5 comments about The Cooking of South-West France: A Collection of Traditional and New Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine.

1. A revised edition of the 1983 book, this is a very authentic tome of sw french cuisine. Paula is one of our greatest cookbook authors, and you cannot go wrong with a single one of her books. The only draw back to this book is that not every recipe is 'doable' to the average home cook, as some ingredients (mainly animal fats) are very hard to find.



2. I would join with the other reviewers here in recognizing this work as a tour de force in the field of authentic, regional French cooking. I have owned the earlier edition for a number of years and have used it to produce successful, one-of-a-kind results. I would also echo the comments of others in warning prospective purchasers not to expect any simple, quick, or uninvolved recipes in this book. Many main courses require several steps of preparation spread over more than one day. It is also true that many of the recipes still call for ingredients that are hardly on the shelves of the average (or even above average) pantry (e.g., ventreche, piment d'Espelette, rendered duck or goose fat, etc.). Having said all that, there are some wonderful recipes here. However, the changes worked into this new edition sometimes leave me baffled. To take one example, both the old and new editions include a recipe for duck "ham," an air-cured preparation that, when it works, produces a prosciutto-like result. The substantive difference between the old and new versions of this recipe call for the cook to "shave off the duck skin [from the duck breast that is used to make the ham] leaving the fat underneath intact." This really calls for an illustration or at least some additional explanation, in my opinion, because the skin and subcutaneous fat on the duck breast I examined after reading this instrucion are, as I expected would be the case, as one. Note that in the earlier version of this recipe, the skin was left intact. I've found a few more such amendments to recipes that didn't seem to make things any clearer (not to mention easier), and while I cannot say that there aren't any recipes that have been improved by revision, they haven't jumped out at me yet. A few of the new recipes look interesting, but they rise to the same level of challenge as all of the other recipes in this collection always have. Still, for those willing to invest a great deal of time and attention in the preparation of authentic Southwestern French cuisine, this is THE text in English.



3. A few additional remarks besides the excellent review by Mr. Marold:
   Even if you are not up to cooking these great dishes, this book is one of the most useful books if you plan on going there. Wolfert covers many specific places you may want to visit. She locates some important restaurants and chefs (even in San Francisco). She tells you what to eat in many cities. She tells you about things you may want to bring home, including some of the specialized pots which are very hard to obtain here; one exception is the U.S. maker of the pot on the cover. You can order the "Diable Charentais" by Googling and selecting the translation of the potter's page. Wolfert shows you how much diversity there is within short distances across this region.
   For the cook as well as the traveler, no book in English is so perceptive, comprehensive and accurate. With attention, you can reproduce "the truth". She is also helpful to those of us who cannot assemble the authentic equipment and ingredients.
   The importance of this new edition is the current information on people and places, and especially on the sources now accessible from home.



4. Since we just returned fro southwest France I wanted to find some receipes to make our favorite foods. The Cooking of Southwest France did just that. Great receipes and simple to make.



5. After visiting the southwest of France 3 months ago, I fell in love with their rustic cuisine. This book, the recipes & writtings, is just like reliving our fabulous 10 day vacation. This is a true gem, I can't wait to use my first recipe from it!

No comments about Escoffier: The King of Chefs.

5 comments about A Drizzle of Honey: The Life and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews.

1. Recently I picked up a copy of the book, "A Drizzle of Honey: the Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews". It has a fascinating and well documented history as well some marvelous redactions of the most likely constructs of recipes. I recall learning briefly about the secret Sepahrdim in hebrew school. This book gives marvelous insight and helps recreate a delicious cuisine. I am fairly certain that either this passover or the next I am going to attempt a full Sephardic sedar for a change of pace and add some culinary excitement.



2. I was very delighted to read this insightful gastronomic reference. Although, it is more than a recipe book, it is also a telling account on what it took to go through the Inquisitional process. Hence, a Drizzle of Honey, is much more than one bargains for. I have also made the Adafina that is included in the book, and it was quite good. The Inquisition was not necessarily aimed at mainstream "Jews" per se, but at Conversos, or "Jews"who were forcibly converted.
   It is very interesting that in many respects the Jewish converts to Christianity were many times denounced on the slightest pretext of eating in the "Jewish" manner. It could be as forthright as not eating pork for "health" reasons, or as absurd as making stew with Swiss chard, both being indicators of a "relapsed" Jew, in other words a Christian heretic. To our postmodern sensibilities these gastronomic preferences are almost comical. But to many of my relatives in Spain living under those Medieval conditions it was absolutely terrifying. I've got to hand it to Mr. Gitlitz, his premise for this book is very well thought out. This book is probably not for the weak of heart or stomach, given that some references in his book are counterintuitive when it comes to appetite. But, for those who want to learn about our tragic past, and who want to see if some of the recipes are what our grandmothers cooked, I fully recommend it. My Mother always cooked with Swiss chard and used olive oil in her meals. In Spain this would have been a sure sign that we are Jewish. Oh well.



3. A fascinating look into the lives of Secret Jews during the Inquisition. A collegue had recommended it for its historical insights, and I found the anecdotes about the fates of the recipe authors tragic but a great insight into a time of flux and intolerance. Good recipes, too!



4. I was excited when I first heard about this book, but when I got a copy, I was quite disappointed.
   
   First the good... the recipes produce tasty dishes.
   
   But they are not the recipes of Spain's Jews, secret or public.
   
   These are recipes invented by the authors with a minimum of supporting evidence, or, in fact, most of the time, none at all.
   
   They are based for the most part on the testimony of people who turned in Conversos for being "secrect Jews". The mere mention of, oh, say, chick peas and honey, has led the authors to invent a recipe that includes these ingredients.
   
   If you are truly interested in the history the food eaten by Spain's Jews, you will not learn much. If you want some nice Spainish-style recipes eaten by Jews, you'll probably do better skipping the sad tales of betrayal and torture and buying a modern Sephardic cookbook.



5. Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006
   
   For a friend, I bought 'A Drizzle of Honey: The Life and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews'. When it arrived, I sat down and read it -- recipes of Inquisition Spain, as closely as the authors can reconstruct them. Good food, wonderful insight into Spanish and South American kosher cooking -- but the history! It was the history of those accused by the Inquisition that caught our attention. Now my friend has the gift copy and I am ordering a second copy for myself. A whole terrifying historical era in a cookbook.

5 comments about Best of Austrian Cuisine.

1. Although the list of recipes is varied, the actual recipes are poorly written, inaccurate in measurements, and confusing. Many sentences are cut-off and end abruptly. The book badly needs an editor who actually reads the contents of the work.



2. Hmmm... My copy of this book doesn't have the problems mentioned below, but then it's a 2001 reprinting and is perhaps corrected.
   
   In the late 1990s I rented a room in Vienna from an 80-year woman who cooked for me every Saturday. Since then, I've longed to replicate the delicious, savory, and often quite filling meals that we ate together. I've read dozens of Austrian cookbooks, and this is the best by far. Most others are either hopelessly out of date, written for non-American audiences (like Gretel Beer's famous but useless volume), or concentrate on what I'd call "restaurant food"--special, elaborate, time-consuming dishes that don't exemplify what a typical home-cooked Austrian meal is like. This book takes Austrian "Hausmannskost"--everyday food, the sort of thing you'd eat for Tuesday dinner--and translates it to the American kitchen. The recipes are perhaps a little vague here and there and assume previous experience in the kitchen, but the author's point usually is clear. And is it ever authentic; the kohlrabi recipe on pg. 79 is *exactly* my landlady's, and it's delicious.
   
   The book includes chapters on meat dishes, 'Mehlspeisen,' organ meats (beloved in Austria if not in the US), fish, poultry, sauces, starches, vegetables (more varied than one might expect), and then of course the full range of desserts and "Süßigkeiten." The range is encyclopedic and varied. Special sections include menu planning, a description of Austrian wines, and a chapter on munchies for that afternoon 'Jause.'
   
   A gourmet book this is not; if you want splash and glam, it will disappoint. But if, like me, you long to recover how your old Austrian host made cabbage taste so yummy, this book is the answer. Through it, you can recreate an Austrian kitchen in your home, which is a very nice thought!



3. Some photos would have been nice, but then I'm sure the book would have cost much much more, and the price is one nice thing about it. I also didn't have any of the problems of the first reviewer- it was all clear in my edition. I found some Austrian wines to go with the dishes at www.winemonger.com and had a great party!



4. The "Best Austrian Cuisine" is not the best text for newcomers to Austrian cuisine to cook with.
   
   It has the briefest instructions on most recipes that I've seen in a good while. While this is fine for one accustomed to cooking Austrian cooking, it is not helpful to others new to the cuisine.
   
   One problem is that it doesn't tell the reader when one cooking step is completed, as it's easy to greatly undercook or overcook with these brief instructions.
   
   For example, there are 6 sauerkraut recipes, however each starts with "put the sauerkraut in water" or another says "melt the butter and brown the sugar in it. Add the sauerkraut.." Yikes, nowhere does it tell how to make the sauerkraut.."Obviously" any (Austrian) cook should know that!
   
   For cheese soup, it says to "fry the flour lightly in the fat." Most writers would give an endpoint, such as "till light yellow", or golden brown or till some distinct change, and perhaps tell what may happen when it's been fried too long...not ging to find such assistance in this book.
   
   For making dumplings, "roast white bread or rolls in about one ounce of fat. Mix the eggs with the milk and and pour over dumplings and leave for half an hour" Roast how long? Roast until what desired change happens? How exactly does one "roast" in this cuisine, anyhow?
   
   This is a "reminder" type of a cookbook aimed at experienced Austrian cooks, and of little use to a newcomer to Austrian cuisine. A shame. It also lacks photographs, so best of luck trying to make an authentic presentation, if you are a newcomer to the cuisine.
   
   Thus, it is clear, as the jacket says, that this was "originally published in Austria", for Austrians, and is ill suited to those not well acquainted with the techniques of proper Austrian cooking.



5. Being of Hungarian descent, I found a few recipes that I could use especially the desserts. Brought back memories of my childhood.

4 comments about A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences (Hippocrene Cookbook Library).

1. Judith Pierce Rosenberg's A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes And Reminiscences is no ordinary recipe collection, but a collection of stories of Swedish culinary and cultural heritage, supplemented with recipes from Rosenberg's Swedish roots. What's the difference between this and a cookbook? Reminiscences of life in Sweden revolve around food, with such succulent descriptions as have not been seen since the late food writer James Beard's works. The first hundred pages are devoted to these descriptions...but if you wish recipes alone, it's easy to go to the second part of the book, with its lightly color-coded page edges. Don't skip the first part, though - you'd be skipping the heart of a wonderful collection in A Swedish Kitchen.



2. This cookbook was more memoirs than recipes. There were very few recipes for very common swedish items such as swedish crisp bread ( a staple). This is NOT a reference book. It is merely following a wealthy woman's travels while enjoying Swedish food. Her memoirs were somewhat interesting, but it became repetitive towards the middle of her book. Some of the recipes were accurate.



3. I am the recent bride of a Swede (that makes it sound like some Viking conquest!), and I was so happy to find this book with stories and recepies that the author, also an American married to a Swede, enjoys. Learning not only the way to prepare my husband's favorite dishes that we can't find ready-made in the US, but also learning the background of each special occasion or holiday that these dishes are tied to really expanded my knowledge and understanding of this other country that I visit every year as well as of the man I married. My husband was very happy with our Christmas feast this year. This book made a big difference. Tack ska du ha, Judith!



4. The author and I have something in common - we're both Americans who are married to Swedes. The first half of this book is about her travels in Sweden, the people she's met and the places she's shopped or dined at - which is great for me, since I've been over to Sweden quite a few times now. I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet, but my husband has looked at them and thinks they're quite authentic. He can't wait for us to try some of them!

2 comments about Gypsy Feast: Recipes and Culinary Traditions of the Romany People (Hippocrene Cookbook Library).

1. Carol Wilson has written a true classic. Packed with facts, history and tons of great recipes that work when you cook them, this book is truly a Gypsy feast. With enough detail to meet any question you might have, this book is literally a Bible of Romany cooking. I can't wait for her next book. This one's a keeper. My copy is already dog-eared from using the delicious recipes. Truly, a Gypsy charm.



2. The Romany are a fascinating people and the author provides some interesting information on their culture and history. The problem is with the culinary aspect of the book. First, the vast majority of Romany (originally from northern India) live in Eastern Europe, in countries such as Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Russia. The author, Carol Wilson, is British, and spends most of the book describing the culture and foods of the relatively small and atypical gypsy population of the British Isles. Indeed, serum protein studies suggest that many British gypsy populations (often referred to as Tinkers) are not even genetically related to Romany. In my travels in Eastern Europe, many restaurants featured dishes with "Gypsy Style" in the title. While these may or may not be authentic Romany dishes they suggest a strong influence of Romany culture in these regions. I expected a more detailed study of Eastern European cuisines. A second problem is that, from my reading of this book, there does not appear to be an actual gypsy cuisine. For example, gypsies in Spain eat Paella (a typical Spanish paella recipe is provided), gypsies in Scotland eat Cranachan (a traditional Scottish dessert), while those in Eastern Europe eat stuffed cabbages (a typical Slavic recipe is given). I was waiting to read that American gypsies eat hamburgers and french fries. Rightly or wrongly, this book suggests a complete assimilation to the culinary traditions of the countries the Romany live in. This may be factual and related to their nomadic lifestyle, but the fact that the Romany have kept so many of their other distinct cultural traditions alive leads me to wonder. In conclusion: not a bad book if you are interested in learning about the cultural traditions of British gypsies.

1 comments about Food in Russian History and Culture (Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian & East European Studies).

1. These essays -- by a roster of accomplished contemporary scholars of Russian Studies -- are wonderfully accesible and informative. Readers with interests in folk culture and history, Russian studies (history, literature, whatever) and/or culinary history will feel like they've struck gold. The thirteen scholarly pieces, some with a few illustrations, cover a wealth of topics (see table of contents above)-- consistently well. It's anything but dry; Pamela Chester's article on the relationship between (state-) tormented poets Marina Tsvetaeva and Osip Mandelstam (and their uses of food as symbol and, tragically, their deprivation of it, later) is heartbreaking. Peasantry, the gentry, and the Eastern Orthodox church; brilliant fussbudget Tolstoy's vegetarianism is in here; the uses of food in the writing of Dostoyevsky; fasting and food fashions; Catherine the Great (hardly any tastebuds; hearty interest in 'presentation'); the new Soviet state with its ambitious dreams for the citizenry, and the ultimate cynical mess that resulted. Food as power, class marker, moral symbol, and solace. The roots of asceticism (Orthodox church).Unfortunately, Jewish life and gulag life has been omitted, and a careful list of the prices of foodstuffs in St. Petersburg in Catherine's time is all rubles and kopeks... so I couldn't tell what I might have been able to afford.. What's here, though, is very good. I'll look for Volume 2.

1 comments about Polish Holiday Cookery.

1. If anyone is at all seriously interested in Polish/Eastern European cooking, then this is your book. Rob Strybel is also known as "the Polish chef" because of his profound knowledge of Polish cuisine and cultural history. This book is not just another cookbook about regional foods but it is an insight to a great cultural Polish heritage throughout European history. One can experience the influence of various countries such as Germany, Italy, Russia and France on Polish cuisine just by reading this fascinating book, this is not simply a compilation of recipes but rather an historical summary of Polish society seen through the eyes of an accomplished chef..

No comments about Cooking in Europe, 1250-1650 (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series) (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series).

5 comments about The Great Scandinavian Baking Book.

1. The Great Scandinavian Baking Book is an addictive collection of recipes from author Beatrice Ojakangas. From Cardamom Coffeebread (Pulla) and Sweet Cream Waffles to Danish Strawberry Scones (Kraemmerhuse) and almond glazed Swedish Tea Rings (Vetekrans), once you start baking from this book you'll have a hard time putting it away. I was delighted with everything I made and appreciated how Ojakangas introduced me to the many delectable ways Scandinavians use cardamom in their baking. Her recipes are easy to follow and accompanied by conversational intros that share cultural tidbits or serving tips. Although there are no photos in this book, when more complicated steps are required to complete a recipe the how-to portion is frequently illustrated with helpful diagrams. The lack of photographs is really the only thing about it I didn't absolutely adore about the book, which will make a welcome addition to any kitchen and is appropriate for beginner and experienced bakers alike. You'll revel in the heavenly aromas emanating from your oven, not to mention the baked goods you'll soon be enjoying with a cup of hot coffee or tea.
   
   Chapters: Breads for Meals, Breads for Coffeetime, Cookies and Little Cakes, Cakes and Tortes, Pastries and Pies, Savory Pies and Filled Breads. Chapters about mail order sources, baking tips and ingredients are also included.



2. This is the best most complete Scandinavian baking book that I have ever come across that is published in English. It has many recipes that my Great Grandmother brought over from the old country (Denmark), just not all her familie's special variations. The recipes are easy to follow and always come out tasting great. Many of them taste just like you were sitting at a Cafe in Kopenhagen and any of the recipes in this book will enrich your gifts of Christmas cookies and make you a big hit at the holiday parties.



3. I've purchased and read a variety of cook books over the years and have always had an interest in European traditions and cooking. This is one of the best baking books I've come across! Its definately the best european cookbook I've come across to date. Its got U.S measurements, easy to read recipes, a good variety of recipes, and interesting notations about the cultures.
   
   
   I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because some of the intricate braiding recipes could have had better illustrations/instructions and I'm overwhelmed by some of the recipe sizes. (For example, Some recipes make 3 loaves of bread, or 4 dozen cookies.)



4. I'm very satisfied with my purchase of this cookbook. Being of Norwegian decent, it was very nice to see recipies from my fathers homeland. I've already made 2 things out of the cookbook, and can't wait to go home and make something for my father to bring back some memories to him.



5. Here you will find mouthwatering recipes I know you will want to try. This book makes a good read and you'll be baking with it for years. This is a book to hand down to your children. I love it.