5 comments about Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris.

1. Before purchasing this book, I read all the customer comments which gave nothing but praise. I just don't get it. I wish one of the reviewers would have given me tips on how to stay awake while plodding through each sentence/paragraph, along with where to find a single nugget in these pages worth remembering. Okay, I'll probably always wonder how the author's love of boxing was deemed worth inclusion, but then I wonder why the entire book was printed. I feel suckered! And can't think of anything to recommend this book. My advice is to spend your money on ANYTHING written by M.F.K. Fisher, "The Tummy Trilogy" by Calvin Trillin or "Blue Trout and Black Truffles" by Joseph Wechsberg for much more pleasurable reading.



2. This is a fantastic book, but if you've never cracked The New Yorker open before, you might not like the style. Very in the moment and tongue in cheek, Liebling is a master wordsmith leaving no offense done to him by the onset of modernity unheckled. Some of the greatest tidbits come when he derrides the famous Michelin Star rating system for French restaurants, now a standard that chefs have literally killed themselves over - Liebling reminds you that its just a rating from a TIRE manufacturer and that he feels it marked the decline of real French cooking.
   
   I read passages of this book out loud to friends and family, most notably the ones dealing with the immense amounts of food, and always got a laugh. This is not a book dealing with the upper crust of French high society, but rather a street wise, in the guts little tome that entertains and educates - though sadly, it is unlikely one can find the Paris that Liebling describes anymore.



3. I have to say first of all that I'm a sucker for all of the "Paris in the early part of the twentieth century" literature. I love Celine and Miller, but my favorite was Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Well, Between Meals is no A Moveable Feast but it certainly is a high quality read that I can unquestionably recommend to you.
   
   Liebling, make no mistake, is a top notch writer and his sentence structure, use of metaphor, and style have much to offer aspiring wordsmiths. He has an eye for the essential and this is particularly true if you're at all like me as far as food is concerned. Liebling is a true gourmand and, even though I am completely unlearned and unappreciative in regards to fine dining, I still enjoyed his narration and memories of that splendid age.
   
   The best of these essays is "Passable" where he recalls his old girlfriend from his student years. Liebling informs us that he does a poor job in reconstructing her but his description of their romance is quite compelling. I loved that essay just as I did the one on Mirande. This is a world long gone but we're fortunate that books like this are still in print. Reading it will give you a snapshot of beauty that will hang like a Renoir in the corridors of your mind.



4. This book was strongly recommended to me by a friend who is from Europe and is very discerning when it comes to American writers. I'm glad that I have it.
   
   While not nearly as zany or as challenging as Kerouac or Burroughs, this work, at its best, is rich, insightful and intensely funny: "What he called his pipes("ma tuyauterie"), being insufficiently excercised, lost their tone, like the leg muscles of a retired champion. When, in his kindly effort to please me, he challenged the escargots en pots de chambre, he was like an old fighter who tries a comeback without training for it."
   
   The language is elegant and piercing, despite what the hypercritics have said; and the work stands as an opus to epicurean bliss.
   
   It's well worth the read before, after, or in between the wonderful meals!



5. Did anyone ever love Paris, or at least eating in Paris, like Liebling. I share his love for the city and for the cuisine. Perhaps this colors my view but I really enjoyed this book.

1 comments about Fruits and Vegetables / Frutas y vegetales (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #10) (Bilingual) (Board Book).

1. The thing that I really like about this book was that all the sentences weren't the same. It did not just say "these are bananas, these are tomatoes" all the time, but integrated questions, and even characteristics of the fruits and vegetables. The pictures are bright and colorful, and made me want to go buy a piece of fruit right then. I would highly recommend this book as a useful and practical tool for learning the names of basic fruits and vegetables in both English and Spanish. It is very likely that you will find yourself practicing these words at home when you are eating a piece of watermelon, or chopping a pepper for dinner.

5 comments about Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics.

1. heston blumenthal, it is the best on kitchen.he love the flavors and aromas on kitchen.
   the love for this is great and the best for the former chef



2. not quite a cook book.. more an exploration of certain kitchen classics and how to molecularly gastronimize them. or at least use a ton of steps and special equipment to make them. treacle tart with an ice cream made with dry ice? Just try to make the black forest choco cake he has in here.



3. This was a great book. It reads like a book instead of a cookbook. The stories are excellent. It should serve as a guide to any Chef. The way that Heston goes about researching ingredients can be used by anyone. I am not saying that we need to travel the world trying different components of a recipe but trying the best of our local ingredients would suffice. Heston is at the cutting edge of the Culinary world and it was great to see his thinking process put down on paper.



4. IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION: REINVENTING KITCHEN CLASSICS comes packed with color photos by Simon Wheeler and presents reflections by one of the world's most renowned chefs: as such, it will find its place not in the casual cook's collection, but in any library catering to neo-professionals fascinated by American regional culinary history in general and Blumenthal in particular. His scientific research into the origins and influences of dishes explores ways of cooking them to perfection and features a focus on what makes recipes stand out from the crowd. From sausage history to chicken packaging, IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION ladles out a wealth of fun, enlightening culinary detail.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



5. Yep, it's Alton Brown on steroids.
   
   I am a big fan of Alton Brown, and now I have found an even greater hero: Heston!
   
   Just one thing though - he scares the living daylights out of me - if he weren't in a kitchen the only safe place for him is a padded lockdown.
   
   I've made about two of the recipes so far, and I am looking forward to doing more. I have already ordered Further Adventures in Search of Perfection and pre-ordered his (very expensive) The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.
   
   On his Fish and Chips:
   Alas, no turbot on the US West Coast. Maybe no-one understands me because I use the English pronunciation (like fillet) - pronouncing both t's, unlike the American/French with a silent 2nd t.
   
   I used halibut - love halibut.
   His batter method is unnecessarily long-winded. I used a 5lb CO2 bottle with a special adapter for a standard plastic soda bottle instead of a soda siphon, With this exception completed his recipe and found where the book's true value is:
   
   It didn't work for me, but it allowed me to see where to improve my beer batter recipe that I have used for years.
   I now use 2/3 beer, 1/3 vodka, (plus a large splash of lemon juice and paprika).
   
   And now I make very small batter batches, don't wait for the every last lump to disappear, batter immediately, and straight in the fryer - all as fast as possible. It is a tangible improvement - thanks Heston!
   
   His chips (french fries) again has what to my unrefined palette is an unnecessary step - the initial boil.
   Instead I now extend my initial low temp (300F) fry to 10 mins, and cool completely in the 'fridge.
   But I found an improvement - I use a little portable fan to blow over the fries to hurry along the dehydration process - all thanks to Heston!
   
   I also tried the entire steak recipe which was 100% great, and the mushroom ketchup is to die for!
   
   Now I have a few words to say about our little naysayer J. Alt, who mysteriously has but one review.
   Little disgruntled are we J?
   
   The reason that Heston sears the meat before the long 120F slow cook (and I know because I did it) is that the Maillard reaction flavors from the sear spend that time permeating through the meat.
   Do I care that his reasoning is off at a tangent? NO.
   You know why? Because it is the best damn tasting steak I have ever made. Good enough?
   
   And if he tests 5 varieties of potatoes to get the best roast potato, yet doesn't draw a sufficiently tight logical line to satisfy Mr J. Alt, I don't care either. The man has sufficient bone fides for me to trust his judgement and conclusions.
   And you know why I doubly don't care? I can't get Maris Pipers in the U.S. anyway!
   
   I used his method of trying every potato I could get my hands on and made my own judgement. *
   
   Which is what any reader of these reviews should also do.
   
   I recommend this book.
   
   Kevin
   * I decided on White Rose. Thanks yet again, Heston!

5 comments about The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea.

1. A friend and I have recently begun taking tea and we love the true British and Victorian style of tea houses. I wanted to find a book for her that was a great resource on the history of afternoon and high tea as well as providing some recipes to go along with the information. This was the best book I found. No other goes into as much detail about the history of tea that this book does. The only downfall is that the only illustrations in the book are line drawings. There are no photos. Still, that didn't keep me from picking this book over several others that did have nice pictures, because in the end, the content of this book superceded any other.



2. Lots of easy, great recipes. If for no other reason, you should buy this book just for the basic english muffin recipe and scone recipes.



3. I enjoyed reading this book. It is a good starter book for those who would like to understand the ritual of English Tea and basic recipes of this time of day.



4. what a great book! my idea of luxury is to attend afternoon tea in a great hotel-and now I can recreate some of the recipes (but not the harpist) at home. If you like tea, good food, and learning about creating a mood or an atmosphere for your guests, this little book is just great!



5. I just returned from London where I enjoyed the "Ritzual" of Tea in the gorgeous Palm Court. This is my second time and even with the insane prices with the weakening dollar I would still do it all over again. This book is a great reminder of that very special event for my 50th birthday. Try to collect the whole series-wonderful, wonderful!

5 comments about Creole Made Easy.

1. I recently took a trip to Haiti, and in preparation for the trip I used the Creole Made Easy materials, including the Pronunciation Guide cd, and the Workbook. I used all three of them together, so I'll review them together as well.
   
   Creole Made Easy is an excellent introduction to the Haitian Creole language. It provides the basic building blocks in terms of grammar and sentence structure from which to go further. This book is not an "emergency Creole" book, and didn't have anything by way of greetings, phrases to use while traveling, etc. Being in Haiti, those things were very easy to pick up, especially with some of the basic grammar under my belt. The Workbook is split into two sections, the first with exercises that correspond to each of the 16 lessons in Creole Made Easy. The second half of the workbook has more practical lessons like: numbers/time, months/days/seasons/weather, colors, family/friends, marketplace/food, around the house, and health and medicine. Indispensable to learning any foreign language is listening to it, and the Pronunciation Guide cd was excellent in that regard. I found that it was great practice for listening to the native speakers (though even then, I was listening too slowly most of the time) and great for understanding how to pronounce all of those nasal sounds. There were a couple of moments of frustration in using Creole Made Easy: there were a couple of misspellings; sometimes a word or phrase was used seemingly out of nowhere and wasn't listed in the mini-dictionary in the back of the book; a couple times a grammatical structure or phrasing was used and I had no idea why it was used that way, and it wasn't explained. This happened very few times, and can sometimes be a good problem-solving exercise that you need good practice for when trying to have actual conversations with Haitian people.
   
   Of the eight people who went with me on my trip to Haiti, I was one of two who used Creole Made Easy, and the only one who completed all 16 lessons. I think some of the others used the Pimsleur cds (not any books). I was by far the best Creole speaker/listener and felt like I was in a perfect position to learn exponentially more while I was there. I was told over and over again "ou pale Creole byen!" ("you speak Creole well!") which I shrugged off for awhile until it began to sink in that this was true. Also, I wish I would have brought Creole Made Easy along with me instead of the Hippocrene Haitian Creole/English dictionary, because I think the dictionary in the back had a better selection of words and phrases I wanted to say. The Hippocrene has no phrases at all, and often didn't have the words I was looking for. All this said, I would strongly recommend the Creole Made Easy materials to anyone interested in learning Haitian Creole.



2. Dictionary is helpful, pronounciation guides are helpful, phrases and practices are not commonly used phrases or very practical phrases.



3. This book had easy lessons that didn't cover a lot of material and so could be learned one lesson at a time in short periods of time.



4. Use this book and the acompanying CD and you will have a good dominion of creole for any work you might do in Haiti. You will not be a fluent speaker, but you will know enough creole to communicate and understand others.



5. Fantastic book. I had the book for a while then I found the CD that goes with it. I would highly recommend the CD with book purchase. It all makes sense when you see it written AND hear it pronounced.

5 comments about Roast Chicken And Other Stories.

1. I've read the other feedback, and have to politely dissent. I found this to be a lovely little cookbook, and the author's descriptions made me want to try the recipes in here even though I may not have have had interest previously.
   
   The recipe for olive oil mashed potatoes and the onion tart were both really good. I'm looking forward to trying the others.



2. Again and again we learn and learn again that simplicity in life, especially in cooking, is the key to success. The author has studied cooking to the point of expertise that allows him to do things and, more importantly, to say things simply and convincingly. When politicians gain this level of authority they become legendary: think Churchill. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Hopkinson takes good, clean fresh ingredients and makes hearty dishes which he believes are vital to the good life. He avoids all chef snobbery, all foodie elitism. Instead, we have the wholesome attitude of the farm, the cookery philosophy of America's Alice Waters. There is no avoidance of the fat and buttery; this is no dieter's bible. The artificial is avoided in favor of authenticity. Hopkinson seem to believe that what is wholesome and fresh is good for you, and rejects all the short cuts and alternate ingredients which have made cooks everywhere confuse substitutes for the real thing. The author is able to convey great warmth, that special brand of English decency and refreshing unpretentiousness. The author loves food, animals, vegetables, customs, tradition, the drama known as life. What is especially surprising and refreshing is his celebration of ethnic cuisines as diverse as the obligatory French and the exotic Mexican. He has expertise in both. This is the food channel between hard covers.



3. I was very disappointed in this cookbook. I liked the idea of a cookbook with a few recipes for each ingrediant, but these recipes are almost all made with tons of butter, cream etc. I already know how to make anything delicious with those ingrediants!



4. I read an article about this book and thought it was a novel; only when I ordered and received did I realize it was cookbook ( I am kinda slow ); however, wonderful and all encompassing cookbook which covers a tremendous range of foods with easily understood instructions; who would have thought what a cup of red wine vinegar would do to a stewing chicknen!



5. Simon Hopkinson is a venerable English chef and newspaper columnist who enjoys pushing for simple, home-y food. This cookbook, originally published in London in 1994, is a small but useful collection of Hopkinson's favorite recipes, along with personal stories and asides to accompany each one.
   
   My husband is a retired chef and his most basic meals are my favorites. Not that I don't love the rolled and stuffed game hens or the complex patés, but nothing compares to his beef lentil soup and his roast chicken with garlic buttermilk mashed potatoes.
   
   In Roast Chicken and Other Stories we find a celebration of simple home cooking. There's plenty of butter, cream, and other "no-no's" to be found, but very little processed pre-cooked and microwaved food. This book celebrates fresh food, be it potatoes, chicken, or calves brains. It is simply organized around Hopkinson's favorite ingredients, and while many of them are not appetizing to an American taste (i.e., kidneys, tripe, sweetbreads) there is enough that is universal enough to suit us all.
   
   Hopkinson writes in a very conversational style with many cooking tips in the prose and not in the recipes, so it is important that you read the entire book and then bookmark the recipes you like. For example, he tells us that boiling is better than steaming for vegetables to maintain color and texture (just don't overdo it) and that canned Italian tomatoes will work better in most stews and sauces than fresh Western tomatoes.
   
   My favorite recipes? The Eggs Florentine, the Chocolate Tart, and the ubiquitous Roast Chicken. But again, don't just buy Roast Chicken and Other Stories for the recipes - but for the prose. Witty, warm, and interesting tales will make you feel like you are in the kitchen with a good friend who also happens to be great cook, and who doesn't like that?

5 comments about Dead Heat.

1. Max Morton is sick. He thinks it's food poisoning and he's not the only one affected, so he's worried, because last night he was the chef at a black tie dinner event. He's the youngest chef to receive the "Michelin Star" which is a true chefly honor. He not only owns a popular restaurant in New Market, but he also operates his own catering business. So when an environmental health office shows up to investigate the poisoning, he's got cause for concern. The inspector does too, so she shuts down his restaurant, despite the fact that the food had not been prepared at his restaurant and that all of the leftovers are gone.
   
   Fortunately Max still has his catering business. He's catering a function held in the viewing box at the 2000 Guineas horse race when a bomb goes off. Several people are killed, but luckily for Max, he suffers only minor injuries, however the woman who put on the event is badly injured and one of Max's staff does not survive the blast.
   
   Despite this tragic event, Max still has to try and save his restaurant. He discovers kidney beans caused the poisoning. However there were no kidney beans on the menu, nor were they used in anything served that night, so how could they have been in the food? Now Max has to wonder if he'd been set up. He also begins to wonder if the bombing was somehow connected to the food poisoning. Was the food poisoning an attempt to keep someone away from the bombing, if so who? And who was the bomb intended for? These are just a few of the questions you'll be asking yourself as you page through this satisfying mystery.
   
   I've long been a fan of Dick Francis and missed him dearly when he stopped writing. Then when he came back after so long off with Under Orders, I bought it straightaway. Now a year later we have this story. It's good to have Dick Francis back and I hope he and Felix have many more mystery thrillers in them.
   
   Ken Douglas, author of Dead Ringer, Desperation Moon & Running Scared.



2. Dead Heat is about Max Moreton, proprietor of a Newmarket restaurant and a rising regional chef - until a catered dinner poisons most of the guests and leaves Max retching in agony, wondering what has gone wrong.
   
   Several aspects mark this fine mystery as vintage Dick Francis:
   1) the connection to British horse racing
   2) since the hero is not a jockey, the occupation of the protagonist has been carefully researched
   3) the hero/protagonist triumphs over adversity by determination and persistence
   4) like a well-handled racehorse, the plot breaks out of the starting gate, maintains consistent racing speed and surges to a strong finish for another winning performance.
   
   However, the character of Max Moreton is not the usual stoic tough guy of previous novels. After the first shock, I enjoyed the sensitive portrait of a man who likes to create fine food who, despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, takes arms against his sea of troubles. Additionally, Francis surprised me with the character of Caroline Aston. Normally the female characters in Francis's novels are either cardboard characters or lamer than a three-legged mule. Caroline begins by suing Max for poisoning her and winds up being wooed by him. She's a professional musician, a classical viola player and her devotion to her music is vividly expressed. Max and Caroline represent a new turn in the writing career of an acclaimed mystery stylist. I'm not talking about overcooked meat when I exclaim: Well done!



3. Dead Heat is a really enjoyable read - nearly equal to the best of Dick Francis' mysteries. Like others here, I've read and enjoyed them all. Yes, this book contains classic Francis aspects - and why shouldn't it? The various plots and intrigues are woven well and lead to a perfect ending.
   
   A typical Francis page-turner, this book is unique in the fact that we never spend even a moment with an actual horse. Horses play their part in the book, though, and for someone like me who is around horses all of the time, that was enough.
   
   Hopefully Team Francis has more to come our way.



4. Loved this book. Max is a great hero, the world of find cuisine provides a perfect backdrop to the crime, and the bad guy truly bad. I hope Dick Francis writes many more books, and the addition of Felix Francis to the mix only makes the books better. Bravo!



5. Just finished the book and I must say it is an engaging read. Okay - so it's not "To The Hilt", but it is a good Francis book. I was so pleased that Dick Francis began writing again after his long hiatus. However, I do agree with the people who recognize a change in his writing. The first book released after his return - "Under Orders" was missing something. This collaboration with his son has D. Francis closer to the 'old voice'. As always - the research behind the book is excellent. However - I think what is still missing is the character insight/development/perspecitive that perhaps came from Francis' wife.

5 comments about Gordon Ramsay: The Biography.

1. i got the book really quick and it was in very nice shape i would buy from this person again. thank you. jan



2. Truly an excellent book. This book opens your eyes to the hard work it takes to become a great Chef.
   I recommend other Gordan Ramsay books.



3. I would consider myself a fan of Gordon Ramsey, I think his theories on management and what it takes to be a success could be a lesson to all. Also he has led what seems like a fascinating life, rising up from a rough part of Glasgow, dealing with the issues of a broken family and a promising football career ruined by injury. Sadly this book is written in little better than tabloid tidbits for those with a very short attention span. His childhood and motivations that led him to being a world class chef are glossed over and given about 30 pages. His troubled relationship with his father and its impact is mentioned several times in the book but never really elaborated on sufficiently. His early years as a chef are dealt with in about 15 pages and his years in Paris are given even less coverage despite Gordon's belief that they were absolutely central to him becoming the chef he is today. The author seems more interested in making constant references to Gordon's notorious foul mouth and his relationship with the tabloid press. What a shame there are so many more interesting facets to his life that could have been explored here.



4. This was a great book. It really gives you insight to his behavior. (which is not bad) It was a page turner, and I finished it in a weekend.
   He really had alot of disappointments in life but turned it all around. It gives you inspiration.
   If you like Gordon,this is a must read.



5. I agree with previous reviewers. This is short attention span writing. It jumps from one topic to another topic without going into depth. It felt like reading People Magazine and not a book.

4 comments about The River Cottage Cookbook.

1. Good, honest easy cooking with a twist. Frank and funny with regard to making the most of the bounty of the countryside from nettle soup to bunny burgers. Perfect reference for making jams ans preserves to growing your own produce.



2. Hugh manages to capture the natural enthusiasm he exudes for the subjects of food and self sustained living in his television show, in this book.

   Nice pictures, a must have in any cookery book these days, are in abundance.

   The book gives a good introduction to the worlds of animal husbandry and horticulture, which is exactly what he sets out to do, he doesn't get bogged down with detail and yet doesn't skip over things either.

   The writing style is easy and informal, much like the tv show itself.

   A must have for anyone who liked the show.




3. I hate this book. It makes me so terribly jealous of Hugh's country lifestyle. Filled with good, basic recipes and tons of information on growing foods and basic animal husbandry for anyone from city-dweller to rural smallholder, it is an upscale, up-to-date book in the vein of the old Carla Emery title "Encyclopedia of Country Living".
   
   For city dwellers, in addition to Hugh's simple recipes, he offers plenty of good advice on how to choose the best of what is available at your grocer or supermarket. Plus, it's a healthy reminder of where food comes from.
   
   It's a thick book. Real value for money! In these days of fast food and fast paced lifestyles, it pays to slow down and read and think and eat.
   
   Now, I'm off to try his recipe for pumpkin risotto...



4. This book is great, I am captured by the beginning part of each chapter, it rates up there with the Jamie at home book by Jamie Oliver

5 comments about The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.

1. This is a great book for all cooks and foodies no matter if you are a pro or a novice i highly recommend its reading. It is mostly reading however not much illustration but all the same good.



2. If you want to get back to real food this is for you



3. A delightfully intriguing, simple, and elegant collection of recipes and techniques. Unlike some of the reviewers, I see little or no problems getting the ingredients or reasonable substitutions. Pig's head, tripe, tongue, etc just go to a Mexican or Asian market. I may not be able to get rocket but I know I can get nasturtium leaves and flowers (also peppery greens) from my backyard. Most of the shock seems to come from the ingredients we all used to eat, and may still eat if you have had ground meat products. Honestly where do you think it all comes from? Ninety percent of these recopies can easily be made without any searching for ingredients. Most of the rest need a little bit of searching, pre- planning or pre-orders from a meat or fish market...or even a good counter at your neighborhood grocery store will do special orders with a down payment of some kind. Having been part of a group that does historical medieval reenactments (yes SCA) I can tell you even in this day in age you can get much of this stuff easily. There are no true exotics in here. If you don't have exactly what the recipe says any search of internet cooking sites can give you substitution charts and http://www.foodsubs.com/ is a personal favorite. Live a little. Try something more like what we ate when we had to use ALL the animal, because we couldn't afford to waste anything...and you might find it tastes not only good, but better than the more commonly found fare in your supermarket prepackaged, precut, preped foods and meats section.



4. A wonderful cookbook to scare the children and vegetarians in your life with. A diverse collection of recipes using various critter parts that you may not have though of as being edible.
   
   I don't have the bravery to try some of the recipes, but there are a few that are on the list to try next time I'm feeling adventurous in the kitchen.



5. Fascinating book. Even if you never make any of the dishes covered in the book it is a real hoot to read. I have made a couple and they turned out great.