Does This Taste Funny?: Recipes Our Family Loves

The Late Show host Colbert (America Again) and his wife and business partner, McGee Colbert, present a bighearted collection of family recipes reflecting their coastal South Carolina roots. In the introduction, they explain how the book’s origins sprang from Covid lockdown, which found the family living, cooking, and producing the show out of their Charleston home. Family and friends play a big role in inspiring dishes, with contributions from McGee Colbert’s mother (Patti McGee’s Cheese Biscuits) and a digression into son John’s experiments baking sourdough bread. Classic Southern fare includes okra soup, buttermilk cornbread, and boiled peanuts (which Colbert deems a “local—and peculiar—food”), as well as rice and bean dishes reflective of the area’s West African influences. Seafood dishes are especially plentiful, including crab cakes and sea bass. Showing off his chops in the kitchen, Colbert demonstrates how to make his annual Christmas beef wellington, complete with detailed photos. Spousal banter precedes each recipe, sometimes cheeky (Colbert teases his wife for being a “very selective vegan”), sometimes informative, and often charming. Vibrant photos throughout show the couple cooking, serving, entertaining, and lounging with family and friends. Fans will eat this up. Agent: Dan Strone, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)