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Sunday, February 25, 2018

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"...
 
 
 
21.THE PUMPKIN COOKBOOK. 2nd ed.(Storey Publishing, 2005, 2017, 248 pages, ISBN 978-1-61212-833-7, $16.95 USD softbound) is by DeeDee Stovel, a cookbook author, caterer, and teacher. It was previously published in 2005, at a dollar more (!) but with 125 (now 139) recipes. Pumpkins, of course, are good for you: vitamins A and C plus potassium and protein. She emphasizes that you can use fresh or canned pumpkin. For example, she says it might be better to use canned pumpkin in her Thai pumpkin soup. She has variations, such as six different pie recipes. And there is something for each course. Useful sections show you how to make a pumpkin serving bowl, the differences and uses for roasted pumpkin, steamed, raw, canned and pepitas (seeds). The recipes are indexed, but the the canned and fresh pumpkin also have their separate entries on page 19. Some useful preps include pumpkin chutney, black bean quesadillas, roasted pumpkin parmesan polenta, pumpkin corn pudding, BBQ chicken thighs and pumpkin sauce, and pumpkin-pear galette. Winter squashes, known for their thicker skins, include acorn, butternut, buttercup, and hubbard. In many cases they can be interchangeable, paying attention to flavours. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is a table of metric equivalents. Quality/price rating: 87.
 
 
 
22.MADE IN VIETNAM (Hardie Grant Books, 2014, 2017, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-74379290-2 $29.99 USD paperbound) is by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl. It was originally published in 2014 as "Real Vietnamese Cooking"; this is the paperbound reprint that has also been revised. The authors have lived in Hanoi for years, and their cooking is the ease of family style. It's arranged by course: rice and bread, veggies and salads, seafood, poultry, meat, condiments and sweets. There's baby chicken chargrilled with kaffir lime leaves, tofu and banana flower salad, bitter gourd with duck eggs, fish cakes in young green rice, and smoky eggplant with young jackfruit salad. Good coverage in then almost 200 preps. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both avoirdupois and metric measurements, but there is no table equivalents. Quality/price rating: 86.
 

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