..is one of the hottest trends in cookbooks.
Actually, they've been around for many years, but never in such
proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be
flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a
celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up
on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans
of the chef and/or the restaurant and/or the media personality. Many of
the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the
restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books,
special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu.
Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But
because most of these books are American, they use only US volume
measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric
equivalents, but more often there is not. I'll try to point this out.
The usual shtick is "favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks".
There is also PR copy on "demystifying ethnic ingredients". PR bumpf
also includes much use of the magic phrase "mouth-watering recipes" as
if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from
readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes
(not necessarily from these books) don't seem to work, but how could
that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many
books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with
tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life
in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding
about. The celebrity books, with well-known chefs or entertainers, seem
to have too much self-involvement and ego. And, of course, there are a
lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from
other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are
cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some
companies, though, will ship around the world, so don't ignore them
altogether. Here's a rundown on the latest crop of such books –
Actually, they've been around for many years, but never in such
proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be
flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a
celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up
on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans
of the chef and/or the restaurant and/or the media personality. Many of
the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the
restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books,
special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu.
Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But
because most of these books are American, they use only US volume
measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric
equivalents, but more often there is not. I'll try to point this out.
The usual shtick is "favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks".
There is also PR copy on "demystifying ethnic ingredients". PR bumpf
also includes much use of the magic phrase "mouth-watering recipes" as
if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from
readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes
(not necessarily from these books) don't seem to work, but how could
that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many
books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with
tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life
in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding
about. The celebrity books, with well-known chefs or entertainers, seem
to have too much self-involvement and ego. And, of course, there are a
lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from
other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are
cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some
companies, though, will ship around the world, so don't ignore them
altogether. Here's a rundown on the latest crop of such books –
12. EVERYDAY RAW EXPRESS; recipes in 30 minutes or less (Gibbs Smith,
20ll; distr. Raincoast, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-1891-1, $19.99 US
paper covers) is by Matthew Kenney, chef-partner in numerous
restaurants, with a Beard nomination. He's also a TV food personality
and a cookbook author (he's got the "Everyday Raw" series). In this
third book, he works on moving the raw food within 30 minutes.
Actually, that's not too hard since the food needs no cooking. He has a
variety of smoothies, soups, salads, wraps, rolls, pasta (veggie
ribbons) and entrees such as squash blossom tamales, spring vegetable
couscous, Portobello steak, vegetable napoleon and wild mushroom
lasagna. Desserts include blueberry sherbet, spiced pineapple with rose
water and pistachios, and chocolate hemp milk custard which is nut
free. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois
measurements, but there is a table of metric equivalents. Good large
print face, which is a boon to my tired eyes. Quality/price rating: 88.
13. COMPLETE CHINESE COOKBOOK (Firefly Books, 2011, 352 pages, ISBN
978-1-55407-943-8, $35 CAD hard covers) is by prolific chef-cookbook
author Ken Hom. He's sold over 2 million cookbooks over the past 30
years, as well as appearing on many TV cooking series. This is a group
of 250 or so recipes, co-published in the UK by BBC Books. There's a
primer on ingredients, equipment, techniques, menus, and how to eat
Chinese food. The range is from apps through desserts, although Hom
does discourse on yin, yang, and yin yang. Overall, it is a basic book,
emphasizing that Chinese food is healthy, modestly priced, and quick
and easy. So it fits today's trends. Preps are sourced from all
different regions such as Cantonese, Hong Kong, Szechuan, and more. Try
curried vegetarian spring rolls, Beijing-braised lamb, cold marinated
peanuts, walnut chicken, paper-wrapped chicken, or stir-fried spinach
with garlic.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and
avoirdupois measurements, but there is also a table of equivalents.
Good layout, interesting photography, and large typeface. Quality/price
rating: 88.
978-1-55407-943-8, $35 CAD hard covers) is by prolific chef-cookbook
author Ken Hom. He's sold over 2 million cookbooks over the past 30
years, as well as appearing on many TV cooking series. This is a group
of 250 or so recipes, co-published in the UK by BBC Books. There's a
primer on ingredients, equipment, techniques, menus, and how to eat
Chinese food. The range is from apps through desserts, although Hom
does discourse on yin, yang, and yin yang. Overall, it is a basic book,
emphasizing that Chinese food is healthy, modestly priced, and quick
and easy. So it fits today's trends. Preps are sourced from all
different regions such as Cantonese, Hong Kong, Szechuan, and more. Try
curried vegetarian spring rolls, Beijing-braised lamb, cold marinated
peanuts, walnut chicken, paper-wrapped chicken, or stir-fried spinach
with garlic.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and
avoirdupois measurements, but there is also a table of equivalents.
Good layout, interesting photography, and large typeface. Quality/price
rating: 88.
14. DESSERTS FROM THE FAMOUS LOVELESS CAFÉ; simple southern pies,
puddings, cakes and cobblers from Nashville's landmark restaurant
(Artisan, 2011; distr. T. Allen, 220 pages, ISBN 978-1-57965-434-4,
$24.95 US hard covers) is by Alisa Huntsman, pastry chef at the
Loveless Café. She's also written a cook book about triple-layer cakes.
Paula Deen provides the inevitable log rolling. The resto has been in
business since 1951; it serves some of the best cobblers and pies
around. Huntsman was hired in 2004 to enlarge their dessert offerings.
Here are more than 100 preps of mostly southern dishes. It all starts
with a chapter on blue-ribbon pies, followed by country cakes, crisps,
cobblers, shortcakes, coffee cakes, tea cakes, cheesecakes, cookies,
bars, and cupcakes. And then concludes with puddings. There's also a
list of US sources, a short bibliography of southern cooking, and lots
of photos of the café (plus some memories of the place). It just oozes
southern hospitality, but do watch the fat and calories. Preparations
have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is
no table of metric equivalents. Quality/price rating: 86.
15. CUTIE PIES; 40 sweet, savory and adorable recipes (Andrews, McMeel,
2011; distr. Simon & Schuster, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-4494-0305-8,
$16.99 US hard covers) is by Dani Cone, owner of Seattle's High 5 Pie
and Fuel Coffee. Of course, she sells her pies there for takeout. And
in this book, there are lots of gluten-free pie dough recipes as a
crust option. All of these pies are made from scratch, and they can be
used for several shapes including full-sized pies. For example, "cutie
pie" is a single-serving baked in a standard muffin pan. "Petit-5s" are
even smaller, baked in a mini-muffin pan, "piejars" are baked in a
wide-mouth Mason jar, "flipsides" are turnovers, and "piepops" are pie
lollipops, meant mostly for entertaining. You can mix and match them:
just choose the pie shape you want and the crust you want (there's all-
butter, graham cracker, vegan, and gluten-free). There's peach-ricotta-
honey pies, curry veggies, cran-apple, strawberry-rhubarb-ginger,
potato-dill-cheese-veggie, and caramel-pecan. Preparations have their
ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of
metric equivalents spread over four pages. Quality/price rating: 87.
16. TEA WITH BEA (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2011; distr. T. Allen, 144
pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-143-8, $24.95 US hard covers) is from Bea's of
Bloomsbury, in London UK. Bea Vo is the owner. She's American, but
opened the teashop in 2008. She emphasizes easy to follow recipes which
deal with cookies, cakes, tarts and cheesecakes. There's some general
information on making tea and coffee, but the book mainly deal with the
pastry elements, such as the ones you'd find on a tier. There are over
70 preps here, such as snicker doodles, lemon verbena semolina cookies,
nutty lemon biscotti, almond cherry muffins, poached pear and
frangipane tart, or vegan chocolate cake. There are also six ideas for
tea parties, with page references (7 to 9 preps each), such as baby
shower or Mother's day. Ingredients are listed as scaled or volume
(your choice). Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric
equivalents. Quality/price rating: 89.
pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-143-8, $24.95 US hard covers) is from Bea's of
Bloomsbury, in London UK. Bea Vo is the owner. She's American, but
opened the teashop in 2008. She emphasizes easy to follow recipes which
deal with cookies, cakes, tarts and cheesecakes. There's some general
information on making tea and coffee, but the book mainly deal with the
pastry elements, such as the ones you'd find on a tier. There are over
70 preps here, such as snicker doodles, lemon verbena semolina cookies,
nutty lemon biscotti, almond cherry muffins, poached pear and
frangipane tart, or vegan chocolate cake. There are also six ideas for
tea parties, with page references (7 to 9 preps each), such as baby
shower or Mother's day. Ingredients are listed as scaled or volume
(your choice). Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric
equivalents. Quality/price rating: 89.
17. SPAGHETTI SAUCES; authentic Italian recipes (Gibbs Smith, 2011;
distr. Raincoast, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0688-8, $19.99 US hard
covers) is by Biba Caggiano, chef-owner of BIBA Restaurant, TV chef,
and award-winning author of eight successful cookbooks on Italian food.
Here she goes after sauces which are appropriate for long, stringy
pasta. It was at the request of her grandchildren. It's arranged by
main ingredient, such as cheese, pesto, quick tomato, vegetable,
seafood, and ragu. The preps are simple and coherent, even teenagers
can handle them. Some wine is called for in the cooking (mostly white
wine). Anchovies also appear in 11 recipes, but artichokes are in only
one. Typical preps include butter, cream, Parmigiano and nutmeg; fresh
tomato sauce with ricotta cheese and basil; mozzarella, cherry tomatoes
and basil Capri style; spring veggies, smoked ham, and egg sauce; and
sautéed mixed mushrooms with parsley and sage. Very useful.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements,
but there is a table of metric equivalents. The index is to ingredients
only, and not to names or titles of sauces. Quality/price rating: 89.
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