5 comments about Cooking at Home with Pedatha (Best Vegetarian Book in the World - Gourmand Winner).

1. Though most of the recipes are not for faint-hearted (quite laborious since they ususally demand every spice be prepared from scratch), they reward well:) I am from India, but not the part where these cuisines are from. So, I cannot vouch for their authenticity, but I still love most of the dishes, expecially the chutneys. I also like the fact that authors were thoughtful enought to include names of common ingredients in 2-3 languages, along with their photos.



2. I like Cooking at home with Pedatha for various reasons:
   1. It is a collection of recipes with varying difficulty levels, but with made easy steps.
   2. It bears a simplistic writing style.
   3. It is a collector's item/great gift for Indians and non-Indians alike because of the quality of the pictures, print, and writing.
   4. It is an authentic, south Indian, vegetarian cookbook - a rare commodity.
   Especially, for those non-Indians that believe that Indian food equals "masala" or spicy, greasy food, I'd strongly recommend this book. It will change your view of Indian food for better.



3. A well-designed book, its recipes are simple, authentic and remind me of my grandma's cooking. I like the layout and colour scheme. I use this book as a gift and whomever I have gifted this to, they are always delighted with it.



4. Really tasty recipes. Easy to follow. I have tried most of the dishes and it came out really well. Highly recommended.



5. I like this book because it uses different spices that I would normally not have used, to create different flavors. There aren't too many great south indian cook books around - so I'd recommend this one.

5 comments about Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals.

1. I bought this cookbook as a present for my fiance, and I was very happy with the style and clarity. I also approve of the "prepare it in advance" method which underlies this volume. Each section highlights a range of sauces, condiments, spices and rubs which can be used on the menu items demonstrated, or to spice up your own personal cooking. Because you can prepare so many different dishes with one or two pre-prepared sauces, this book is great for singles or small families who don't like to slave over the stove every night.
   
   The final star missing is because, as much as the book is good, he harps on seafood (particularly scallops) which is limiting, and he is uneven in his suggestions of substituting for rare or expensive menu items. With a little creativity, I'm sure we can figure it out, but he does list substitutions for some - just not many of his recipes.
   
   Overall, quite good, and much more accessible and direct than the earlier "Blue Ginger" cookbook, which I did NOT buy, as it was incomprehensible and the directions were badly flawed.



2. I am totally smitten by this man. I often joke to my family and friends saying, "Ming Tsai is my husband, he just doesn't know yet!"
   
   Ming Tsai totally knows what he's talking about. I love how he makes his large vats of dips and sauces---calling them "the master" sauce and applies them to different dishes.
   
   My favorite masters are his curry oil, black bean sauce, green curry, and sambal. I have not been disappointed with any of his dishes, they all come out perfect and tasty.
   
   I love how his book is easy to follow with tips and colorful pictures.
   
   BUY IT! IT'S A GREAT INVESTMENT!



3. My husband and I both love Asian food but some of it can be very hard for Americans to make. Had gotten Ming's book at the library and loved it so much had to buy it. Ming has a recipe for a "base" which is then incorporated into another recipe. I pick a few to make, cutting the recipe in half since we are only 2- then over the shelf life period make his different recipes. Would reccomend this book to anyone looking for new flavor in their mealsSimply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals



4. I think it's a fine cookbook. The crab cakes are so flavorful; some of the best I've ever had.



5. He is a wonderful cook. Several of ingredients are not readily available in my area. I didn't want to hassle to
   order on line.

5 comments about Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking.

1. I can imagine becoming a vegetarian for reasons of social conscience, but it hasn't happened yet. I do, however, have vegetarian friends who tolerate my lack of enlightenment, and I do sometimes cook for them. On such occasions, if I feel like challenging myself, this is the cookbook to which I turn for inspiration.
   
   Julie Sahni offers clear enough descriptions of the tasks involved in classic Indian cooking so that anyone who's a halfway good cook in any other style can easily produce something delicious from her recipes. I never follow recipes exactly except when I use this book; I've learned from trial and error that whatever Julie says is right. The lessons she offers in nutrition - balancing grains with lentils and other pulses; using spices to AID digestion; conserving nutrients in the cooking process - are invariably worth learning.
   
   The cookbook begins with eighty pages of descriptions of the basic ingredients of Indian vegetarian cooking, especially the spices and spice blends. Julie tells us which spices can be ground or purchased ground in advance without sacrificing flavor, and which cannot. Lots of recipes in the newspapers, for instance, call for "garam masala" as if there were only one blend of spices under that name. Julie offers five quite different blends of aromatic and piquant spices, all regional garam masalas, and tells us when each is appropriate.
   
   Some of the best recipes in the book are for pilafs and hearty stews. Then there are clear instrutions for making two dozen sorts of Indian breads and dumplings. Home-made chutneys, I can tell you, are way tastier than gunk from jars. Cauliflower stuffed with nuts and greens is one of my favorite showy dishes for company. How about 'tiny new potatoes smothered in fenugreek leaves?' She includes instructions for growing a pot of fenugreek from seeds. Cardamom ice cream and rose petal rice pudding are always show-stopper desserts. There are also ideas for whole menus - combinations of dishes both for aesthetic and nutritioal balance.
   
   I have half a dozen Indian cookbooks - gifts from friends mostly - but Julie Sahni's is the only one that's speckled with food stains and oil smudges. Honorable decorations for a cookbook, indicating frequent use.



2. What a fantastic book -- I'm finally able to master the cuisine I could formerly only dine on in restaurants, and this way I can control things like spiciness and amount of oil.
   
   With the exception of some of the desserts (I don't know what milk fudge is or how I can whip up a vegan equivalent), I have not come across a single recipe that I was not able to make vegan. I was even able to enjoy saag paneer for the first time by using tofu in lieu of cheese. Ghee, milk, and cream can be replaced with vegetable oil or soy/rice milk.
   
   Almost every recipe I've tried has been a winner. There are several that I've made again and again, such as the saag paneer, roti, the black-lentil dal, the Tanjore three-bean salad, and the five-jewel creamed lentils. As a consequence the binding is starting to fall apart -- another reviewer mentioned poor-quality binding and that has been my experience as well.
   
   One warning: If you don't have an Indian market in your town, the ingredients for many of these recipes might be difficult to track down.



3. I would recommend this to someone new to Indian vegetarian cooking. None of the the recipes are amazing but they are all good. Julie Sahni's recipes are simple and her instructions are well written. After following a few of her recipes and directions, one picks up the pattern and method to Indian cooking.



4. Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking
   I have so far cooked 9 recipes out of this book. Eight were superb & the other was quite good. (I feel that I can amend the quite good to make it superb, too.)
   
   Here are the names of the superb recipes:
   Sprouted Beans (how to make Indian-style)
   Hearty Blue Mountain Cabbage & Tomato Stew
   Jain Coriander-Scented Millet & Mung Bean Pilaf
   Bengali Green Beans & Potatoes Smothered in Mustard Oil
   Spicy Mushrooms with Ginger & Chilies
   Yellow Mung Beans Laced with Herbs
   Cabbage Salad Laced with Mustard & Coconut -- if you are only going to try one recipe from this book, this coconut cole slaw is the one to try!
   White Gram Beans (Urad Dal) Laced with Onion Butter



5. There are two things that can be called "filthy" in a nice way - an unhittable baseball pitcher and a really well-used cookbook. This is the dirtiest cookbook that I own - meaning, of course, that I cook from it all the time. I have had this book for years, and there's hardly a page without a fragrant fingerprint, a few oily drips, a dusting of spice, or a folded tab. Not to mention the pencilled in comments. I am not Indian but I cook more Indian dishes than most of my Indian friends. I have a lot of cookbooks, and many of them are Indian, and I've collected a lot of recipes from friends and the Internet too. But I still reach for my Julie Sahni all the time. The recipes in this book are easy to follow and generally have excellent results - obviously well tested - and well tasted too! The only real complaint I have is that the index is nearly useless, since it doesn't include the Indian names for the dishes. After all these years, I know where to find Idli or rasam or shokhto - but don't expect to look them up in the index. Once you find what you're looking for, the recipes are wonderful.

5 comments about A Taste of Persia.

1. I JUST RECEIVED THIS BOOK AND I AM SOOOOO THANKFUL THAT I ORDERED IT .. IT IS BEAUTIFUL .. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE WONDERFUL AND COLORFUL .. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WANTING TO COOK PERSIAN FOOD .. I AM SO ANXIOUS TO GET STARTED COOKING .. CAN'T WAIT ..



2. Unfortunately I think the authoress makes this book a bit "too" exotic. yes Irani cooking is really awesome, ancient and beautiful but most Iranian recipies are actually quite simple and use a minimal of spices and other things...she just adds far to much to everything. I think she is trying to make Persian cooking more exotic than it really is.
   
   For example the way I make tas kabob is NOT like how she says it is, it had no fruit in it!? Since when does tas kabob ever have fruit in it? uh, never... It has lamb, potato and tomato and some advieh and salt...um, thats it.
   There are many other examples I could share but wont.
   
   I prefer Margaret Shaida's Legendary Cusine of Persia. She gives the REAL recipies and ways of cooking dishes that Iranians actually use. Infact I have a in Farsi cookbook I got in tehran during my last trip over to see Family...the Venus cookbook and the majority of the recipies are the same or very very similar.
   
   Anyway, I wish this women would put out a REAL Iranian cookbook not a overly exoticized, hyped up version...



3. I've tried many of the recipes in this book and I loved them. However, when it comes to the listed ingredients you'll find that some of the recipes are either missing ingredients (a recipe calls for an ingredient that's not listed and then you are not quite sure what to do) or the quantities listed are wrong.



4. I've rated this book better than Batmanglij's New Food of Life but there are still some typos and inaccuracies that make it difficult to give this book a perfect review. I've verified the typos with Batmanglij but I wish she had a section on her website for updates BEFORE I stumble into them. The recipe for ghormeh sabzi is priceless. In fact, my husband says it's better than his mom's!



5. I tried cooking about 7-8 different dishes from this cookbook and only one came out tasting very good (the eggplant khoresh, which was wonderful). Everything else was very oily and not very flavorful, and not nearly worth the prep time (most of the recipes are more than an hour just for prep, plus two hours to cook (and the cooking is never just "put it in and set the timer" - it's "put it in, come back in 15 minutes and combine it with something from pot B and put it on the stove for 25 minutes, and then ....")) Also most recipes have around 15 ingredients, many hard-to-find, expensive, and not useful in other recipes, so remaining quantity just goes to waste. If you like food that's relatively bland and very oily, and are willing to work for hours to make a meal, this might be a good book to choose. But if you're like me and just looking for some quick meals to whip up with easy-to-find ingredients, this certainly isn't the cookbook to buy.

5 comments about Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India.

1. I'm trying to get away from eating animal protein and focus on mostly vegetarian. I already knew I liked South Indian food so when I saw this book while browsing at the bookstore (Powell's - ironically, oh mighty Amazon), it immediately struck me as a must buy. The main selling point was the fabulous pictures that accompany the recipes. They looked exactly like the kind of food that I have enjoyed in good Indian restaurants in which I have eaten both in South India and also here (to a lesser degree) in Seattle.
   
   The recipes are detailed and easy to follow. I did consult youtube to make sure I was preparing the tamarind correctly for my first Sambar recipe but after that, I was good to go. I enjoy working with ingredients and I love exotic spices. I hit up the local Indian grocery and they had everything I needed. Inexpensive, too, no complaints there. We recently bought a vitamix, which has covered the food processor base very nicely.
   
   The results have been oustanding. Tasty, spicy, great consistency. With the sambars that I have made so far, I often end up with a different color than what I see in the picture but the taste is still great - I'm sure there is some reason but I'm not going to worry about it. I still have much to learn, and many more recipes to make in this book and I look forward with great enthusiasm to making everyone one of them!
   
   I say buy this book - and enjoy some fun time in the kitchen!



2. Southern Indian food is one of the world's great cuisines and very different from the food of the north. It's lighter, fresher and (I think) more interesting. Having spent 6 weeks in South India this year, I was very keen to start cooking some of the dishes I had eaten there. This book is everything I thought it would be and more. There are so many interesting and delicious recipes and I can't wait to try them all! Those I've cooked so far haven't failed to please. The recipes are detailed and easy to follow. Most of the ingredients are readily available or can be substituted if necessary. This book is destined to become a favourite.



3. I have been relishing and cooking south indian food for as long as I can remember. When I got this book as a present from a close friend, I expected to find new techniques and innovative or even hard to find recipes. ( think authentic chettinad curries, or manglorean recipes). Instead, all I saw was more poriayals and sambar variations. For the uninitiated, the proportions of the spices in these recipes are not accurate. You will find the spice level to be rather high.The only thing i found slightly useful were the menu recommendations at the end of the book.



4. this is a truly wonderful book. the instructions are easy to follow and most of the ingredients listed are things i usually have at home. i found a couple of typos...but this book gets a 5 star rating from me nonetheless.



5. I so wanted to love this book. I enjoy Indian food, I enjoy cooking, and the picture were so appealing. But nothing I've tried has done anything except disappoint so far.
   
   I started with Mashed Green Gram Dal. It's a gorgeous reddish colour in the picture. Where does that red come from in the recipe? What I ended up with was green-brown and the taste was quite boring. Ok, it's my first try, I'm sure it's something I've done.
   
   Next up was the Bean Dal Poriyal. This looked more like the picture, but was dry. The beans and dal didn't work together.
   
   A few weeks later I tried the Ordinary Sambar. Again, what is there in the recipe that gives the lovely red tinge that the picture has? I made it with potatoes. It was too tart. This is my first time cooking with tamarind. I must have done something wrong.
   
   A friend of mine likes dosas. I've tried three times to make the ordinay dosai. The batter tastes good, but I cannot get it to flatten out the in pan. I've tried different heats, different pans, different amounts of oil, different amounts of water in the batter. It will not spread out, it just clumps up. [Here I'm sure it's my lack of experience, rather than the recipe, but it's still discouraging.]
   
   Today I gave it one more shot. The Buttermilk Samber 2, made with okra, is so-so. But the Mashed Potato Poriyal is a complete and utter disappointment. It looks like yellow mashed potatoes with seeds in it. It looks nothing like the picture. Worst of all are the uncooked bits of dal. I've read the recipe carefully. The total cooking time, once the potatoes are boiled, is 2 minutes. When will the dal ever have a chance to cook or at least soften up?
   
   I'm now giving up on this book. This makes me very unhappy, but I'm not a glutton for punishment. It's time to move on.

5 comments about Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia.

1. `Hot Sour Salty Sweet' by husband and wife team, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid is a troublesome book to evaluate. Its biggest problem is its relatively high list price ($45) for no more than average culinary content. Much of that inflated price is based on its oversized heft and the fact that it mixes cooking content with comments on culinary regionalism and pure travelogue in text and pictures.
   
   I confess that this is a very attractive book, very similar in appearance to their later volume, `Home Baking' that I enjoyed and very favorably reviewed. And, since the authors have just come out with a new book with similar heft, price, and subject, I figured it was time to attend to reviewing this volume.
   
   Aside from the price, I have one major problem with this book. While its focus is the culinary world of Southeast Asia, the text is far more anecdotal and personal than it is analytical. After reviewing many excellent books on the regional cooking of France, Italy, and other parts of the Mediterranean, I really find this book very thin on substance. Part of the problem for me may be that it tries to cover far too great an area. In 324 pages of material, they cover Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Yunnan Province of China. Thailand alone has required a 675 page book (`Thai Food') from David Thompson. And, on the ingredients of Asia, you can get a far more comprehensive coverage in Bruce Cost's classic `Asian Ingredients'.
   
   In contrast, the books on Italy's regions all include great insights on the origins of culinary mores in these relatively small venues. And, while Arthur Schwartz' book on Naples may include 50 detailed recipes for pasta in Campania, this book gives but 10 for a much larger region. On the other hand, I give the authors extra credit for providing a recipe for fresh, homemade rice noodles. You may have a bit of a problem wrangling this big book around your kitchen and making a decent photocopy of the oversized page, but it is still a good recipe.
   
   If you have no interest whatsoever in acquiring any OTHER books on Southeast Asian cuisine and you have the budget for it, this is a very nice book. I just think that if you are serious about learning about food, you look for books with greater depth and less fluff.
   
   I find it very interesting that none of the blurbs on the back of the book refer to this volume and none are from culinary notables. All refer to the authors' earlier book on flatbreads and most come from general publications such as `The New York Times' and `The Globe and Mail'.
   
   I can really appreciate all the nice things other reviewers have said about this book, as I was impressed with it when I first looked at it 300 cookbook recipes ago. Since then, I find it just a bit too light for the price.
   
   Recommended as a good coffee table book. Look for it at a steep discount!



2. Pondering on whether to return book or not. Purchased for Cambodian recipes, having a hard time finding a Cambodian cookbook, this was the best bet = and it does have dishes for things we ate like Khmer soup, pumpkin curry and a similar version to Amok. (oddly i have the amok recipe in my New York Cookbook, a favorite standby)
   
   But as an avid photographer and traveler and cookbook collector, i have to say the travel writing is amateurish, the photos are not great (a mini picture of Angkor wat and i don't think i saw many pictures of places i'd been to in thailand or vietnam - just street scenes - what kind of travelogue is this?) and never seem to match the right page (you would think there would be a photo of what you are reading about next to it) and the pictures of dishes are far and few between. For the huge irregular book format of the book there are not that many recipes. Compare for example "the Cook's Book" for the same heft has 685 recipes.. Compare with Nobu Now for the difference in food photography capability..
   
   if many of these reviews didn't say the recipes are good they are part of daily repetoire, i'm tempted to return. it really is way to big for the content inside.



3. This was given to me by a good friend. I love to cook, and over the years have struggled with South East asian, Thai in particular, cooking. But this book lays it all out in such a way, and has such clear instructions that, in combination with an asian grocery store, it is foolproof. As a bonus, the travelogues and side bars are wonderfully interesting. Even if you don't cook, you will be taken away on a wonderful culinary journey through the region.



4. Food is my biggest hobby. I've been cooking for 15 years, and this is one of my favorite books. Beautiful photos, interesting narrative, and most importantly, solid recipes. Highly recommended for learning about SE Asian food/cooking/culture.



5. As all the Alford-Daguid collaborative efforts, the book defies easy categorization--cookbook, travelogue, photojournalism. Recipes are authentic and delicious. Leafing through the book is almost as deeply satisfying as eating the meals.

5 comments about Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch.

1. I love the book! The recipes are great! I grew up in the same area of the author. It brings so many great memories of my childhood. It also allows me to pass on tradition to my children.



2. For years I have been searching for dim sum recipes so as to recreate those dishes I had grown up with. Previously, cookbooks were either too complicated, or didn't show how to form the dumplings. with this book, you have both easy-to-follow instructions and exquisite illustrations showing you how to form the dumplings. I look forward to being able to try all of these recipes out. Most of the basic, common dim sum recipes are covered. My only complaint? One of my favourites is not given!



3. Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch is a great cookbook that gives a lot of background info for those of us who did not grow up with this type of cooking. It also shows alternative ways to steam things, other than using a bamboo steamer and a wok. The directions are very straightforward.



4. I moved away from SF area, to another state, and haven't been near a Chinese bakery in decades, & have been missing Char Sui Bao for the longest time. This cookbook enables me to make my OWN, I love this! Followed the instructions and made extra BBQ pork and froze batches of tiny cubed pork, so now I just make the dough and the sauce mixture and steam them in a bamboo steamer. The Char Sui was absolutely delightfully delicious. The potstickers were amazing too, I will have to try some of the other recipes, but those two recipes have made me extremely happy. Thank you for making this cook book!



5. Let me first say that I am born in Hong Kong and have literally grown up with Dim Sum. I view it as more than just great foods but also as part of a traditional family event. Much like Southern barbecue isn't just about the pork. I am giving this book a 4.5-stars rating
   
   One thing I really appreciate about this book is that its small 2 pages devotion in tea. Tea plays a very important role in traditional Dim Sum. Dim Sum are the foods, but the entire event/experience of going to a Chinese restaurant, ordering Dim Sum and drinking tea is called "Yum Cha", which literally means "Drink Tea". In short, the book converses more than just recipes.
   
   The recipes are not entirely authentic from two angles. It is not necessary a bad thing, but potential buyers should know where this book is coming from. First, a few of the traditional Dim Sum dishes, like Black Bean Sauce Chicken feet, are passed up for semi-western pastries like Mango Pudding. Second, the recipes themselves are not purely authentic. A good example is the recipe for Char-Siu Bao (Steam Cantonese BBQ Pork Buns). It only calls for cake flour. A more authentic recipe would have called for both cake flour and wheat starch. That being said, this book is much more authentic than many other books which simply call for all-purpose flour. I have altered 80% of the recipes I tried thus far because the final products differ from my recollection. Nevertheless, the book provides a good starting point for people who want to try making Dim Sum. The book also offers many vegetarian versions of the same dish. The pictures are wonderful. They are beautiful hand-drawn pictures of the Dim Sum, as well as the hand-drawn procedures, like the steps to pleat a Char Siu Bao. These hand-drawn procedures are cleaner and simpler to understand than photographs. The cooking instructions are easy to follow as well, assuming you have a basic knowledge in cooking and have read one or two cookbooks before.
   
   Here is a dilemma for Dim Sum book. Many Dim Sum dishes are not simple. Most Chinese home cooks cannot make them. They are certainly not typical cookies which home cooks can easily make. As such, a Dim Sum book can be very authentic but >1% of home cook can follow or it can be very easy to learn but does not resume the real dishes at all. This book strikes a good balance between being authentic and accessible. It is not too daunting for a person to learn and the ingredients are not too difficult to find, yet it is authentic enough that readers will not be wasting time and energy in learning subpar recipes. Although this book is an introductory cookbook for Dim Sum enthusiasts, it is not a beginning cookbook. It assumes the readers have a decent background in general cooking. In short, it is a beginner book for Dim Sum, but it is not a beginner book for cooking.

5 comments about Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking.

1. I bought this book many years ago to place with the other vegetarian cookbooks that I had collected. Many of the other books have been lost or given away, but this one stays. Madhur Jaffrey's explanations and techniques are simple and the outcomes are delicious. I haven't made anything from this book that I haven't liked. As I have gradually become more vegan in my cooking (not completely), I will often substitute firm tofu for the panir, and olive oil for the ghee, but the taste is still great.



2. We are not a vegetarians, but this book helped me round out my family's diet to include several very tasty vegetarian dishes. My family loves all that I have tried and some of the dishes have become regular fare with us. You may need to expand your spice and sauce collection as you make the first few dishes, but once that is done almost all of the ingredients are available at your grocery store. The sample menus at the back help you navigate through this book. Ms. Jaffrey introduces many recipes with when and on what occasion that food is eaten. She also helps with where to get some of the more exotic ingredients. Recipes come from India, China, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East.



3. I've had this book for 15 years. I couldn't get rice right until I followed her directions. It turns out beautifully,every time...even brown rice. She has mastered technique in food preparation. I use this book more than any book I own...the pages are falling out(the only downfall...I wish it were hardbound)...I will probably have to buy another because I will use this book the rest of my life. The receipes are plentyful, detailed to perfection, ethnically varried and succulently delicious. Get it girl/guy!



4. This is a fantastic cookbook absolutely filled with great recipes. I would especially recommend it to anyone who has just recently given up meat, or to anyone who is considering vegetarianism but doesn't know how to break the habit of carnivory. What makes these recipes particularly well-suited to beginners is that they are, by and large, traditionally meatless, rather than traditionally meaty and simply modified to suit vegetarians. Since these foods come from cultures such as the Middle East, Buddhist China, and (especially) India, where meat has either never even been a consideration or has at least been less of an obsession than it is in Europe and America, they taste perfectly complete as they are. Furthermore, the recipes are generally quite easy (so long as you have some familiarity with Asian ingredients). Best of all, this book isn't like all of those Williams-Sonoma-type books that cost a fortune and have as much space devoted to glossy photos and cheesy travelogue bits as they do to actual recipes. This book is nothing but recipes, and it is well worth the price.



5. Madhur Jaffrey's "World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking" is a Delectable Treat! I first saw this cookbook a few years ago when I borrowed it from our public library and I've wanted my own copy ever since. My parents just got it for me for Christmas and I am So Excited! I can't wait to start trying out all the wonderful sounding recipes. I am an aficionado of Indian, Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines alike so I know this is the cookbook for me. It has so many great dishes from varied cultures. I am trying to eat healthier and I am cutting out much of the meat that used to be so big a part of my diet. I know the many bean as well as rice dishes will be a great help to me.
   
   Though this book was written in the 80's, it's still a timeless classic. I have a pretty large collection of cookbooks, but few have the beautiful drawings and wonderful anecdotes this one possesses. The amazing number of recipes it contains and also the sample menus of traditional Korean, Japanese, Chinese, East Indian and Middle Eastern fare add to the charm of this lovely volume. The author has a simple way of presenting the many different methods of cooking, too. New and seasoned cooks alike: Enjoy!

5 comments about Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking.

1. the book is beautiful and the photos perfect. Delivery was very fast but I must say the packaging was worn and the book not protected from shipping damage so it looked old and was a little dirty- as though it was lost in transit!



2. This was a great addition to any food lover's library.not only is the photography superb,but the text is exceptionally well-written ,interesting and informative.Not,like some cookbooks,a list of recipes which the average person would have trouble duplicating,it is a fascinating,entertaining,introduction to the art of Japanese food and its preparation. Highest Rating.



3. This is one of the finest cookbooks I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The photography is absolutely gorgeous, and Morimoto breaks down the recipes in such a way that they all seem really simple. Now if only I had his knife skills, then I'd be able to make it look just like he does! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in food, eating, photography, or just about anything else.



4. This book is just awesome..thank you for not only a great book, but for fast shipping of it.



5. I bought this book for my husband for his Christmas present this book is beautiful. Words can not simple describe Morimoto's book. The presentation and creativity with food is outstanding. Morimoto is simply the best chef there is for Japanese Cooking. Great buy and great gift for anyone interested in Japanese cooking. The photos are worth a 1,000 words alone.

5 comments about Discovering Korean Cuisine: Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles.

1. I have a Korean cookbook in Korean and purchased this one for my husband since its in English. Let's just say upon reviewing the book, I realized that this cookbook contain simplified or should I say 'water down' version of the authentic recipes. If you have tasted and know a real good Korean food you will be disappointed as I was. Otherwise, you might not know the difference and might be tempted to purchase this book with its pretty pictures and flash title.



2. I have purchased a few of them and give them away as gifts. It's one of the better Korean cook books I have ever found. I love it.



3. I love this book I don't think that they included all of the secrets. But lets face it a restaurant will never tell every thing. The recipes are very good but some are complicated.



4. I grew up on Korean food and recently decided to try to learn to cook more. I've eaten at a ton of Korean restaurants in LA, so I was very excited to buy this book because I think the Korean food in LA in particular is excellent.
   
   I've now tried some of the recipes from the book and the food came out okay, but clearly something was not quite right. I thought it was my cooking, but some korean friends came over and they pointed out fundamental ingredients that were missing from some of the recipes. I am skeptical that the restaurants that contributed these recipes follow what they wrote.



5. This book has taken a permanent place on my cookbook shelf--Korean food is always delicious, and I hope to visit one of the restaurants in the book to see if my dishes compare! My favorite has to be the spicy beef soup (janggukbap, p 86) it's easy to make and tastes absolutely amazing. I've used several of the recipes when guests have come for dinner, and people are always impressed (it's pretty satisfying!) I've also found that you can substitute other ingredients for ones that might be harder to find and it still ends up tasting great. Definitely worth the price