For our final installment of 10 Days of Cookbooks, we turn to that odd category of books that look, feel and read like literature and yet contain recipes nevertheless. Often these are food memoirs, and often the recipes are completely tossed aside. That’s my experience with these books, anyway. I keep my reading books out of the kitchen, for fear of getting sauce on them.

In this respect, Far Flung and Well Fed is no different from the others. But it’s a crucial food book this fall, because like the best cookbooks, it deftly expands the food knowledge (and appreciation) of all who read it. For those not familiar with Apple, here’s a quick bio: He was a reporter for the New York Times for 40 years. He covered Washington, and war, and whole bunch of other newsy things. He filed stories from all over the world, and aside from his writing (which he was justifiably famous for) he was known for two things: Having a legendary expense account, and using that account to eat. Inevitably, he would file a story about the restaurants he visited and the chefs/producers/artisans he met. This is a collection of those stories.

I’ll admit that I haven’t read the entire book yet. It’s divided into geographical sections (West Coast; France; Asia), and then into quick articles within those. I don’t suspect I’ll finish it anytime soon, either. I prefer to read this book as I used to read Apple when he was still alive (he died in 2006)—that is, once or twice a month, in the pages of the paper. That way I can savor his incomparable way with words, make it last. Because if I’ve learned anything from reading Apple, it’s that it pays to make all things pleasurable last.