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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

* 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. Here are some recent "re-editions"...
 

15. THE COMPLETE BORDEAUX: the wines, the chateaux, the people. Rev.
ed. (Mitchell Beazley, 2007, 2012; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 720
pages, ISBN 978-1-84533-707-0, $0 US hard covers) is by Stephen Brook.
Most of the text was released in 2006 in the "Classic Wine Library"
series, at $46, and with no pictures, in 528 pages. This library series
is quite well-known by now: a basic layout of serviceable sketch-maps,
no pictures, and lots of capsule histories and tasting notes for each
property described. But the publisher has seen fit to reissue that text
on Medoc and Graves, added material on the Right Bank (Pomerol and
St.Emilion, more material on Sauternes, and even more material on the
satellite areas around (the various Cotes, Entre deux Mers, etc.).
Plus, of course, some plates of coloured photographs. Here is insider
information on Bordeaux, The introductory material includes chapters on
the land (terroir), grapes, and wine styles. The main arrangement is by
region. The directory data includes names and numbers, websites,
owners, size, production and grape varieties. Then, the narrative style
embraces a mini-history with tasting notes. There is an appendix with
comments on the various vintages, 1961-2011, a glossary, and an
outdated bibliography. Quality/Price Rating: 90.
 
 
 
16. BETTY CROCKER WHOLE GRAINS (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 2012, 224
pages, ISBN 978-1-118-31300-8, $19.99 US soft covers) last came out in
2007. Now it has been revised and reissued, but not nearly fast enough
to catch the quinoa wave. Quinoa is now the hottest grain around, and
while this book has six quinoa preps listed in the index, somebody at
the publisher said that that was not enough. So they came up with ten
more recipes and stuck them at the very front of the book, using Roman
numerals for pagination, and calling it "Bonus Quinoa Chapter".
Consequently, they are not indexed nor joined with the original 6. It's
OK, but it just looks funny and is not retrievable. The book has 150
recipes for using whole grains (barley, oats, quinoa, rye, etc.) in a
variety of ways through slow-cookers, sides, 30-minute meals, desserts,
salads, snacks. Each recipe has prep times, total times, servings,
nutritional information, and exchanges. There is a nice photo of many
dishes, and the typeface is really big for older people like myself.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements,
but there are tables of metric equivalents. Try Italian broccoli and
quinoa pilaf, tripe-berry oatmeal muesli, Italian frittata, tabbuleh
with garbanzo beans, maple corn pudding, and rush-hour tuna melts.
Quality/price rating: 86.
 

17. FARMSTAND FAVORITES COOKBOOK (Hatherleigh Press, 2012, 221 pages,
ISBN 978-1-57826-420-9, $16.50 US soft covers) is a collection of over
300 preps, probably assembled from the Farmstand Favorites series which
covers apples, berries, canning, cheese, garlic, honey, maple syrup,
pumpkins ands tomatoes. It's a series devoted to farm fresh foods. The
emphasis is on buying local and supporting the local farmer and farmers
markets. Many preps come from food associations such as the New York
State Maple Producers Association, or the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers'
Association, or Toronto Garlic Festival. Everything is easy in a no-
fuss, no-muss mode. Preparations have their ingredients listed in
avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Here's a resources list and some generic produce photos, and the
typeface is reasonably large (with the index's typeface being even
larger still). Quality/price rating: 82.
 
 
 
18. EASY ROASTING; simply delicious recipes for your perfect roast
(Ryland, Peters & Small, 2012, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-284-8,
$19.95 US hard covers) is part of the "Easy" series. There now 16 of
these, covering drinks, desserts, courses, and kitchen implements.
Contributions come from 13 cookbook authors, such as Sonia Stevenson
with 58 plus the opening primer on roasting styles, Maxine Clark (9)
and Ross Dobson (10). Try Italian roast leg of lamb with lemon and
anchovy sauce, brined roast chicken with a ham and fresh sage stuffing,
spatchcocked poussins (use Cornish hens or large quail) with rosemary
and lemon glaze, tuna with paprika crumbs and Romesco sauce, and whole
roast monkfish. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both
metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no separate table of
equivalents. Some preps for trimmings such sides, stuffings, gravies,
and relishes are also included. Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
 
19. CHOCOLATE PASSION; recipes and inspiration from the kitchens of
Chocolatier magazine (John Wiley & Sons, 1999, 2012, 320 pages, ISBN
978-1-118-43109-2, $24.99 US paper covers) is by Tish Boyle, former
editor of Chocolatier, and Timothy Moriarty, former features editor of
Chocolatier. It is a reprint of the 1999 hardback, from a time when
both authors were still working for the magazine. As such, the resource
list is out-of-date (but I also have no time to track down who is still
in business and at what address/phone number) simply because there are
no websites listed. The back cover takes advantage of the reprinting to
update the author bios and give us some logrolling. Here are 54
recipes, tested at the magazine, with material on white chocolate, milk
chocolate, and dark chocolate. Unfortunately for the publisher, most of
the chocolate-mad world has moved on to simply dark chocolate at 70% or
85%, which has 24 preps in its section. Nevertheless, the price of the
book has come down, the photos are still gorgeous, the techniques
exemplary, and the instructions still valid. A good book for the gifted
amateur home cook. Preparations have their ingredients listed in
avoirdupois measurements, but there is a table of metric equivalents.
Quality/price rating: 82.
 
 
 
20. 300 SENSATIONAL SOUPS (Robert Rose, 2008, 2012, 384 pages, ISBN
978-0-7788-0196-2, $27.95 CAN paper covers) is by Carla Snyder and
Meredith Deeds, both food writers living in the US Midwest. It was
originally published in 2008, but has not been reprinted as a
bestseller. This is a nice database of classics and contemporary soups,
along with 50 international preps such as pho, harira, minestrone, or
African peanut soup. It is arranged by major ingredient. There are
separate chapters for meat, veggies, beans, cheese, poultry, fish, and
styles such as chowders, cold soups, and dessert soups. At the
beginning there are notes on soup stocks, and at the end, there are
notes on garnishes and toppings. As is standard with any Rose cookbook,
the ingredients are expressed in both avoirdupois and metric
measurements, the typeface is clean and lean and large, and there is
plenty of white space for adding your own notes. Some interesting
recipes include veal burgoo, chilled curried pear soup, chicken-squash-
sausage soup, lasagna soup, arugula soup with salmon and roasted grape
tomatoes, and guacamole soup. Quality/Price Rating: 86.
 

21. CHOCOLATES & CONFECTIONS: formula, theory, and technique for the
artisan confectioner. Second edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 2012,
534 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-42441-4, $65 US hard covers) is by Peter
Greweling of the Culinary Institute of America. It was originally
published in 2007 but with only 388 pages and the same price. So there
are 150 pages more at a better exchange rate! It also won an IACP Award
in 2008. Greweling concentrates on artisanal confectionary production
techniques, such as tempering chocolate and candying fruit. Behind it
all is the theory and science of candy and chocolate processing. Styles
are covered as well. About 200 formulas and variations are presented,
including dairy based centers of butter and cream ganache. Crystalline
and non-crystalline structures are covered, as well as jellies, nut
centers, and aerated confections. All of these include marzipan,
nougat, truffles, fondants, fudges, brittles, toffee, and taffy. There
are more than 250 photos and line drawings of processes and finished
products. The book is loaded with charts and there are lots of standard
recipes. The book is a boon for hospitality schools and restaurants, as
well as serious home cooks.
There is a glossary, a bibliography, and a listing of websites.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and
avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.
 

22. SIMPLY SATISFYING; over 200 vegetarian recipes you'll want to make
again and again (The Experiment, 2012; distr. by T. Allen, 346 pages,
ISBN 978-1-61519-062-1, $21.95 US paper covers) is by Jeanne Lemlin, a
vegetarian cookbook author of five books plus a Beard winner. It was
originally published in 1986 under a different name and with a
different publisher "in significantly different form" (whatever that
means). She continues to write for magazines. Her 1986 book was a menu
book, with 250 preps in 74 menus. The current arrangement is by course
or ingredient, beginning with breakfast and ending with dessert. The
menus have been collated to the back, with page references to the
suggested dishes. There are now just 54 of these. Of course, the book
has been completely revised, reorganized, and updated with logrolling
from Madison, Roden, and Moulton. It looks like 50 preps have been
dropped, but maybe more have been cut if there are newer recipes added.
Still, there is no mention in the index to quinoa or chia, the hot new
grains of today. Preparations have their ingredients listed in
avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of metric equivalents.
Quality/price rating: 84.
 
 

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