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Sunday, December 29, 2019

* THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS...

...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. Some magazines will reissue popular or classic recipes in an "easy" format. Here are some recent "re-editions"...
 
 
8.THE CURIOUS BARISTA'S GUIDE TO COFFEE (Ryland Peters & Small, 2015,2019, 208 pages, ISBN 978-1-78879-083-3, $14.95 US hard covers) is by Tristan Stephenson, a well-know celebrity UK bartender, bar owner, and consultant (Fluid Movement). This is his third book (the other two were bar-tending books), and it deals with coffee, with 25 recipes. It was originally published in 2015.  Most of the book is encyclopedic: guide to coffee producing regions, histories, how to make a cup of coffee through different brewing methods, etc. It is an excellent survey for the price, well-illustrated with old adverts, drawings, and a nifty chapter on latte art. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements. Quality/price rating: 88.
 
 
 
 
9.THE ZERO WASTE COOKBOOK (Hardie Grant Books, 2017, 2019, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-78488-267-1 $19.99 USD paperbound) is by Giovanna Torrico and Amelia Wasiliev. It was originally published in French by Hachette Livre in 2017. The English language edition came out in 2019. The authors have about 100 recipes for cooking without waste, which means using banana peels, egg shells, orange rinds, pea pods, fish skin etc. in food preps for consumption. Tips include using corn husk to make veggie stock or making pesto with carrot tops. It involves smart shopping and planning, and the big three storage issues: cook everything (scraps and peelings), freeze and preserve, keep at room temperature via using jars and plastic tubs. You will feel good. One of the best recipes is for ribollita with mixed veggie scraps and stale bread. It's all arranged by categories: veggies, fruit, dairy and eggs, meat and seafood, bread and pulses (legumes), and (or course) leftovers. BTW, the re-use of a leftover is actually, to my mind, a "holdover". Soups win, naturally. The book could have been improved if it also used more metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Quality/price rating: 89
 
 
 
10.SUMMER EVERY DAY (Ryland Peters and Small, 2014, 2019, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-78879-111-3 $19.95 USD hardbound) is by Acland Geddes and Pedro da Silva. After a series of gastropubs, Geddes opened Megan's in Chelsea, which soon became a series of cafes in other regions. Da Silva is head chef. Their book was originally published in 2014 as "Friends Around the Table". This is the newly revised edition. These are Mediterranean recipes for relaxed entertaining. The 65+ recipes call for careful planning, to make it an event (tablecloths, cutlery, decorations, etc.), not just taking advantage of warm weather to eat outside. Lunch al fresco brings back the classics: gazpacho, carpaccio, grilled sardines and/or calamari, couscous salad or crunchy fennel salad, grilled nectarines with mozzarella, roasted pears. Another section deals with a large crowd and serious meats such as lamb or beef. A third covers just two diners, with preps scaled down to two (no leftovers). Another is teatime, another is for side dishes. Well-thought out, but I would have like a few more recipes (try cutting back on the lavish photography, which I cannot eat). The book could have been improved if it also used more metric in the recipes for small volumes, or at least had a metric conversion chart.   Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
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