These six engaging titles are a feast for the ears
A turkey takes roughly four hours to cook. The mashed yams take 30 minutes. The pasta sauce, bubbling curry, steamed dumplings or meze spread can take anywhere from one to four hours to prepare. Whether you’re making a big holiday meal or simply experimenting in the kitchen during your time off this December, chances are it’ll take some time.
Luckily, a lot of cooking is done by rote – gently pleating dumpling skins, stirring sauce or stuffing dolmades. And nearly all the rest is spent waiting – waiting for the turkey to roast, the yams to soften and the gravy to reduce.
We see that time as an opportunity. As you whisk your whipped cream topping, get whisked away in a snowy, true crime podcast. As you cut onions, cry alongside a powerful memoir. Or get even further into the foodie spirit of the holidays with sizzling titles for the kitchen.
In this article, we’re sharing our favourite stories to listen to in the kitchen. Think of them as seasoning for your kitchen adventures – the missing ingredient that makes your December cooking projects that much more fun! If you’re new to Audible, enjoy a limited time offer of two free audiobooks with your first 30 days – our way of lending a helping hand in the kitchen!
Add Capers to Your Cooking with Colm Feore
True North Heists
No, not that kind of caper.
Join actor Colm Feore as he uncovers Canada’s hidden past, exploring our country’s most daring robberies – and the larger-than-life characters who committed them.
These episodes clock in under an hour each which means you can enjoy them one at a time as you tackle small holiday projects, or binge several at once as you lounge around the house.
In each episode of True North Heists, Feore treats you to a different daring crime. Learn about the Great Maple Syrup Heist of 2012, when conniving criminals absconded with over $18 million worth of maple syrup from a storage facility in Quebec. Or discover the extraordinary story of The Flying Bandit, a notorious bank robber who broke out of prison, stole a plane and flew his fellow inmates to freedom!
These all-true, all-Canadian heists make the perfect partner in crime as you cook. When you’re finished bingeing True North Heists, invite more Canadian Audible Originals into the kitchen.
Find Out How the Sausage Is Made with Anthony Bourdain
Kitchen Confidential
Before Anthony Bourdain became a household name as TV’s go-to, globetrotting foodie, he worked the line at some of New York City’s most famous restaurants. Kitchen Confidential is the tell-all memoir of his debaucherous days in those steamy kitchens.
As you sharpen your knives and don your apron this holiday season, share your kitchen with this passionate, shocking and mouth-watering audiobook. Let Bourdain swing open the back door of the restaurant, usher you into the kitchen and show you how the sausage is really made.
Hungry for more food for thought? Explore our blog article on listening and cooking!
Blame Those Tears on the Onions as You Listen to Trevor Noah
Born a Crime
Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is a perennial presence on our list of most popular audiobooks – for good reason. Heartbreaking, hilarious, playful and poignant, it’s a roller coaster of emotions that we don’t want to get off.
In it, Noah, the son of a Black mother and white father, recounts his upbringing in the final years of Apartheid-era South Africa, from nearly fatal disputes with gangsters to his budding career as a comedian.
If you haven’t heard it yet, listen to it while you bake, cook or clean up the kitchen. If you’ve already been moved by it, consider coming back for seconds.
Reconnect with Your Food Alongside Robin Wall Kimmerer
Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s formal education as a botanist taught her to explore nature scientifically. But her upbringing as a Potawatomi woman taught her to consider the earth’s plants and animals as something more: teachers, companions and life-giving gifts.
In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer marries her two educations, intertwining science and spirituality to envision a fairer, more enjoyable relationship with the earth. It’s an eye-opening exploration, especially during the holidays. As we celebrate nature’s abundance on our tables, it offers plenty of food for thought.
Winter Is Here – Spend it with George R. R. Martin
A Game of Thrones
Join Eddard Stark, Catelyn Stark and the rest of the Winterfell clan as they wait for winter to come (and it is coming…)
A Game of Thrones is the first entry in George R. R. Martin’s gargantuan, grisly and game-changing fantasy audiobook series A Song of Ice and Fire, a thrilling introduction to a series that clocks in at roughly 200 hours of listening (so far!).
Whether you’re a fan of the TV adaptation or a newcomer to the Seven Kingdoms, A Song of Ice and Fire is a fantastic way to spend the coming winter as you cook and bake throughout the holiday.
Crank Up the Heat with Marc Fennell
It Burns
If you prefer your food spicy and your podcasts even hotter, check out Marc Fennell’s It Burns. Subtitled The Scandal-Plagued Race to Breed the World’s Hottest Chilli, this five-episode podcast follows the strange, competitive and occasionally illegal world of chilli-breeding and eating.
Featuring interviews with “chilli-heads” who seem ripped from the reels of a comedy mockumentary, It Burns is hilarious, unpredictable, engaging and entertaining. It’s a superb way to crank up the heat while you cook.
Turn Up & Tune In
This holiday season, don’t think about how many hours you have to spend in the kitchen; think about how much time you get to spend with these funny, eye-opening and thought-provoking titles. Your kitchen time is a feast of its own.
If you’ve breezed through these six titles waiting for the turkey to cook, there are always more audiobooks to explore at Audible.ca. And if you have any recommendations for us for delicious holiday listening, stop by our Facebook page and let us know! Bon appétit!
