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Friday, August 11, 2017

* 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"...
 
 
16.THE NEW AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION COOKBOOK. 9th ed. (Harmony Books, 2017, 536 pages, ISBN 978-0-553-44718-7 $35USD hardbound) was first published in 1973. Since then it has been regularly revised and updated about every 6 – 7 years. This edition has more than 800 preps, 100 of which are all-new recipes and 250 have been updated. These are preps that emphasize the heart-smart life. There have been useful spinoffs, such as the AHA book for low-salt cooking, healthy family meals, low-cholesterol cookbook, slow cooker meals, grilling/braising, and more. Nutritional data is supplied for each recipe, but appears to be at odds with the American style of listing quantities with the ingredients. The book could have been improved if it also used or included metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Still, food doesn't get much healthier than this...Quality/price rating: 88.
 
 
 
17.HOW TO DRINK FRENCH FLUENTLY (Ten Speed Press, 2016, 2017, 160 pages, ISBN 978-0-399-58029-1 $18.9 USD hardbound) is by Drew Lazor, a food and drink writer for Punch, Conde Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit. It was originally published in 2016 by Punch, and here it has wider distribution. This is billed as a guide to joi de vivre with cocktails made with St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur that is extremely popular now in North America. Contributions here come from a variety of mixologists in the USA; there are 30 cocktail recipes here. The arrangement is by category: brunch drinks, daytime, aperitif, dinner, and nightcap. He's also got material on food pairing and syrups. Each prep is sourced as to contributor. There are a wide variety of spirits but most appear to be vodka or gins. Appeals to the millennial include Nudie Beach with its syrups (ginger, honeydew), passion fruit puree, rose water and lime juice. But is a fairly flexible book with variations possible. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
18.THE MEDITERRANEAN TABLE (Ryland Peters & Small, 2017, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-84975-813-0 $24.95 USD hardbound) is a publisher's book collecting some 150 Mediterranean-style preps that are fresh/simple/delicious for lunch, BBQ, al fresco. The range is all around the basin, and from veggies through meats to desserts. Everything here is meant to be eaten by the "sea", with small plates, summer soups, salads, lunches, grills and drinks. Miriam Catley was the editor; 17 contributors (part of the RP&S stable of writers) range from Ghillie Basan, Maxine Clark, Ursula Ferrigno, through the prolific Jenny Linford.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
19.GOOD VEG (The Experiment, 2016, 2017,322 pages, ISBN 978-1-61519-286-1 $24.95 USD hardbound) is by Alice Hart. It was originally published in 2016 as The New Vegetarian by Square Peg in the UK. She deals with bold international flavours as appeal to non-vegetarians. Here are veggies, fruits and grains, arranged by categories of "mornings", "grazing", quick, thrifty, gatherings, grains, raw, and "afters". She's got a pantry with preps for pickles, jams, mustards, dressings, sauces, relishes, and pastes – all full of flavour and spicy (not necessarily "hot"). Try the spiced buckwheat waffles with mango, bhel puri, the lemongrass banh mi, or the quinoa and fava bean falafel.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements with some slight metric, but there is no table of metric equivalents. "Have the perfect supper on the table daily" as Nigella Lawson log-rolled. Quality/price rating: 88.
 
 
20.YOGURT EVERY DAY (Appetite by Random House, 2015, 2017, 198 pages, ISBN 978-0-14-753042-4 $24.95 CAD paperbound) is by Hubert Cormier, registered dietitian and Ph.D. Candidate in nutrition. It was originally published in Quebec and in French by La Semaine in 2015; this is the English translation. The 75 recipes (including making your own) cover the bases of breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks. Preps for lunch include lentil patties, soft-boiled eggs and green pea salad, cauliflower cream, and a variety of sandwiches. Each recipe has a photo of the plated dish. Try the avocado lassi or the crunchy corn guacamole. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, with nutritional value data per serving. Quality/price rating:  88.
 
 
 
 
21.MY GREEK FAMILY TABLE (The Countryman Press, 2009, 2017, 234 pages, ISBN 978-1-68268-078-0 $29.95 USD hardbound) was originally published in 2009 by Penguin Australia. Its author Maria Benardis founded the Greekalicious cooking school in Sydney, but now lives in NYC and still teaches Greek cooking classes. This is another Greek cookbook with a family get-together orientation; it is good to have these books as a sort of way to preserve Greek heritage cooking. The categories include salads, messes, veggie dishes, seafood, meat and poultry, and sweets. The book has been updated with more material about the healing properties of Greek greens; the photos are the originals from 2009.
The book could have been improved if it also used metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Quality/price rating: 85
 
 
22.A FIELD GUIDE TO WHISKY (Artisan Books, 2015, 2017, 320 pages, ISBN 978-1-57965-751-2 $24.95 USD hardbound) is by Hans Offringa, contributing editor for Europe for Whisky Magazine, tasting judge, and lecturer on whisky. It was originally published in 2015 in the Netherlands; this is the translation for the English-language market. It's a gift package with black-gilded pages and 230 colour photos. He begins with the top five whisky nations, goes through the distillation process, and then tastes the spirit and matches up with food pairings. So there is stuff on how to get the most out of your glass, how to read a whisky label, which whiskies to try first, investing in whisky, and more. There are maps, travel and festival resources. A lot of the book is in Q & A format. It's a great book for beginners or millennials who wish to advance their knowledge. Quality/price rating: 86.
 
 
23.175 BEST SMALL-BATCH BAKING RECIPES (Robert Rose, 2017, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0561-8 $27.95 CAD paperbound) is by Jill Snider, which has written seven baking books. She managed the test kitchen of a flour company for 25 years. Here she offers us 175 preps for small-baked goods. These are all treats for one or two people. Some of the recipes in this book appeared in a different form in "Bake Something Great" (Robert Rose, 2011). Treats include cookies (drop, refrigerator, pressed, shaped, biscotti, shortbread, chocolate), bars and squares (including no-bake), quick breads and muffins, cakes, mini pies and tarts, and "spoonable desserts". There is even a chapter on gluten-free desserts. An excellent book for those who do not have a lot of storage space or who use hand mixing: perfect for singles, seniors, couples, small families. The book is also enhanced by variations. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements. Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
 
 
24.EATING WELL QUICK AND CLEAN (Houghton Mifflin, 2017, 272 pages, ISBN 989-0-544-92550-2 $22 USD paperbound) is drawn from the pages of Eating Well magazine. 26 contributors are cited, including Carolyn Casner, Carolyn Malcoun, and Breana Lai who seemed to have contributed the most number. For over two decades, EW has worked on new ways to make exciting the healthy choices for eating. There are 100 achievable and easy recipes, each with a short list of ingredients and each with whole foods ready for dinner in under 45 minutes (there is also a chapter on under 20 minute preps). Covered too are breakfasts, lunch, and snacks. Typical are asparagus tabbouleh, braised cauliflower and squash penne pasta; chilly dilly cucumber soup, cashew and three-seed chocolate bark, and cornbread- topped chili casserole. Family dining at its finest! Special-interest indexes include gluten-free and vegan. The book could have been improved if it also used metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Quality/price rating: 89.
 
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