No comments about The Little Book of Curry.

4 comments about The Burmese Kitchen: Recipes from the Golden Land.

1. It was clearly written, and rich in anthropological detail. After reading this cook book, I felt as if I could go to Burma and order with confidences from the menus there. I have prepared several recipes from this book, and all were delicious and exotic.



2. My copy of this book, now dog-eared and food stained, has become one of my standards when I'm looking to prepare 'not just your ordinary' generic Asian style dinner. In terms of successfully replicating these recipes I'd say it's a one spooner (four spoons being the most difficult. This assumes you have an interest in cooking and its process--and typically call cooking more than throwing together 'chicken tonight'. What makes the cuisine of Burma so interesting is how it has taken the influence of its neighbors--Thailanad, India, and China--and created flavors and tastes unique to Burma. This book represents dishes that are both authentic in their scope and fresh in their flavors. Lookin' to go native? Great buy.



3. ......this cookbook is an experience! Burmese cuisine is a marvelous blend of the cuisines of its neighbors: China, Thailand, and India, making for a collection of delicious recipes that are distinct and memorable. The authors even give a brief history of each recipe, describing the origins and modern availability of many. They also open with a history of Burma that really helps round off the experience of this cookbook.

   This cookbook contains hundreds of recipes, a glossary of ingredients and a "how to make...." section to help teach those new to the cuisine how to make some of the commonly found prepared items in the recipes. I can highly recommend: Beef in Tamarind Sauce, Roast Pork and Garlic Noodles, Malay Noodle Stir-Fry, Egg Noodles (Chinese Muslim Style), Chicken and Chick Pea Curry, Chili Chicken and the Sesame Rice Dessert. This cookbook has so much more to offer that I know I will be discovering for a long time to come. Chapters include: Appetizers and Fritters, Chutneys and Condiments, Soups, Beef and Lamb, Pork, Poultry and Eggs, Fish and Seafood, Rice and Pancakes, Vegetables and Salads, Sweets, and Menus.

   The only drawback I see in choosing this cookbook would be for those cooks who need pictures to prepare recipes. This cookbook does not contain any photos. Also, for those who require very Americanized versions of international cuisine, be forewarned, this cookbook contains authentic Burmese recipes! If you want a genuine experience, than look no further than this cookbook!




4. One of the few books available concerning burmese cuisine this book is definitly informative, and useful as a key to burmese flavour combinations and palate. I have had this book for over 15 years (I recommend page 103.. labour intensive but a family favourite and the only curry that my mum will clean her coffee grinder to make). True, there are no pictures, but I guess it let's you dream a bit, and it in no way detracts from the book; I mean who wants to try and make something look the way a food stylist has spent three hours on anyway? By and large the recipes are quite good and not too complicated... If there were a negative side to the book it would be that some recipes just arn't suited to western palates (even if they are authentic?), and have to be seen in the context of a multi dish meal with condiments and sauces. All in all, a facinating look at an undeservedly unknown cuisine and another lovely addition to the prolific Mr. Copeland Marks' oeuvre.

No comments about Chinese-Japanese Cook Book.

No comments about Thai Cooking (Foods of the World).

No comments about Asian Foods: Science and Technology.

No comments about The Art of Just Cooking - A Culinary Guide to Living in Harmony with Nature.

No comments about Great Foods of the World: Regional Italian, Mexican and Asian Cooking.

No comments about Oriental Cooking for the Diabetic.

No comments about Asian Pasta: A Cook's Guide to the Noodles, Wrappers, and Pasta Creations of the East.

5 comments about The Scents of Eden: A Narrative of the Spice Trade.

1. Thus goes the old saying which aptly summarised the politics and economics of the renaissance spice trade. Charles Corn's splendid narrative of the spice trade seeks to explain the forces which inspired Western Europeans to commit acts of bravery and madness in pursuit of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. Provided you didn't get yourself either killed by the weird island Sultans of the various East Indies, or robbed by a rival merchant fleet, the spice trade offered profits well in excess of 1000%. The spice trade started with Portugal's efforts to win control of Malacca (in modern Malaysia); it continued with the establishment of the two rival East India Companies (Dutch and English respectively), who fought control of the Banda island group. (At that time, Banda had the world's monopoly on nutmeg, the King of Spices.) Corn has visited the Banda group (modern Indonesia) and as a result, his descriptions of these once-prized possessions has a sure sense of place. Also enjoyable are the later chapters dealing with the American intrusion into the spice trade, which, as Corn notes, was closely linked to the American slave trade. "Scents of Eden" complements another recent tale of pirate-capitalism, "The Power of Gold."



2. Charles Corn's "The Scents of Eden" seeks to document the history of the spice trade, focusing on the control of a few key islands in the East Indies where the historically most valuable spices (notably cloves and nutmeg) originated. Corn's effort is a little spotty: I found him both interesting and readable in some places, and neither in many other places.

   I think about 60% of this book presents interesting and relevant material, but the remaining 40% felt like filler to me. The portions of the book where Corn discusses the key spice-producing islands, their discovery and the imperialistic practices that controlled them, were generally very interesting, and read quickly and with satisfaction. Moreover, I found Corn's writing style generally pleasant to read, and appropriate (or at least acceptable) for "popular" history. The early chapters were among the better ones.

   However, Corn doesn't seem to have enough material to make all 319 pages interesting, or perhaps the topic just isn't robust enough for that much book. Either way, I found many chapters off topic, and felt like I was suffering through a droning lecture. For example, Corn provides long descriptions of Amsterdam, London and Salem, none of which seemed more than peripherally relevant to me. More irritating was a rather gratuitous description of Dutch atrocities to both native inhabitants and other pesky Europeans (most notably, the English). While these seemed well documented (among the best documented material Corn presents), I thought he'd made his point adequately in earlier discussions of the topic, and this elaboration didn't seem to add anything to the book.

   For my money, "The Scents of Eden" isn't polished enough to make for a serious academic work, and isn't interesting or consistent enough to be top shelf "popular" history. While it had its moments, I found myself struggling through mediocre material in the later parts. And the abundance of chapters that I found off-topic made me question the significance of the entire subject. If you're considering reading this, you may enjoy the book somewhat, but I'd recommend something by Tuchman or Gleeson well ahead of this book.




3. Nice, interesting historical read. This book filled in a lot of gaps in my historical knowledge. The book is a nicely interwoven tale of various personas involved in the spice trade as well as the macro-history of this trade.

   My only complaint is that at times the book would give overly-flowery descriptions within the historical context. I understand that this is done to make the book more readable, it just over does it at times. Or it could be that I'm being overly-critical because I read Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel right before reading this (Diamond's book does an absolutely perfect job of walking the line between readability and scientific rigor).




4. The writing in this book was excruciating. The coherence of the story was utterly lost in a lead-footed presentation style that completely disregarded narrative. That's too bad, because one would think the subject would be a fascinating one.



5. This is the worst sort of "docu-tainment". Neither a historical romance nor history. Absolutely no documentation. To paraphrase the author: One searches in vain for a subject here. The author permits himself some outrageous rubbish like this: "Though it was only a fresco of the imagination springing from his work among a strangely mutant people..." What in the world does this mean? Then on the very next page we are forced to swallow this: "One searches Xavier's writings in vain for his take on Java's wild beauty, the miraculous dawns at sea, and the tinted skies of early evening, and can only conjecture..." Right, so your subject is silent about the stuff you want to rhapsodize on, but that doesn't stop you. The key word here is "conjecture". Of the 100 pages I managed to read before disgust set in, there is nothing here but conjecture.
   
   The final absurdity was the five page rhapsody on Elizabethan London (which has of course nothing to do with the subject and is of a level of a poorly written travel guide). Worse yet, he refers to Chaucer as his authority for understanding this London. Chaucer wrote 200 years before this period! It was probably too much trouble to read any books by Elizabethan writers, so he took down the old Cliff Notes on Chaucer to save time.
   
   Just before the Chaucer madness came a discussion of Mendes Pinto's "Travels" written "in the tradition of 'Don Quixote'." Cervantes's book was published 30 years after Pinto's.
   
   An author with no sense of chronology has no place writing "conjectural" histories. All this is only made worse by the ineptly flowery prose that serves no purpose and gives even less pleasure.
   
   I want my money back from the author.