1 comments about Down-Island Caribbean Cookery.

1. I read this like a textbook, learned the techniques and ingredients in the restaurant food I enjoy when visiting the islands. Unfortunately, where I live, I cannot get many of the ingredients which are plentiful in the Caribbean. Namely - guava, mango, goat meat, papaya, breadfruit, etc. You can substitute many of the ingredients and make wonderful new items, otherwise you will just tease your tastebuds. However - this is one of the very very few Caribbean cookbooks printed in American measures so if you sail to the islands on your own boat, or rent a house there and do your own cooking, this book is an absolute must !!!!!!

3 comments about Traveling Jamaica With Knife, Fork & Spoon: A Righteous Guide to Jamaican Cookery.

1. Very readable, excellent recipes, great information, and lots of fun.



2. Being a Jamaican I was a bit sceptical about this book being written by foreigners (AKA non-Jamaicans), but you know this is a good overall recipe book. They did not try to tweak recipes or 'improve' upon them, but rather collected recipes from authentic Jamaican cooks. The pictures are very nice also. They have good recipes for patties, gizzadas, rice and peas and many more. I got this in high school knowing that I would one day have to move out of my parents house and cook on my own...now I'm married with 3 kids and still love this book...great for beginners or experienced cooks!



3. This book is great! Growing up in a West Indian hous hold in the US, I was familiar with the flavors of the food, but not with cooking the food. This book was instrumental in honing my carribean cooking skills and is an excellent reference book.

1 comments about Caribbean Cookbook (Adventures in cooking series).

1. Fabulous recipes and gives you a real visiting experience and flavor of the islands.

   Great book!

No comments about Allen Susser's New World Cuisine.

1 comments about Cooking the Cuban Way: Culturally Authentic Foods, Including Low-Fat and Vegetarian Recipes (Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks).

1. I'm not sure why they call this cooking the Cuban Way. There are only a few Cuban recipes here, and nothing that really stands out. Low-fat and Vegetarian are two terms that are completely foreign to Cuban cuisine! There are much better Cuban cookbooks: Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban, and Cuba Cocina just to name a few.

2 comments about Vertamae Cooks Again: More Recipes from the Americas' Family Kitchen.

1. If you don't have a copy of Vertamae Cooks in the Americas Family Kitchen or Vertamae Cooks Again, order them now!

   Vertamae Cooks Again is full of recipes from all over the Americas, with an emphasis on Mexican cuisine. No tacos or enchiladas here folks -- try my favorite - tres leches cake. Or give the ribs called "table cloth stainers" a try.

   Besides being a great cook, Vertamae is a food anthropologist. Most of the recipes in both books are accompanied by historical information that gives you a feel for the culture. Her recipes are always clearly written and unique. And her books include listings of stores that carry some of the hard-to-find ingredients.

   Check out the PBS series Vertamae Cooks in the Americas Family Kitchen, then buy both books and try the recipes. You'll hope that Vertamae cooks again and again and again...




2. I love her books. I watched the PBS Series when it was on and if anyone should have a show on the food network it is Ms. Smart-Grosvenor.
   
   In the series and these books she highlights South Carolina low country cooking from her childhood and dishes she discovered on her travels. I would label it African Diaspora cooking; she has recopies from many cultural backgrounds including Caribbean, Portuguese, Spanish; all the cuisines that influenced the New World. She is a food historian and great at painting a picture of the history, culture and folklore of food.
   
   I have made several recopies from both books and never had one turn out badly; she knows how to write a recipe and give you a sense of flavor and a context for the dish you are preparing. There are several dishes in both books that my children love to eat, my mother-in-law is always impressed when I make one of her dishes.
   
   This is a great cookbook and I hope the food network calls her up now.

1 comments about Cooking the West Indian Way.

1. Well written and often used in our Caribbean household. Good source of the older, more traditional island recipes. If you like this book, you'll go nuts over Angela Spenceley's lastest two cookbooks, "A Taste of the Caribbean" which features hundreds of traditional recipes and the new sexy Caribbean cuisine and "Just Add Rum! Cookbook" a really fun book filled with food and drink recipes all containing some form of rum.

5 comments about Mmmmiami: Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere.

1. Reading through MMMiami is almost as much fun as actually tasting the results. This readable collection of recipes showcases the best of Miami's tropical and latin cuisine with an emphasis on using only the freshest ingredients available. Sprinkled throughout with helpful hints, historical tidbits, and fun food facts, MMMiami is filled with easy to understand recipes that are sure crowd pleasers. The techniques and tips offer time-saving shortcuts that will help not only for the recipes contained here, but for all of your daily cooking tasks. The authors succeed in sharing their knowledge and love of Florida foods to the rest of us who (until now) have only dreamt of being able to concoct a coconut flan. The chocolate-pecan torte is worth the price of the book alone.



2. A wonderful book if I still lived in Miami. The availability of some of the products might be limited to Florida and major metropolitan areas. I would love Carole to publish something from her early cooking classes. I rely on those recipes on a regular basis.



3. As a former Miamian now living in Virginia, reading this wonderful new book was like taking a trip to my hometown. It has many delicious recipes that seem to me to capture the true essence of tropical cuisine. Try making the Hot and Tangy Black Bean Dip for an easy (and low fat) snack that will wake up your taste buds.I prepared the Calabazas and Sweet Potato Soup for company and received raves reviews from my guests.It's really simple to make and everyone will think you worked all day cooking it.Mmmmiami also offers the reade an interesting history of the growth of So. Florida and the influence that the influx of Latin tourists, businesspeople and immigrants have had on the culture.The book's witty and clever text explains why tropical cuisine is now the hottest food trend sweeping the country.I think this wonderful book should be a staple (like black beans and rice)in the house of any serious cook. I recommend Mmmmiami highly.



4. We've been cooking the pork dishes with the salsas and chutneys. Easy to do several at a time and have nice summer food without reheating the kitchen. An even better collection than I first thought.



5. Mmmmiami is one of the five best Florida/Gulf Coast cookbooks out there. Well, that's my opinion. I've been updating my Amazon "So You'd Like to Guides" and I have one on Key Lime Pie. Take a look at it if you want. Anyway, I've included fifty cookbooks (the maximum Amazon will allow) in all my guides, so I've had a chance to go through my collection. And quite a collection it is, I've got hundreds of cookbooks and I go through them all the time. That's my problem, how to organize them. While going through what I wanted to include in my guides, I started separating them into piles, the ones I couldn't live without and the ones, if I absolutely had to, I could give away as gifts, you know, like if we moved into a very small place.
   
   Mmmmiami is one I could never part with. I love the food and the atmosphere of Florida and the Gulf Coast, have spent a lot of time there, as I'm a sailing lady. I'm also somewhat of a gourmet chef. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, or galley, depending if I'm at home in the States or on our boat in the Caribbean. The recipes here will make your family, or even just yourself, if you live alone, drool. They are mouthwatering good and that's the truth.
   
   Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

No comments about French Caribbean Cuisine.

2 comments about St. John Style.

1. Having lived in the islands 20 years myself, I certainly understand five-stop shopping. The Caribbean recipes in this books are fresh, exuberant and bursting with exotic island flavor. If you like this book, you'll really love Angela Spenceley's brand new book "A Taste of the Caribbean" filled with hundreds of traditional recipes and the new, exciting Caribbean cuisine. A must for any good cookbook library.



2. Finally a great recipe book dedicated to the tastes of St John USVI. Normally the Carib recipe books have a drip and drabble from all of the islands. This wonderful book lends itself only to the recipes of St John. All directions are easy to read and easy to duplicate for the novice to the gourmet cook.

   Nice thing about this book is that our daughter is marrying there soon and now we know what to get for all of our good friends to take home as a remembrance of the wedding and a remembrance of a lot of paradise.