* THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS...
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...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"...
11.FLORENTINE; the true cuisine of Florence. 2D ed. (Hardie Grant Books, 2016, 2020, 272 pages, $42.99 hard covers) is by Emiko Davies, who, in her mid-twenties, moved to Florence to study art restoration and photography (she did the location photography for this book). Her book is a travelogue-cookbook – she has also written two other Italian food cookbooks, and continues to write about regional Italian food and travel for numerous publications and her own blog. There is a brief history of Florence and its food and culture, a Florence city guide and address guide, glossary, and bibliographic references. Preps and dishes are strewed about such walking tour topics as "La pasticceria" (pastry shop), "Il forno" (bakery), "Il mercato" (market), "la trattoria", "il macellaio" (butcher), with typical dishes such as panino con insalata belga, pecorino e miele (panino with Belgian endive, pecorino cheese and honey), crostone con salsiccia e stracchino (crostone with sausage and stracchino cheese), piselli all Fiorentina, insalata di farro, frittata di finocchi (fennel frittata). She's good at telling the story of food in Florence plate by plate. Yet another great regional cookbook. Quality/Price Rating: 91.
12.CLUCK OINK BAA MOO; how to choose, prepare and cook meat and poultry (Ryland Peters & Small, 2015, 2021, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-78879-353-7, $24.95 hard covers) is by Miranda Ballard, who runs a food company with her husband in the UK (Muddy Boots). Together they opened The Modern Meat Shop in London. Her book was originally published in 2015 under the title "Modern Meat Kitchen"; this current book is the 2021 revision. It's a basic book on choosing, preparing and cooking meats at home. There is also information on sourcing meat that is farmed responsibly. All of these are covered in the primer areas. Typical recipes of the 90 preps reflect a UK orientation, such as Scotch eggs and haggis, game and gammon, but there is also turkey, chilli con carne, and pork and beans. Korean-style butterflied lamb caught my eye, as did game rillettes. At the end there is a source list for both UK and US ingredients and equipment. The book could have been improved if it also used more metric in the recipes instead of imperial/US, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Quality/price rating: 86.
13.THE SCIENCE OF WINE; from vine to glass. 3rd ed.(University of California Press, 2005, 2012, 2021, 224 pages, ISBN 978-0-520-37950-3, $48.38 CAD hard covers) is by Jamie Goode, UK wine writer and columnist. The first edition in 2005 was the Glenfiddich Drink Book of the Year. It's a great introduction to the scientific and technical innovations applied to grape-growing and winemaking. He explains how the practical applications of science affects the quality, flavour and perception of wine. In addition, there is also some material on Mother Nature such as the newly re-written climate change and global warming chapter, and how this is affecting wine production and styles. As the book is about the "science" of wine, he also covers biodynamics, health benefits, and screw cap closures. About half the book is totally new or extensively re-written and updated to this third edition (published nine years after the second edition): a discussion of "when things go wrong", vine immunity and breeding for resistance, yeasts and bacteria, non-saccharomyces, phenolics, extraction and maceration, whole cluster and carbonic maceration, wine faults, evolution of élevage, flotation, and sweet wine. This is an immensely accessible book, written for the lay person, and with a glossary and bibliography at the end. Quality/price rating: 92.
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Chimo! www.deantudor.com
