms, John's cooking is entirely unique."--Paul Bertolli

"John Gorham seemingly mind-reads what we want to eat: comfort and craft popping with salty, sweet, spicy flavors. No one better translates Portland's raging gustatory desires and DIY spirit. This book captures the joy of Toro Bravo; all heart, no bull." --Karen Brooks, author of The Mighty Gastropolis

"Here in Portland, Toro Bravo carves an uncommon niche—simultaneously adventurous and comforting. This cookbook, like the restaurant itself, tells the story of one restless spirit's search for home. These are recipes you'll want to both cherish and share." --Carrie Brownstein, creator of Portlandia

"I’ve known John Gorham for over a decade, since I first got to town and he turned me down for a job. Since that fateful rainy morning, we've cooked together, confided in each other, commiserated (read: partied) together, and grown up significantly. Toro Bravo is the greatest expression of who John really is: nostalgic, spirited, brutally honest, fun as hell, and one of Portland's all-around-greatest chefs. The Toro Bravo cookbook captures his vision, ferocity, determination, and hilarity."--Jason French, chef-owner Ned Ludd

"So many of my Portland friends have recommended that I eat at Toro Bravo, over the years, that I couldn't ignore their suggestion. I've loved the restaurant's many ferments, amazing food, and entire aesthetic. In the Toro Bravo cookbook, Chef John Gorham, collaborating with writer Liz Crain, has not only made the flavors of Toro Bravo accessible to home cooks with excellent, easy-to-follow recipes, but shared fascinating stories of his journey to the helm of some of Portland's best restaurants. This book is filled with culinary inspiration."--Sandor Ellix Katz, Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation

"You're gonna love this cookbook. Toro Bravo brought something special to Portland when it opened, and still does: easy-to-love, Spanish-style food in a non-fussy atmosphere."--Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

"Toro Bravo is so much more than a cookbook (though it does a damn fine job of being just that). It’s a passionate story of how one great chef found his way by following his heart and trusting his gut. It’s a moving memoir and a gastronomic map. It’s a practical guide and a culinary cri de coeur. It’s the book I’m going to press into everyone's hands." --Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild

"Toro Bravo is the amazing story of a man's life and the building of a great restaurant. I loved it."--Gus Van Sant

“The Toro Bravo cookbook is unique in its storytelling: John’s personal story, the stories of the restaurant's evolution, the stories behind the recipes. Toro Bravo's magic lies in its ability to seamlessly merge the art of cooking with the commerce of dining: these are small plates, with big ideas."--Andrew Zimmern, co-creator and host of Bizarre Foods

Pre-order the book!

For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 9

Another crazy spell work-wise so you get one of these picture-worth-1,000-words posts. This weekend I worked on the book's essays quite a bit and met yesterday's final edits deadline for them and last I weekend worked on some other things for The Toro Bravo Cookbook mostly related to the above photo of Toro Bravo's charcuterie manager, Josh Scofield, that you'll know about soon enough. (We also ate Spanish chorizo that Josh brought back from our trip there and drank Basque cider cocktails -- so working through the weekends isn't so bad.) Yes, the project that Josh was walking me through above relates to cured meat and, yes, you can do it in the comfort of your own home. Any ideas?

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Cook the Book -- The Toro Bravo Cookbook

Even though we've finished testing and editing all of the recipes for The Toro Bravo Cookbook (due out October 1, McSweeney's) by now, I've been cooking them all again at home because they're delicious and I love them and also because you can never test a recipe too many times and in too many kitchens. This kind of obsessive behavior makes my friends happy since they get to eat more Toro food.

We're finishing up the essay edits for the cookbook now too so from here on out this project that we've been working on for two-plus years is going to look and feel more like an actual book. We've gotten some really rough layouts and of course those are amazing. Wouldn't expect any less from the fine McSweeney's team. Here's a little of what you can look forward to cooking and eating from the comfort of your home when the Toro Bravo Cookbook out this fall. Hope all is well!

Toro's tapenade chock full of tarragon, anchovies and red onion...

Toro's salty preserved lemons. They take 6 weeks to cure and mine are halfway there...

I'm going to do a full post on this soon but for now over the holidays my brother and I brewed the Toro Bravo Red (Breakside Brewery + Toro's recipe) in Cincinnati. He and his wife mailed me a couple bottles once it was ready so that we could try it for the first time together.

We toasted and tasted it together via Skype. Delicious!

A little closer...

Toro Bravo's limoncello. Grated my thumb but worth it. Two bottles of limoncello in the freezer!

Vodka and lemon rind combined...

Limoncello wrapped and ready for the wait...

Toro's limoncello strained after 30 days and into the freezer. Been drinking it the past couple nights and it is so good. Lemony goodness.

The Toro Bravo Cookbook: The Making, Breaking and Riding of a Bull (coming soon to a bookstore near you! Publishes Oct. 1st, 2013) McSweeney'swww.torobravopdx.com

Revel in Portland

A few weeks ago I got a complimentary copy of Revel in Portland in the mail since Toro Bravo chef-owner John Gorham is featured in it (we're currently working on the Toro Bravo Cookbook due out from McSweeney's Oct. 2013) along with nine other creative folks in Portland including illustrator Carson Ellis, filmmaker Lance Bangs, and architect Jeff Kovel. There's a Q&A with each person in this pocket-sized book filled with beautiful matte art and photos that's followed by a descriptive list of their favorite Portland places.

There are three Revel in New York books already and the group is looking to expand with books for Austin, Miami and Los Angeles next year.

It's a fun, inspiring read that makes me proud to be a Portlander. Although the group hasn't secured significant distribution yet you can find Revel in Portland at Reading Frenzy, Ampersand, Heart Roasters, Albina Press and you can also purchase it directly via their site.

The Revel team puts it best:

"The Revel In Portland Guidebook is a celebration of the Portlanders who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Artists, chefs, musicians, designers, filmmakers, troublemakers, and our city's most interesting characters. 10 interviews, pictorials and 72 personal recommendations."

Revel in Portland, Volume 1 $10 www.revelinportlandshop.com

John Gorham's chapter in Revel in Portland Volume 1.

For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 8

I really will get back to more regular blog posting at some point but it's just happened to be one of those things that's gotten a little bit of the boot during the past several chock-full months. These are always fun ones to do though because they're quick to put up and give you a little eye candy. We're still busy at work on the Toro Bravo Cookbook due out from McSweeney's fall 2013. I took this photo in November during our last major recipe testing day. We'll still continue to test right up until the book goes to print but this was our last big push for formal testing. I wish you could have tried this house paella. Perfect.

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Yard Fresh Pt. 25

I've got a lot on my plate these days so I haven't been cooking as much as usual. I had two weeks off over the holidays though and did a lot of eat, drink, be merry. I just didn't do much of the cooking. I think I'll put together a Cincinnati post soon -- my hometown -- and include some of the great food and drink there. I brewed beer with my brother (my first time brewing beer!) when I visited this time around amongst other things.

I went to Seattle for a few days at the beginning of my vacation and met with one of my publishers, Gary Luke of Sasquatch Books, while there. (I also saw Louis C.K. at the Paramount!) As a result, I'm now working on revising Food Lover's Guide to Portland! I'm not sure when that will be complete and when you can get a new/improved copy but fingers crossed for summer or fall 2013.

After Seattle I visited family and friends in Cincinnati for a week and ate tasty German food and Cincinnati chili as usual. And to cap off my vacation I went to the Oregon coast for a few days to ring in the new year. Food/drink highlights there: We smoked Netarts Bay oysters (so good!) and then made omelets with them with goat cheese, there was a super yummy New Year's risotto with freshly hunted seared duck breast followed by a kick-ass Caesar and much, much more. Anyway, here's some of what I've cooked and eaten at home in the past couple months. Hope you've been eating well in the new year and are happy and healthy. Happy New Year!

I made this egg sammy a few weeks back with the kimchi above because I was craving the breakfast sandwich with kimchi and sausage on pretzel bread at the Saturday and Sunday brunch at Kenton Club. If you haven't been to this pop-up brunch yet go get it. Nik Woideck is rocking it in the kitchen there -- really good stuff.

I put all the beds under thick blankets to sleep until the spring. My neighbor Alison and I have an agreement -- if I clean her chicken coop then I get the skat straw for my yard. Perfect.

I made these garlic cheese grits for Thanksgiving. It's an old family recipe and no holiday is complete without them. Sharp cheddar, lots of butter and eggs, heaps of minced garlic and a cornflake topper.

I made a big batch of Toro Bravo's red sangria for Thanksgiving too.

And roasted some paprika glazed hazelnuts from Eric Joppie's Bar Avignon recipe in the August 2012 issue of Mix Magazine.

I also whipped up some smoked escolar butter (Newman's Fish Co.) from a Janie Hibler recipe in her cookbook titled Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers.

I'm going to keep cooking through the Toro Bravo Cookbook (due out fall 2013 from McSweeney's) this winter. This big batch of Toro's brussels sprouts with bacon sherry cream was tasty. Life is sweet.

Nigel Slater's Trappist beer beef stew with baked brothy potatoes from his cookbook Tender. So good. Ate it for several days.

Pulled out my homemade 2 year (left) and one year miso...

And scraped and salted it. Made sure to scoop off some to eat before putting it back down to ferment. It's so fucking good. With 5 gallons of the 1 year (on the right) I think I'll be able to get it to 10-plus years. It will just get darker, richer and more developed as it ages.

And racked the plum wine. 21 gallons this year!

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Barcelona for the Toro Bravo Cookbook

A couple weeks ago I posted about the first part of our trip to Spain -- to Madrid -- late September for the Toro Bravo Cookbook and this week I'm posting about the second part of our trip, in Barcelona, with Toro Bravo's chef-owner John Gorham, our McSweeney's Books editor Rachel Khong, the book's photographer David Reamer, the restaurant's chef de cuisine Kasey Mills and charcuterie manager Josh Scofield.

The Barcelona part of the trip went much as the Madrid part -- loads of great food, lack of sleep, loads of good drink, lack of moderation, loads of exploring, lack of inhibition. In other words, it was an adventure and we had so much fun. Here are some photos...

Our tiny table at Quimet Quimet filled quickly with tapas. These tinned razor clams, mussels and calamari were super tasty.

The food kept coming...

Another view of the tiny but mighty Quimet Quimet in Barcelona.

Outside La Boqueria. Had heard so much about this place. Dream come true to go...

Inside! So many raw and cured meat stalls. And everything else that is Spanish and delicious...

If only this was in Portland.

John and Josh checking out one of the many processions of the last day of the La Merce Festival -- Barcelona's largest annual street festival.

We got the grand tour of Avinyo Cava that's been run by the same family since 1597. Toro serves Avinyo's cavas and wines so we toured the caves here, the production facility and, of course, tasted cavas, wines and house vinegars.

Mmmm cava.

Our last day in Barcelona. Sad but true. Kasey and Rachel in a happy blurry sunny haze. Viva Espana!

You can check out the first part of our trip to Spain -- in Madrid -- here.

Madrid for the Toro Bravo Cookbook

In late September I was lucky enough to get to go on an eat/drink pilgrimage to Madrid and Barcelona for the Toro Bravo Cookbook with Toro Bravo's chef-owner John Gorham, our McSweeney's Books editor Rachel Khong, the book's photographer David Reamer, the restaurant's chef de cuisine Kasey Mills and charcuterie manager Josh Scofield. We hit the ground running and only slept a few hours a night the entire trip so we could maximize or eating/drinking/exploring time.

The last time I'd been to Spain was in 1996 when I'd I worked on a culinary herb farm via WWOOF for three months a couple hours outside of Madrid in the Extremadura region. At the end of my work stay I traveled around a quadrant of Spain -- to Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada and more -- with my mom and grandma who came to visit me there. It was a magical time for me and I was so excited to find out that I would get to return 16 years later with the brave bulls for the cookbook.

And just a word on how extremely generous Toro Bravo chef-owner John Gorham is: he bought all of our tickets, paid for our hotels, paid for a major meal every day during the trip and then some. Forever grateful. Incredible.

I'm going to let the photos that I took speak for themselves. After this post about our time in Madrid I'll post about Barcelona. Without further ado...

Langoustines on ice at the Mercado de San Miguel just across the street from our hotel near Plaza Mayor.

First bites and drinks at the same market fresh off the plane.

Meaty goodness at one of Madrid's many Museos del Jamon -- a cured meat chain there.

John took us later that night -- still no sleep -- to the Argentinian steakhouse De Maria Parrilla for their grilled sweetbreads and chimichurri that he'd loved on a previous trip to Madrid. Josh (next to John) liked them a lot and so did we.

Kasey serving up Taberna Maceiras' house specialty arroz marineiro for brunch the next day.

Funny menu at a cafe in Retiro Park. One of my favorite parks in the world. Went here every time I visited Madrid when I was in Spain in 1996.

David is not about to eat that entire roasted suckling pig on his own. Dinner at Sobrino de Botin -- the oldest restaurant in the world. Open since 1725.

Churros and chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines. Where all the staff hates you if you aren't Spanish but you don't care because you are still slightly drunk from the night before.

This was taken at the end one of the best meals that we had in Madrid. That bottle is filled with a really tasty housemade peach liqueur. Go to Portobello if you're in Madrid -- some of the best food of the trip.

Of course we went to a bullfight on our last night in Madrid.

The procession at the beginning...

Can't think of a better closing shot for the brave bulls' trip to Madrid.

Stay tuned for the next installment -- Barcelona!

Wordstock 2012 + Toro Bravo

Did you go to Wordstock this year? I go every year. I love it and look forward to it every fall. I've had a lot of milestones at Wordstock -- my first book Food Lover's Guide to Portland was born at Wordstock and a lot of other good fortune and good times have come to be for me at festivals past.

This year I tabled all day Saturday and Sunday at the Hawthorne Books booth. I've been an editor and publicity director at Hawthorne since late summer/early fall of 2009. Three years! I got to hang out with a lot of our authors (and sneak away for a couple of their cool events) as well as with publisher Rhonda Hughes and senior editor Adam O'Connor Rodruguez. Good times.

I also got to spend time with the publishers of the book that I am currently writing with John Gorham -- the Toro Bravo Cookbook: The Making, Breaking and Riding of a Bull. We are so happy to be doing this book with McSweeney's. Dream come true.

I hosted the McSweeney's folks during Wordstock this year so that meant late night karaoke, 20 boxes of books in my front room, plum wine on the front porch and a lot of fine eating and drinking at Toro Bravo, of course (we had a huge dinner where cava and txakoli flowed freely and we tried a lot of the new dishes inspired by our recent trip to Madrid and Barcelona), Biwa and Tasty n Sons to name a few spots that we went. They even had to break into my house once while they were here. I won't give you all the details on that but it worked.

AND I got to finally meet our high-rolling, ass kicking literary agent Kimberly Witherspoon. We're very lucky to have Kim on our side and it was great to finally meet her in person. She moderated a panel this year at Wordstock and while she was in town she got to have a really nice meal at Toro.

Our literary agent, Kimberly Witherspoon, of InkWell Management moderating a panel at Wordstock 2012.

So, if you didn't get to Wordstock this year please try to make it next year. It's an incredible annual Portland event for readers, writers, editors, publishers -- basically all book lovers. And it might just visit some very good fortune on you as well. You never know...

Wordstock www.wordstockfestival.com