2 comments about The Filipino-American Kitchen: Traditional Recipes, Contemporary Flavors.

1. The dishes in this book fit the title: Filipino American. That is, they are based on the traditional foods of the Philippines but modified to allow the chef to take advantage of fresh local products, and of a minimum of specialty spices. The resulting foods are thus more suited to both the American taste and the American supermarket than highly traditional recipies.
   
   Philippine food traditions are based on their particular variant on oriental cooking, but modified by years of invluence from incoming cultures. The Spanish took over the island in 1542 and left them with a deep impression of Spanish culinary heritage (paella for instance, but without saffron). The Spanish in turn brought with them some Mexican influence. And then there were the Americans, the Japanese, the Chinese.
   
   Ms. Aranas has done an excellent job of fitting these into an American kitchen. You will be hard pressed to flip through this book without finding something that you want to try.



2. This is a very well put together book of fil/am delights. Lots of great recipes and even soups and salads. Mouth watering pictures to accompany the recipes from beginning to end, and easy to follow instructions. Malugod ito....Gusto ako!

5 comments about Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant.

1. This is a beautiful book. It looks at the Kaiseki meal (which comes from the food served during the Chaji, or tea ceremony, and how it has evolved into a seasonal culinary art form. Mr. Murata shows his skill at creating food that evokes the culinary traditions and the seaonal landscape of Japan while transforming this artform into his own unique expression of Kaiseki. It's a beautifully put togheter book. the recipes are surprisingly easy to follow and offer great results. As a History buff, I would like more back ground on Kaiseki and it's relationship to the tea ceremony as well as the seasonal, traditional foods. Still, this is a great book and a welcome additon to your cookbook collection.



2. This is the most beautiful cookbook I own. Stunning photography and lovely design captures the spirit of this immaculate cuisine perfectly. Many of the ingredients used in the recipes will be hard to find if you're not living in Japan, but this is unlikely to be a book you'll cook from on a daily basis anyway. It acts more as a source of inspiration and has changed and informed the way I think about technique and presentation, not just of Japanese food, but everything I cook. A must-buy.



3. There is no way anyone outside of Japan will be able to make any of the recipes in this book. Don't even try. Just enjoy the beautiful photos and the charming descriptions of a very exotic cuisine that is inaccessible even to the Japanese!
   
   I rated it high because most people will never get the chance to have a Kaiseki meal so this is the next best thing. Just gorgeous.



4. Kaiseki is reputedly an exquisite Japanese cuisine that I had hoped to explore in this volume. The book is lavishly produced and a feast for the eyes. The next time I am in Kyoto or Tokyo, I will book a table.
   
   Unfortunately, the ingredients needed for most of these dishes are either unknown or unavailable to the Seattle area where fresh seafood abounds. If you have ready access to sea bream milt, salted cherry blossoms, fresh sea cucumber roe, and tosa-zu vinegar jelly, ingredients from the first four recipes for illustration, then you should have this book in your kitchen. No substitute ingredients or resources are provided. Although lavishly produced, it is destined for a dusty corner of my pantry, being fairly useless as a practical resource.



5. A beautiful book. My criticism would be that there are a lot of ingredients that I wouldn't be able to find easily, but lovely descriptions of the food and culture of kaiseki.

3 comments about Williams-Sonoma Collection: Asian (Williams-Sonoma Collection).

1. This is the book that got me interested in cooking. The chicken satay was great. I've improvised on some of the recipies that I thought were too involved, or when I couldn't find the ingredients. For the life of me I can't find tamarind concentrate anywhere!



2. I had been very impressed with many Williams Sonoma cookbooks in the past, but this one is definitely one of the best. I have tried about half of the recipes and all have been delicious. Great collection of recipes at a tremendous price!



3. I stumbled upon this book for the unbeatable price of $6.98, so I decided to give it a try. I hadn't had much success with Asian cooking... but Williams Sonoma changed that! The recipes are easy enough to follow with explicit directions and ingredient lists. Everything I've tried has been delcious. I definately recommend this cookbook for anyone who enjoys Asian flavors and loves to cook!

5 comments about The Breakaway Cook: Recipes That Break Away from the Ordinary.

1. I buy cookbooks as a hobby but this is one of the very few cookbooks that I have actually used more than a few times. The first recipe I tried was "Minty, Meaty Wontons". Sounds exotic and difficult, but it was actually easy to prepare and incredibly tasty. Then I went on to try "Minty, Boozy Chicken" and "Pizzettas". All were a hit with my family and friends. Eric's recipes are original, wake up your taste buds, and easy to prepare. And with each recipe I've become a much more adventurous cook. This is definitely a "must have" cookbook!!



2. So far, every recipe I have tried has been great. New flavors, new combinations. Some ingredients may take a little effort to find but it is well worth the trouble.



3. I bought a copy of this book as a gift for my sweetheart. We cooked from it together for a week or two. When he returned to his home, he graciously left that copy and I bought another copy for him. We both have most of the nine global ingredients in our kitchens (and copies of Eric's earlier cookbook). The recipes are easy to follow, simple but with complex tastes. The Cauliflower "couscous" on page 186 is one of my favorites. Serves 8? Sure if all 8 people were served simultaneously and didn't have any chance for "just a bit more". Luckily, after you make the Basil Lemon sauce (p 47), you'll be able to make another batch in no time at all. Buy this cookbook, go to the nearest Asian grocery to stock your pantry and you will eat well.



4. I have not bought a cookbook in years, but could not resist this one. I am of Japanese descent and have spent a lot of time in Japan, so I resonated with the aesthetics and the ingredients in this cookbook. In my opinion, it is one of the most artful, innovative and accessible cookbooks around. It has become my cooking bible and I never leave home without it!



5. Simple, healthy and tasty recipes from this fabulous cookbook! I love the idea of using flavored salts in cooking (macca/matcha is now my favorite) and using ingredients that seemingly would not go well together. I've had fantastic results with many of the recipes here--my "go to" breakfast are the fluffy eggs with greek yogurt. I'll never use milk again!

5 comments about The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking: Favorite Recipes from Lemon Grass Restaurant and Cafes.

1. There were a lot of things I really liked about this book. There's a detailed section on ingredients where she gives brand preferences on things like fish sauce, and substitution suggestions for hard to find ingredients. (The brand of specialty sauce you use can make a big difference in outcome in Thai/Asian food, and if you're not familiar with those foods, it's hard to know what brand to pick. And her preferences generally line up with what I've heard elsewhere.) The recipes that I've tried are fairly easy and straightforward. And I wouldn't care about authenticity if I liked the food. My problem is that while, for the most part, the results were perfectly edible, there was nothing I would want to make again. The lemongrass chicken was tasteless. And I love lemongrass chicken when I get it in Vietnamese restaurants! The lemongrass lemonade was very good, but not worth the work. The curried rice with kaffir lime leaves and the Thai Green Curry with chicken were both good, but definately missing something. This might just reflect my taste preferences--I live in New York, so I might be used to a relatively authentic restaurant version, or it might have been my technique or my lack of stellar ingredients. However, I've had much better sucess in general with Nancie McDermott's books. I will hang on to the book for the ingredient introduction, and I may try one of the recipes again if there's something I can't find elsewhere, but probably not.



2. I've been using this cookbook for years and I have yet to make something that I am not pleased with from it.
   
   Some of my favorites include "Warm Beef on Cool Noodles", a classic Vietnamese dish. The Cornish hen stew, (made with a chicken instead) was insanely good (use Japanese style yellow curry, i think they say it in the book).
   
   The curry recipes are quite good, although I prefer to defer to Simply Thai Cooking for their technique with curry recipes (involves lots of boiling of curry and coconut milk). But these recipes are definitely great.
   
   There is also a great recipe for Shrimp with a homemade paste made with peppercorns, cilantro, and chiles that is excellent, even when I completely riffed on it.
   
   The format is easy to read, and the book has held up to my extremely messy cooking style. I also enjoy the author's anecdotes about Thailand and Vietnam.



3. I'm Vietnamese-American & grew up eating lots of Vietnamese food but never actually knew how to make anything myself so it is nice to have a cookbook that includes many of the traditional Vietnamese recipes, like carmelized ginger chicken, congee (chicken & rice soup), pho, etc. Also, the book includes Thai recipes which seem interesting though I haven't tried them yet. I've followed a couple of the former recipes and they provide good guidelines for the dish, however, I don't like how the author has "Americanized" the recipes and seems to make the highest priority presentation because I'm really just interested in eating simple, good food that's easy to make. Also, her narrative often includes "plugs" for her own or her husband's businesses which is a turn-off and detracts from the focus and authenticity of the book (which is supposed to be about cooking, not personal advertising). Still, the recipes seem ok and serve the purpose for Vietnamese-style cooking.



4. When I first bought this book I thought it was great but since then I have purchased Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors which is much more detailed and authentic. This "lemongrass" book is good for an introduction to both THAI and Vietnamese cuisine but I find it leans more towards "Americanizing" its flavors and for someone like myself who is trying to learn Vietnamese cuisine for her husbands sake..isn't the best. I being Hispanic, like the recipes but my Asian husband said they lacked TRUE flavor..hence my second purchase, which is a big hit. I like the Thai recipes in this book but tend to turn to the before mentioned book for Vietnamese recipes.



5. i could not even use any of her recipes, because its like a mixture of recipes that she has revised for people who aren't asian to cook and eat. i am asian and i know that these are not the real recipes, any wannabe could write a book like this. and she tries to hard to be all fancy and high class with her food. she even makes up these strange names for her recipes, what a waste of money. the worst recipes ever!!!!!!!!! her thai recipes are horrible. i don't think she realize that she is vietnamese. please get back to roots lady!

5 comments about Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes.

1. I am astounded at the creativity displayed in the pages of this book. Some of the food show within its pages are indeed "to lovely to eat". I never cease to be amazed at the creativity that some people have in preparing a dish and having the level of artistry to make it look so beautiful, whimsical and appealing!



2. If you need recipes and cooking guides this is NOT your book. There are many other books with recipes (Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go, and Manga University Culinary Institute's: Manga Cookbook both come to mind), and many groups (like eat_my_bento on livejournal) just waiting to help you figure out how to make bento. What this book offers is inspiration; Stunning, unbelievable, "how did they DO that" inspiration.
   
   Focusing on "character bento" this book is full of pictures of theme bento boxes. From the simple and "easy to picture myself doing" box depicting three little pigs (the pigs are rice balls with ham ears and noses)to the Disney Cinderella who is depicted with enough realism (in ham and cheese and spices) to look like a licensed image!
   
   there are NO instructions given on how to duplicate these bento Boxes. the only "instructions" are for the two line drawings in the back by the author suggesting a "Pac Man" and starry sky scene bento box. The ingredient listing given for each box is helpful, but doesn't tell you what is being used in which area of the design. This book is mostly useful for inspiring you to try something a bit beyond the "hot dog octopus" of the typical bento box.



3. FACE FOOD: THE VISUAL CREATIVITY OF JAPANESE BENTO BOXES could just as easily have been featured in our 'Arts' section: it's a fun little collection pairing color photos of creative Japanese bento box lunches with listings of the ingredients which go into them. Each bento box features 'food art' shaped into various figures that creatively fit into the small food boxes. Any library strong in food art displays will find it an unusual, inviting key to creating food art in smaller spaces than is normally featured.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. Pretty pictures...lots of them. (Though I did expect them to be in high gloss, not just printed on the page - The colors seem muted.)
   Not practical for actually reconstructing said Bentos, there are no directions (other than for some cheesy "beginner" ones in the appendix.) Under a picture of your desired character it will simply say "ham, eggs, nori, fishcake, rice, cucumber. . ." you have to figure out what made what. Amazing pictures, though! Enough so that I don't own this book yet (sat in Barnes and Noble and perused it for 30 minutes) but I intend to make it one of my next purchases.



5. This is a good book if you like to look at pictures of completed bento's. It is very small, almost pocket sized. Some of the ideas are very clever. However if you require any sort of instruction--either cooking or assembly wise this is not the book for you. It is a nice addition to my collection but I have found it pretty useless.

5 comments about Filipino Homestyle Dishes: Delicious Meals in Minutes.

1. I love this book buz im not expert in cooking. This was served as my guide. Perfect for Beginners & it comes with nice packaging.



2. Though the book sensibly substitutes ingredients found in the Philippines for items that are more readily available in local US stores, the compromise in taste is not noticable (if there even is). All in all, it is a short but very helpful book that taught me how to cook a few homestyle dishes that I know, miss and love. If there is any bane to it, it would be that it did not have more recipes tucked away in its small, but informative pages.



3. If you like Asian Cuisine this book is good. Have a nice picture and good procedure how to prapare it's recipe.



4. This is a good book. I wish it had more traditional recipes, but the ones in it are just fine.



5. This is a perfect cookbook that beautifully brings out the beauty and delicious flavors of Filipino cuisine.
   I'm actually happy that it doesn't have all the "exotic" stuff such as dinuguan, goat meat stew, paksiw etc.
   It's presented in a modern, slightly Americanized way which I think is proper for filipinos and non filipinos alike.
   I love the pictures! Very beautifully done.

5 comments about A Taste of Persia.

1. I have used many of the recipes, modified them, cooked them with friends and family. I have given my first copy away to my mom and then had to search bookstores to replace it. I even took it on the plane when I visited my family to make a special dinner for my dad's birthday with the whole family there. Grandma even loved it! I especially like to make the crusted saffron, yogurt rice for others. The presentation is great, but best made with a friend to share in the prep. As the author says, nushjan!



2. As a Persian who's trying to learn to cook persian food, this is the best Persian cookbook I have. It lists the most popular foods, the receipes are easy to follow and turn out great! Almost as good as my own mom cooks them... I would definitley recommend this book!



3. I love this book because I lived (30 years ago) in Iran and enjoyed the food very much. This is the first Iranian cookbook I found, with excellent recipes, very easy for me to duplicate...and enjoy!



4. This book offers a great deal of cultural background in addition to its fantastic recipes. Highly recommended (especially the Pistachio Soup recipe on page 45).



5. I'm Persian and my mother is an incredible cook with vast repertoire. So, I didn't start cooking until I went off to med school. I needed a beginners cookbook & this is one that leads to consistently delicious and authentic meals. The basics done well, with plenty of helpful tips. The glossary in back is also helpful. Would HIGHLY recommend to those learning to cook Persian/Iranian food. If you're looking for more avant garde Perisan foods, I'd try her other book From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table.

5 comments about Real Vegetarian Thai.

1. To date, all of the reviews here grant four or five stars to this book - and I am no exception. This little red book contains the most delicious selection of vegetarian Thai recipes that I have encountered in my 15 years of cooking vegetarian meals. Not only are the recipes quite easy in preparation, but they also are based on easily available ingredients and are very quick to make. The outcome is almost always exceptional - both in taste and presentation. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book as a valuable addition to anyone's collection of cookbooks. As you can see from the other reviews, I am not alone. So, what are you waiting for? It's rare to find such a unanimously positive opinion about anything.



2. I have used many different recipes in this book and every one turns out consistently great. I definitely would recommend this cookbook.



3. This is a nice cookbook. All the recipes that I have tried have turned out exactly as I expected (not common for all cookbooks offered for sale). It is very handy that the author gives recipes for 4 different types of curry paste. I also appreciate the glossary of Thai terms.
   
   The Fried Cashews with Chilies and Green Onions is a particularly good recipe.
   
   If you like Thai food this is a nice cookbook to have in your library. Also, if you like spicy food or Chinese food, I suggest that you give this book a try.



4. I have tried about seventy percent of the recipes in this book - sometimes even substituting ingredients - and yet had success each and every single time. Friends and family think I took classes in Thai cooking - thanks to the authoress, for a truly wonderful book! Also I did not realise how much better the food tastes - I suspect most restaurants do use a 'tad-bit' of fish-sauce or oyster-sauce - because without these, I find my dishes turn out with richer flavours and taste.
   
   I do wish there were pictures in colour though, because after all, isn't half the fun in cookbooks about lusting at the beautifully laden dishes, having your mouth water and then rushing in a frenzy to cook 'em up and dig your hungry paws (um, I mean chopsticks) in 'em :)?



5. Like the review "Worth it for the Pad Thai recipe" - which is true - to me it could also be worth it for the Satay Peanut Sauce recipe. I have become obsessed with this sauce and add it to tofu and a large assortment of vegetables several times a week. It is absolutely delicious and satisfies me more than anything else; it is sweet, rich, spicy, salty, and tangy all at once! I have been eating it as part of the Schwarzbein Principle Program (low carb, high veg) and have been losing weight even using regular full-fat coconut milk. This satisfies my need for sweetness. The Paht Thai recipe is also superb. A really fun and delicious cookbook!

5 comments about Quick & Easy Vietnamese: Home Cooking for Everyone (Quick and Easy Series).

1. I LOVE Andre's cookbook!
   
   His recipes are pretty authentic and straightforward. He doesn't B.S. Highly recommended for beginners. For those who are experienced in Vietnamese cooking, I find this book useful as a quick reference for weekly meal planning. Like with any other cookbooks, the recipes serve only as a basis for basic ingredients. Alter the flavor according to your own liking (sweetness, tang, saltiness, etc..)
   
   Enjoy..



2. Of all six vietnamese cookbook, this came pretty decent. The pictures are great to prep for the food. I like the fact that you don't have to worry if you bought the wrong ingredients or not. I am glad I bought this one. Banh Xeo and Bun Rieu is pretty decent.



3. Giving pictures of the major ingriedients was very thoughtful. The recipes are pretty streamlined and easy but thats fine with me, I don't have any aspirations to be a chef. Personally I wouldn't go to the trouble of making my own soup stock like the author suggests when you can just buy the cubes, but I guess it just depends on how serios you are about cooking. So far the book has been easy to follow and the food produced has been delicious which is whats most important to me.



4. The recipes in this book is pretty much basic vietnamese cooking. It is simple and easy to follow instructions. Great pictures that would leave you salivating and wanting to try the recipes.



5. I cook Vietnamese all the time but I got this book for dishes where I am not sure how to make. There are some shortcuts that I would have never thought to use. After trying it, it taste just as good and save me time.