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Monday, October 1, 2018

FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS IN REVIEW FOR SEPTEMBER 2018 [published monthly since 2000]

 
FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS IN REVIEW FOR SEPTEMBER 2018 [published monthly since 2000]
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By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, deantudor@deantudor.com
Creator of Canada's leading wine satire site at http://fauxvoixvincuisine.blogspot.ca
 
These food and wine book reviews are always available at www.deantudor.com and http://gothicepicures.blogspot.ca
 
 
 
1.SANDWICHES WITHOUT BREAD (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018, 214 pages, ISBN 978-1-5107-3236-0 $16.99 USD hardbound) is by Ukrainian food writer Daria Polukarova. It is touted as "100  low-carb, gluten free options". No bread is used, but remember – the original Sandwich from the Earl himself was constructed as a platform to absorb moisture and liquids from the spread itself, as well as give it portability away from a table. Neither works well here except for maybe rice cakes (which when I eat tend to splatter puffed rice). So you will need a fork, a plate and a table. She's got the arrangement right: closed sandwiches; open sandwiches; rolls and wraps; one-bit sandwiches; skewers; and sweet sandwiches. Most of it is meatless. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are tables of metric equivalents. Unfortunately there is no index, just a table of contents.
Audience and level of use: flexitarians, gluten-free dieters
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sweet and sour tofu lettuce wraps; halloumi bruschetta; onigirazu nori sandwich; sweet potato bolognese sliders; vegan ramen burgers; potato cakes with creamy mushrooms; peanut butter banana bites; polenta sandwiches; hummus and olives crispy chicory bites.
The downside to this book: no index
The upside to this book: good idea, with a minimal amount of flesh (chicken, salmon, tuna)
Quality/Price Rating: 82
 
 
 
2.LANTANA CAFE BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH (Ryland Peters & Small, 2018, 144 pages ISBN 978-1-84975-972-4 $14.95 USD hardbound) is by Shelagh Ryan, who set up the Lantana Cafe in 2008. It was London's first Australian cafe, now with three locations. It's a nifty brunch-breakfast book, arranged by preps as at the Cafe: fruit, oats, grains; eggs; mains; sandwiches, salads; breads and bakes; preserves; and drinks. The subtitle is "relaxed recipes to start each day". That may be, but the list of ingredients in most preps says otherwise. For example, the first prep of "toasted muesli" is much like granola, and calls for 17 ingredients. Unless you have them all at hand (as at Lantana) you'll be busy mixing and baking in the morning. Bircher muesli is a lot better. Grilled halloumi with roast shallots, beetroot & vin cotto is adventuresome with its 17 ingredients. My fave is the slow-braised beans with ham hock, but it needs to start a day in advance. The book could have been improved if it also used more metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart. Quality/price rating: 86.
 
 
 
3.FEED YOUR PEOPLE (powerHouse Books, 2018, 310 pages, $39.95 hardbound) is from too packager Leslie Jonath. It begins with concepts of larger cooking, with dishes by Alice Waters, Dennis Lee, Gonzalo Guzman, and others who know how to feed a crowd. This is big-batch, big-hearted cooking and recipes to gather around. Most preps are scaled to feed groups of 10 – 20, with make-ahead strategies, equipment data, and serving suggestions. A lot here is ethnic and rustic, just perfect for a community gathering: tamales, minestrone, chili, paella (big-pan), gnocchi, Korean bossam, seafood boils, Grand Aioli with roasted salmon,. Gorgeously photographed. Takes sharing plates to a new level.
 
4.COOKING FOR FRIENDS  (Whitecap, 2018, 250 pages, $34.95 paperbound) is by David Wood, who ran the David Wood Food Shop in Toronto between 1984 through 1990. In 1987 he wrote "The David Wood Food Book" (Whitecap), a recipe collection based on his shop's and his catering firm's preps. In 1990 he moved to Salt Spring Island in BC where he eventually co-owned the Salt Spring Island Cheese Company. This current tool represents both a re-think and an updating of the earlier work (which I had bought). So there is some duplication or changes in recipes (the tomato, artichoke, and feta salad remains, but the flank steak with red wine aioli is now flank steak with anchovy aioli). The older work had no photos, but this one us loaded with them. And metrics have been added to the 150 classical, regional and domestic recipes. Terrific stuff, just as in 1987 - - 31 years ago.
 
 
5.CHINESE STREET FOOD (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018, 316 pages $42.99 hardbound)  is by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza who have been eating their way through China for over two decades. This giftbook is a collection of small bites, classic recipes, and stories from China, with anecdotes from folklore and culture, and interviews with cooks and vendors. Photographed and printed entirely in China. Logrollers include Chinese cooks such as Martin Yan and Ken Hom who encourage us to eat our way through China street by street. Each prep has a transliterated title, English equivalent, and pictograph, such as the huixiang jiubing (fennel frond garlic chive pancakes), xiangchang juanbing (hand-rolled sausage pancake), and beijing kaoya (Beijing-style roasted duck breasts).  American measurements are used but there are conversion charts.
 
 
6.VANCOUVER EATS (Figure.1, 2018, 240 pages, $38.95 hardbound) is by Joanne Sasuri, food and drink journalist living on the West Coast. It's one of a series from Figure.1; the others have involved Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, et al. There are 100 recipes here from the city's leading chefs and bartenders, all tested for the home cook. These are the signature dishes from Vancouver's fave foodie spots. Included are Araxi, Cibo Trattoria, Dirty Apron Cooking School, The Flying Pig, Guu, Hy's Steakhouse, Ocean Wise, Wildebeest, and 38 others – about 2 preps each. There are descriptions of each restaurant as well as pix of personnel and of the finished plate.
 
 
7.SEATTLE EATS (Figure.1, 2018, 214 pages, $37.95 hardbound) is by Julien Perry, a Seattle-based food and lifestyle writer. It's one of a series from Figure.1; the others have involved Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, et al. There are 100 recipes here from the city's leading chefs and bartenders, all tested for the home cook. These are the signature dishes from Seattle's fave foodie spots. Included are
some 40 restaurants of varying type (.g. Jack's BBQ, Single Shot, ChefSteps, and Oddfellows Cafe – all with about 2 or so preps apiece. There are descriptions of each restaurant as well as pix of personnel and of the finished plate.
 
 
8.CASABLANCA (Firefly, 2018, 224 pages, $39.95 hardbound) is by the UK food writer Nargisse Benkabbou, a native of Morocco (www.mymoroccanfood.com), and features 100 preps for family and entertaining. The primer has elements for ras el hanout spice mix, preserved lemons, harissa paste, couscous, Moroccan tea, and, of course, the tagine.  Typical are sweet potato and feta maakouda, artichoke and baby potato and preserved lemon tagine, zucchini and thyme and beef shin tagine, kefta and olive toast, and chicken mchermel. Great photography of the finished plates with (thankfully) few or no touristic photos.
 
 
9.APERITIF (Quadrille, 2018, 160 pages, $33.99 hardbound) is by Kate Hawkins. It's a guide to the drinks, history, and culture of the aperitif, with index. Also included are some 33 chic drinks, such as the martini, the manhattan, boulevardier, and cardinale. In a true sense, each drink is only consumed once – after all, it is an aperitif before a meal. You don't need to drink any one of them all night long.  They refresh the palate, and include gin (of course), Campari, Champagne, pastis, vermouth, sherry, and other palate cleansers. A very smart book.
 
 
10.THE BOOK OF VERMOUTH (Hardie Grant Books, 2018, 208 pages, $42.99 hardbound) is by bartender Shaun Byrne and winemaker Gilles Lapalus. It's a fairly comprehensive survey about the aperitif vermouth. As they say, there are five things to know about vermouth: it is a wine, it tastes great neat, it's the essence of a Negroni, it's not a martini without it, and it should be kept in the fridge. There's some great text here on the history and cultural appreciation, as well as vermouth from around the world, the rules of production, the use of sugar and wormwood, plus traditional botanicals. It has an Australian slant, so there is material about Oz botanicals and finished products.  The preps are arranged by season, beginning with spring, and then moving on through pre- and post-dinner activities. A bibliography finishes it all off. Great stuff.
 
 
11.FLAWLESS (University of California Press, 2018, 226 pages, $38 hardbound) is by renowned wine author and features writer  Jamie Goode. He looks at the main causes of faults in wine, ranging from (as indicated in the contents page) brettanomyces through oxidation, volatile acidity, cork taint, and others – about 13 in all.  Some faults are more like taints – it all depends on your tasting palate's level of enjoyment. Even good tastes have their limits – too much oak? Too much sugar? Too much acid? So they can not realistically be called faults, but rather "flaws" or "taints" or weaknesses. I love a good dose of brett, but I've had it at times where it is overwhelming and off-putting. I love oak – my neighbour abhors it and claims to smell it on my breath. I like oxidation too, but there are limits. However, definite flaws are corkiness, heat damage, volatile sulphur, ladybug and mousiness. So far as I can tell, nobody likes even a smidgin of these flaws. Goode does a good job of explaining; it's also great breakfast reading.
 
 
12.RECIPES FOR VICTORY (Whitecap, 2018, 216 pages, $24.95 paperbound) has been edited by Elizabeth Baird and Bridget Wranich, with research and testing by the Volunteer Historic Cooks at Fort York National Historical Site. This is "Great War" food from the front and the kitchens back home in Canada; it grew out of a Fort York-Culinary Historians of Canada symposium in 2014 which was called  for the centennial of the start of the War. This cookbook has been published (with much added research and preps) in time to celebrate the 1918 conclusion of that War to End All Wars. The teams deal with three distinct kitchens: the war front, the gifts from the home front in the trenches, and the kitchens at home. They cover the role of the army cook, alcohol, food packs from home, problems of surplus, home gardens, and some special topics such as the Children's Potato War Plot Fund. Of course,  there are recipes: each has an original taken from a notebook and a modern equivalent. Usually there are illustrations of drawings and photos. A dynamic work, well-written and well-worth reading over the holidays. Bravo!
 
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Chimo! www.deantudor.com
AND http://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
AND https://twitter.com/gothicepicures

Dean Tudor, Ryerson University Journalism Professor Emeritus
Treasurer, Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://winewriterscircle.ca
Look it up and you'll remember it; screw it up and you'll never forget it.

Chimo! www.deantudor.com
AND http://gothicepicures.blogspot.com
AND https://twitter.com/gothicepicures

Dean Tudor, Ryerson University Journalism Professor Emeritus
Treasurer, Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://winewriterscircle.ca
Look it up and you'll remember it; screw it up and you'll never forget it.

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