...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback
reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher
a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will
reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will
rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text
while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent "re-editions"...
12. GORDON RAMSAY'S SUNDAY LUNCH; and other recipes from the f word
(Quadrille Publishing, 2006, 256 pages, DVD, ISBN 978-1-84400-280-1,
$39.95US hard covers) is by the eponymous restaurant owner-chef and TV
personality. It comes with a 30 minute DVD with footage (digitage?) of
Ramsay cooking a Sunday lunch menu. The spirit of this book, now being
released in North America, is to get families and friends eating
together. Obviously, Ramsay does not know that most major fights
amongst family members come from such occasions (think birthdays,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the like). Nevertheless, here are 25 menus
for quick entertaining. It is all based on a TV series he did. Ramsay
has sold almost a million books over the course of his writing career.
One emphasis here is on ethnic cuisine: Italian, Indian, Moroccan and
Malaysian. There are special menus for summer cooking and Christmas
dinner, and other times when you need a pig roast or paella for a
crowd. Ramsay leaps in at the shopping stage, and tries to help us co-
ordinate everything through to the desserts. One problem he tackles is
how to get several dishes to arrive on the table simultaneously. Bold
print is used for the ingredients, which are listed in either
avoirdupois for volume or metric for weights. Try ginger and port
marinated lamb skewers, honey mustard pork chops, fig and frangipane
tart, or cardamom and rosewater fragrant rice. Quality/Price rating:
88.
13. GARDE MANGER; the art and craft of the cold kitchen, third edition
(John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 666 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-05590-8, $70US hard
covers) is by the Culinary Institute of America. Garde Manger is the
art and technique of preparing a full range of cold dishes for buffet,
banquet, and catering events. This includes hors d'oeuvre, appetizers,
terrines and pates, and charcuterie. The 540 recipes included in this
book are revisions and updating, which take into account the global
cuisine of today. There are 40 more preps than in the second edition.
New to this edition is material on microgreens, international
sandwiches, bringing ratios, fermented sausages, artisanal US cheeses,
tapas tasting menus, savoury sorbets, and the raw bar. The book is
meant for both students and practitioners. The opening sections deal
with history of banquets, the needed skills, safe food handling
techniques, the flavours, colours and textures of food for the table.
Cost controls and price establishment are also important here. Recipe
sections include cold sauces, soups, salads (flavour balances),
sandwiches, curing and preserving meats and fish, cheeses (including
presentations). There are also chapters with chaud-froid, aspics,
gelees, marinades, condiments, and garnishes. Decorating and plating
are also included, especially platter layouts and design. The book is
well-stitched, so it will put up with much wear and tear. Quality/Price
rating: 88.
14. BARTENDER'S GUIDE; a A to Z companion to all your favorite drinks
(Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 528 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869-
764-3, $14.95 US spiral bound) is by John K. Waters. It was originally
published in 2006 by F + W; this is a new paper edition without
changes. Waters is a journalist who once worked the bar for more than a
decade. He has 2,000 drinks here, with step-by-step mixing directions,
proper glassware and garnishes, how to stock a home bar, and product
and drink index. Good typeface, elegant layout, and simple to use.
Quality/Price rating: 90.
15. DESIGN AND LAYOUT OF FOOD SERVICE FACILTIIES. Third edition. (John
Wiley & Sons, 2008, 343 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-69963-7 hard covers) is
by John C. Birchfield, a foodservice consultant and designer. This
well-known book gets a makeover which includes an expanded focus on the
front of house and dining room areas, new equipment with new photos,
new blueprints highlighting design trends, and new review questions for
students. The long appendices feature lists of associations with
industry web links, typical facility designs, sample documents and
forms, a glossary ("boil-in bag" is here, but not "sous vide"), and an
updated bibliography. There is also an instructor's manual.
Quality/Price rating: 87.
16. THE ART OF MEXICAN COOKING; traditional Mexican cooking for
aficionados (Clarkson Potter, 1989, 2008, 496 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-
38325-9, $30US hard covers) has now returned to print. It was the first
real Mexican cookbook in the US; Diana Kennedy shares her 200 recipes
here in this classic reissue. The major staples are covered (tortillas,
tamales, masa, pork, beef, seafood, sauces, chiles, desserts). Kennedy
has also written four or more other Mexican cookbooks with little
duplication – just the basics are repeated. Some corrections,
clarifications, and metrification have been made (but there are still
no tables of equivalencies). Some of the back material and colour
illustrations are gone. Her "Preface" is a gem: she laments the decline
of Mexican food due to commercialization, and encourages slow food
principles. Her bibliography has not been updated except to note that
one book had been revised in 1998 – and what is Paula Wolfert's
southwest France book doing there? Quality/Price rating: 92.
17. THE RESTAURANT; from concept to operation. Fifth edition.(John
Wiley & Sons, 2008, 493 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74057-5 hard covers) is
by John R. Walker, a hospitality professor at the University of South
Florida. This book has always been a one-stop guide to the resto biz,
and is well-read in hospitality schools. It comes with an instructor's
manual and a study guide. New to this edition is greater emphasis on
business plans and the independent operator, a new chapter on food
production and sanitation, new profiles on recently opened restaurants,
newer material on use of technology in restaurants, and expanded
sections on back of house and controls. Although heavily pitched to the
US scene, there is enough of value here to us in Canada. Quality/price
rating: 89.
18. GRAND LIVRE DE CUISINE; Alain Ducasse's Culinary Encyclopedia
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2004, 2008; distr. Canada Manda Group, 1080
pages, ISBN 978-2-84844-038-5, $80US) was originally published in
French by Les editions Culinaires. De Gustibus collaborated to produce
a 2004 edition for the US, with the English translation. All metric
measurements were put in parentheses, and avoirdupois was stressed for
each ingredient; there is also a page for weights and measure
conversions. It was all compiled by Jean-Francois Piege, with Didier
Elena, Franck Cerutti, Patrick Ogheard, and Benoit Witz, all chefs who
worked with Ducasse. Chloe Chauveau and Isabelle Cappelli did the re-
write of the original version. The book summarizes Ducasse's quarter
century leadership in French cuisine. There are more than 700 recipes
here, using about 100 basic ingredients (not all at once, of course)
spread around 10 main cooking styles. There are about two pages for all
of the major recipes, with the ingredients, techniques, instructions,
photo of the finished plate, and suggested tips and advice for
processing and/or finishing the dish. Basic recipes include making
stocks and sauces and soups. Typical classic dishes (listed and titled
in both English and French) include kid goat and sorrel ragout,
porchetta, country garlic croquettes, frog leg vol au vents, spiced
semi-wild duckling, slow-cooked young Bresse hen (as if we can get that
here in North America)...Still, 5.5 pounds of book makes it awkward to
use in the kitchen, and there are some typos (such as "arctic char").
Try also the website
www.alain-ducasse.com. Quality/Price rating: 85
(higher if it didn't cost so much).
19. GELATO! Italian ice creams, sorbetti & granite (Ten Speed Press,
2000, 2008, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-923-4, $14.95US paper covers)
is by Pamela Sheldon Johns. It was originally published in 2000; this
is the paperback release. The publisher claims 30,000 hard copies were
sold. Johns gives a fairly interesting history of ices in Italy, noting
that Sicily grows 90 percent of the citrus for the Italian market.
There are 50 recipes for gelato and dishes which use ices. Accompanying
biscuits, wafers, and sauces are also included. Try orange sorbetto,
chocolate soufflé semifreddo, peach gelato, mascarpone gelato, sorbetto
bellini, and duomo (dome). A nifty affordable book. Quality/Price
rating: 88.
20. MANAGEMENT BY MENU. Fourth edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 411
pages, ISBN 978-0-471-47577-4 soft covers) is by Lendal H. Kotschevar,
who was professor emeritus at Florida International University until
his death in 2007, and Diane Withrow, a hospitality teacher at Cape
Fear Community College in North Carolina. The book has been extensively
revised, but it has not lost sight of its tying a menu to management
principles. Material includes, of course, how to create and manage a
menu. It has updated chapters on the uses of new technology in menu
development, accuracy in menus, and using the menu as a marketing tool.
Also added is a chapter on ethical leadership in resto management. This
is a good book to have for anyone participating in Gordon Ramsay's
"Kitchen Nightmares". There's a whole chapter con wine and other
beverage service, highlighting the latest thinking on the construction
of a wine list and wine pricing. Also available is an instructor's
manual and a study guide. Quality/Price rating: 89.
21. ARTHUR SCHWARTZ'S NEW YORK CITY FOOD; an opinionated history and
more than 100 legendary recipes (Stewart, Chang & Tabori, 2004, 2008,
400 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-677-0, $27.50 US paper covers) won the IACP
Award for Cookbook of the Year in 2005. Schwartz was food editor of the
New York Daily News. His book was released four years ago, and is now
reissued. There are 160 "classic" New York City recipes here, as well
as vintage menus, postcards, and culinary histories starting with the
Dutch invasion. Revisit Delmonico's, the Colony, the Automats, the
Jewish restaurants, and why New York is the home of chocolate mavens.
And speaking of which, check out his website
www.thefoodmaven.com for
more details. Try Omelet Surprise, Eggs Benedict, Lindy's cheesecake,
Manhattan clam chowder, macaroni and cheese from the Automat.
Quality/Price rating: 89.
22. CANADIAN HOSPITALITY LAW; liabilities and risk. 3rd ed. (Thomson
Nelson, 2007, 401 pages, ISBN 978-0-17-640721-6, $106.95 Canadian, soft
covers) is by Donald Longchamps, an instructor at Algonquin CAAT in
Ottawa, and Bradley Wright, an Ottawa business lawyer. It was first
published in 1999; the second edition was in 2002. Lanchamps developed
the first edition. They begin with the basics of the law (The Legal
Framework), moving on to Human Rights in the hospitality industry,
general contract law (with specifics on reservations, overbooking,
conventions, catering, banquets, et al). Negligence is covered, as well
as liability and risk in the hospitality industry. There's a lot about
private areas and public areas (plus rights of guests) in the
accommodation sector. Restaurants and food, bars and beverages, and
human resources complete the package. Travel agents have their own
chapter. "Discussion questions" for a hospitality school program in law
are preceded by good sharp summaries. Cases are cited as examples,
statute tables are listed and indexed, there are sample forms and
contracts, and a glossary. But all of the books cited in the
bibliography are from the last century (one is a revision in 2005 from
the same publisher as Longchamps). With the book comes free InfoTrac
database searching for four months. The great thing about this book is
that it is all Canadian, which puts it at the head of the line.
Quality/Price rating: 87.
23. SALES AND SERVICE FOR THE WINE PROFESSIONAL. 3rd edition (Thomson,
2008, 352 pages, ISBN 978-1-84480-789-5, $49.99 US paper covers) is by
Brian K. Julyan, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management at the
University of Plymouth. As well, he is Chief Executive and Chief
Examiner of the Court of Master Sommeliers. This book is a one-stop
resource for all involved with alcoholic beverages in the hospitality
industry. It is a useful instruction manual for colleges and sommelier
programs in that there is a considerable amount of material dealing
with self-assessment. Newer materials cover wine regions that are
becoming acceptable, and a certain internationalization of the material
as the book arrives in North America (it was first published in 1999).
For the professional, although those who seek alcohol knowledge may
also find it useful. There is a short chapter on spirits and beers, as
well as serving beverages and tobacco. Health and safety are important
here. So are creating sales. Quality Price rating: 89.
24. THE RIVER COTTAGE COOKBOOK (Ten Speed Press, 2001, 2008, 447 pages,
ISBN 8=978-1-58008-909-8, $35US hard covers) is by Hugh Fearnley-
Whittingstall, a British food personality (broadcaster, writer, farmer,
educator, campaigner for real food). His River Cottage farm is in
Devon. The original of this book sold 300,000 copies in Europe. Here,
it has been (according to the PR) "thoroughly Americanized" – Good Gawd
NO...for a North American audience. Other bumpf says "tailored for
American cooks". That means that recipes and cooking instructions have
been modified, with familiar ingredients, terminology and measurements.
Major changes are in labeling requirements, the use of the words
"organic", "free range" and the like. There are four pages of endnotes.
The bibliography remains British. There's no real need to buy this book
if you have the original; all the changes relate to the American
market. The contents remain: food from the garden, butchering local
animals, foraging, opinions on the local environment, and resourceful
use of plants and animals. Quality/Price rating: 90.
25. ALTON BROWN'S GEAR FOR YOUR KITCHEN (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2003,
2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-696-1, $17.95 US paper covers) is by
the well-known host and commentator for shows on the Food Network. It
was originally published in 2003 as a hard cover. Here there has been
some updating, especially with the retail listings and websites.
Melitta in Toronto appears to be the only Canadian outfit. His book
concerns advice on what to have and what to have not in the kitchen.
For example, you only need three knives and you don't need a countertop
grill. He writes in a humourous guy-talk kidding style, which is how
macho men try to learn things. Thus, there are categories such as Small
Things with Plugs, Kitchen Tools Unplugged, Sharp Things, allusions to
hardware and tool kits, even some handwritten notes. Great stuff for
the guy chef. Quality/Price rating: 89.
26. PROFESSIONAL BAKING; fifth edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 800
pages, ISBN 978-0-470-31652-8, $99.99 hard covers) is by Wayne Gisslen,
and features recipes from Le Cordon Bleu (Paris). It comes with a CD-
ROM with about 900 recipes (all the preps from the book, with options
to modify and resize – and you can also add your own), and a Student
Workbook, an Instructor's Guide and Manual and CD-ROM (available
separately). There are also method cards with step-by-step directions
for common methods of yeast doughs, cakes, muffins. What's new this
time out is more material on artisan breads (natural fermentation, hand
crafting); a new chapter on baking for special diets, including low-
fat, low-sugar, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets; new photographs; and
a new redesign to enhance the layout. There is a recipe contents page
which explores yeast doughs, quick breads, doughnuts and crepes,
syrups, pies, tarts, cakes, decorating, cookies, custards, frozen
desserts, fruits, chocolate and marzipan. Everything here in this book
is clear, precise, no-nonsense, practical and methodical. Both US
volume and metric measurements are given in side-by-side columns.
Cooking schools, restaurants, hotels, and large hospitality
establishments will appreciate the book since it is a major textbook.
Quality/Price Ratio: 90.
27. SLURP; drinks and light fare, all day, all night (Andrews McMeel
Publishing, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 170 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-
6990-0, $16.99 US soft covers) is by Nina Dreyer Hensley, Jim Hensley,
and Paul Lowe. It was first published in Norway in 2005. Here are more
than 100 recipes for both drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic,
including smoothies) and food for tasty pairings. Plus a few hangover
remedies. The book also has entertaining and party ideas; the
arrangement is by time of day (morning, daytime, evening). Lots of
advice strewn about, and there is a useful index. Quality/Price rating:
85.
28. RICK STEIN'S COMPLETE SEAFOOD (Ten Speed Press, 2004, 2008, 264
pages,
ISBN 978-1-58008-914-2, $31.95 Canadian soft covers) is by the owner of
the Seafood Restaurant (England), and an impressive authority on
seafood in general. He has authored other seafood books, and has hosted
some television cooking shows. This book grew out of his Cornwall
cooking school, and attempts to be definitive. It was originally issued
in 2004, and subsequently won a James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award.
Although there is a copyright date of 2008, there seems to be some
minimal updating. Here are 150 recipes with 550 instructional
photographs and illustrations, along with extensive charts and colour
IDs for the seafood. Part one covers techniques (with demos) such as a
step-by-step guide to scaling, to gutting, to skinning, to pan frying,
to filleting, to baking a fish in a salt or pastry casing (plus foil
and en papillote), to hot smoking, to steaming, to stuffing. Part two
details the recipes, which are mainly classics, distributed according
to type of seafood (large fish, small fish, crustaceans, mollusks), and
part three is the reference section with information about the fish,
the equipment needed, and the pantry ingredients required.
Quality/Price Ratio: 90.
29. SIMPLY BISHOP'S; easy seasonal recipes (Douglas & McIntyre, 2002,
2008, 170 pages, ISBN 978-1-55363-388-2, $24.95 Canadian softy covers)
is a straight reissue of the 2002 hard cover book. John Bishop of
Bishop's Restaurant in Vancouver (opened in 1985) had crafted a book
based on menus of food served at his resto. The dishes are
straightforward, with an emphasis on local and seasonal food. 100 plus
recipes are organized by course and then by season within. There are
entertaining ideas, menus (such as Thanksgiving, BBQ, spring brunch),
suggested accompanying dishes, and wine recommendations where
appropriate. Weights and measures are in both avoirdupois and metric
forms. Preps include bet salad with raspberry vinaigrette, slow-cooked
pork shoulder with pan-roasted vegetables, and gooseberry and almond
crumble. Quality/Price rating: 88.